Weekend Warrior Weapons – Eighteen High-Performance Blends for the Discerning Ladder Climber

Welcome, my friend! Welcome to this patch's last Friday.

Toss your workweek worries aside, and let us put our minds on blends, medleys and brews – well-worn or brand-new, staple or exotic, I am sure we shall find something that floats your proverbial boat.

Exotics have been a tad harder to find this time, I admit – one would guess most maîtres brasseur are in more of a mood to wait for next week's patch, rather than refining their medleys right now – but distinguished datamancers Balco and Legna have, as usual, provided us with their best formulas and there are always new blends to sample.

So, do let me know. Would you rather check first…

… how the current Meta looks like at the top?

… the cream of the crop, strongest of the strong?

• Tristana Teemo Gnar, the Ruling Triad,
• Scouts, back with a vengeance at the almost-top

… check some of the other strong meta options?

• Yuumi Pantheon,
• Good ol' Sivir Akshan,
• Gnar Ziggs,
• Fizz Lulu, WR dropping a bit as its playrate surges,
• Frozen Gnar Darius

… visit our Connoisseur's Corner, for little-played yet well-tested medleys?

• Pirates, ft. Twisted Fate, kicking butts and taking names,
• Curious Gnar Lux,
• Lucian Zed, who by now can be called one of this patch cycle's dark horses,
• Fizz Riven,
• Sejuani Gnar Bandle,

… take a walk on the Wild Side?

• Frozen Puffcaps,
• Galio Soraka,
• Yuumi Dragons,
• Caitlyn Senna,
• Thresh Nasus, returned,
• Zilean Xerath

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A Glimpse at the Meta

Barely a week to go until the next balance patch!

Most of these faces you know…

… although Gnar, stubborn furry creature that he is, seems determined to gain back some of its earlier ever-presentness, with Gnar Ziggs Burn and Frozen Gnar Darius clawing their way among the top dogs.

And, interestingly: as we saw during the reign of Ahri Kennen, we witness this curious yet recurrent pattern: only the Meta Rulers (in this case Tristana & Friends) remain firmly in their same spot, while Challengers to their supremacy (Fizz Lulu last week, Sivir Akshan previously) remaining strong but no longer the most powerful among the top.

Also, my friend, as we've conversed in other occasions… for all the distaste driven at Bandle City, it is hard not to notice that five out of these eight strongest decks – an, in particular, the whole of the top half – all have access to the same Demacian, rather than Bandle City, mechanic: Rally.

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Cream of the Crop

Teemo Tristana Gnar, aka Tristana Faes

The Ruling Triad's remains, like they have pretty much this whole patch, at the very top – always seemingly within reach of their Challengers, always showing such contenders to be strong yet not the strongest.

Our suggested blend, the most popular, is as tried-and-true as you can get, and it's card by card the same as last week.

For a tad of innovation, consider cutting one copy of Blastcone Seedling and one copy of Ranger's Resolve, to make room for a pair of Bandle Commandos – the second most popular list, which shows these tweaks, performs even better.

Superb scribe Maybenextime penned a comprehensive codex about this archetype that you may find useful.

Strong Against: Darkness, Bandle Tree, Gnar Swain, Taliyah Ziggs, Fizz Lulu, slight edge over Lurkers – even against Scouts, Pantheon Yuumi

Struggles Against: Fizz Riven, Gnar Sejuani, Nasus Thresh

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Miss Fortune, aka Scouts

And here they are, my friend – befitting their relentless nature, the undisputed Queens of the Arcade Skins are once again a fraction of a percentage point from being the best Meta deck.

Also true to their fascinating ever-shifting nature, though, it would be hasty to label this archetype as 'solved': the three most popular formulas enjoy very similar WR and playrate.

As with the Ruling Triad, I shall recommend you the most popular list, which is the same as last week, yet again point out that you may want to consider swapping Penitent Squire for that most handsome Laurent Bladekeeper.

Strong Against: Darkness, Bandle Tree, Gnar Ziggs, Draven Rumble, Taliyah Ziggs, Fizz Riven – even into Lurkers and Tristana Faes

Struggles Against: Pantheon Yuumi (a horrible matchup), Tribeam blends, Galio Gnar, Galio Braum

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Other Strong Meta Staples

Six decks huddle in the 53%-54% WR slice. Except perhaps Gnar Ziggs (for reasons we'll detail below), these are all well-known meta staples by now, and are all currently seen at least 1% of the time at Platinum and above.

