Weekend Warrior Weapons

Welcome, my friend! Welcome!

A Friday of great unveilings, and the Grand Tournament is around the corner…

… so, please, come! Step inside! We have blends and brews aplenty, so let's peruse the wide variety of blueprints that formidable formulistas Balco and Legna have shared with us.

Would you like to…

… take a glance at our wide-open Meta?

… check the cream of the crop blends?

• Miss Fortune Quinn, aka Scouts, firmly lodged at the top,
• Pirates, which makes you suspect Fortune has tired of the Captain title and now styles herself an Admiral,
• Yuumi Pantheon, always attached to the top,

… peruse other strong meta options?

• Draven Sion, not letting go,
• Fizz Aphelios,
• Heimer Jayce Shadows,
• Or other possible considerations like Viego Shurima, Ezreal Caitlyn Katarina, or Taliyah Ziggs,

… visit our Connoisseur's Corner?

• Frozen Darius Gnar,
• Nightfall,
• Bandle Jinx Rumble,
• Bandle Teemo Caitlyn,
• Teemo Tristana Ionia,

… perhaps take a walk on the Wild side?

• Malphite Taliyah,
• Nasus Kindred Viego,
• Lee Sin Viktor,
• Elise Noxus, now lurking and preying from the dark corner of the Meta's fringes.
• Bandle Garen Poppy.

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Open Rounds, Open Wide Meta

As the Open Rounds for the Grand Tournament approach, the Meta has more or less settled…

… the most popular blends' performances sometimes do suffer violent changes, but the shakeup is not nearly enough to propel new, fresh faces to the forefront.

Still, there is no lack of variety to choose from among the Cream of the Crop – and, as we shall soon see, my friend, underneath this perhaps tranquil surface new blends and brews still make their way through.

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Cream of the Crop

For tried-and-true, look no further, my friend.

These medleys perform above 54% WR on average – and our recommended formulas even better – at Platinum and superior rungs of the Ladder, and their play rates well above 1% leave no doubt about their well-tested potency.

Miss Fortune Quinn, aka Scouts

Perhaps it is time to crown the Arcadia Skin Queens as the True Rulers of the LoR Meta – since their explosive entrance in January, there has hardly been a week in which they are not among the strongest of the strong.

Sporting slightly-over-broken-ly good WR on average, our recommend formula, which is also the most popular, pushes said parameter to stupidly high.

This is it, my friend – you wish to climb without second-guessing your choice, you bring this blend.

Strong Against: Pirates, Sun Disc, Tryndamere Trundle, Taliyah Ziggs, Affizelios, murders Azirelia

Struggles Against: Pantheon Yuumi and Jayce Lux are this blend's biggest problems among the most popular decks – Tri-beam blends are also a problem, and it is a slight underdog to Viego Shurima.

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Pirates!

The twice-gun-toting, auburn-haired Queen of the Meta also happens to have a side gig as Main Challenger – and one of the most popular blends to boot.

Depending how much you enjoy the different playstyles – remember: Scouts, as the loyal Demacian they are, treat Miss Fortune like the Queen she is and protect her at all costs; Pirates, on the other hand… well, let's just say that Pirates are Pirates, and only bounty is sacred to them! – and specifically the nastier, bloodier and above all shorter matches, this may be every bit as efficient at climbing as the Queens of the Meta.

I shall recommend to you the second most popular formula for this medley, which is the best performer.

Strong Against: Wrecks Sun Disc; strong against Taliyah Ziggs and Pantheon Yuumi; squashes most Tier Two blends.

Struggles Against: Sentinel Control, Scouts, Affizelios, Nightfall.

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Yuumi Pantheon

Another long-standing Meta Staple, the partnership between the adhesive Fae and the Fated warrior is never far from the top.

And, if chit-chat among superb skippers is to be taken seriously, this is perhaps the blend that will matter most – either to bring, ban, or prey upon – in the Grand Tournament tomorrow. Bear in mind, though, that while all my medleys are Ladder-tested, of their performance in other formats I can make no personal assurance.

On that topic, I shall recommend you the most popular blend – by this point, as refined and well-tested as one could wish.

