6 Decks that Almost Made Me Quit Runeterra

Heya everyone, Sorry here! I've been playing Legends of Runeterra since its Beta days, so about 3 years now. While I love Runeterra and have had an overall positive experience, there have been metas where playing the game was too stressful and tilting.

Ultimately, busted decks end up getting nerfed, but it might take longer than usual for some decks to get nerfed. It's in these moments that players' mental is put to the test – enduring the climb up the ranked ladder against a single deck that asserts its dominance over the meta.

Today, I'll take you through a nostalgic tour of old decks in the Legends of Runeterra history that nearly made me contemplate hitting the uninstall button.

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1- Fizz Twisted Fate

The mere mention of Fizz Twisted Fate sends shivers down my spine. My Twitch streams back then often ended with pure tilt after continuously getting crushed by Fizz Twisted Fate. I remember going into tournaments with the sole purpose of countering the deck just to put it in its place, and as you guessed, that didn't go too well.

Fizz Twisted Fate was crushing the ladder with most of the meta crumbling against the Elusive threat it creates. Wiggly Burblefish used to be a 3|1 for 6 mana only, combined with Iterative Improvement, players could easily go wide with 0 mana elusive units ready to strike down the Nexus.

Twisted Fate was an easy level-up for this deck with Pick a Card and Rummage + Stress Testing, forcing opponents to kill him on the spot or end up losing to the value he'll provide on future turns.

Some lists included Mind Meld to set up one powerful hit with the Elusive swarm. We can't forget about the burn damage! Ballistic Bot, Mystic Shot, and Get Excited! can burn down the opponent's Nexus.

Fizz Twisted Fate also existed during the peak of Twisted Fate Aphelios The Veiled Temple and still overshadowed the deck. Many of its core cards were nerfed, such as Twisted Fate, Wiggly Burblefish, Ballistic Bot (reverted), Poro Cannon, Pick a Card, and Rummage.

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2- Kai'Sa Demacia

Kai'Sa Demacia completely took over the meta on release. If you took a look at the top played decks back then, Mono Kai'Sa, Akshan Kai'Sa, and Sivir Kai'Sa were on there. The archetype was so good that 3 versions of it existed on the ranked ladder, and it came down to preference on which one you'd play.

The main reason that the deck was as strong as it was back then is the Sharpsight bug. The "I can block elusive" Sharpsight gave was bugged to count as a keyword, which meant you'll get to Evolve faster and level Kai'Sa to set up powerful attacks.

Although it was a bug, many players on the ranked ladder were exploiting it, setting up earlier Kai'Sa level-ups to end games quickly. The bug fix took a while, so you could imagine how frustrating and unfair it felt to go up against it. Watching players deliberately play Sharpsight for the level up while you sit there and get destroyed by the Scout/Overwhelm Kai'Sa slamming down your Nexus took away the competitive fairness of the game.

Eventually, the Sharpsight bug was fixed and the archetype was later hit with nerfs to tone down its overall strength. But to this day, the memory of triple Kai'Sa decks on the ladder still haunts me.

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3- Seraphine Ezreal

I'm hoping this deck forever stays in a museum! Seraphine Ezreal Noxus was so outrageously broken that even Vayne with a 3|4 stat line couldn't keep up with it!

What made this deck so strong and awful to play against? For starters, Seraphine only needed 6 different spells to be played to level up! We all know when Ezreal and Seraphine are both leveled on the board, you're likely losing the game on the spot to the burn damage. A leveled Seraphine was turbo-leveling Ezreal and providing additional value, setting up for that burn plan immediately.

The Noxus version also had access to low-cost removal cards like Ravenous Flock and Disintegrate, making sure your opponent never gets to win the board presence. This bought you enough time to level your champions and set up the burn plan.

We can't forget about the 6-cost Back Alley Bar, that almost always dropped on turn 6 to get access to that juicy cost reduction on all your new cards.

The archetype single-handedly forced players to find counter decks, changing up the whole meta and it still kept beating its counters! Seraphine Viktor and Jax Vayne were two decks that held their own against the monstrosity of Seraphine Ezreal. Some were bringing Miss Fortune Swain as an aggressive counter deck, but against players that piloted Ezreal Seraphine efficiently, that aggro deck couldn't end games quickly enough before the Seraphine took over.

This picture sums up my Ezreal Seraphine NX experience:

The face of defeat... pic.twitter.com/rJUFZ5EaUS

— Sorry (@TricksterSorry) October 30, 2022

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4- Zoe Nami

Nami Nami Nami... I don't even know where to begin with describing this deck. For starters it's Elusives! But buffy ones. Nami wasn't as difficult to level back in the day, so you got access to her stat buff way sooner once you've gained 7+ spell mana.

The Targon region offered protection tools like Pale Cascade and Sunblessed Vigor to keep Nami alive, and from there you'll get to buff up your elusive board and create your win condition.

These kinds of decks usually crumble against aggressive archetypes that can go wide on the board and ensure you can't set up your Nami win condition as easily. Well, that wasn't exactly the case for this Nami deck. The Double Trouble bought you enough time in the early game for the Nami + Sparklefly play, giving you access to the Lifesteal to stabilize the game.

The archetype received tons of nerfs that completely wiped it out of the meta. Nami and Sparklefly were nerfed in Patch 2.18 to tone down the deck.

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5- Ezreal Kennen

Ezreal Kennen was probably one of the best decks in the game but LoR Devs were quick to act and shut it down immediately with a hotfix that tackled both Kinkou Wayfinder and God-Willow Seedling.

This was a combo/burn deck that was miserable to play against. Ezreal was easier to level up, needing only 6 targets instead of 8. This made the 0 mana Mark of the Storm perfect for advancing Ezreal.

This meant that we needed to find Kennen and start that Mark of the Storm generation. Kinkou Wayfinder did just that, summoning two Kennens on the board and starting that turbo Ezreal level-up advancement.

Cards like God-Willow Seedling and recalls ensure you get Kennen leveled, giving you access to more Mark of the Storms on attack and setting up the Ezreal burn lethal.

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6- Lissandra Trundle Matron

Have I ever shared my dislike for 0 mana cards? Wiggly Burblefish and Mark of the Storm are two perfect examples and a reason why their decks ended up on this list. The Watcher is no different and for a good while, the deck was one of the strongest in the meta.

It was during EU Masters Chronicles of Shurima that the deck shined, the only thing truly keeping it in check was the dominance of Azir Irelia. However, in a tournament setting, players usually banned Azir Irelia and were able to play Lissandra Trundle without losing to the Sand Soldiers swarm.

The frustrating part about this deck is its ability to keep summoning Watchers for 0 mana and destroy your deck. You couldn't just kill the Watcher once it dropped on the board. The first one will be an Ephemeral summoned by Spectral Matron, you'll be forced to have an answer. Once Watcher is 0 mana, they'll get to drop it with a Fading Memories backup to ensure they can summon another one if the first is answered. Keep in mind that all those plays cost literally 0 mana! They still have access to full mana for any alternative plays they might need or to just win the board and aggro you down with Trundle + Spectral Matron.

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Closing Words

These are the decks that frustrated me the most during my Runeterra journey. Many decks existed in Runeterra that could rival the decks I shared, depending on the player's meta preferences. Decks like Azir Irelia, Nami Lee Sin, Azir Xerath, or even the recent Galio Morgana Elder Dragon are all decks that dominated a specific meta and can be unsatisfying to go up against.