Technically speaking, I would say any deck may be gone next week, after the meta is shaken by the balance patch. But, until then, if you wish to climb and do not wish to pilot Faes or Scouts, these are all premium choices.

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Yuumi Pantheon

Now, this is a simple recommendation to make: our medley, which is the most popular – and yet again the same as last week – is indeed the one you want to be playing, if you are aiming to play it safe.

The other popular formulas perform much worse, with the second most popular actually dropping below the 50% WR mark in the past three days.

There's also a lot going on with Taric, by the way. A couple of days ago, the Taric variant had actually surpassed Yuumi Pantheon's performance, although it has again dropped a bit. If you want a bit of a risk, you could try this Taric version (link) – be advised that its sample size is much smaller, therefore mileage may vary greatly.

For further reading, renowned reporter Leer has written an extensive codex on the subject.

Strong Against: Darkness, Scouts, Gnarlines, Akshan Sivir, Taliyah Ziggs– even into Lurkers and Tristana Faes

Struggles Against: Gnar Ziggs, Gnar Swain, Draven Rumble, Fizz Lul, Ahri Lulu

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Sivir Akshan Demacia

With a few tweaks from last week, good old Sivir Akshan has remained among the strongest decks.

Our recommendation is the second most popular list in the last three days – although the most popular when you consider the last seven days – which adds Vanguard Sergeant and Radiant Guardian to increase their options by turn five and later. The spell inventory remains the exact same as last week.

Meta Reporter Leer has a somewhat older guide about the archetype, which you may still find relevant – and a testament of this medley's resilience.

Strong Against: Darkness, Bandle Tree, Gnar Ziggs, Fizz Riven, Lurkers – even into Tristana Faes, Scouts, Taliyah Ziggs

Struggles Against: Pantheon Yuumi, Gnar Sejuani, Fizz Lulu, Gnar Lux

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Gnar Ziggs Bandle Noxus

Now, this one is interesting – the most popular variation is actually not very good. And the archetype in general seems filled with mediocre medleys, mixed with others that are doing superbly.

Our recommendation is the best performing blend, and the second most popular – I advise you to be cautious with this list, my friend; Ziggs seems to be in an unstable mood!

Strong Against: LUrk, Pantheon Yuumi blends, Gnarlines, Fizz Riven, Taliyah Ziggs, Frozen Darius Gnar

Struggles Against: Darkness, Scouts, Gnar Swain, Tribeam blends, Sivir Akshan, Fizz Lulu

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Fizz Lulu

Suffering from increased popularity, which tends to tug WR downwards, Fizz Lulu still remains strong as always.

Our recommended list has shown outstanding performance in the last few days; for a slightly different build, and an extremely in-depth explanation, do consult superb scribe Card Gamer's guide from a few days ago.

Strong Against: Pantheon Yuumi, Lurkers, Bandle Tree, Gnar Ziggs, Akshan Sivir

Struggles Against: Darkness, Tristana Faes, Akshan Gnar

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Darius Gnar

Lastly among the Top Dogs, we have a medley that we have seen a bit of during this patch, but never so consistently solid.

An aggressive Noxian opening, with a Battle Fury finish, threatening to turn any of its many Overwhelm units into a lethal blow.

Strong Against: Darkness, Gnarlines, Bandle Tree, Fizz Riven

Struggles Against: Lurkers, Scouts, Pantheon Yuumi, Gnar Ziggs, Tribeam blends

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Other Staples You May Consider

Two pegs below the top performers, yet still above a 50% WR on average, you could try:

• Trundle Gnarlines, which has enjoyed a resurgence as of late,
• Lurkers, which this week actually enjoys a WR worthy of its popularity – perhaps because Rite of Negation, as included in our recommended list, has no shortage of juicy targets

Darkness remains a hugely popular, barely-above-50%-WR deck, which we shall not recommend.

And I will point out that, in spite of its crowd-pleasing nature, Draven Rumble is closer to Crumble this week – not something I can recommend you playing, if you go by the data.

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Connoisseur's Corner

You like flair and uniqueness as much as you like solid consistency?

