Weekend Warrior Weapons -- Sixteen Top-Performing Blends for the Discerning Part-Time Ladderista.

Welcome, my friend! Welcome!

Please, step inside, and I beg you, disregard the mess -- having to nearly daily rearrange our assemblage of brews and blends is part of the fun of a fresh Season, after all!

So, please, let me make manifest our medley! The finest brews and blends, furnished by famous formulistas Balco and Legna -- our current selection may lean a bit towards the gnarly side of things, but I assure you, there is no lack of different flavors if you so desire.

Would you like to…

… take a glimpse at this still gnarly Meta?

… check the very best blends?

• Teemo Tristana Gnar, aka Yordle Rally,
• Yuumi Pantheon Demacia,
• Miss Fortune Quinn, aka Scouts,

… browse through other strong meta options?

• Papercraft Akshan Gnar,
• The return of the party, Draven Rumble,
• Trundle Gnar Timelines,
• Gnar Ziggs,
• Fizz Gnar YiA,

… peruse our Connoisseur's Corner, for less common blends?

• Kindred Sentinels, which seems to be thriving in this meta,
• Frozen Darius Gnar,
• Akshan Sivir Demacia,
• Akshan Sivir Darius,
• Frozen Gnar Swain,
• Gleaming Rally,
• Ambush Riven Viktor,
• Sejuani Gnar Overwhelm

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A Glimpse at the still-Gnarly Meta

Gnar is by far the most played Champion these last three days, as it was on Wednesday and Monday…

… yet an interesting trend has made itself manifest in the last few days: except for the new, out-of-nowhere Top Dog, all the other best meta blends perform below the 55% winrate (WR) mark, which speak of powerful yet fair formulas.

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Three Top Blends

These are the best three decks in the last three days, when games at or above the Platinum rank are considered; if consistent performance and hasty climbing pace is what you seek, these are the first brews you should consider.

As befit a new, fresh meta, we have something old, something new, and some to-the-top-from-out-of-nowhere.

Something out of Nowhere: Teemo Tristana Gnar, aka Yordles Rally

Yordles Rally is back, in brutal fashion, and out of nowhere: you may remember that, last week, this deck was not something we had even considered listing among our choices.

According to tales told in the Blue Bird Inn, prominent pilots such as Maybenextime definitely got to Masters with this formula...

... then he wrote a guide about it!

Strong Against: Gnar Trundle, Lurkers, Darkness, Gnar Swain 

Struggles Against: Scouts, Akshan Gnar, Fizz Riven -- slightly disfavored against Pantheon Yuumi

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Something New: Yummi Pantheon Demacia

As I am certain it will delight many, a not-gnarly deck is among the strongest new decks you can currently pilot.

Do notice its good-to-great matchups against other top-performing formulas -- one would guess this partnership between Fae and Aspect may very well be long-lived.

Strong Against: Darkness, Gnar Trundle, Scouts, Akshan Gnar --  slightly favored into Yordles Rally

Struggles Against: Gnar Ziggs, Gnar Swain, Bandle Tree -- usually underdog to Fizz blends.

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Something Old: Miss Fortune Quinn, aka Scouts

Durand Sculptor and Petricite Broadwing have rejuvenated what has been for several weeks now one of the strongest meta staples.

There is still experimentation going on with the ideal ratio of units to spell -- this archetype still has room for refinements, it seems.

Strong Against: Gnar Trundle, Bandle Tree, Gnar Ziggs, Darkness, Akshan Gnar, Fizz Riven, Yordles Rally

Struggles Against: Pantheon Yuumi, Askhan Sivir -- in general, weak to Galio decks

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Other strong options

If playstyle preferences or shards shortage steers you away from any of the above, yet you still seek top performance, these formulas here all perform at 53% WR or above, with playrates well above 1% in Platinum and higher -- as well-tested, tried-and-true as you can get this early in a fresh Season.

Papercraft Akshan Gnar

Papercraft Dragon providing Double Strike to Overwhelm units has proven a ruthlessly efficient combo.

(If recently arrived to the RickoRex Road, remember: removing a blocker from combat, as Wallop does, allows an Overwhelm attacker to connect fully with the Nexus.)

Strong Against: Bandle Tree, Gnar Ziggs, Darkness, Lurkers, Fizz blends, Yordle Rally

Struggles Against: Gnar Trundle, Scouts, Pantheon Yuumi, Frozen Darius Gnar

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Draven Rumble

The party has returned!

Without a single new card, Draven Rumble could rightfully be called the oldest among the top meta blends.

