How to Play Elites
Hey guys NicMakesPlays here.
Today I’m going to go over my new Elites deck with buffs from the latest patch.
This deck has an extremely strong curve and is looking to be a strong beatdown deck.
To see more LoR decks created by the community, check out our Deck Library.
Deck Code: CEBQQAIAAECAMDBCEQTTGAYEAABAOCABAEBRGAIBAIAAOAQBAEABKAIEAAHQ
Goal of Deck and Mulligans
The goal of this deck is to continuously play beefy stated units and hold down the field, then you can buff them and rally to beat your opponent down. This deck usually wins around turns 6-7 with Cithria the Bold, leveled Garen, or Rally.
In this deck, you want to mulligan for Battlesmith to buff all your Elite units. Besides this, you want to have Vanguard Squire and Silverwing Vanguard to help swarm the board. Your one drops are also great to help block in the early game and help against aggro.
Cithria of Cloudfield / Penitent Squire
Cithria Cloudfield and Penitent Squire are your 1 drops of the deck. Cithria Cloudfield helps discount Vanguard Squire, is buffed by Battlesmith, and also helps hold down the early game. Penitent Squire gives you a Tattered Banner if you behold an Elite, which is extremely easy to do in this deck. You can use the Tattered Banner later on Garen to get safe challenges for his level up or remove key enemy units.
Battlesmith / Vanguard Sergeant
Battlesmith is one of the best cards in the deck. Battlesmith buffs all your Elite units +1|+1 and your winrate skyrockets if you can stick it on turn 2. You want to put out Battlesmith as soon as possible and keep him in the backrow to buff your units all game long. Vanguard Sergeant is another key unit of the deck. Vanguard Sergeant is a 3 drop that can be buffed on turn 3 by Battlesmith, which gives you For Demacia to buff all your units later. You can use For Demacia in unison with your Challengers or Rally to gain huge value or close out a game.
Garen / Jarvan
Newly buffed Garen is one of the stars of this deck. Garen buffs all your units +1|+1 on summon and his level two ability lets you continuously rally to win the game. You can also curve Silverwing Vanguard on turn 4 into Garen on turn 5 to buff a board full of Challenger units. Jarvan is an alternate win-con of this deck. The Challengers and high statted units create many favorable trades that help level Jarvan up along the way. Jarvan adds insult to injury as a top-end they have to deal with while you are already swarming the board.
Silverwing Vanguard / Vanguard Squire
Silverwing Vanguard and Vanguard Squire help you swarm the board. Silverwing Vanguard summons two 2|1 Elite Challengers for 4 mana. This is great because it gives you tons of units to buff with Garen, Bannerman, For Demacia, and even discounts Vanguard Squire. You can use these units to go wide, buff, and then Rally for game. Vanguard Squire was just buffed from 4 mana to 3 mana. This makes Vanguard Squire easy to discount and flood the board reliably for 0 or 1 mana.
Cithria The Bold / Golden Aegis
Cithria the Bold and Golden Aegis are how you close out the game. Cithria the Bold is an Elite herself and benefits from the wide boards this deck creates. You can buff a wide board for favorable trades and chip in tons of damage with the Fearsome she gives. Golden Aegis allows you to rally while giving Barrier to a Challenger. This lets you push a ton of damage while also picking off an enemy unit. Combine Golden Aegis with Cithria the Bold or For Demacia and it’s almost certain lethal.
Good Matchups
This deck is great against Control decks such as Darkness and SI Frejlord. The huge statline of your units makes them hard to deal with and becomes even more difficult when they get buffed. You can use Bannerman and Garen to buff your board and then Rally to close out the game. Ranger’s Resolve also helps in the matchup by giving your board Tough to counter Avalanche and Vile Feast.
Bad Matchups
This deck is weak against Aggro due to their ability to swarm earlier than you. In this matchup you want to hard mulligan for a one drop so you can block on turn 1 and stop their tempo early. If you can stick a Battlesmith for a turn, you can start summoning buffed units and gain favorable turns by turn 3-4. You can then race them after you get board control by finishing them off with Rally before they finish you off with burn spells..
Tech Choices
This deck can cut copies of Relentless Pursuit, Swifting Flight or Jarvan
For the Fallen – This card is great at refueling the board and punishing board wipes such as Ruination against control decks.
The Harrowing – This card is great at closing the game with a giant swing with all the units your opponent killed this game.
Single Combat – This card gives the deck interaction to remove enemy threats and help level Garen.
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