Welcome to TLG’s newest meta snapshot for Legends of Runeterra, a series in which we give you our insight on the best decks in the higher ranks of the ladder.
Every Sunday, we discuss the decks that are part of the week’s meta and rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. We also look at the evolution of said decks’ ratings across weeks and draw conclusions regarding the current state of the game, all of this so you can delve into your own ranked journey with a head start.
The difference between EU and NA in terms of deck-building became very clear this week. To put it metaphorically, in a martial arts tournament, the EU players would be the boxers who double down on honing their technique, while the NA ones prefer to find an alternative technique or style that can swing the fight in their favour.
In NA, there’s more experimentation like including Jack, The Winner in the good old Swain-TF, adding Blinding Assault to Lux-ASol and the creation of entirely new decks such as Trundle-Lee. At the same time, the NA meta feels extremely close, to the point where we omitted Tier 3. While you can find decks like Endure, MF Scouts and Ashe-Sejuani in the EU section, we excluded them from the NA section of the report because they aren’t seeing enough play in the region.
Graphics: WellMax81
Editing: Crixuz, Wusubi, Ultraman, Sebodunum, ShadowplayRed
EU Consultants: Dartill, Kuvira, Minuano, Zezetel
NA Consultants: GlopNA, Saucekay, Kozmic, RattlingBones, IPingUListen, NicMakesPlays, RiceFT, Earlmeister
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Swain’s threat levels are off the charts, forcing removals and terrifying your opponents at the mere thought of him hitting their Nexus once. With many early game removal cards and the extra damage granted by the kegs, Swain will always be leveled-up. What’s more, you’ll have access to Swain in the late game thanks to The Leviathan. (Deck from RattlingBones)
Rating change: Unchanged
In NA, Swain-TF saw the inclusion of Jack, The Winner. The 2 free damage each turn is great, and more importantly, the deck is no longer forced to commit to an attack or be proactive from Turn 5 onwards, while slowly chipping away at the opponent.
To understand this, consider your matchup against ASol-Trundle. Traditionally, against a control opponent, you need to attack, otherwise you’ll allow your opponent to stall and win with their superior late game cards. Towards the mid game, Trundle can sometimes punish proactive plays - unless your board is really wide to begin with, in which case you’re winning anyway.
Jack, the Winner allows you to both deal damage and avoid passing your turn completely or losing pieces of your board each time you commit to an attack.
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GP-MF is an aggressive Burn deck that has come back in style as of late. The deck currently runs Jack, the Winner, who has an impressive statline which sees very few punishes as your Turn 5 play. Jack, the Winner’s ability creates a free card that allows you to deal 2 zero-cost damage in the following turn, while enabling Gangplank.
With Jack, the Winner atop of the previous arsenal that GP-MF is used to having, you quickly approach critical mass in terms of Burn potential. Every card represents some form of reach, which can be truly terrifying to play against.
Rating change: +0.25 stars
The deck is well-positioned, as there aren’t many decks seeking to counter it at the moment. It’s favored by players of all ranks, just because it performs reliably. You can choose to play it in a fairly straightforward manner, or take it to a higher level and be mindful of your mulligans and sequencing in order to outplay the opponent.
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Stall the game with your infinite heals while ramping up to ASol. If the opponent puts down a lot of minions, Avalanche will kill them all, while Trundle keeps the bigger threats in check. In the late game, ASol combined with the Invoked Celestials are sure to bring you a sweet victory. (Deck from Raystlin)
Rating change: -0.5 stars
ASol-Trundle has come down from its lofty position in last week’s meta snapshot, because decks like GP-MF and Fiora-Shen are becoming more prominent. GP-MF in particular puts a lot of pressure on ASol-Trundle. Our NA players think that Warmother is strong against ASol-Trundle (Vile Feast ping + Vengeance), but our EU players don’t support this argument.
