Hey everyone! Welcome back to our Meta Decks Report for Legends of Runeterra.

As always, these deck recommendations will be provided by our experts, Kuvira, Shugo, and Scarzig!

Note that our experts update the tier list often so there may be some lag time between this blog version and the one on our site.

When in doubt, use the LoR Meta Tier List feature for the most up-to-date tier list.

Best Runeterra Decks

• S-tier: Ezreal Seraphine (Noxus + Piltover/Zaun)
• A-tier: Pantheon Vayne (Demacia + Targon)
• S-tier: Vayne Zed (Demacia + Ionia)
• S-tier: Pantheon Varus (Runeterran + Targon)
• A-tier: Swain TF (Bilgewater + Noxus)
• A-tier: Seraphine Viktor (Piltover/Zaun + Shadow Isles)
• A-tier: Rumble Vayne (Demacia + Noxus)
• A-tier: Gwen Katarina (Noxus + Shadow Isles)
• A-ter: Jax Vayne (Runeterran + Demacia)
• A-tier: Annie Jhin (Runeterran + Noxus)
• A-tier: Pirates (Bilgewater + Noxus)
• A-tier: Akshan Lee Sin (Ionia + Shurima)
• B-tier: Plunder (Bilgewater + Freljord)
• B-tier: Gwen Vayne (Demacia + Shadow Isles)
• B-tier: Lurk (Bilgewater + Shurima)
• B-tier: Katarina Yasuo (Ionia + Noxus)

LoR Meta Decks

Whether you like to play aggro, midrange, control, or combo, we’ve got meta deck archetype for you. Enjoy!

S-tier LoR Decks

Ezreal Seraphine (Noxus + Piltover/Zaun)

Deck code: CECACAQDBEAQMAYXAIDAIDQVAEAQIJAEAIAQGKZOAEDAGDQCAECB6NAEAYCBMIBFFADAEBQECIVQCAIEAEAQIBAHAEBQICYBAMBQ2AIEAMFA

[See Ezreal Seraphine deck details]

General info

Ezreal Seraphine takes the classic Noxus PnZ shell and spices it up with some extra splashy goodness. Instead of building up Tribeams, this deck aims to cast a large variety of spells in order to build up and support Seraphine’s doubling abilities. Once online, the combo of Ezreal + Seraphine can burst down the enemy nexus out of nowhere!

👌 Strong Against: Katarina Yasuo, Rumble Vayne, Akshan Lee Sin, Pantheon Varus, Lurk

👎 Weak Against: Pantheon Vayne

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Look for removal that matches up well against the opponent’s deck. Sentry + Flock is a great combo against Demacia decks. Back Alley Bar is a good keep against the mirror.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Depending on the matchup, consider playing Seraphine only after she’s leveled. This ensures at least some value before she is potentially removed.
• Maintaining a proper hand size is very relevant with Seraphine. It’s very easy to refill our hand by doubling up cheap draw spells, along with the fact that many cards replace themselves. Sputtering Songspinner is hard to cast when our hand is completely full, so be mindful of that.
• Always count the amount of damage you can do with the Ezreal + Seraphine combo. This deck can often guarantee a burst finish simply by adding enough targetting spells to the stack and killing the opponent before they even get the chance to respond. Don’t give the opponent a window of opportunity when you don’t have to.

Pantheon Vayne(Runeterran + Targon)

Deck code: CECAEBIJAMCQEBQJAQQACAYJEMAQMAAVA4BACAANDIAQGCJTAEDAACYCAYEQMKACAQAAEAYCAUEQIDIBAIAACAA

[See Pantheon Vayne deck details]

General info

Pantheon Vayne is the latest Fated variant, with Vayne an incredible amount of support to this Demacia Targon staple. Saga Seeker carries the deck’s early game as it builds up towards leveling Pantheon. The addition of Vayne gives access to more free attacks to abuse our massive Fated threats!

👌 Strong Against: Swain TF, Ezreal Seraphine, Gwen Vayne, Gwen Katarina

👎 Weak Against: Pantheon Varus, Vayne Zed, Jax Vayne

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Look for Saga Seeker as our priority #1, but also try to pick up an equipment card. Equipment turns on Lunari Cultist and The Expanse’s Protection, as well as provides an efficient source of triggering Fated.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Aim to target at least one unit per turn in order to threaten Pantheon level-up ASAP. However, this shouldn’t be at the expense of wasting a card and/or mana.
• Picking the Scout weapon off of Wandering Shepherd allows us to turn Tumbles into Rallies.
• Single Combat and Concerted Strike are our only form of interaction on the stack. Remember this in case you need to develop a unit before a possible open-attack.

Vayne Zed (Demacia + Ionia)

Deck code: CECQKBQAAYFAWFIYAIDAEDJCAMAQEBQJBQAQMAYXAECQADACAEBQEFABAEBDCAA

[See Vayne Zed deck details]

General info

Zed is back with a new Demacia Ionia core, and now that Vayne has made an appearance, it’s more efficient than ever before! Forget Rallies, Tumble allows Zed to freely attack with ease, all while equipping him at the same time. Combined with powerful combat tricks like Momentous Choice and Wuju Style, it’s sure to put the opponent on a short clock!

👌 Strong Against: Rumble Vayne, Pantheon Vayne, Pirates, Gwen Katarina

👎 Weak Against: Swain TF, Ezreal Seraphine

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

This deck relies heavily on getting its champions and equipment early. Vayne and Zed should be top priority, but Ionian Hookmaster is also a solid pickup.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• It’s important to save some spell mana in order to protect our champions. One of the deck’s greatest strengths is Ionia’s efficient combat tricks, so be sure to have mana ready going into each turn.
• Ranger-Knight Defector + Tumble = Free Rally on the opponent’s turn.
• Take proactive passes when necessary. You can force the opponent to either play cautiously and make subpar plays, or risk overcommitting and getting blown out by a big Tumble turn.

A-tier LoR Decks

Pantheon Varus (Demacia + Targon)

Deck code: CEEACBQCEIBAKCIDAUBQMCIEEAUACAYJEMAQMAZCAEDAMJYBAYASEAIGBQEQGAIGA4CQCBQJAYAQGCKVAEAQMBZI

[See Pantheon Varus deck details]

General info

Pantheon Varus plays similar to other Pantheon lists, except it trades the free attacks and Rallies for a variety of powerful support spells via Varus’ Origin. Additionally, instead of relying on Pantheon as the main win condition, Varus is equally capable of closing out the game. Those attack buffs stack up fast!

👌 Strong Against: Pantheon Vayne, Jax Vayne, Gwen Vayne

👎 Weak Against: Ezreal Seraphine, Lurk

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Our actual equipment suite is quite low with only Lodestone, Shepherd, and Varus. Prioritize Lodestone and Shepherd in order to enable all of our “if you have equipped” cards.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Momentous Choice counts as two spells towards the free Varus draw. Keep this in mind, as it’s an easy way to get Varus online early when he isn’t already in hand.
• Varus grows incredibly fast and can be leveled mid-combat to gain Overwhelm and threaten lethal.
• The Unending Wave is powerful draw, but fleeting is a real cost in this deck. Be sure you have enough mana before casting it in order to increase the likelihood of playing both drawn cards.

Swain TF (Bilgewater + Noxus)

Deck code: CECQEAQDA4EQEBQGA4PACAYGBABACAZOG4BQEBQ2EYWQGAIGAYRAEAQDAEEACAQGDQBACAIDCYAQGAYN

[See Swain TF deck details]

General info

Swain TF is the more controlling side of Bilgewater Noxus. It takes advange of the Sentry + Flock package and utilizes cheap units and spells to win the board. Swain levels incredibly fast with Watchful Idol, and once flipped, becomes a massive threat that the opponent can not ignore!

👌 Strong Against: Lurk, Vayne Zed, Gwen Katarina,

👎 Weak Against: Pantheon Vayne, Ezreal Seraphine

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Watchful Idol is the perfect start to turbo level Swain by turn five. Additionally, look for cheap units like House Spider or spells like Make it Rain to halt early aggression.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• You can cast spells on Swain’s blockers in order to push through Overwhelm damage and trigger his nexus strike effect.
• Consider saving chump blockers in order to enable Flock/Scorched Earth/Noxian Guillotine. Similarly, keep in mind when you’ll need to preemptively cast a spell to avoid awkward enemy open-attacks.
• Riptide Rex can clean up a lot of board states or create a large dent in the opponent’s nexus. Just be sure you have a way to trigger Plunder as the deck has limited options to enable it.

Seraphine Viktor (Ionia + Piltover/Zaun)

Deck code: CEBQCBQFEABQMBAOCUUACAYEAMCAIBQECQLCAKYBAUCBQAIBAQ2AEAIFAEUAOAQBAQNSOAQGAQJB4AIFBJ3QCBAEA4AQGBICAECQIEIBAICAC

[See Seraphine Viktor deck details]

General info

Seraphine Viktor takes the explosiveness of Seraphine and adds the control side of Shadow Isles. The PnZ SI combinations gives access to most of the best, well-rounded removal spells, aimed to punish the opponent and take over the game.

👌 Strong Against: Katarina Yasuo, Pirates, Annie Jhin

👎 Weak Against: Jax Vayne, Rumble Vayne, Pantheon Varus

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

There are a lot of 1-ofs and 2-ofs in the deck in order to consistently capitalize on Seraphine. Focus on finding the right removal spells for the matchup. Seraphine and Viktor are always welcome keeps.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Be cautious of potential SpellShields in the matchup and hold pings when necessary in order to prevent getting blown out.
• There is a pretty sizeable amount of variance between cards like Back Alley Bar and Fanclub President. Knowing when you can afford to take a tempo loss is important, as you won’t always be lucky enough to find or generate the perfect card.
• Don’t be afraid to use your cards. Piltovan Tellstones and Sputtering Songspinner can fill your hand very quickly if it gets low.

