9 Unexpected Decks from The Runeterra Open Top 64

Greetings, everyone! The curtains closed on the World Qualifier Runeterra Open just last week, treating us to a spectacle of incredible gameplay from some of the most skilled players across their respective servers.

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!

---

Yuumi Aurelion Sol

Aurelion Sol shows up in the APAC top 64 brackets, brought by Seachicken along with Kayn Aatrox and Akshan Varus. The midrange Dragons deck looks to dominate the board with the help of challenger units like Petricite Broadwing and Laurent Duelist. The main objective is to get chunky units on the board, prolong the game, and play Aurelion Sol.

Once Aurelion Sol levels up, he'll act as your win condition, allowing you to play Celestial cards for 0 mana. You'll be able to create win conditions with units like The Great Beyond, The Immortal Fire, and The Scourge.

Seachicken's lineup ended up making the top 32 and focused on beating Vayne Aatrox while also keeping up with aggressive decks like Fizz Samira and Kennen Jinx. Nasus is usually a deck you'd want to avoid.

---

Zombie Ashe

Patpat is known to bring spicy decks to tournaments, and this Runeterra Open they delivered! Their lineup focused on besting the popular Vayne Aatrox with Zombie Ashe, Shen Jarvan IV, and Azir Veigar Nasus. They made it to the top 8 with those three decks.

Zombie Ashe is somewhat of a control deck that can keep the board in check with removal cards like Quietus, Soul Harvest, and Vengeance. Its main objective is to get Ashe on the board and have her killed. That's weird, right?

Once Ashe dies, you'll be able to revive her with The Rekindler, creating more pressure on the board. This forces your opponent to commit more of their resources to killing her. The Harrowing is your finisher, bringing multiple Ashe back to life and setting up one powerful attack that will render the opponent's blockers useless thanks to Ashe's level-up ability.

---

Annie Samira

WZGRamuwu from the America server brought an experimental ladder deck that has yet to become popular among players. Annie Samira has a lot of removal cards to keep the opponent from taking over the board. It wants to take games to the late stage and start summoning Tybaulk on the board. This will give you access to more damage on your spells, which will act as Nexus burn tools.

Their lineup also consisted of Seraphine Karma Sett and Heimerdinger Jayce. This is a safe lineup against most of the decks they'll encounter in the top cut.

---

Fizz Yuumi

From the APAC server, ABG The Fool brought this Fizz Yuumi deck along with Vayne Aatrox and Illaoi Swain.

This deck heavily relies on Fizz as a win condition, buffing him up with the help of Yuumi, Purifying Flames, and Blessing of Targon to create an elusive win condition. Buhru Leader is an important addition to the list, enabling you to set up an additional attack with Fizz and threaten to destroy the opponent's Nexus.

The deck does have a secondary win condition in case you don't find Fizz or he ends up dying. Sacrificial Scholar is a Fated unit that can grow a lot during the game, eventually becoming big enough to force blocks out of the opponent. To put those stats to use, Iula or Zenith Blade will give Sacrificial Scholar the Overwhelm keyword, creating a win condition that needs to be answered.

---

Corina Veraza Heimerdinger Norra

Evilonik from the EMEA server showed up with three interesting decks in the top 64. Heimerdinger Norra Corina Veraza, Zombie Ashe, and Ekko Jinx.

The Heimerdinger Norra deck runs only one follower, and you guessed it, Corina Veraza. The rest of the list is all spells that aim to keep the opponent's board in check, with spells like Pie Toss, Mystic Shot, High Note, and Aftershock.

The reason this deck runs a lot of spells is that it synergizes with both Corina Veraza and Heimerdinger. Heimerdinger will create Turrets that can act as blockers, whereas Corina Veraza provides a potential board wipe and Nexus burn damage.

Additionally, the list includes Condense, a powerful low-cost spell that can be used to copy Corina Veraza and create more burn Nexus damage to close out the game.

---

Gnar Shyvana

On the America server, ValyrianBlade brought a Gnar Shyvana deck to the top 64. Their lineup also consisted of Illaoi Jarvan IV and Renekton Demacia.

The Gnar Shyvana deck wants to build a wide board of units with different subtypes to set up a powerful Warden of the Tribes play. This will buff up all your board and create strong attacks that'll force your opponent to block them and find answers to the Overwhelm units.

---

Renekton Demacia

OPAK罪神者 from the APAC region brought Renekton Demacia, Ekko Jinx, and Jax Varus to the top 64.

This Renekton Demacia deck is a combo-oriented archetype that wants to set up Renekton as a win condition.

Cards like All-Terrain Trooper, Exhaust, and Ruthless Predator give the important Vulnerable keyword to units, letting Renekton challenge them and deal additional Overwhelm damage.

The Darkin Bloodletters offers a secondary win condition in the late game, allowing you to summon a Xolaani, capable of pushing Overwhelm damage.

Finally, cards like Cataclysm and Curse of the Tomb accelerate the pace of the game, creating faster opportunities to end the game.

---

Norra Swain

We haven't seen much of Norra Swain this season at all. Most players have been playing the Swain Illaoi version, which can level up Swain much faster.

LoneGunman brought Norra Swain, Heimerdinger Jayce, and Nasus Veigar to their top 64 run.

The Norra Nasus version can create more value than the Illaoi version by using Mysterious Portals from Norra, Portalpalooza, and Portal Scholar.

The main win condition is to set up a leveled-up Swain on the board and start stunning their blockers. This paves the way for a powerful attack to end the game. The Leviathan synergizes with Swain, deploying the stun lock, which creates an opportunity for a powerful attack to end the game.

---

Gnar Nidalee

ToFNostradamus from the America server brought Gnar Nidalee, Jayce Heimerdinger, and Teemo Fizz Yuumi.

The Gnar Nidalee deck uses the Ambush keyword to set up powerful attacks with the assistance of Nidalee. Once leveled, she'll push Overwhelm damage, putting the opponent under the threat of having their Nexus destroyed.

The Curious Changelings and Towering Pairofant combo can be an extremely strong play. The Ambush keyword, along with Curious Changelings, will create two Overwhem attackers to close out the game on the spot.

---

Closing Words

Bringing off-meta decks can be daunting, and it takes a lot of confidence in a player to push themselves into bringing decks that haven't established themselves in the meta. However, watching them being piloted in a tournament always gives the viewer an entertaining experience.