Gangplank Twisted Fate Deck Guide

Bandle Pirates is in my opinion the most consistent aggro deck on ladder currently. It consists of dealing ping damage to the enemy nexus consistently throughout the game to set up a leveled up Gangplank as a finisher. 

This nexus damage is done with units such as Inventive Chemist, Crackshot Corsair, Stone Stackers, Lecturing Yordle and spells such as Make it Rain, Parrrley, Double Up and Pokey Stick. All of these cards usually deal nexus damage as a side effect of them being played, chipping down your opponent's nexus until you eventually finish them off with either Gangplank or Double Up.

CARD CHOICES

3x Twisted Fate: He is a support champion in this deck and is mainly used for his Red Card in combination with kegs to deal AoE damage to units and the enemy nexus. He also serves an alternate win condition in matchups that have low interactivity such as Nami Zoe which often have a hard time removing Twisted Fate

3x Gangplank: The main finisher of the deck. He is super easy to level up in this deck as almost all of your cards deal nexus damage either directly or indirectly and if he is not dealt with by your opponent his Powderful Explosion will remove all chump blockers from your opponent’s board while his overwhelm keyword will deal direct damage to the enemy nexus.

3x Crackshot Corsair: Premium one drop for this deck. Even if she does not strike the enemy nexus she will still deal one damage to it advancing Gangplank’s level up.

3x Inventive Chemist: Good one drop that deals one damage to the enemy nexus almost guaranteed thanks to the Scrappy Bomb she summons.

1x Conchologist: Good one as he can sometimes generate a direct damage spell such as Make it Rain, Pokey Stick, Parrrley, etc... While replacing himself in your hand when played.

3x Dreadway Deckhand: Very important card to have in the deck as she can help you deal with decks that swarm faster than you by creating a Powder Keg. This can be used in combination with Make it Rain or Red Card in order to remove your opponent’s small units. Occasionally it will be used with Double Up but it is not recommended as you spend a lot of mana and your Powder Keg is vulnerable to removal.

3x Marai Warden: The House Spider of Bilgewater. Great card overall, helps you fill your board for swarming your opponent early on or to chump block in faster matchups.

3x Stone Stackers: Honestly the best follower in the deck. In the current meta where there are not too many three-attack two drops this card usually trades one for two and guarantees two nexus damage in those trades. Can’t be removed easily because of his tough keyword and is very hard to deal with overall in the early game.

3x Lecturing Yordle: Great card in this deck with a lot of synergy. Very hard to remove on turn four which guarantees you two Poison Dart. You usually want to cast it directly to the enemy nexus; it helps level up Gangplank and plants Poison Puffcap in the enemy deck which also deal one damage when drawn.

3x Parrrley: Amazing card to keep in matchups where you know your opponent is going to play a one health one drop as it removes it while dealing one nexus damage advancing Gangplank level up.

3x Make it Rain: Premium Bilgewater removal. It can deal enemy nexus damage on turns when you don’t have the attack token while killing your opponent’s chump blockers. Also has great synergy with Powder Keg.

3x Pokey Stick: Good ping card that cycles your deck. Can be used on the opponent’s nexus for advancing Gangplank’s level up on turns where you don’t have the attack token. Can also deal with Powder Keg in the mirror matchup. 

 3x Double Up: Alternative finisher, you have to be really careful when committing this card as you can get really punished by your opponent if casted at the wrong time. Try to use it when your opponent is out of mana or when they are unable to protect or kill the unit you are targeting. If this card gets fizzled it can be a huge tempo loss for you.

3x Hidden Pathways: Your only draw engine in the deck, usually costs three mana in this deck as it creates a lot of cards. Has high synergy with Twisted Fate as you can sometimes surprise level up Twisted Fate if you have two Hidden Pathways in hand.

GENERAL MULLIGANS

Keeps against faster decks: one Parrrley, Inventive Chemist, Crackshot Corsair, Conchologist, Dreadway Deckhand, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Make it Rain, one Pokey Stick and Twisted Fate (if you already have Dreadway Deckhand).