Rumble Vayne (Demacia + Noxus)

Deck code: CEDQEAYDAEBQCAIADUBQMAYWC4NACBAAAMAQMAAVAECAGFQBAUFFQBABAUBQ2AIFAAGACBQDEQAQCAYLAIAQCAA2AECAAAQ

[See Rumble Vayne deck details]

General info

Rumble Vayne is an all-in combo deck that utilizes Legionary Charge to consistently find Rumble, then swing in multiple times per turn with free attacks. Rumble’s SpellShield + Tumble + Great Hammers is an incredibly fast clock when unanswered!

👌 Strong Against: Gwen Katarina, Gwen Vayne

👎 Weak Against: Vayne Zed, Ezreal Seraphine, Pirates

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Hard mulligan to find Rumble or Legionary Charge. Most units are simply here to provide discard targets for Rumble. Vayne is a solid keep if you’ve already found Rumble.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Rumble’s SpellShield is the only true form of protection. Be careful when casting Tumble or Catacylsm once the shield is removed.
• Remember, you only need to discard three cards to Rumble the first time you play him. Afterwards, just toss one to gain the additional point of Impact.
• Whirling Death can clear an enemy blocker while simultaneously pushing damage through with Overwhelm.

Gwen Katarina (Noxus + Shadow Isles)

Deck code: CEDAIBQFBQHBAHABAIBQSAQBAUUDCAIBAMVACBADCYAQKAYPAMBAMBINEAAQMAYXAEAQGLQCAEDAKJIBAECQG

[See Gwen Kat deck details]

General info

Efficiency and tempo are the name of the game. Go wide with cheap units as you pressure the enemy nexus. All three champions are difficult to block as they build up to threaten even more damage each turn. The Reckoner duo denies blockers and launches attacks even on defending turns.. And once we reach that final dance, the board floods with an endless rallying army!

👌 Strong Against: Pirates, Annie Jhin

👎 Weak Against: Swain TF, Jax Vayne, Vayne Zed

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Focus on early units such as Boisterous Host, Burgeoning Sentinel, House Spider, and Phantom Butler. Gwen is a great keep alongside an aggressive hand.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Be aware of which unit will receive the Hallowed buff before committing your attack. Similarly, be aware of which unit will be revived with Eternal Dancers.
• Reviving Katarina or Ruined Reckoner enables extra attacks and/or rallies. You can use this to set up sneaky lethals. This lets The Harrowing launch an attack without needing the attack token.
• Ruined Reckoner on Gwen can flip her on the same turn.

Jax Vayne (Runeterran + Demacia)

Deck code: CECQKBQABMIRKGY5AEDAGFYBAYGAQAIGAYOQCBAAAIBQEAIADIOQCBQCDQBAMAAGDEBQCBQADIAQMCIEAEBAAAI

[See Jax Vayne deck details]

General info

Equipment beatdown is the name of the game, and Jax takes it to a whole new level. With help from Vayne, Jax flips very quickly. Then all it takes is a few free attacks or Rallies to end the game.

👌 Strong Against: Seraphine Viktor, Katarina Yasuo, Lurk, Pantheon Vayne

👎 Weak Against: Akshan Lee Sin, Pantheon Varus

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Look for an efficient curve, as you don’t need to bank much spell mana early on. Early Improvise units should be prioritized in order to maximize Tumble efficiency.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Zealous Ranger-Knight is a powerful beater when equipped. This is especially true with the Scout weapon, as the stat buff will trigger and compound. An excellent target for free attacks.
• You can use Fish Fight as a means of moving a weapon from one ally to another (as it goes back to hand). Additionally, Tumble can reequip it again efficiently.
• Kind-Hearted Recruit can be used both offensively or defensively. In this deck, it’s essentially a five mana Brightsteel Formation!

Annie Jhin (Noxus + Runeterran)

Deck code: CEEQCBQDBQAQEBR4AMAQGAQMFAAQCBBWAIBAGAYEAECASDIBAYBAGAIFAEDACBQMAIBACAYFAYAQIAYDAA

[See Annie Jhin deck details]

General info

Annie Jhin is an aggressive burn deck that utilizes some of the most efficient 1-drops in the game. Flood the board wide early and stun any blockers that get in your way. Then finish the game with burn!

👌 Strong Against: Pantheon Varus, Gwen Vayne

👎 Weak Against: Pirates, Seraphine Viktor

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Look for multiple 1-drops to threaten a wide aggressive start, or Jhin to help proc additional free damage.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Taking damage is okay, you usually want to keep your stun cards for attack turns.
• Be okay with sacrificing Annie to push burn damage especially if you have another one in hand.
• Playing Jhin before the attack to setup for multiple stuns on the next turn is a great way to push lethal damage.

Pirates (Bilgewater + Noxus)

Deck code: CECQKAQGCYNCMLJ2AQAQGAQMB4UACBIGAEAQEAYDAEDAMHQCAEBAGBABAEBSKAA

[See Pirates deck details]

General info

Classic Pirates is one of the most aggressive burn decks around, but with support from Eye of Nagakabouros, it can even outlast the typical aggro deck. ‎

👌 Strong Against: Annie Jhin, Lurk, Rumble Vayne, Gwen Vayne

👎 Weak Against: Seraphine Viktor, Vayne Zed

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

The deck runs twelve 1-drops for a reason, so always mulligan to ensure you have one. Consider the matchup when prioritizing one over the other. Legion Rearguard is great against decks without 1-drops and can avoid 1 damage pings like Vile Feast. Precious Pet and Legion Saboteur are best against other units, as Pet can avoid blockers with Fearsome while Saboteur can trade while still pushing one damage.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Zap Sprayfin is guaranteed to pull either Make it Rain or Noxian Fervor. Be sure to factor in that potential damage when looking to find those final points of damage for lethal.
• Eye of Nagakabouros can be used as a burst speed 2/2 attacker. This is especially relevant when you need to push just a bit more damage before finishing the game with burn.
• Utilize Noxian Fervor to deny enemy Lifesteal or in response to the opponent’s removal.

Akshan Lee Sin (Ionia + Shurima)

Deck code: CECQEBQCBYRAGBAHQAAYEAMKAEAQMAYXAEAQEMIBAIBAMAYDAYDQIBJGAIDAEDJEAMBAEAYFBAAA

[See Akshan Lee Sin deck details]

General info

Akshan Lee Sin is a OTK deck that uses Absolver and Warlord’s Hoard to threaten a near-unstoppable combo kill. Utilize spells at the perfect time to punish and kick your opponent to victory!

👌 Strong Against: Gwen Katarina, Jax Vayne, Pantheon Vayne

👎 Weak Against: Pantheon Varus, Ezreal Seraphine

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Akshan is extremely important for the deck, so hard mulligan in order to find him. Vekauran Vagabond can be a reasonable Plan B if you’re unable to find him.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• We’re ideally looking to set up an open-attack with Lee Sin + SpellShield buff + Absolver. Aim to have Lee Sin already on board so that you can immediately combo before giving the opponent any action to respond at slow speed.
• Try to hold up enough mana for Deny in order to have insurance against decks that can answer your combo.
• Save Tellstones and Palm for when you really need them. It’s okay to take some damage and chump block with our units. We lack removal overall, so be sure you have answers to any problematic threats.

B-tier LoR Decks

Plunder (Bilgewater + Freljord)

Deck code: CECAMAQGBMKCAIJNHIAQKBQBAMDAMFI5DYAQEAICAEBAEBQSFABACBQGDQBAEBQCEY

[See Plunder deck details]

General info

The classic Plunder archetype is a Bilgewater allegience deck that aims to deal damage to the enemy nexus each turn in order to level-up Gangplank and Sejuani. These are two of the strongest level two champions in the entire game, but they require a bit of work and planning. Nab adds an element of RNG to the deck, but adds potential for some cheeky plays like using the opponent’s own Deny against them!

👌 Strong Against: Lurk, Rumble Vayne, Swain TF, Annie Jhin

👎 Weak Against: Pantheon Varus, Gwen Vayne

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Look for early plays that can kickstart the Plunder game plan. Warning Shot is a reasonable keep alongside cards like Jagged Butcher or Black Market Merchant. Shellshocker also pairs well with Parrrley to pick off one health enemies while still presenting a unit.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎

• Combat damage is ideal for triggering Plunder on our attacking turns. So when possible, save spells to make progress while defending.
• Eye of Nagakabouros can be used as a burst speed attacker to help go wide enough to trigger Plunder.
• Jagged Butcher can be played without its Plunder condition if it can get you a Gangplank or Sejuani trigger.

Gwen Vayne (Demacia + Shadow Isles)

Deck code: CEBQIBQFBQHBAHABAECTCAQGAAFRKBYCAYCQGDIBAMAA4AIBAANACAIFFABAIAACAMAQMAAGAEBAAAIBAEDAKIA

[See Gwen Vayne deck details]

General info

Gwen Vayne takes advantage of Rallies and free attacks to capitalize on Hallowed triggers. Gwen’s power grows incredibly fast, especially when you can stack it up multiple times per turn!

👌 Strong Against: Gwen Katarina, Plunder

👎 Weak Against: Pirates, Rumble Vayne, Pantheon Vayne, Vayne Zed

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Look for early Hallowed units to start building up the buff. Both Gwen and Vayne are definite keeps to start applying major pressure to the board.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Opulent Foyer is often best played on the opponent’s turn. The free Ephemeral blocker is often enough to deter combat, then once the turn passes, another one will summon immediately.
• The Overwhelm weapon works wonders with Gwen to push her massive damage over the top. The Scout weapon is a solid second choice to turn Tumbles into Rallies.
• Our only real form of protection is Sharpsight, so be extra mindful of the cards you’ll need to play around.