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While surprising, this list utilizes the best cards out of most of Bilgewater’s decks. Ravenous Flock and Guillotine from Swain-TF and the Nab package from EZ-TF came together to create this monster. The deck is consistent, continuously refilling your hand with both aggressive and control options, including several incredible removals. (Deck from Ultraman_CCG)
Rating change: Unchanged
For now, GP-TF maintains its position in the meta. The deck is more tempo-centric than Swain-TF and doesn’t rely on having to draw its 5- or 8- drops.
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Lux’s core goes well with ASol’s late game, offering you multiple options of both healing and removal, while maintaining board presence at all times. Concerted Strike and Single Combat help you deal with most of the threats Midrange and Aggro possess, thereby making up for Targon’s biggest weakness.
Radiant Guardian and Starshaping ensure that you’ll survive until Invoke or ASol finishes the game. (Deck from RattingBones)
Rating change: +0.25 stars
The deck now has 2 copies of Blinding Assault. Radiant Guardian offers tremendous value, provided you can activate her ability. One downside of playing Lux-ASol is that some decks can reliably deny Radiant Guardian. In this case, you should avoid letting their units die if they have 5+ mana. With Blinding Assault, you can force a trade and play an activated Radiant Guardian.
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Ramping is trending, and who could make a better use of that than Warmother’s Call? This terrifying spell will overwhelm your opponent with huge monsters, but it comes at a big cost of 12 Mana. Use your AoEs at the right time to survive the early game and let Trundle stabilize your board until the call is made!
Rating change: +0.75 stars
While the deck doesn’t have a good matchup vs Lee Sin, it’s able to thrive by virtue of all the Bilgewater decks running around.
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Lee Sin is the primary win condition of this Midrange list, kicking his way through the opposition thanks to multiple spells to protect him. Keep your Lee Sin alive, wait until your opponent lowers their guard, then strike them down with a Zenith Blade.
Rating change: +0.25 stars
Lee Sin’s rating is steadily climbing. Deny and Bastion are incredible against any deck that tries to be greedy (e.g. Warmother).
There’s a split in opinion on which is the best Lee Sin deck. Mono Lee Sin and Zed-Lee are commonly played on ladder, but we have another Lee-Trundle pairing that we included in the Bonus Decks section (it isn’t seeing much play just yet).
NA describes Mono Lee Sin as “all-in” while Zed-Lee goes for an earlier win condition using the chip damage provided by Zed. Our NA players also believe that Zed-Lee is more consistent, because you aren’t as much at the mercy of drawing your Lee Sin. Moreover, the inclusion of Zed gives you another good candidate for Zenith Blade.
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“Barriers, barriers everywhere...” - that’s what your opponent will be saying by the end of the game! A classic Demacian combo, with multiple challengers and the means of protecting them. This deck is a nightmare for unprepared opponents lacking the removals and pokes in order to break your multiple shields.
On the other hand, watch out for cheaper spells that are usually able to counter your barriers for a lesser mana cost; they might end up removing most of your threats.
Rating change: +0.25 stars
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GP-MF is an aggressive Burn deck that has come back in style as of late. The deck currently runs Jack, the Winner, who has an impressive statline which sees very few punishes as your Turn 5 play. Jack, the Winner’s ability creates a free card that allows you to deal 2 zero-cost damage in the following turn, while enabling Gangplank.
With Jack, the Winner atop of the previous arsenal that GP-MF is used to having, you quickly approach critical mass in terms of Burn potential. Every card represents some form of reach, which can be truly terrifying to play against.
Rating change: +0.5 stars
The deck is well-positioned, as there aren’t many decks seeking to counter it at the moment. It’s favored by players of all ranks, just because it performs reliably. You can choose to play it in a fairly straightforward manner, or take it to a higher level and be mindful of your mulligans and sequencing in order to outplay the opponent.