And mirrors are not your idea of an enjoyable matchup?

Here you go, my friend: blends with hundreds of games under their belt, and impressive WR at Platinum and above, yet all well below 1% playrate – you will not bump into these often, if at all, in the next few days.

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Miss Fortune Twisted Fate, ft. Gangplank 

If you happen to like blowing 'em out of the water with flair (and of course you do – you are a Connoisseur!), this is it.

You may remember me showcasing this blend last week; since then, it did nothing but kick butts and take names.

Strong Against: Pantheon Yuumi, Lurkers, Sivir Akshan – even versus Tristana Faes and Darkness

Struggles Against: Bandle Tree?

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Curious Gnar Lux

It petered out for a bit yet now they are back, showing an impressive surge in the APAC shard.

Strong Against: Lurkers, Scouts, Akshan Sivir

Struggles Against: Darkness, Tribeam blends, Gnarlines

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Lucian Zed, aka Bangbros

More of a Western blend in this case, Lucian Zed has quietly been one of the best off-meta decks for this full patch cycle.

Yet another example of how powerful punching people's faces can be, when done twice per round.

Strong Against: Lurkers, Darkness, Bandle Tree – tiny edge against Pantheon Yuumi, Tristana Faes and Akshan Sivir.

Struggles Against: Scouts, Tribeam blends, Taliyah Ziggs

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Fizz Riven

Another majorly Western blend, and specifically European – it used to float between "acceptable" and "quite good" for most of the patch, yet this week it's decidedly in the "very strong" (namely, above 54% WR) range, with over 1,700 games played.

Superb scribe and matchup master bA1ance has assembled an exhaustive enchiridion on this Legna's Hypothesis-compliant archetype.

Strong Against: Darkness, Lurkers, Bandle Tree, Tristana Faeries

Struggles Against: Gnarlines, Scouts, Gnar Ziggs

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Sejuani Gnar Bandle

The Americas shard is decidedly fond of this Overwhelming duo.

And, unlike last week, now all the most popular variants enjoy good to great WR.

Strong Against: Lurkers, Gnar Swain, Akshan Sivir, Akshan Gnar

Struggles Against: Darkness, Bandle Tree, Tribeam blends, Taliyah Ziggs, Fizz Lulu

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Wild Side

With a balance patch around the corner, we should see no shortage of new blends to try fairly soon…

… yet, if you are in need of adrenaline and excitement right now, here are the little-tested blends with the best performance that current data has to offer.

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Sejuani Teemo

A concept that has been around for pretty much since Sejuani arrived – puffcaps trigger her level-two board-freeze effect at turn start, without your foe being able to do anything about it – and that this patch has stumbled upon an abundance of new cards to try.

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Galio Soraka

As an informed ladderista such as yourself surely knows, this champion pair has been a disappointment throughout the whole patch, and not for lack of pilots trying.

We've found a few lists with very solid WR across about a hundred games – whether fluke or Aspect-tier piloting, I would not be able to say.

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Yuumi Dragons

Impressive winrate, and our recommended list is the most popular across all shards, which hints at a coordinated brewing effort. A bit over a hundred games when all variants are considered – I am comfortable calling this medley 'promising', I have to say.

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Caitlyn Senna

A pair that we saw a bit by the end of the previous patch cycle, mostly on APAC shard – a permission-leaning blend, with several points in common with Kindred Sentinels but leaner on followers and heavier on spells.

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Thresh Nasus

A blast from the past, from back when – along with TLC first, then during the Dark Age of Azirelia – it was among the Top Dogs.

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Zilean Xerath

Taliyah Ziggs may have stolen the Landmark spotlight as of late, but this pingy duo has been doing very, very well.

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Very well, my friend…

… we have reached the end of our current selection, and thus ends this patch cycle's last Friday.

Should you be short on shards, remember that the meta will most likely shift, probably rather violently, in less than a week, so I would consider holding to those Wildcards if they happen to be scarce – other than that, I hope you have found your weekend's weapon of choice among our wares.

Any questions or comments, or more data you may need, feel free to:

Poke me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HerkoKerghans,

Ping me on Discord: https://discord.gg/VNN5NmGhXY,

Or find more of my writings on substack: https://riwan.substack.com/

And good luck in your climb!

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