Strong Against: Lurkers, Bandle Tree, Gnar Ziggs, Gnar Swain, Fizz Riven

Struggles Against: Scouts, Akshan Gnar, Fizz Gnar

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Trundle Gnar Timelines

Having enjoyed the top of the performance charts for several days earlier in the week -- and still the most popular deck by a wide margin -- Timelines seems to have suffered assaults from several sides simultaneously, as rising stars like Pantheon Yuumi, Yordles Rally and Darius Gnar all give it a hard time.

Strong Against: Bandle Tree, Gnar Swain, Lurkers, Akshan Gnar, Fizz Gnar, Akshan Sivir

Struggles Against: Scouts, Gnar Ziggs, Pantheon Yuumi, Darius Gnar, Yordles Rally

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Gnar Ziggs

Some Yordles just want to watch the world burn.

If you wish your matches to end quickly, this is perhaps the best tool for the job.

Strong Against: Lurkers, Gnar Trundle, Pantheon Yuumi, Fizz Riven

Struggles Against: Darkness, Scouts, Akshan Gnar, Fizz blends, Akshan Sivir

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Fizz Gnar P&Z

Don't be fooled by the dip this archetype's performance took in the last few days: said average performance is currently dragged down by poorly-performing blends with The Forge Of Tomorrow and Curious Shellfolk -- while solid in the hands of highly-skilled pilots, they have proven to be a disaster overall.

The more shall we say traditional formula, which has added Grandfather Fae to the mix, performs very well indeed.

Strong Against: Gnar Swain, Gnar Ziggs, Bandle Tree, Lurkers, Fizz blends

Struggles Against: Darkness, Trundle Timelines, Akshan Gnar, Darius Gnar, Zoe Lee Sin

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The Connoisseur's Corner

If mirror matches are not your cup of tea, these blends have playrates below 1% -- you should bump into them once every hundred games, if at all.

They still have hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of games under their belts in Platinum and higher rungs, so their potency is assured.

Kindred Sentinels

Suffering from mediocre performance in the last weeks of the previous season, our current environment has allowed Kindred Sentinels to thrive.

Strong Against: Gnar Swain, Gnar Ziggs

Struggles Against: Darkness, Scouts, Akshan Gnar

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Frozen Darius Gnar

One of this week's new developments, almost reaching the point (1% playrate) where a deck is considered meta. 

Our recommended formula is the most popular across all three shards, with more than 1,500 games played.

Strong Against: Darkness, Akshan Gnar, Fizz Gnar

Struggles Against: Scouts, Gnar Ziggs, Pantheon Yuumi

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Askhan Sivir Demacia

Just like in Scouts, Petricite Broadwing has found its way into an otherwise cemented list.

And just like in Scouts, superb results have followed.

Strong Against: Gnar Ziggs, Gnar Swain, Darkness, Akshan Gnar

Struggles Against: Pantheon Yuumi, Yordles Rally, Fizz Gnar

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Akshan Sivir Darius

Now, this is indeed an interesting formula!

The marriage of Noxus and Shurima has usually produced go-wide, aggressive blends. This formula indeed provides early aggression, as witnessed by its nine one-drops, but goes for a slightly more midrangey approach -- notice the lack of two-drops, and the inclusion of the rarely seen Reckless Trifarian -- while threatening Overwhelm everywhere via Might.

Also notice: no burn nor Decimate... at least for now.

Strong Against: Gnar Swain, Darkness

Struggles Against: Scouts, Gnar Ziggs

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Frozen Gnar Swain

A different take on this Champion pair -- the Bandle City variant being one of the most played decks as of now, but with a below-average performance -- with very promising matchups against two of the strongest meta staples.

Strong Against: Bandle Tree, Scouts, Pantheon Yuumi

Struggles Against: Gnar Swain, Darkness, Gnar Trundle

Gleaming Gnar Lulu Yuumi

A very different take on Bandle City Rally, focusing on Fae synergies and the value provided by Gleaming Lantern.

Strong Against: Lurkers, Akshan Gnar, Gnar Ziggs

Struggles Against: Gnar Trundle, Darkness

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Ambush Riven Victor

An archetype we didn't see much during the Age of Ahri Kennen, even though it was quite popular right before their rise to the throne.

Strong Against: Gnar Trundle, Darkness?

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Sejuani Gnar P&Z

Should we call this the Age of Overwhelm?

Prominent pilot Brokenball reached Masters with this Ballistic Bot Overwhelm blend -- he also published a guide about it here.

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And so, my friend!

Thus ends our selection today -- overwhelmingly gnarly, for sure, but I hope yet still varied enough for you to find your weapon of choice.

Any questions or comments, or more data you may need, feel free to poke me on Twitter (@HerkoKerghans) and Discord (Herko Kerghans#6252), or you can find more recommendations and writings here (link).

Good luck in your brewing or climb!

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