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Stall the game with your infinite heals while ramping up to ASol. If the opponent puts down a lot of minions, Avalanche will kill them all, while Trundle keeps the bigger threats in check. In the late game, ASol combined with the Invoked Celestials are sure to bring you a sweet victory. (Deck from Raystlin)
Rating change: -0.25 stars
ASol-Trundle has come down from its lofty position in last week’s meta snapshot, because decks like GP-MF and Fiora-Shen are becoming more prominent. GP-MF in particular puts a lot of pressure on ASol-Trundle. Our NA players think that Warmother is strong against ASol-Trundle (Vile Feast ping + Vengeance), but our EU players don’t support this argument.
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Swain’s threat levels are off the charts, forcing removals and terrifying your opponents at the mere thought of him hitting their Nexus once. With many early game removal cards and the extra damage granted by the kegs, Swain will always be leveled-up. What’s more, you’ll have access to Swain in the late game thanks to The Leviathan.
Rating change: -0.25 stars
In EU, Swain-TF continues to be the “reliability monster,” but with the gradual refining of Mono Lee Sin and Fiora-Shen decks, Swain-TF’s rating sees a slight drop. EU Masters players are playing with the tournament qualification in mind, meaning they are less incentivised to play “fun” decks. This removes one of Swain-TF’s greatest strengths - the ability to punish janky decks.
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Lee Sin is the powerful win condition of this Midrange list, kicking his way through the opposition thanks to multiple spells to protect him. Keep your Lee Sin alive, wait until your opponent lowers their guard, then strike them down with a Zenith Blade.
Rating change: +0.5 stars
Lee Sin’s rating is steadily climbing. Deny and Bastion are incredible against any deck that tries to be greedy (e.g. Warmother).
There’s a split in opinion on which is the best Lee Sin deck. Mono Lee Sin and Zed-Lee are commonly played on ladder, but we have another Lee-Trundle pairing that we included in the Bonus Decks section (it isn’t seeing much play just yet).
Our EU players prefer the Mono Lee version. Solari Priestess can Invoke a copy of Written in Stars, which is used to tutor Lee Sin. Hence, EU argues that not playing a second champion is ultimately more consistent . EU also believes that Zed at 2 health is too easy a target to kill with all the Death’s Hand, Solari Shieldbearer and Single Combat flying around.
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While surprising, this list utilizes the best cards out of most of Bilgewater’s decks. Ravenous Flock and Guillotine from Swain-TF and the Nab package from EZ-TF came together to create this monster. The deck is consistent, continuously refilling your hand with both aggressive and control options, including several incredible removals. (Deck from Ultraman_CCG)
Rating change: Unchanged
For now, GP-TF maintains its position in the meta. The deck is more tempo-centric than Swain-TF and doesn’t rely on having to draw its 5- or 8- drops.
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Lux’s core goes well with ASol’s late game, offering you multiple options of both healing and removal, while maintaining board presence at all times. Concerted Strike and Single Combat help you deal with most of the threats Midrange and Aggro possess, thereby making up for Targon’s biggest weakness.
Radiant Guardian and Starshaping ensure that you’ll survive until Invoke or ASol finishes the game. (Deck from RattingBones)
Rating change: Unchanged
The deck now has 2 copies of Blinding Assault. Radiant Guardian offers tremendous value, provided you can activate her ability. One downside of playing Lux-ASol is that some decks can reliably deny Radiant Guardian. In this case, you should avoid letting their units die if they have 5+ mana. With Blinding Assault, you can force a trade and play an activated Radiant Guardian.
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Tempo Endure combines a great early game with a nearly unbeatable late game combo. Start off by swarming the board with your cheap units, before applying pressure on your opponent with big tempo plays revolving around Barkbeast, Cursed Keeper and a Sacrifice enabler.