Strong Against: Sun Disc, Jayce Lux, Scouts, Afizzelios, Caytlin Teemo

Struggles Against: Pirates, Tri-beam blends

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Other Strong Options

The three next blends perform above the 52% WR mark in Platinum and above, and like the previous three, their popularity also means they are as well-tested as one can hope for.

Draven Sion (PZ)

The Revenant has returned and kept himself at the top – and, similarly to Pantheon Yuumi, word among prominent pilots is that this is another blend that factors greatly in their Grand Tournament ruminations.

And, interestingly… in spite of his brutal fame, Sion tends to have a somewhat smoother matchup curve – lacking extremely good ,or horribly poor encounters – when compared to other Top Dogs.

Strong Against: Tri-beam, Sentinels, Sun Disc, Pantheon Yuumi, Viego Shurima, Heimerdinger Jayce

Struggles Against: Trundle Tryndamere, Scouts, Afizzelios, slight underdog to Pirates

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Fizz Aphelios

The High Devs, who with steady hand steer our joys and fates, have graciously granted Aphelios' followers their wish, for Moon Champ has clearly found a home.

A marriage of the Fae package that once propelled Tristana to the fore, with Targon protection and a comboish Paper Dragon punch to knock your foes out, Afizzelios is said to be quite a difficult deck to pilot – as superb scribe and skipper MonteXristo, who chose this blend for the Grand Tournament Cut Off describes in detail in his expert treatise on the topic, mulligans for this deck are really hard to detail, due to this blend's Macgyver-ish playstyle.

This is yet another blend with a fairly smooth matchup curve –  if you are after fair fights where both you and your foe have a decent shot, my friend, then this is perhaps the blend I would look into.

Strong Against: Pirates, Sun Disc, Taliyah Ziggs – even into Tryndamere Trundle, Viego Shurima, Tri-beam blends and Jayce Lux

Struggles Against: Pantheon Yuumi, Scouts – a slight underdog to Azirelia.

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Heimerdinger Jayce Shadows

A blend that has slowly clawed – or, well, turreted – its way to the top, from being a fringe yet most solid medley two patches ago.

Most definitely a weapon of choice you should consider if spell-heavy blends happen to be your cup of tea!

Strong Against: Viego Shurima, Tri-beam blends, Jayce Lux – even against Pirates,

Struggles Against: Trundle Tryndamere, Sun Disc, Taliyah Ziggs

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Other Meta Considerations

If playstyles or resources – we do have an upcoming patch with four new Champions in less than two weeks, for which you may want to save wildcards or shards – shrink your available options, yet you want to stick to tried-and-true blends, you may want to look into:

Viego Shurima, currently the second most popular concoction (only an auburn hair's breadth behind Pirates),

Ezreal Caitlyn, which after a few weeks in the below-50% line now shows rejuvenated potency…

… or, if you're feeling like this blend needs a bit of a sharp, spicy flavor, try this Ezreal Caitlyn Katarina formula, which is performing wonderfully,

And, last but not least, Taliyah Ziggs, about which superb skipper and renowned reporter Leer wrote a premium treatise.

These archetypes all perform slightly above the 51% WR mark, and our recommended formulas much higher than that, across several hundred games – with patience and practice, any of this will surely take you all the way to Masters, if you so wish.

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Connoisseur's Corner

But what if mirrors are fine and dandy for surveying that your favorite outfit fits you like a glove before you head out to an amusing soireé, yet are not what you wish to face when you decide that the time is right for a fair fight?

Then these Connoisseur blends are probably what you are looking for, my friend: fairly well-tested – at the very least 200 games played with our exact recommended formula – but exotic enough that you shall bump into them less than once every hundred games in your climb to the top.

Frozen Darius Gnar

Not so long ago among the Top Dogs, this Overwhelm duo's performance is nothing but outstanding.

Strong Against: Trundle Tryndamere, Sun Disc, Viego Shurima

Struggles Against: Pirates, Pantheon Yuumi, Scouts

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Diana Nocturne, aka Nightfall

The Moon-old archetype is quietly gaining a foothold in this Meta, by way of its overwhelming performance over three of the most popular decks.