Lurk (Bilgewater + Shurima)

Deck code: CEBAIBAGAEBQKDYGAQDRGFSBIRFFAAYBAYDQKAIEA5CQCBAGA4CACBAGAQAQMBZBAECAOOYBAYDC2

[See Lurk deck details]

General Info 

Lurk is centered around proccing the Lurk keyword as much as possible. It’s an archetype for players that like to attack and swing face with huge statted units.

👌 Strong Against: Gwen Katarina, Pantheon Varus, Pantheon Vayne

👎 Weak Against: Pirates, Jax Vayne, Ezreal Seraphine, Rumble Vayne, Seraphine Viktor

How to Play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

We’re trying to trigger Lurk as much as possible so prioritize mulligan for a good early curve.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Snapjaw is best used on off turns in order to trigger more Lurks.
• We want to avoid playing Rek’Sai unless we can level her that turn, or if we plan on using her on a turn we also want to cast Pyke’s Bone Skewer.
• Predicts are perfect in order to ensure we have a Lurker on top of our deck or to grab key cards when we need them for a matchup.

Katarina Yasuo (Ionia + Noxus)

Deck code: CEDACAQDBEBAMAQKBYBQCAQIBQHQCBQDC4BACAZKFYAQEAQFAMAQGAQUAIAQELRRAEAQGBABAIDAGGRB

[See Katarina Yasuo deck details]

General info

Katarina Yasuo is a deck that pops off once it has time to assemble its stun engine. Keep your enemies at bay with an arsenal of stuns, then strike right back at them!

👌 Strong Against: Off-Meta Decks

👎 Weak Against: Seraphine Viktor, Jax Vayne, Ezreal Seraphine

How to play

🃏 Mulligan 🃏

Yasuo, Katarina, and Windswept Hillock are crucial pieces for the deck. These cards create a powerful engine, but it can take time to set up. Prioritize these cards, plus other early interaction such as the Sentry + Flock combo.

💡 Tips 💡 ‎ ‎ ‎

• Assembling your engines is how this deck wins. Don’t be afraid to pass before putting down your main cards until you have additional mana to protect them.
• Be patient with saving your interaction for the most vital scenarios when playing against value decks. Against aggro, spend your cards to minimize damage as we generally can’t afford to be greedy.
• Fae Bladetwirler can apply a lot of pressure on the opponent and often force an answer, or help keep them on the backfoot. Take advantage of this to help sustain through the early game.

Conclusion

So there you have it! We’ll be updating the decks regularly so check back here. We also have our dedicated meta feature for LoR within our platform. See you next time.

Thanks for reading! To explore all the cards in LoR, check out our Card Gallery or jump straight into our Deck Builder if you already got some ideas from our article. Show us your best decks in the comments below. 

The post Legends of Runeterra Best Decks – Meta Report appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone Kuvi here, today I’m gonna show you 6 different new decks to try on ladder with the new champs and cards from the latest LoR expansion Domination.

Most of these decks are competitive enough to be used to climb to Diamond or Masters from any starting rank, but they’re also great if you’re just looking to have fun and try new cards.

Check out the rest of our reveal articles if you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards.

To explore more new decks head to our community Deck Library. Or, head to the Deck Builder to make your own creation.

Let’s start with Varus!

1. Varus Master Yi

Deck Code: CUDACAQCAMAQMCJAAEDAGFYBAYCCKAIGBQEQGBQCBAHCEBIBAEBDCAIGAERACBQCEAAQMAZCAIBAECAJAQAQMAQQAEDASKABAYCAOAIGA4UA

[See Varus Master Yi deck details]

This first deck is a spell combo deck using copied Cultist spells to enable Flow, and quickly draw and level up Varus. This deck has a lot of interaction and defensive abilities that allow you to maintain control of the board state in the mid and late-game.

After you play Ionian Hookmaster or Varus, all of your Cultist spells will be activated, allowing you to easily activate Flow each turn and take over the game.

Vastayan Disciple and Deep Meditation are here for the consistent draw value and The Violent Dischord, Furious Wielder, The Unforgiving Cold, and Unworthy Soul are here to stop and slow down opposing threats.

2. Varus Riven

Deck Code: CUDACBQABIAQMARCAEDAYCIBAYDQKAQDAMBQOAQGAMLSIBQBAQBRMAIGAIOACBQDEIAQMBBFAEDAOKACAYESAKACAEDAMJYBAYBSK

[See Varus Riven deck details]

This deck is a more aggressive way to play Varus, taking advantage of Riven’s blade fragments to otk your opponent. As a more aggressive deck, there’s a higher focus on early units to push chip damage and make the finish easier later on.

Ionian Hookmaster and Varus enable our Cultist spells and followers this time as well. Rune Squire is a great new addition that helps us Reforge faster and gives us some much-needed interaction.

Varus provides Riven with a lot of efficient protection that Noxus lacks, including Momentous Choice, The Expanse’s Protection, and Heedless Ressurection, helping us push through and end games.

This deck requires a good understanding of timing and knowing when to go all-in for the win, usually off the back of a Ruined Reckoner combo with multiple attacks.

3. Seraphine Master Yi

Deck Code: CEBAGBQCBAHCIBAGAQHBKFRIAYAQEAQFAECAIBYBAYBCAAIGAQKAEAICBQYQEAIEDM2AEAICAIFAEBQEEAVQ

[See Seraphine Master Yi deck details]

Seraphine with Master Yi seems to be one of Riot’s new prebuilt deck archetypes, both synergizing with and using Flow to out-tempo and out-value their opponents in the later stages of the game.

Spell ratios are important here to best take advantage of Seraphine and Back Alley Bar’s “new” text, which is a card you have not played yet in a game.

Spells that also generate other spells, such as Retreat, Ionian Tellstones, and Sputtering Songspinner are also great at synergizing with these, as well as enabling Flow easily.

A key to taking complete advantage of Seraphine is to discount the cost of your spells so she can copy more expensive, stronger spells, with her level up, which we can do using Acorn, the Hextechnician, Fanclub President, Master Yi, Drum Solo, and Back Alley Bar.

Because this deck doesn’t have a distinctly clear win condition, it might be a bit more challenging to play than this next deck.

4. Seraphine Aphelios

Deck Code: CICACAIEGQAQKBAYAICAIAQHAMDAIFAVCYAQGAYJENONSAIFAEAQIGYBAUCAYAIGBEWQEBQEEAVQQAYJBELSUM2JKRLGE

[See Seraphine Aphelios deck details]

Seraphine is a big fan of great cheap spells, and when you think of regions with great cheap spells, few come to mind sooner than Targon. Between Guiding Touch, Pale Cascade, Gems, Moon Weapons, and Celestials, Targon offers Seraphine almost everything she wants and more.

Seraphine’s new Flow package and Targon both excel at outvaluing and outgrinding their opponent, playing tons of cards each turn, and being incredibly flexible.

On top of this, Targon gives her a proper win condition with the use of Celestials, some might say it’s a match made in the stars, pun intended.

Like many Targon PnZ decks before it, this deck aims to play in a very flexible way, from tempo beatdown to board control to value, you’ll have to put your thinking cap on while playing this deck.

5. Vayne Jax

Deck Code: CUCQCBQGDMAQMAQ4AEDAGFYBAYGAQBQGAAFRCFI3DURAGAIEAABACBQABIAQMBIDAECAMAAGCIMBY

[See Vayne Jax deck details]

Vayne and her followers love an abundance of equipment stacked up in your hand and what better way to do that than with weapon masters. Improvising the perfect weapon for Vayne to tumble into combat with is a great way to quickly level up both Vayne and Jax at the same time.

We’re also taking advantage of the new Demacian Darkin equipment, Joraal, which should also be great against many of the new Seraphine and Varus spell-based decks.

Importantly Jax gives Vayne and Demacia some much-needed value through card draw with Entrancing Lure and Parts Made Whole. This deck should be able to build up some truly terrifying boards and put lots of pressure on the opponent in the midgame.

6. Vayne Riven

Deck Code: CEBQEAYDAMDQEBQDC4SAIBQABIFRCFIHAEBAACQBAMAA4AIEAABQCBADCYAQMAQ4AEDAGGQCAYABYIQA

[See Vayne Riven deck details]

Riven in Demacia with scouts has been tried many times before, but I don’t think it’s ever quite looked as good as this. Vayne enables Riven to get more value out of blade fragments and generate more fragments with multiple attacks per turn.

Noxus also gives Vayne access to Ionian Hookmaster and Great Hammers as equipment options for her and her followers, which works even better the more attacks you have.

Between Tumble, Ruined Reckoner, Cataclysm, and Scouts like Ranger-Knight Defector and Bloodcursed Harpy, we have no shortage of incessant attacks every turn, always keeping our opponent on the backfoot.

Feel free to DM me on Twitter if you have any questions or just want to talk about LoR stuff!

To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder. If you want to explore community decks, head to our Deck Library.

The post 6 New Domination Decks Worth Trying Out appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone, Kuvi here, for the fourth day of the new expansion Domination.

After getting more Flow support yesterday, today’s batch includes Seraphine and related PnZ support! Now let’s get started!

To see the rest of the Domination reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

Seraphine

Tying together the Flow package, Seraphine is a 2 mana 1|4 that creates a random new 2 cost spell in hand on summon. A new spell is a spell you have not played this game. She levels up when you’ve played 6 or more new spells in a game. When leveled, Seraphine also copies new spells you play that cost 2 or less, making her a baby Karma, of sorts.

Seraphine’s spell creation is not region restricted, which means you can create a 2 cost spell from any region in the game. This will undoubtedly lead to some pretty crazy moments with some more of that PnZ randomness. With her general spell creation and duplication, Seraphine seems like a very flexible Champion that could fit in a variety of regions and decks.

