Slam or hold

A component does little on its own. On a unit it gives one small stat. Next to a second component it becomes a finished item, with bigger stats and an effect that can win a fight. A unit holds 3 items, and a lone component takes a slot just like a finished item does.

Slamming means building the item as soon as you have both halves, before you know your final comp. From then on it fights for you every round. Won rounds save health and build a streak, and lost rounds cost less, because every enemy unit you leave standing adds 1 to the damage you take. Holding keeps your options open, but your board plays without the item for as long as you wait.

So the real question is what to slam. Count both: does a unit on your board use it today, and do several comps use it later? An item that many comps play has a home whichever way your game goes. Tank items are the safest, since every comp needs a frontline. Items with both attack damage and ability power fit carries of either kind. An item only one carry wants is the risky slam: if that carry never shows up, the item ends the game on the wrong unit.

Hold a component when you know the item it should finish: the one your planned carry builds in nearly every game, which any other recipe would waste. Hold while you lose on purpose: on a loss streak a finished item can win a round you meant to lose, and the components keep every comp open until you flip the streak. On a win streak, slam: the item is what keeps the streak alive. Holding just to see what comes is not a plan. It is a fight you play one item short.