9 Off-Meta Decks from Standard Runeterra Open Top 64 Patch 4.9

The Standard Runeterra Open Patch 4.9 happened this past week, where players gave it their best for a piece of the prize pool and earn the World Points. We had a lot of amazing gameplay, and some games were extremely close.

When going into a highly competitive tournament, players tend to pick the best meta decks out there and create a lineup capable of dealing with the decks they expect to face off against. However, there are those who prefer bringing their off-meta brews, either due to a sense of comfort in piloting them or to introduce an element of surprise.

Off-meta decks can surprise opponents and exploit their lack of practice against them, potentially leading to costly misplays. Misplaying in highly competitive games can be punished heavily and could end up being the reason for a loss.

Let's look at nine off-meta decks that showed up in the top 64 of the Runeterra Open!

---

Miss Fortune Sejuani

THC Sora brought a Miss Fortune Sejuani deck to the APAC Top 64. The strategy revolves around adopting an aggressive playstyle, flooding the board with units like Marai Warden, Jagged Butcher, and Tusk Speaker.

Miss Fortune contributes to early-game pressure with her Love Tap ability. The deck can also threaten to level her up by utilizing Scout units like Island Navigator and Razorscale Hunter. Moreover, the inclusion of Citrus Courier enables Rally in the late game, preventing the opponent from easily regaining control.

While Sejuani can level up and freeze the board, her primary role is to facilitate challenges and deliver Overwhelm damage.

THC Sora also brought Gnar Jarvan IV Vayne Warden and Janna Nilah.

---

Teemo Janna Champions' Strength

AJTehPro brought this new version of a Champions' Strength Teemo deck, which adds Janna and her support package. They managed to win the America Runeterra Open with this deck, along with Jax Ornn and Gnar Vayne Warden.

Teemo Janna focuses on chipping elusive damage and reducing the cost of your cards with the help of Acorn, the Hextechnician, Maryam, Temple Caretaker, and Janna.

This reduces the cost of Champions' Strength, setting you up to play it a turn or two earlier than expected and setting up the lethal attack.

---

Sett Cobra SH

The Beguiling Cobra appears again in the top 64; this time Ace Bombastiko brought it to the EMEA Open alongside Janna Samira and Heimerdinger Jayce and managed to make it to the top 16.

This deck aims to set up the Beguiling Cobra + Valley of Imitation combo, go wide on the board, and create a win condition. Units like Vastayan Disciple, Shadow Assassin, and Xolaani create an Overwhelm/Elusive threat to set up the lethal attack.

The list includes Capsize, a powerful tool to weaken your opponent's threat on a specific turn and buy you enough time to set up the combo play.

---

Lucian Kalista

Marenostrum brought this Kalista Lucian deck to the APAC top 64 alongside Janna Samira and The Poro King Shadow Isles.

This is a midrange deck that heavily relies on The Undying as part of its game plan. Sacrificing them will advance Lucian and Kalista's level-up condition while creating a stronger The Undying, eventually, difficult for the opponent to ignore.

A leveled Lucian will start activating Rally and putting more pressure on the opponent. You could accelerate his level up by sacrificing Senna. Immediately leveling him up and putting the opponent under the threat of Rally.

The list includes Scrutinizing Sergeant, which can find you key units like Lucian, Kalista, Senna, and The Undying.

---

Fizz Samira Nami

The Fizz Samira elusive makes a comeback in the top 64. 4LW brought this deck and added Nami to the list as a stat buff for the elusives.

The game plan is to put early pressure with Fizz, Samira, Jagged Butcher, and Father Fury. These units are important to deal Nexus damage before transitioning to more Elusives like Vikrash the Exuberant and Wiggly Burblefish.

The list runs card draw tools like Barbed Chain and Eye of Nagakabouros, to ensure you don't run out of resources in the late game.

4LW also brought Janna Nilah and Garen Gnar Jarvan IV.

---

Senna Targon

The Senna Targon with double The Ruination to shut down Warden decks was brought by ghopaflksdgqwfe6 on the EMEA server.

The game plan is to keep the board in check with low-cost cards like Quietus, Falling Star, and Soul Harvest. This makes it easier for you to cast Cosmic Call and set up for more powerful Celestial plays.

The deck also runs removal tools like Sunburst, Eradication, Piercing Darkness, and Vengeance to make sure you keep the board in check.

Having Senna on the board allows you to play your slow-speed spells at fast speed. This means you get to play The Ruination when your opponent has committed their attack, shutting down their turn entirely.

ghopaflksdgqwfe6 also brought Karma Sett SI and Nasus Veigar SI, hard-targeting Warden decks.

---

Jack Seraphine

Alpha Sigma brought the good old Jack Seraphine, Heimerdinger Jayce, and Gnar Jarvan IV to the APAC top 64.

Jack Seraphine is a control deck that aims to keep the board in check with low-cost spells and work on the Seraphine level-up. Once Seraphine is leveled, you'll get access to her double-cast ability, creating that important value to overtake the opponent.

Later on in the game, Mischievous Marai is an important piece of the deck's game plan, increasing the damage of your spells, which will be important to kill off the opponent's units and set up the burn plan to destroy their Nexus.

---

Evelynn Kai'Sa

It has been a while since we've seen Kai'Sa in competitive play. Slinv from the America server brought this Evelynn Kai'Sa to their Top 64 run.

The deck uses Husks to generate random keywords that will create a stronger board and accelerate Kai'Sa's level-up condition.

Solitude alongside Evelynn will ensure you dominate the board's presence until Kai'Sa joins the battle and starts setting up the powerful attacks.

As for Steem, the Vulnerable keyword will allow you to pick off the opponent's units, and managing to buff up Steem with the Husks will create a difficult threat for the opponent to deal with. Hive Herald is a nice addition to the list for keyword sharing; however, it does require you to have Husks on the board to take full advantage of Hive Herald.

Slinv also brought Ahri Kennen BC and Azir Nasus Renekton Mono Shurima, a full off-meta lineup.

---

Ashe LeBlanc

Pavelicii from the EMEA server brought the OG midrange deck, Ashe LeBlanc, in an attempt to counter Warden and Jax Ornn decks.

This deck wants to dominate the board presence, using combat tricks like Brittle Steel, Flash Freeze, and Sky Splitter to win trades and ensure you set up stronger attacks in future turns.

This list runs Frozen in Fear to create an Overwhelm threat with the Rimefang Pack that'll gain more Power as you Freeze the opponent's units.

The main win condition is to level up Ashe and freeze the opponent's units, rendering them useless as blockers and creating a stronger attack.

Pavelicii's lineup also included Jax Ornn and Gnar Jarvan IV.

---

Closing Words

The Runeterra Open was tons of fun as players battled it out for the prize pool and World Points. Some off-meta decks found a lot of success too, especially the Janna Teemo Champions' Strength deck. I've been testing it out on the ranked ladder and have found success with it so far!