With a bit less than 24 hours since Legends of Runeterra Patch 4.9 landed, it looks like the Onwards champions are faring quite well – there's a lot of experimentation going on, Volibear
and Janna
both have one very promising deck each, and Nilah
may be just a few tweaks away from getting there.
On the other hand, as it's the usual case with these early-days glimpses, do bear in mind: fairly small sample sizes (and, in this patch's case, also some glitches that have put a dent in how much folks have been able to climb), so for sure too early to tell anything for certain about how the LoR meta will shape up.
With that said, let's see which LoR champs and decks have hit the ground running!
Young Guns – New LoR Decks Looking Strong
These three decks, all with new Champs (and one of them with nothing but new champs) are among the best in Runeterra right now.
Remember: too early to tell… but, with that said, early numbers show a lot of promise for these decks!
Galio Volibear
Big statue and angry bear are, by a wide margin, the most successful from among all decks in Runeterra right now, old and new: Galio
Volibear is putting up an amazing 63% win rate with more than 1700 games since patch 4.9 landed, which is an impressive feat even by day-one standards.
As our captain says…
29 cards
11 cards
30 500
Janna Samira
Janna Samira
is another Champion pair that has left a huge impression on high-level pilots…
… and the (remember: very early) data backs it up: the best Janna Samira version is punching at a ridiculous 65%+ win rate, in about 900 games played since yesterday.
8 cards
32 cards
29 500
Janna Volibear
What if you put these two early heavy-hitters together?
Early numbers are a bit less clear in that case – Janna Volibear's most popular version, which packs mostly Freljord followers with a She Who Wanders
top-end, is actually the most-played deck right now (with 1200+ games played) but its performance is disastrous…
… whereas a fairly different Janna Volibear deck, with more emphasis on Piltover & Zaun followers (including Iascylla, Figurehead of the Deep
) is doing very well, albeit with just about 500 games on record.
17 cards
23 cards
33 900
Some Tweaks Required – New Decks That Are Almost There
These three decks struggle just one or two percentage points below 50% – a couple (or several) tweaks could push them into the high-tier range, but they are not there yet.
Aurelion Sol Volibear
Volibear just gave the good ol' Space Dragon a huge buff in Path of Champions, but in the Standard LoR ladder, the pair is still trying to find their footing. Almost there, but not past the 50% win rate mark just yet.
13 cards
27 cards
34 000
Nilah Samira
Same deal here – pairing the Desert Rose with another two-mana Champ was a very good idea in Eternal just yesterday, but Nilah Samira hasn't quite taken off yet. They are just one or two tweaks away from punching above 50%, though, so we'll see what they do when brewers have a bit more time to play with them.
18 cards
22 cards
32 900
Janna Nilah
In a similar trend, Janna Nilah is just a point from 50%. There are a lot of different versions in this case, although none of them is quite there – yet!
26 cards
14 cards
39 500
Mean Old Dogs – Older LoR Decks Having a Field Day
These Old Dogs were among the best decks in Runeterra until yesterday – and with so many unrefined brews running around, they are having a field day out there.
Teemo Elusives
By the last week of last patch, Teemo
Elusive s was far and away the best LoR deck in standard, and it was not even close – unsurprisingly, is kicking butts and taking names right now, but surprisingly its win rate is not as high as the best-performing Young Guns.
20 cards
20 cards
25 000
Pyke Rek'Sai, aka Lurkers
Last patch, Lurkers were enjoying what was perhaps the friendliest LoR meta they've ever seen, and were for once one of the best-performing LoR decks. They keep bringing home the bacon right now, so we'll see if this patch is their best one yet.
15 cards
25 cards
26 400
Heimer Jayce Shadows
Another of last patch's most potent options, Heimer Jayce still seems very solid. Too early to tell if the Onwards LoR meta will suit Professor and Student as well as the previous, but these two have a long story of adapting and thriving.
9 cards
31 cards
28 000
Wrapping Up
Heart of the Huntress was a bit of a low-powered expansion, with its Champs struggling to make a mark. Onwards seems, a bit this early on, a completely different beast – it's been quite a while since newcomers had, on the first day, several of the best-performing decks. We'll see tomorrow in By the Numbers how well these Young Guns fare!
If you have any questions or comments, or more data you may need, feel free to:
Poke me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HerkoKerghans,
Or find more writings on substack: https://riwan.substack.com/