During the mid game, keep up the pressure with Wraithcaller and Kalista, who both put in tremendous work. If your opponent somehow manages to stabilize the board, the joke’s on them, since They Who Endure finishes the job. (Deck from Precipic)
Rating change: +0.25 stars
The deck can highroll with Barkbeast, Cursed Keeper and Ravenous Butcher, sometimes becoming undefeatable. Besides that, Endure doesn’t have any heavily-favored matchup. Against Targon, the pressure from Hush alone can make you lose the game, unless you have multiple copies of They Who Endure in hand.
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“Barriers, barriers everywhere...” - that’s what your opponent will be saying by the end of the game! A classic Demacian combo, with multiple challengers and the means of protecting them. This deck is a nightmare for unprepared opponents lacking the removals and pokes in order to break your multiple shields.
On the other hand, watch out for cheaper spells that are usually able to counter your barriers for a lesser mana cost; they might end up removing most of your threats.
Rating change: Unchanged
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Ramping is trending, and who could make a better use of that than Warmother’s Call? This terrifying spell will overwhelm your opponent with huge monsters, but it comes at a big cost of 12 Mana. Use your AoEs at the right time to survive the early game and let Trundle stabilize your board until the call is made! (Deck from AlanZQ)
Rating change: +0.25 stars
While the deck doesn’t have a good matchup vs Lee Sin, it’s able to thrive by virtue of all the Bilgewater decks running around.
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This deck embodies the concept of Midrange, dominating the early to mid-stages of the game and closing it out through sheer board presence. Cards with the Challenger keyword, alongside buffs, allow you to make favorable trades to win the early game. From there, the deck will snowball, quickly turning into an unstoppable force.
Rating change: Unchanged
This deck was played mainly to bully decks that have a tendency to brick (e.g. Warmother and ASol-Trundle). With Warmother seeing less play, it has lost one of its best matchups, while the refined ASol-Trundle deck offers more in terms of its early game and consistency now. To add fuel to the fire, the nerf to the “Cook” didn’t help the deck.
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Ashe-Sejuani fights for the board with its minions and freeze effects, the latter synergizing with Culling Strike and Reckoning. Since most of your units will have 5+ power from their natural stats or buffs given by Omen Hawk and Avarosan Hearthguard, the board-clear will do more harm in the opposing ranks than in yours.
You also have the opportunity to draw some cards with Trifarian Assessor, who will refill your hand in no time. In the late game, a leveled-up Ashe combined with Frostbite effects will prevent the survivors from blocking, which should grant you the victory.
Rating change: Returning deck
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Usually, the Bonus Decks section is for fun decks, but this week it features two meta-defining creations made by our very own GlopNA, who brought both these decks to a $1000 Invitational and achieved second place.
His first deck uses Trundle and Lee Sin, two powerful champions, but at its core it’s based around Starlit Seer. Each unit in the deck has incredible potential when buffed up by Starlit Seer, between the Elusive and Overwhelm units. Rivershaper has great synergy with spells like Troll Chant, allowing it to live through a strike and draw you additional spells.
You can survive the early game with spells and beefy units, then close the game out with an Augur of the Old Ones on a flipped Lee Sin to grant him Overwhelm. When Lee attacks with Overwhelm, he will kick the enemy into the Nexus, and then strike the Nexus regularly, effectively doubling his damage output. In this manner, a 10 power Lee can “one-shot” the opponent.
Alternatively, you can win with an extremely large Shadow Assassin or Trundle to get in unblockable damage. This deck is both fun and competitive and should find success on ladder against greedy decks such as Warmother.
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This is Glop’s take on Dragons, a deck that previously found success in both NA and EU Masters. However, in true 5Head fashion, Glop chose to remove the bad cards and added good cards instead. These include Solari Priestess to Invoke valuable cards and Bastion to protect your flying doggies against Concerted Strike.
Judgment and Starshaping rarely helped the deck’s game plan and have thus been substituted for cards such as Pale Cascade and Fused Firebrand to help you win the mid game and establish board control. You can win the game with a combination of Dragons and The Infinite Mindsplitter, or slam ASol and win with Celestials.