Strong Against: Pirates, Sun Disc, Viego Shurima

Struggles Against: Trundle Tryndamere, Tri-beam, Pantheon Yuumi, Jayce Lux.

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Bandle Jinx Rumble

A wild marriage of Discard, Burn, Mecha-Yordles and Pranks – with face-pointed rockets on top!

This is a skill-intensive blend, my friend, with a fairly flat matchup curve: except Azir Irelia (which it wrecks most mercilessly) or Scouts and Jayce Lux (both of them uphill struggles), nearly every other popular confrontation is well inside the 45/55 range

Strong Against: Azirelia

Struggles Against: Scouts, Jayce Lux

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Bandle Teemo Caitlyn

On the other hand, my friend… if looking for a bit of a roller-coaster, you may want to look into this blend – save for an even matchup against Taliyah Ziggs, everything else you are likely to face will tend to be a lopsided match, one way or the other.

Strong Against: Sun Disc, Trundle Tryndamere, Viego Shurima, Azirelia

Struggles Against: Pirates (horribly!), Tri-beam, Pantheon Yuumi, Jayce Lux, Sentinels, Haimer Jayce Shadows, Draven Sion.

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Teemo Tristana Ionia

A swarm of Faes, with Sai'nen Thousand-Tailed as top-end and Ionia permission spells.

This is as new and cutting-edge as I am comfortable endorsing as a Connoisseur blend. Be aware that it is recent enough for matchup data to be too sketchy to trust – and let alone quote – but this medley's overall performance over 300 games is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

And our recommended formula sees plays in all three shards (in all cases being among the most popular), giving it enough credence to be in our Corner.

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A Walk on the Wild Side

But if you wish to throw caution to the four winds, my friend…

… here we go! High-performing yet very little-played medleys – at least in the current meta – for those that dare piloting the truly rarely seen.

Malphite Taliyah

After a brief moment under the spotlight – with both popularity and WR not too far from the Top Dog's – this Landmark duo has returned to the fringes of the meta.

Having shaken the wannabes off their back, though, and pushing forward with their true believers, Taliyah and Malphite currently enjoy a WR in the 55% range in the last few days.

Our formula is the exact same that the Master of Rocks himself, GrandpaRoji, recommends – and I will also emphatically advise you to peruse his learned thoughts on how to correctly appreciate this blend, for "dumb like a rock" is very much not a fitting description for this archetype.

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Nasus Kindred Viego

A trio made for each other – a variation of the extremely popular Viego Shurima blend, with some of the self-sacrifice early game that once made Thresh and Nasus the Shadow Kings of the Meta.

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Lee Sin Viktor

Viktor keeps searching for his past glory among odd bedfellows – Karma Viktor is indeed a playable option, and his recent pairing with the Dragon Kicker certainly shows promise.

This is perhaps the most spell-heavy blend among those that perform well, by the way – over twice more spells than units, in fact.

And, if you are feeling extra adventurous, you may try this slightly different version with Wrecking Crew Vi.

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Elise Noxus

The oldest archetype, refusing to go out quietly – and, by its current performance, still quite capable of catching unwary foes with their guards down.

Will it do so tomorrow at the Grand Tournament? We shall not wait long until we find out!

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Bandle Garen Poppy

Poor Garen… nobody as crest-fallen as him, one would guess, at Elite's disappointing performance in spite of their plethora of buffs.

Poppy seems to have taken pity on him, and has joined Garen in a Bannerman list that, while not exactly awe-inspiring in its performance, seems to fare fairly well in the current environment.

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And so, my Friend...

… I hope that, among our wares, you have found your weapon of choice for this Weekend!

Any questions, comments or feedback – or any exotic blend you're after! – feel free drop a comment, poke me on Twitter (@HerkoKerghans), or ping me on the Poetry Discord: https://discord.gg/VNN5NmGhXY

(Yes, indeed, my friend: a LoR Poetry Discord! =).

And you can find more writings on Substack (https://riwan.substack.com/)

Good luck on your journey!

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