Hello everyone, Majiinbae here!
With a few tournaments coming up soon, such as our very own Mastering Runeterra Qualifier #5, Runeterra Academy and other grassroots events, I figured now would be a good time to talk about the decks and strategies that I consider to be the best positioned at the moment.
A lineup being well positioned has more to it than just whether or not the deck is strong: it needs to have a plan. Am I playing the 3 best decks and hoping to bully weaker lineups? Perhaps you’re seeing a low amount of healing in the format and decide burn is very strong. Or too many people have been playing a specific deck so you build a lineup wholly focused on destroying it.
There are plenty of different strategies, and none are specifically better than any other, but I do find it important to at least have a plan. With that said let’s jump straight into lineup #1.
The "Always Ban Ahri Kennen" lineup
This lineup removes the possibility of playing against the best deck in the format by just always banning it, allowing some of the strategies that have been kept down by the Ahri menace to finally shine.
Pantheon Shyvana.
23 cards
17 cards
















Akshan Sivir
17 cards
23 cards

















Lurk
17 cards
23 cards















All 3 of these decks struggle against stuns and homecoming. When you remove those from the equation, suddenly all of the board centric/rally decks gain a lot of points against the expected field.
The "Beat Ahri Kennen" lineup
For this lineup, we go the opposite route: we want our opponent to play Ahri Kennen, since our lineup is favored into it.
Ahri Kennen Go Hard
37 cards
3 cards
















Darkness
16 cards
24 cards


















FTR
25 cards
15 cards
















I know it’s weird to put Ahri kennen in a lineup that is meant to beat Ahri Kennen but this specific version is fantastic in the mirror while also gaining you a lot of points against spiders (which you also really want to beat).
This lineup is looking to crush anyone who brings the best deck, and all three of these picks are teched out specifically for that reason -- that's why we have multiple one-mana ping spells such as Go Hard and Group Shot
, and we slot extra copies of The Box
and Withering Wail
.
The Anti-Control lineup
You’re here to ruin Control players' day, and that’s all you care about.
Turbo Thralls
20 cards
20 cards
















Pantheon Taric
15 cards
25 cards















Lulu Zed Rally
19 cards
21 cards














With the huge flux in anti Ahri lineups, the next level becomes a lineup built to prey on the decks flooded with pings and damage based AOE removal such as Avalanche and Withering Wail
.
We switched from Pantheon Shyvana to the Taric variation because the extra focus on rallies and copies of Bastion make it even more difficult for the control player to deal with your board. This lineup has several counters, though, and is really looking to take advantage of an expected field -- if you don’t run into things like Darkness and FTR/Anivia, then you might be in trouble.
Closing Words
Remember: a lineup's strength always depends on what you expect your opponents to bring to the fight. There are many strategies, but you need to at least have a plan.
Good luck out there!