High Note

High Note, Seraphine’s Champion spell, is a 2 mana fast speed spell that deals 2 damage to a unit and 1 damage to another if you’ve played 6 or more new spells that game. This spell is similar to Mystic Shot, with a bit less general flexibility not being able to target the Nexus, but a bonus after you’ve leveled Seraphine.

High Note works especially well with Seraphine’s level 2 if you haven’t played a High Note already that game, making it a great Champion spell for her to have.

Acorn, the Hextechnician

Acorn, the Hextechnician is a 1 mana 1|1 Elusive from PnZ that reduces the cost of your most expensive spell in hand by 1 on Nexus Strike.

Like other 1 mana 1|1 Elusives with value effects, you’ll find it hard to trade down with this card, as it can generate a significant amount of value if left unchecked.

It’s a good way to start discounting spells early for Seraphine and to enable Flow later on.

This card can also be used to play expensive spells sooner than you’d otherwise be able to, which I could see working well with cards like Feel the Rust or Glorious Evolution.

Inspired Plans

Inspired Plans is a 2 mana +1|+1 Equipment from PnZ that generates a new Fleeting 2 cost spell in hand on Attack. This card has a lot of variance because it’s an Attack effect, making the difference between creating a slow or focus spell you can’t use until after combat or a fast or burst spell you can use during combat can be pretty large. This card can still generate repeated value and create some crazy moments, so I’m looking forward to seeing what people do with it.

Fanclub President

Fanclub President is a 4 mana 2|2 from PnZ that manifests a 5 mana spell on play and sets its cost to 2. Effectively discounting a spell you manifest by 3 is incredibly powerful. Potentially having access to cards like 2 mana Harsh Winds, Entomb, or Concerted Strike, this card will consistently create unexpected blowouts and turn the tides of games.

It’s an amazing card that pushes the PnZ Flow package up with it, and I expect this card to easily become a PnZ region staple.

The Zaun Diva

The Zaun Diva is a 8 mana 7|5 from PnZ that deals 1 to all enemies, or 3 to all enemies if you’ve played 6 or more new spells that game. You will primarily be seeing this card in spell decks so expect its relatively easy condition to be met by the turn this comes down. This card offers some board clear and finishing potential for the Flow and new spell archetypes.

The Zaun Diva works well with Back Alley Barkeep particularly well, as it also allows you to play her a turn early and curve rather nicely.

Crowd Pleaser

Crowd Pleaser is a 2 mana burst speed spell from PnZ that gives an ally +2|+0 and Quick Attack for the turn. If you have Flow active it also creates a new random 2 cost spell in hand. This card is a decent combat trick that also gives some value back in Flow decks and pushes their game plan forward, offering 2 different 2 cost spells in one card.

Drum Solo

Drum Solo is a 5 mana burst speed spell from PnZ that draw 2 cards. If you have Flow, it reduces the cost of both cards by 2. With Flow this card discounts 4 total mana from the cards drawn, making its net cost only 1 mana. This might just be the new best draw spell in the game.

On top of the incredible value this card offers, it also allows you to play cards up to 2 turns sooner than you’d otherwise be able to, enabling lots of interesting combos that I’m excited to see.

I hope you guys liked this card reveals analysis article, my DMS are always open if anyone wants to discuss what’s written in this article or anything LoR related!

Bonus Deck: Seraphine Karma

Deck code: CECACAIEGQBAIBACA4BAMAQOEQCAMBAOCULCQAYBAECBWAIGAIQAGAICBQUTCAYBAIBAKAIDAQBQCBQEFM

[See Seraphine Karma deck details]

Using PnZ and Ionia control tools and activating Flow, this deck is meant to stall and outvalue out opponent until it’s our turn, when we pop off, doubling or even tripling our discounted spells and destroying our enemy with Hexite Crystals and more.

This deck should be really good against control archetypes like Karma Master Yi since we outvalue and outtempo in the late game while denying their gameplan.

It’s also fairly strong against midrange decks like Fiora Pantheon because of the efficient disruption like recalls, mystic, etc…

On top of being able to slow midrange down enough to be able to make it into the later stages of the game. Unfortunately, aggro will most likely be a pretty big weakness for this deck.

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Domination Impressions: Seraphine appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone Kuvi here, for the sixth day of the new expansion Forces from Beyond.

After getting Gwen yesterday, we’re getting 6 variety cards from different regions today, mainly focusing on combo cards for PnZ and Bilgewater. Let’s get started right away!

To see the rest of the Forces From Beyond reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

Evil Imperfectionist

Evil Imperfectionist is a 4 mana 4/4 from PnZ with a very interesting effect. On play, you can pick a card in hand to create 4 copies of in your deck and reduce their cost by 1.

This is very similar to Practical Perfectionist and is in line with PnZ’s overall flavor of copying cards like Counterfeit Copies.

First of all 4 health and 4 attack worth of stats for 4 mana is really good, This means it can be played on 4 without worrying about any type of tempo loss.

The effect is also very strong, it’s mainly designed for combo decks but it does an amazing job in already existing decks like Ekko Zilean and Go Hard PnZ.

I personally can’t wait to see the new infinite combos and crazy synergies this card can create.

Salvaged Scrap

Salvaged Scrap is a 2 mana burst speed spell for PnZ. It’s a discard spell that’s very similar to rummage but much more interesting. Instead of drawing two cards from your deck, you’re discarding up to 2 cards to generate that many followers with costs higher than the discarded cards by 1 and reduce their cost by 1.

Basically, if we discard a Draven’s Axe and a Flame Chompers, we’re generating two random followers from our regions, one that costs 1 mana (since Axe is 0 mana) and one that costs 3 (since Flame Chompers is 2 mana) THEN we’re discarding both followers’ costs by 1, making the 1 cost follower 0 and 3 cost follower 2.

Salvaged Scrap is a very strong card, it shines in decks like PnZ/Noxus that can generate a lot of discard targets like Draven’s Axe, Lost Soul, Reborn Grenadier, Fallen Rider etc…

It’s a very flexible effect that can fit in multiple archetypes, mostly decks that generate discard fodder.

Like Practical Perfectionist, I can’t wait to see what crazy combos people come up with involving this card.

Ransom Riches

This one’s probably my favorite card revealed today. Ransom Riches is a 1 mana burst speed spell that manifests a follower you can afford. A very simple effect but very unique and powerful.

The first thing that comes to mind is Coral Creatures and Wiggly Burblefish, and yes if you think this card is a buff to TF Nami you are totally correct.

Ransom Riches can generate followers from any region. It can be played early to create a cheap blocker or even late to look for late-game finishers.

The best home for this card is in Curious Shellfolk decks since when you cast this card with a Shellfolk on the board, you manifest two followers instead of 1 and you reduce one of them’s cost by 1 which represents a lot of generated value.

Swindle

Swindle is another burst speed spell for Bilgewater, for 2 mana it manifests a non-champion card from the opponent’s hand and creates a copy of it, when you plunder this card it costs 1 instead.

Every card in the game has a base value (value floor) and Max value (value ceiling), this card’s worst-case scenario is generating 1 card for 1 or 2 mana which isn’t bad. On the other hand, its max value is very high. Getting a card from the opponent’s hand and being able to see 3 of their cards without them knowing which ones were seen or the card that was chosen is a big competitive advantage.

Bilgewater doesn’t have good ways to interact with the opponent’s board, this card can provide that by stealing one of the opponent’s removal cards for example.

Swindle fits best in Shellfolk decks and Bilgewater decks that want to play slow. Bilgewater/SI Keg control is a good example of that.

Glory’s Call

Glory’s call is another 6 mana burst speed Shurima spell. This one isn’t meant to work with landmarks but rather synergize with Ascended champions Azir, Xerath, and Renekton. It manifests a card from the emperor’s deck that costs 9 or less, Glory’s Call costs 2 less for each Ascended unit that was played in this game.

Unfortunately, this card doesn’t fit in Mono Shurima decks since they don’t need more value after they’ve leveled Xerath and Azir, in fact, the main goal of that deck is to survive until they get the emperor’s deck, after that happens the game is usually already won.

Glory’s Call can be played outside of mono Shurima in a possible Jayce archetype that could utilize the 6 mana to get 2 cards from the emperor’s deck which is a least a little more value.

I don’t expect this card to see play at all sadly.

Sneezy Biggledust

Sneezy Biggledust is the new wide board payoff for Bandle City. it’s a 4 mana focus spell that gives +1/+1 to all allies or +2/+2 if they were created.

This is a very interesting card that can be compared to Yordle In Arms, but instead of working in a deck that has multi region followers, it’d be best played in decks that generate a lot of create units.

PnZ/Bandle City swarm with Lulu is a great example of a deck that can use this card really well. You can swarm the board with Flame Chompers and Daring Poros from Poro Cannon to play Sneezy Biggledust before a very powerful open attack.

I expect this card to have a lot of competitive potential, mainly with Faes, PnZ, and Yordles.

Bonus Deck: Sneezy Biggledust Chompers

Here’s an example of a solid deck that utilizes everything I said about Sneezy Biggledust

Deck code: CEDQCAYECIBAMCQ2FUAQEBROAIAQIDBNAICQVJYBW4AQCBAECAAQGAQCAMBAKCRRPABACBBHGQAQMBBHAA

[See Sneezy Biggledust Chompers deck details]

I hope you guys liked this card reveals analysis article, my DMS are always open if anyone wants to discuss what’s written in this article or anything LoR related!

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Forces From Beyond Impressions: Day 6 Variety Pack appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone, Kuvi here, for the second day of the new expansion Forces From Beyond. After getting Kai’Sa yesterday, today’s batch is a variety of cards from different regions.

