9 Unexpected Decks from The Runeterra Open Top 64 Patch 4.8

The Eternal Runeterra Open had many amazing moments, and players gave it their best to get a piece of that prize pool and collect World Points.

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 catch your opponent off guard, and without enough practice against certain decks, it opens the door for more misplays. Misplaying in highly competitive games can be punished heavily and could end up being the reason for a loss.

Let's take a look at nine unexpected decks that showed up in the top 64 of the Runeterra Open!

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Zilean Cobra

FnP J01 from the APAC server brought Zilean Imitation Cobra to the Top 64 of the Runterra Open and managed to finish his run in the Top 8. This is a combo-oriented deck that aims to swarm the board with Beguiling Cobra with the help of Valley of Imitation. Playing Ruin Runner afterward will create an Overwhelm win condition, which can be difficult for a lot of decks to shut down once the combo is set up.

The lineup also consisted of Elise Gnar and Viktor Zoe, two decks that have been crushing it on both the ranked ladder and tournament scene. This lineup looks to beat Invoke decks and can hold up well against other Elise Gnar decks.

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Ahri Samira

Ahri Samira is an old archetype that we haven't seen in a long time. It existed as a meme deck, but пласкогубцы decided to bring it to their top 64 run. They brought Ahri Samira along with Sivir LeBlanc and Elise Gnar.

This deck relies on pushing elusive damage with units like Dancing Droplet, The Mourned, and Vastayan Disciple while working on leveling up both champions. Samira gives you access to Rally, whereas Ahri will set up powerful, elusive attacks to end the game.

This lineup is intended to beat popular decks like Akshan Samira and Zoe Samira.

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Sett Trundle

It takes a lot of courage to bring Sett Trundle to an important tournament, but LTS Ishigamin did just that on the America server! This deck used to be a solid anti-meta deck in the previous Eternal meta.

Trundle's Ice Pillar will accelerate Sett's level-up condition, giving you access to the Show Stopper. You can start pushing a lot of Nexus damage with Trundle while keeping the opponent's board in check with the help of Sett.

They also brought Viktor Lee Sin and Elise Trundle, a lineup that's looking to beat both Invoke decks and Elise Trundle.

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Azir Irelia

Who would have thought that the deck, which wreaked havoc back in the day, would show up in the top 64 on the APAC server? Amethyzt brought Azir Irelia along with Elise Gnar and Akshan Samira, obviously targeting the popular Invoke decks.

This is a combo aggressive deck that aims to launch multiple attacks per turn with the assistance of the Blade Dance keyword and Sand Soldiers. Both Azir and Domination will empower your attacks, setting the stage for more of an aggressive threat that forces answers out of the opponent.

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Kayle Poppy

AteinuIseinu from the EMEA server brought this Kayle Poppy with three copies of Out Of The Way. The idea is to play Out Of The Way early into the game and keep the buffs you gain and the Challenger keyword from The Grand Plaza.

Additionally, Daybreak units like Solari Soldier and Solari Shieldbearer get to retain their stat buffs for the rest of the game. For Demacia! and Champions' Strength are two powerful board buffs that'll stick to your units and ensure you can continue setting up powerful attacks.

AteinuIseinu also brought Fiora Galio and Elise Gnar, a lineup capable of beating Akshan Samira and Zoe Samira.

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Katarina Twisted Fate

This control Twisted Fate Katarina deck brought by Davebo to the America Open aims to keep the board in check using its many removal tools. Your goal is to deplete the opponent of resources and then transition to a win condition with either Katarina or Riptide Rex. Riptide Rexcan deal additional damage if you've summoned a Tybaulk on the board and should be enough as a game finisher.

Davebo brought Katarina Twisted Fate along with Ezreal Seraphine Viktor BC and Draven Jinx. This lineup should be able to crush Akshan Samira decks.

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Diana Kindred

Gragassassin from the APAC server was on the Diana Kindred Invoke version. This seems to do well against Invoke mirrors and can put up a fight against the popular Elise Gnar deck.

Gragassassin's lineup for the top 64 was Diana Kindred, Yuumi Zoe Targon, and Aphelios Viktor.

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Gangplank Sejuani

A blast from the past! Pavelicii brought the good old Plunder deck, Gangplank Sejuani, to the EMEA Runeterra Open. They managed to fight their way to the top 16 with Gangplank Sejuani, Samira Zoe, and Elise Gnar.

The Plunder deck looks to level up both champions as fast as possible by damaging the opponent's unit once per turn. Once leveled, Gangplank will threaten to deal tons of Nexus damage with the use of his Overwhelm keyword and damage ability. As for Sejuani, she will ensure you win the board trades with her freeze ability while also threatening Overwhelm damage.

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Elise Teemo

Bee always includes some spicey decks in their lineup, and for this Runeterra Open, they brought an aggressive burn Elise Teemo deck that looks to end games as fast as possible.

This deck is capable of burning down the opponent's Nexus with unit abilities like Ballistic Bot, Boomcrew Rookie, Doombeast, and Used Cask Salesman. The plan will later transition to burn spells like Mystic Shot, Get Excited!, and Shock Blast.

Bee also brought an Elusive championless Ionia/PZ deck and Aphelios Viktor.

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Closing Words

It's always an enjoyable experience to watch off-meta decks find success in major tournaments. It can be either a safe pick or an anti-meta call to bring these decks and requires a lot of testing to find the best version it can be.