To see the rest of the Forces From Beyond reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

We got Frostbite support, a new Yeti from Noxus, and a Daybreak card! Let’s get started!

Frozen in Fear

Frozen In Fear is a new 4 mana slow speed frostbite card that summons a Rimefang Pack that gets +1/+1 for each Frostbitten enemies this game. This is meant to be played in Frostbite decks alongside cards like Rimefang Denmother and many frostbite cards like Ashe, Icevale Archer, Flash Freeze, Brittle Steel, etc…

Frozen In Fear can be used as a great development punisher on defense since it frostbites a unit AND summons a blocker which is an amazing defensive effect comparable to Concussive Palm in Ionia.

However, Frejlord already has a frostbite development punisher that fills that role in Ashe decks, Icevale Archer.

Generally, Frostbite is a combat trick that wants to be used very reactively to either answer open attacks or save units in combat, the fact that Frozen in Fear is a slow-speed Frostbite spell makes it much much worse.

I like the design of this card but I personally don’t think it’ll see play in a competitive meta deck.

Cracking Ice

Cracking Ice is another 1 mana burst speed Frostbite spell for Frejlord with a very unique effect. You can target an enemy unit to Frostbite it on the next Round Start. The only effect close to this one that we currently have is Aphelios’ weapon Gravitum which stuns at the next round start as well.

Despite its very unique effect, this doesn’t really fit in Ashe decks or Frostbite decks. Again, Frostbite is great because it’s a premium combat trick, I don’t see how Cracking Ice can replace cards like Three Sisters or Flash Freeze. Three Sisters offers a high amount of versatility while being a great option for Ashe and Frostbite decks.

However, I can see Cracking Ice fitting in control lists like Feel the Rush because of its ability to create a fork. By frostbiting a unit on your defense turn, the opponent is forced to develop before attacking which makes them play into your slow speed wide board removals like Avalanche and Ruination.

Even though I believe this card won’t see much play due to its inability to affect the board instantly, I think it’s important to note that it’s a great answer to spellshield(Supercharge) due to its very low mana cost.

Captive Yeti

Ahh yes, the new Yeti support we’ve been waiting for, but in Noxus. Captive Yeti is a 6 mana 5/5 overwhelm that has a very original Reputation effect, it costs 3 less.

Mixing two different archetypes is something they’ve been doing a lot with the last card releases, this Yeti was meant to work in both Reputation and Yeti Archetypes.

Unfortunately, Yetis need cheaper units that can activate Abominable Guardian rather than other payoff cards.

Captive Yeti is too expensive to fit in Yeti decks, the cost reduction only happens when reputation is active, which would need 4 5+ units to have attacked before, and in that situation, we probably wouldn’t benefit from another 5/5 unit but would rather have a stronger finisher or a value card like Whispered Words or Incisive Tactician.

Captive Yeti also doesn’t fit in non-yeti reputation decks due to it being a worse Callous Bonecrusher.

Overall, I personally hope they keep experimenting with Yetis in other regions and even Elnuks in the future.

Solari Stellacorn

Solari Stellacorn is by far one of the worst-designed cards they’ve printed in a while. As a Hearthstone Priest main, I’m a huge fan of healing cards, and this one doesn’t really live up to anyone’s expectations.

Solari Stellacorn is a 5 mana 4/6 follower from Targon with a Daybreak effect that heals all allies 3 (not including your nexus).

This card is problematic for many reasons:

First, it doesn’t actually fit in any healing deck. Soraka/Tahm Kench can’t benefit from this since we’ve seen effects like Soraka’s spell Wish not see play at all in the archetype. On top of that, the Daybreak conditional effect makes it very awkward to use. You usually want to play Solari Stellacorn after an attack to heal up your board and level Soraka/Star Springs, but the Daybreak effect makes it impossible to use any combat tricks since Solari Stellacorn needs to be played first.

Secondly, Solari Stellacorn doesn’t fit AT ALL in ANY daybreak deck. Leona decks never want this effect for 5 mana on a unit with no keywords. In fact, it’s not only useless in Daybreak decks but it’s even making the archetype weaker by just existing.

Rah’vun, Daylight’s Spear, and Heavens Aligned are two amazing Daybreak cards that are getting WEAKER since Solari Stellacorn is now in the daybreak pool and can be generated by both.

And finally, having a new Stellacorn unit with an effect that competes DIRECTLY with the other unplayable Stellacorn in the game makes no sense design-wise.

Evelynn Husks

Desperate, Enraged, and Stubborn Husks are tokens and not maindeckable cards, Riot has been revealing them every day as a teaser for Evelynn since they most certainly are part of her package.

It’s hard to evaluate how strong they are without knowing what creates them but the flavor of having challenger in Noxus, Furry in Targon, and Regeneration in Frejlord is amazing.

Granting keywords is generally a very powerful effect so I can’t wait to see what it’s attached to.

I hope you guys liked this Card Reveals analysis article, my DMS are always open if anyone wants to discuss what’s written in this article or anything LoR related!

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Forces From Beyond Impressions: Day 2 Variety Pack appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone Kuvi here, today I’m gonna show you 7 different new decks to try on ladder with the new champs and cards from the latest LoR expansion Worldwalker.

This expansion is one of the most successful ones we’ve ever gotten, almost every new champion feels competitive and is very fun to play.

Most of these decks are competitive enough to be used to climb to Diamond/Masters from any starting rank. But they’re also great if you’re just looking to have fun and try new cards.

Let’s start with Annie:

1. Annie/Viktor

Deck Code: CECQEBQDBQHQGAIDAIUC4AQDAQBQKAIEAQIAEAIEGQ3AIAIGAMOACAYEBYAQCBABAEBAGAYCAEDAGDIBAUCAY

[See Annie Viktor deck details]

I was wrong about Annie, she’s actually pretty good and versatile, she’s amazing in multiple aggro lists, midrange, and even control.

The first list right here is a burn aggro Annie list. This deck uses Viktor and Ballistic Bot’s generated skills to level up Annie extremely fast. The skills also level up the new landmark, Ravenbloom Conservatory which gets you the game-winning follower Tybaulk. After you play Tybaulk, every single damage dealt with ignition from Ballistic Bot, Manasoul Student, Annie, Legion Saboteur, Boomcrew Rookie, Noxian Fervor and Decimate All deal +1 extra damage which helps you burn the opponent even faster.

The early aggro aspect of this deck comes from cards like Annie, Legion Saboteur, Boomcrew Rookie, and Boom Baboon. Station Archivist and Rummage are there for the late game value to find more burn.

Calculated Creations might seem a bit odd here but with Tybaulk, being able to generate another Ballistic Bot with Ignitions that deal 2 damage is huge to finish the game with the burn gameplan. The 1 health on Ballistic Bot should also not be dismissed.

If you like playing fast games and burning the opponent down, this is the perfect deck for you.

2. Annie Pirates

Deck Code: CECAEBQDBYOAEAQDBAEQIAQGAQOCMLIBAEBS4BABAYBQYAYCAYERUIABAMDAQAIGAYPACAIGAMGQ

[See Annie Pirates deck details]

Annie Pirates isn’t an aggro list, this is more of a midrange/control list with the same landmark. Ravenbloom Conservatory in this deck works really well with all the spells; Make it Rain, Death’s Hand, Twisted Fate’s Red card, Gangplank’s level 2 skill, and most importantly Riptide Rex.

Riptide Rex dealing 3 damage on each Cannon Barrage is always going to push enormous amounts of damage and usually finishes the game.

Zap Sprayfin and Eye of Nagakabouros are there for the draw value that also works well with TF. Arachnoid Sentry and Spell Slinger are great defensive cards that can buy you multiple turns.

Against small units, Make it Rain, TF Red Card and the cheap followers will help you control the board. Disintegrate and Flocks are there to deal with the big followers/champions that you need to remove.

This deck is slightly harder to play than the Viktor/Annie list but it’s certainly very fun to play.

3. Illaoi Heimer

Deck Code: CEBQIBIKEAY3OAOZAECQMBQGA4OB4IYBAIDAKAQDAUFBHJQB2EAQCAIEHAAQEBIKDWXAC

[See Illaoi Heimer deck details]

Illaoi Heimerdinger is one of the most underrated Illaoi decks. Using the same reasoning as Lux/Illaoi, Eye of Nagakabouros and Tentacle Smash are amazing spells on their own but they’re expensive, Lux and Heimer work really well with expensive spells because they get you to value and buy you back the tempo lost when playing those spells. In this case, Heimer is a great tool to stabilize the board and generate value.

This deck has many threats, Illaoi, Gleaming Lantern, Rainbowfish, The Sea’s Voice, and Yuumi. All of these can be very hard for the opponent to deal with especially when there’s more than 1 threat on the board.

• Hired Gun, Pokey Stick, and Conchologist are great early game tools to deal with pressure and generate value through trades.
• Stress Defense and Friendship are great as defensive tools to protect your key units or slow down the opponent’s game plan.
• Rainbowfish, Illaoi, and the Sea’s Voice are usually how you finish the game.

4. Illaoi Bard

Deck Code: CEDQCBQKDICAMBQGA4OCGAIGBEOQCAYGBABAEBQFEYAQMDABAECQMCQCAIBAMCJLAEBQMBYBAEDASLY

[See Illaoi Greatmother deck details]

This deck combines two new champions, Bard and Illaoi. It focuses on giving stats to all your units with Chimes to outvalue the opponent with trades and finish the game with either Illaoi combos or spells from Marai Greatmother.

The lack of cheap spells in this list is intentional, you always want to play Zap Sprayfin after playing Marai Greamother to draw the discounted spell that can be game-winning, in this video, I drew a 3 mana Skies Descend that won me the game.

The Illaoi package is a great tool to finish the game especially if Illaoi got hit by multiple Chimes while in hand.

Never keep Bard and always keep Marai Greatmother for the mulligan.

5. Bard Revna

Deck Code: CEDQCBQKDIBQCAIDCYZAEBQJDUXQCBIBAYAQMDABAECQVIIBAEDACHAEAECACCQBAIAQUAIDAEBACBIBAEBACAYBBEAQCAJZ

[See Bard Revna deck details]

This is a Bard Revna, the Lorekeeper deck that I made very recently. Hitting Chimes on Revna is game-winning. This is a midrange deck that focuses on outvaluing the opponent with stats and draw.

Pack Mentality and The Howling Abyss are great ways to finish the game since Pack Mentality can be used to give Overwhelm on high statted board and The Howling Abyss generates level 2 champs that should easily close out the game.

Frejlord doesn’t have that much draw but we’re playing every single card with that effect, Avarosan Sentry, Shared Spoils, and Murkwolf Shaman.

Gnar is a key card here since he’s a great body for Chimes hits and he generates Pokey Sticks. Since Draw is essential in bard lists, the Pokey Sticks are necessary to guarantee our value game plan and draw more Chimes.

Never play Tusk Speaker early, you want to keep it to activate Shared Spoils and Murkwolf Shaman especially when you don’t have Pokey Sticks from Gnar.

6. Jhin Aphelios

Deck Code: CEDAGAYJJFONSAIBAYBQ2AIBAMXACAYFAYAQMDACAEDASJQDAQBQSIZTKZQACBAJBUAQMAQDAMAQMAYPAICQSCQOAEBQSDI

[See Jhin Aphelios deck details]

Jhin is the least flexible champion out of the four new we’ve gotten. Even though his Runerra Ability allows you to play cards from every single region in the game, he’s still locked into a couple of competitive archetypes (mainly aggro with Annie).

This deck was made by Aikado. It’s a midrange Jhin list that uses all the stuns in the game to slow down the opponent’s game plan and outvalue with Aphelios weapons until The Winding Light comes down on the board to finish the game.

Aphelios’ weapons count for Jhin’s level up which is another great synergy between these two champs.

The stuns can be used either defensively against faster decks or aggressively against control or slow midrange.

This is one of the very few competitive Jhin lists that isn’t focused on Aggro or Burn.

7. Viego Noxus

Deck Code: CEDAGAYJJFONSAIBAYBQ2AIBAMXACAYFAYAQMDACAEDASJQDAQBQSIZTKZQACBAJBUAQMAQDAMAQMAYPAICQSCQOAEBQSDI

[See Viego Deserter deck details]

Last but not Least, Viego Katarina with Legion Deserter. This new archetype has taken over ladder during the last couple of days.

this is probably the highest winrate Katarina deck in the history of LoR.

This deck is strong because it does two specific things very well:

1. It has the best removal tools in the game:
   • Vengeance, Ravenous Flock and the new card Disintegrate are the best removal spells to deal with big units.
2. Pressures the opponent with too many threats:
   • Viego needs to be removed as fast as possible since his level-up is game-winning
   • Invasive Hydravine generates too much value, and pressure and buffs Legion Deserters every turn (gives them +2/+2 every round start)
   • Katarina is a great pressure tool with all the rallies combined with Fearsome/Overwhelm units and Blade’s Edge she generates are amazing with Disintegrate.
   • Legion Deserters are like the new They Who Endure, they grow way too big with all the Encroaching Mists and usually fork the opponent when combined with Atrocity.

Haunted Tomb is a great way to revive one of these threats if the opponent was able to deal with them.

This deck has the potential to dominate the meta in the future but still needs to be refined for sure.

Feel free to DM me on Twitter if you have any questions or just want to talk about LoR stuff!

The post 7 New Worldwalker Decks To Play appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone, Kuvira here, to analyze the new cards we’ve gotten for day 3 of the Worldwaker expansion!

Today they revealed 1 new follower and 5 new spells, all from different regions.

To see the rest of the Worldwalker reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

Wharf Rat

The first and only follower revealed today is Wharf Rat, it’s a bilgewater 2 mana 0/3 follower with overwhelm and an effect that makes him have +1 attack for each different round the enemy Nexus was damaged.

This effect is really cool, it’s supposed to fit in Bilgewater plunder archetypes as a great payoff or pressure tool.
In decks with cards like Warning Shot and Parrley, Wharf Rat can get pretty big very fast.

It could also see play in aggro noxus lists as a 2x or 1x to play on turn 5-6 for a lot of overwhelm damage.

Freljord + Bilgewater archetypes could also use Wharf Rat because they have access to cards like Tusk Speaker and Stances from Udyr and his followers.

Overall I think that Wharf Rat is really well designed, it’s fun and seems to be pretty balanced!

Inspiring Light

Inspiring Light is a slow speed 2 mana buff spell in Demacia, it grants all allies +1/+1.

This is similar to many board buffs in Demacia, Vanguard Bannerman, Garen etc… and basically is a better Battlefield Prowess.

I’m a huge fan of this card, the effect is very simple and it’s a solid consideration in every Demacia deck that wants to go wide. I could see Miss Fortune/Quinn decks playing this as 2x which would make their wide boards even scarier.

It’s important to note that Conchologist and Trinket Trade can now generate this card if you’re playing Demacia/Bandle City.

Inspiring Light would be really nice in an elusive deck, running multiple elusive units with Zed and buffing the whole board sounds terrifying.

Undergrowth

Undergrowth is by FAR the best and strongest card revealed today. It’s a Deep fast speed support spell that Tosses 3, Drains 2 from a unit, all of that for only 3 mana.

This card is truly insane for Deep decks, it’s an auto 3x. Deep is a deck that struggles against pressure in the earlier turns of the game, being able to slow down the opponent’s aggression by removing a unit AND advancing your gameplan by tossing and getting closer to deep is perfect.

In addition to the new Deep follower that was revealed yesterday, Mega Tusk, that heals allies and the nexus 3 when you hit Deep, the archetype will be able to take a lot of damage early and come back into the game with all the new available healing.

Apart from Deep, this can be used in SI Control archetypes, it’s much better than grasp that drains 3 for TWO extra mana which is a big difference. FTR and PnZ/SI control lists can easily run this card as a 2x depending on the meta.

Overall, this is an amazing card that should help Deep dominate the meta again!

Sands of Time

Sands of Time is a 6 mana burst speed spell from Shurima that gives enemies -2 attack for the round and creates an Instant Century in hand.

This is supposed to help Landmark archetypes, mainly Thralls. It can be used to nullify wide board attacks and accelerate your game plan by advancing a Thralls with the generated Instant Century.

Honestly, I underrated this card at first, but thinking about it a bit more, this could replace wide board removals like Avalanche in that list since it does two things, reduce pressure and advance your game plan compared to Avalanche that’s only good vs aggression.

6 mana is a little expensive for this effect but working with Jayce is a synergy that could be utilised by Shurima/Jayce lists.

Sands of Time is definitely not the strongest card in this batch but it still is very interesting.

Discreet Invitation

PnZ also got a new card today, but it’s a bit underwhelming. It’s a 2 mana burst speed spell that creates a fleeting Shady Character or Chempunk Shredder and reduces its cost by.

This is similar to other PnZ cards that let you create different followers like Calculated Creations. The problem with this card is that both of these followers never see play in any deck, Shady Character and Chempunk Shredder aren’t very good in terms of power level, especially Chempunk Shredder, but I can see Shady Character fit in a meme PnZ combo list!

My hypothesis is that they’re trying to make a ‘2 mana cards’ PnZ archetype work, the same way that Tri-Beam Improbulator is a 3 mana cards archetype.

We already have a great engine for that archetype, Insightful Investigator, in addition to the newly revealed PnZ card that generates 3 2 cost spells Sputtering Songspinner:

Overall, Discreet Invitation could see play in Viktor or PnZ value/control archetypes that are trying to deal with the opponent’s board while generating huge amounts of value or in some very niche Shady Characters combo deck.

Consult the Heavens

The sixth and last card revealed today is from none other than my favourite region Mount Targon. Consult the Heavens is a 6 mana burst speed spell that fully heals an ally then grows its power equal to its health. This is basically like Inner Fire from Hearthstone that fully heals the ally and costs SIX MANA.

Consult the heavens’ effect is very cool, it reminds me of combo Priest and it’s a very popular and loved effect. The problem is that it’s way too expensive for what it does, 6 mana to heal a unit and just give it attack isn’t great. Compare this to Redoubled Valor in demacia, it’s different since it’s a slow speed spell but it has a much higher ceiling than Consult the Heavens and it’s a lot less conditional.

This was probably meant to fit in Soraka decks, healing an ally to full to draw, help with Star Spring’s condition and make big health units able to trade or push damage. Unfortunately, I don’t think that Consult the Heavens will see play in Soraka archetypes since Astral Protection is a much better and cheaper spell for that deck.

This card will most likely see play in some crazy combo decks though, mainly Battering Ram deck, to make it a 16/12 overwhelm unit on 7!

I personally can’t wait to lose to this combo on ladder.

Which one of these 6 cards do you guys like the most Feel free to DM me on Twitter if you have any questions or just want to talk about LoR stuff!

The post Worldwalker Impressions: Day 3 Variety Pack appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone, Kuvira here for another awesome reveal season called Worldwalker.

The first revealed champion in this set is none other than Jhin the virtuoso! And he comes with a completely new mechanic, “Runeterra Champions”.

Runeterra champions completely alter the way you build decks. Adding one to your deck counts as one of your 2 regions and comes with specific deck-building rules and effects outlined in a new keyword, Origin.

These unique champions have a ton of unique potential for deckbuilding and rulebreaking that were never possible before.

Jhin

Now, let’s take a look at the showman himself, Jhin. Jhin is the first Runeterran champion we’ve seen so far and has the Origin: “The Virtuoso”. This Origin allows Jhin to put cards with skills from all other regions in his deck, but it also comes with additional effects.

For every 3 fast spells, slow spells, and skills you play while you Behold Jhin, play Lotus Trap. Lotus Trap is a skill that deals 1 to the enemy Nexus and, if you have Jhin in play, stuns the weakest enemy.

Using Jhin’s attack skill (Deadly Flourish) as the third skill for activating Lotus Traps deals 2 damage to the weakest enemy on attack in addition to stunning it, allowing Jhin to be more consistent removal if you time your skills right and giving him a higher skillcap than it might seem at first glance.

Looking at the pool of cards he gives you access to and the speed Jhin wants to play, stunning enemies to push more damage on attacks and dealing direct nexus damage, having a strong set of cheaper, early game followers with skills to begin activating Lotus traps and push early damage has potential to be the best way to play Jhin.

Some of the best existing followers with skills for Jhin include Crackshot Corsair, Solari Sunhawk, Arachnoid Sentry, Tusk Speaker, Doombeast, and Imperial Demolitionist. Jhin is best paired with regions that enable tempo oriented gameplans and can help him end games with over the top burn.

Using the early game discard package from Piltover and Zaun with Chompers and Boom Baboon to pull away blockers, ending games with Mystic Shots and Get Excited! seems like a really good option. Also, Bilgewater’s pings and early game using the Plunder package combined with Jhin’s Lotus Traps seems like a recipe for success, enabling Plunder and ending games with GP or The Dreadway.

Compared to Yasuo for example, Jhin levels up in the deck which offers a lot more deckbuilding flexibility since you don’t need to keep him alive on the board. On top of that Jhin’s cards work even when he’s not on the board compared to Yasuo decks where you need him to be on the board for his cards to actually impact the game.

Jhin’s level 2 attack effect deals 4 instead of 2 to all stunned enemy units AND the enemy nexus which makes him a great tool to finish the game.

Dancing Grenade

Dancing Grenade is a two part combo slow speed spell that has a powerful effect on the next turn you play it.

Jhin’s champion spell seems fairly weak, 4 mana slow deal 1 to unit is really underwhelming, You do however get the second bounce on next round start that is a 0 mana slow speed deal 4 to a unit.

It does payback for the tempo loss on the first turn you’re playing it but being forced to play Second Bounce because it’s fleeting can be quite intricate and easy to avoid for the opponent.

Dancing Grenade + Stress Testing is a really cute combo that can allow you to remove fleeting from the Second Bounce 0 mana deal 4 to a unit and keep it in your hand. This can be a pain for the opponent to play around and can even be copied with cards like counterfeit copies.

We don’t know yet if champion spells from Runeterra Champions can be main decked without their champion so that still needs to be confirmed.

Gruesome Theatre

Gruesome Theatre is a really cool card, it’s a 2 mana fast speed Ionia spell that recalls a unit that has 3 or less health from yours or your opponent’s board. This is comparable to quicken in Bandle City that has the same effect but for 3 or less attack units.

This works really well with Ionia’s recall flavour and can be used to protect an allied unit or recall an enemy unit to slow down the enemy’s aggression.

I can see Gruesome Theatre fit in archetypes like Kennen/Ahri where you benefit from the recall and the flexibility of slowing down aggro decks.

However, I don’t think that Gruesome Theatre will fit in any type of Jhin decks. It doesn’t synergize with him in any way apart from being a fast speed spell that counts for his level up.

Even if this card helps Yasuo level up in Yasuo/Jhin midrange archetypes, I don’t think it’ll see play. Stunning an enemy is an effect that is way more valuable in this type of deck.

Feel free to DM me on Twitter if you have any questions or just want to talk about LoR stuff!

The post Worldwalker Impressions: Jhin appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone, Kuvira here, back at it again with another design article featuring the proud military kingdom of Demacia!

Surprisingly, Demacia is the region that I ended up working on the most.

I’ve come up with over 30+ changes to different Demacia cards from the foundation set to the latest expansion.

In this article, I decided to showcase 10 changes without including any champions.

Let’s get started

1. Petricite Broadwing

Petricite Broadwing is the most played Demacia unit, followers and champions included. It’s present in almost HALF all Demacia decks despite being tied to the formidable archetype that was introduced in the latest expansion.

Demacia already has its fair share of Challenger units, but Petricite Broadwing is by far the best. A 2 mana 0|3 Challenger with formidable is way too strong.

Every card in the game has a value floor and value ceiling, meaning that every card provides X amount of value in the worst-case scenario and Y amount of value in the best case. Cards that have a high floor X and high ceiling Y are always better than cards with the opposite values.

Petricite Broadwing’s value floor AND ceiling are way too high. In the worst-case scenario, it’s a 2 mana 3|3 Challenger unit that trades into something and dies, the opponent will always be down on value if they try to remove it with a spell since it has 3 health, Get Excited, Culling Strike, etc… all cost 3+ mana compared to Petricite Broadwing that costs 2.

The card’s ceiling is also extremely high. When combined with cards like Troll Chant, Shield of Durand, Elixir of Iron, or any other spell that buffs health, Petricite Broadwing becomes unkillable with damage spells and starts trading with big champions and followers without dying.

Formidable is a keyword that weakens followers when they take damage but it’s not enough of a drawback for this card to not be overpowered.

Figuring out how to change Petricite Broadwing was pretty challenging. The cost can’t really be changed since 3 mana would break the curve of the archetype it was designed in and the only changeable stat is its health, which is also impossible to change, 2 health would be too weak. All of this means that the only alterable factors are its keywords, the problem is that it has to keep Formidable since it’s the archetype it belongs in, and challenger can’t be changed since it’s a bird, and ALL BIRDS in Demacia have Challenger.

This is the change that I came up with:

This change is obviously very similar to Fleetfeather Tracker but Petricite only gets Challenger for the round after you play a unit.

I feel like this is a great condition that reduces both of Petricite Broadwing’s value floor and ceiling. Making the card still playable in the Formidable archetype but less of an auto 3x in every single competitive Demacia deck.

2. Dawnspeakers

Dawnspeakers is a card that holds a lot of sentimental value to me, it’s the first card I’ve ever crafted for the “Dawnspiders” deck that everyone was playing during the first weeks when
the open beta got released. This deck was actually made by Precipic and me in closed beta.

If you guys were curious, it looked like this. Believe it or not, this was the first-ever LoR meta Deck and ladder was full of mirrors of this during the first couple of weeks.

Dawnspeakers was used here to buff the spider-filled board and make everything huge. Unfortunately, when people started playing Burn, Control, and Elusives, Dawnspiders disappeared from the meta.

Dawnspeakers is a pretty unique card, I believe it was designed to fit in Lucian/Senna decks since those archetypes already benefit from allies dying. The problem is that the round end effect is somewhat clunky, you don’t get anything when an ally dies until the next turn which is too slow. On top of that, it’s reliant on board but needs you to kill your own units, this leads to emptying hands fast.

The rework that I’m suggesting should help the card see play in the archetype it was initially designed to synergize with while making it considerable in other decks like ephemerals swarm.

The instant effect can create interesting spots that the opponent has to play around. This new version can be used to protect a unit by sacrificing another with Single Combat for Example, or push damage when used before or during attacks.

3. Radiant Strike

In the spirit of helping Lucian and his archetypes, I want to talk about Radiant Strike. +1|+1 at Burst speed for 1 mana isn’t that bad, in fact, this card has seen play during Shen/Fiora metas where cheap combat tricks were really important.

Unfortunately with the game’s power creep, Radiant Strike completely stopped seeing play when better combat tricks like Troll Chant, Sharpsight, and Pale Cascade… got released.

The rework I’m suggesting is meant to make Radiant Strike a great spell in the “allies dying” archetype of Demacia and other SI decks, especially now that Sharpsight isn’t a staple combat trick after its nerf.

This change makes sense with Demacia cards like Radiant Guardian Vanguard Redeemer, Dawnpeakers, Lucian, etc… Primarily when combined with Shadow Isles.

4. Kadregrin the Ruined

Kadregrin the Ruined is a Demacia dragon that came out during the Viego/Akshan expansion with the Ruined followers package. It was meant to work with Viego and or Dragon decks.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t seen play in either of those archetypes. In fact, it’s in the top 5 least played Demacia cards and this is mainly due to its very underwhelming effect. A 6 mana follower that grants another dragon or champion challenger on play is such an expensive effect for its cost.

I’m assuming that the idea was to stay in Demacia’s challenger flavor while giving Dragons and Viego decks a way to remove the opponent’s units by challenging them.

I wanted to keep the same initial design goal when reworking this card, so I came up with this:

This is still very flavorful since Demacia is all about strike effects and provides a much more powerful effect than just Challenger.

Kadregrin the Ruined can now be played on defense turns and actually do something, instead of paying 6 mana for no effect that same turn. I can see this new version in many Dragon decks, curving it with Shyvana to level her on defense/before the attack, or with Fused Firebrand since it has Spellshield. It also doesn’t feel awkward to play Kadregrin the Ruined on Screeching Dragon now which is very important for Dragon archetypes.

Apart from Dragons, this change also works really well with Viego. It allows you to sacrifice an ally to trigger Viego’s effect and remove a unit from the opponent’s board.

5. Vanguard Lookout

Have you guys ever put this card in any of your decks? No? Neither have I. 4 health on turn 2 is a great defensive stat, the problem is that it has no effect at all apart from being an Elite.

It has never seen play in elite decks and will never see play if it doesn’t actually do something to help the archetype. Even though Elites got multiple huge buffs in the latest patch in addition to a unique new spell, the archetype is still not seeing enough play on ladder. However, the changes have moved elites from a meme archetype to a playable one which is nice.

I remember LoR devs have said in the past that their goal is to make every card at least considerable/playable in some decks, meme or not, as long as they’re seeing play.

Elites is a deck that vomits out units on the board and buffs them all to put pressure on the opponent. One of their main weaknesses is card advantage since Demacia is not known for having draw or card generation. The rework I’m suggesting for Vanguard Lookout should fix that issue.

This is inspired by one of my favorite Demacia cards, Egghead Researcher. This change should help Elite decks replenish their hand after getting their units removed while also working with Elite-specific cards like Penitent Squire and Vanguard Squire.

Egghead Researcher was played in decks outside of Dragons, Lux/Karma, Fiora/Shen, etc… and I expect Vanguard Lookout to also see play in archetypes other than Elites which is nice in terms of deckbuilding creativity and deck diversity.

The rest of these changes are pretty self-explanatory so I won’t be writing as much about them:

6. Tianna Crownguard

7. Kadregrin the Infernal

8. Brightsteel Protector

9. Golden Aegis

10. Reinforcements

I want to thank “Zinke”, an LoR player and friend who helped me with some of these changes, mainly Radiant Strike.

Feel free to DM me on Twitter if you have any questions or just want to talk about LoR stuff!

The post 10 Demacia Balance Changes Proposed by Kuvira appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hi everyone, Kuvira here.

My last design article was about one of my favorite regions, Frejlord.

This time around, I’ll be covering 5 changes from the best pink region, Ionia.

Let me know what you think of my proposed changes in the comments below or submit your own!

1. Shadowshift

This change is one of my favorite changes I’ve ever made. In my last Noxus design article, I talk about my philosophy with champion spells, to sum it up, the perfect champion spells need to synergize with the champion, help it level up, and be playable in decks without the champion.

Zed’s current champion spell doesn’t do any of the three things I mentioned, it doesn’t help him level up, it doesn’t truly synergize with him and it was never ever main decked in a competitive deck or even in meme decks since it doesn’t create any unique combo.

The version of Shadowshift I came up with does multiple things:

• It helps Zed Level up. If you use Shadowshift on Zed, an ephemeral copy of him starts a free attack which summons a living shadow. If the opponent doesn’t block either, Zed levels up.
• It synergizes with Zed’s Level 2, you can buff him and give him keywords like elusive or overwhelm then use Shadowshift to attack with an ephemeral copy of Zed that summons an exact copy of zed’s stats and keywords.
• It’s a great card for Ephemeral archetypes like Hecarim which is, I believe, one of Zed’s main archetypes.
• It enables new archetypes, a Rumble deck can use this to level Rumble on the same turn, Anivia decks can use this as well to attack with an ephemeral Anivia that deals 2 damage to the whole board and summon a non-ephemeral egg when she dies, essentially making another Anivia, and many other archetypes…

2. Ritual of Renewal

This is another Ionia spell that has been in the game since the foundation set. Ritual of Renewal never saw play in any competitive deck, it never even made it in any popular tier 3 or meme decks in the past.

It’s a 7 mana Slow speed spell that heals an ally or the nexus 7 and draws 1. This card has many problems; its cost is too high, 7 mana to fully heal an ally or heal the nexus is way too expensive even with the draw 1 effect. Healing is a reactive mechanic, having it attached to a Slow speed spell often feels underwhelming and counterproductive when the effect isn’t extremely good.

Ritual of Renewal is designed to work with Karma. With her level 2’s effect, Ritual of Renewal is doubled which makes it heal 14 and draw 2. When combined with Karm, healing the nexus to full and drawing 2 is a great way to come back into the game, but even in this perfect case scenario, the payoff isn’t enough.

For this card, I wanted to mainly focus on its synergy with Karma while also making the effect interesting enough to warrant experimentation in other archetypes.

I decided to keep the flavor of healing and drawing cards while adding an additional effect that would be interesting in Karma decks or any archetype that wants to play for the late game.

The cost reduction to 6 and speed change to Burst already makes this spell much more considerable in most slow Ionia decks. It becomes comparable to Starshaping, a 5 mana spell that heals 4 and generates a card.

The enlightened effect reduces the cost of the drawn card by the amount healed. Let’s say that healed a damaged ally 4, you will draw a card and reduce its cost by 4. If you target your nexus and fully heal 6, the drawn card’s cost will be reduced by 6.

When combined with Karma, the healing and drawing happen twice and the cost reduction applies to each drawn card separately. If you have Karma level 2 on the board and you use this spell on your 12 health nexus, it will be copied, the first one will heal 6 (putting the nexus at 18) draw you a card, and reduce its cost by 6, the second one will heal the remaining 2 on the same target, in this case, the nexus, draw you a card and reduce its cost by 2.

Ritual of Renewal could also fit in Lux decks (Lux/Karma), Jayce, Heimer, or even mageseeker archetypes.

I really wanted to keep the comeback mechanic that Ritual of Renewal offers and make it much more interesting and playable without it being too complicated.

3. Shadow Flare

As you’ve probably noticed by now, Ionia has quite a high number of useless spells that have never seen play, Shadow Flare is one of them. It’s a 6 mana Fast speed spell that is supposed to be used as a removal/combo tool for the Ephemerals archetype.

It can be used on attack or defense to grant all battling followers Ephemeral. In theory, this can clear out the opponent’s board if they fully swing which sounds like a great removal tool. The problem is that it allows units to strike before dying, which means taking nexus damage or losing blockers to the attack.

Compared to removal spells like Vengeance or Concerted Strike, Shadow Flare doesn’t help you deal with threats and never advances you to an ahead position.

Another problem is that it doesn’t target champions. In most cases, champions put more pressure compared to followers, they often are the main win condition of each deck, and having a removal spell that can’t interact with them often feels clunky.

Not being able to target or deal with backrow followers is another major issue with this spell. Shadow Flare’s flexibility as a removal spell is just far too low.

Again, my goal is to redesign cards without changing the main flavor but make them playable, and in this case, make them make sense.

This version is also a 6 mana fast speed spell but with a different effect; if you have an ephemeral ally, it grants all followers, in combat or not, Ephemeral.

I’m a huge fan of this effect since it doesn’t lose its minor combo aspects while offering a spell that actually makes sense in ephemeral archetypes as a removal tool. If you think about it, it’s like how Reckoning is the wide board removal tool for the 5+ attack units in Noxus, Shadow Flare becomes a good wide board removal tool for the Ephemeral archetype.

This version still only targets followers, but the ability to play this on defense solves the problem of open attacks that would need to be blocked and it deals with backrow followers.

This Shadow Flare balances itself since it needs the condition of having at least one ephemeral ally, which makes it fizzelable like Reckoning for example. And since Ephemerals die at the end of each round, you’ll need to commit mana into summoning an Ephemeral unit to be able to use the spell.

I can see Shadow Flare seeing play in Hecarim/Zed and Viego decks since they both already have great ephemeral synergy.

4. Zinneia, Steel Crescendo

I know what you’re thinking, buffing Irelia decks is terrifying, I agree but that is not my goal here. This is one of Irelia’s followers, it’s designed to be a game finisher/pressure tool for the blade dance archetype but it completely fails to do that.

Zinneia has never seen play in Irelia decks, in fact, people removed it from their decks a couple of hours after the new patch dropped.

It’s an 8 mana Elusive follower that attacks multiple times whenever you blade dance. It also has a strong play effect that makes sense, which is a good thing to have on an expensive follower.

The problem is that 8 mana is way too expensive for the blade dance archetype. Irelia decks have a certain speed, they want to set up their combos in the early 1-2-3 turns and start putting pressure on turns 4-5-6. They usually aim to finish the game by turn 7 in the worst scenarios. Having a follower that comes down much later than 6-7 just doesn’t make sense.

When you play Zinneia on turn 8, you’ll still need to play blade dance cards on turns 9-10+ to get value out of her and finish the game.

Here’s a little graph that illustrates the problem(pardon my paint skills):

I didn’t rework Zinneia’s effect but decided to simply reduce the mana cost to 6 in addition to changing the statline accordingly, from a 3|5 to a 2|3.

I am aware that this effect can be very hard to balance, but this version should allow Zinneia to fit the speed of the blade dance archetype better without creating any unhealthy situations.

5. Sown Seeds

Yes, another Ionia spell that has never seen play. Currently, the only Ionia archetype that would benefit from + attack hand buffs is elusives. A future Ionia hand buff archetype is very likely going to come out which is why this card doesn’t need any major reworks in my opinion.

+1 attack to every unit in hand is not worth it. Why spend 2 mana on this effect when you can bank for spells like Twin Disciplines that can be used during combat. Keeping mana up is also something the opponent has to keep in mind, which can force them to make less optimal plays or play awkwardly.

Even if the hand is full of units, which is the ceiling value for this card, it doesn’t provide that much compared to units that buff the whole board on play or summon like Keeper of Masks in the same region.

The change that I’m suggesting is quite simple and flavourful. This version of Sown Seeds gives you the option between granting a +1 attack to units in hand or +1 health instead. I like this change for multiple reasons.

First, +1 health to the whole hand can be significantly better in some spots depending on the deck. The flexibility between protecting a unit or putting pressure on the opponent is something really flavorful to Ionia, we see that with Twin Disciplines and Scaled Snapper for example.
I would love for Ionia to go deeper into cards that have two different effects, defensive and aggro. I could see that being a totally unique archetype for the region.

I quickly created a follower that I imagined would fit really well in this possible future archetype:

I want to thank “Zinke”, an LoR player and friend who helped me with some of these changes.

Feel free to DM me on Twitter if you have any questions or just want to talk about LoR stuff!

The post 5 Ionia Balance Changes Proposed by Kuvira appeared first on Mobalytics.