Keeps against slower decks: Crackshot Corsair, Inventive Chemist, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Lecturing Yordle (if you attack on pairs), Parrrley (if you think they’ll play a one health unit on turn one).

MATCHUPS

Sion Draven Discard (Favored): 

Mulligan: Crackshot Corsair, Inventive Chemist, Dreadway Deckhand, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Lecturing Yordle (if you attack on pairs), one Parrrley, Make it Rain, Pokey Stick and Twisted Fate (if you have Dreadway Deckhand.

• Sion Draven has a lot of one and two health units so Dreadway Deckhand, Make it Rain and Twisted Fate are super important in this matchup. If you can set up a Powder Keg + Make it Rain or Red Card combo you can blow them out in the early game. 

• Try to pressure them early on and get as much damage as you can to the enemy nexus as their deck has no healing and you usually kill them before they can drop Sion with Gangplank.

• Plant as many Poison Puffcap as you can with Lecturing Yordle as their deck has a lot of cycling and they will probably draw into a couple of them.

Poppy Ziggs Aggro (slightly favored):

Mulligan: one Parrrley, Inventive Chemist, Crackshot Corsair, Conchologist, Dreadway Deckhand, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Make it Rain, one Pokey Stick and Twisted Fate (if you already have Dreadway Deckhand.

• This is a weird matchup to play because their deck is faster than yours which means you need to play sort of like a control deck against Poppy Ziggs in order to beat them.

• Poppy Ziggs doesn’t have much draw in their deck so what you want to do is keep as much removal as you can and Dreadway Deckhand. You want to make as many value trades as you can while keeping your nexus health as high as possible. If you do this they will most likely run out of cards to play and then you can finish them off.

• When removing units watch out for Noxian Fervor as they can fizzle your removal and deal direct damage to your nexus. Try baiting it out with one removal while having another one in hand so they waste their Noxian Fervor.

• Parrrley is a great keep in this matchup as 6/9 of their one drops have one health and you can save a lot of nexus health while dealing damage to their nexus if you play it on turn one.

• They have no way of protecting their units but be careful when removing units with Powder Keg as they do run 3x Pokey Stick and they can remove your keg when you’re casting a spell.

• Try to remove Bandle City Mayor as soon as they drop him because he can get out of hand if left untouched. 

Nami Zoe (Unfavored):

Mulligan: Crackshot Corsair, Inventive Chemist, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Lecturing Yordle (if you attack on pairs), Parrrley and Twisted Fate.

• This is a very bad matchup because Nami Zoe has healing in their deck and your deck cannot deal with high health elusive units. Your best bet is to try to deal as much damage as fast as possible and hope they don’t draw Nami. 

• Try not to play Make it Rain in this matchup because they can steal it with Spell Thief and clear your board.

• Twisted Fate can level in this matchup as they have no way of dealing with it besides Line ‘Em Up}} and you can still protect him if you ping the barrel created by it.

• Keep Parrrley on your opening hand to kill Zoe if they drop it, turn one. If you watch them do a full mulligan you should play a one drop instead of Parrrley as they probably don’t have Zoe.

• Don’t get baited into removing their units as they will most likely have protection against removal unless they are below two mana.

Senna Veigar Darkness (Favored):

Mulligan: Crackshot Corsair, Inventive Chemist, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Conchologist and Lecturing Yordle (if you attack on pairs).

• In this matchup you want to rush them down as fast as possible with two health units. As they usually only run pings and have a hard time dealing with multiple high health units.

• Lecturing Yordle is a great card to have in this matchup as it has high health and they can’t kill it. This means you generate a large number of Poison Dart that you can use to poke your opponent’s nexus.

• Stone Stackers is one of the best cards to have in the early game against Senna Veigar Darkness because they can’t damage it with pings; they're going to have to trade it with units.

• Double Up is very good in this matchup as they only have pings to remove their own units. If the unit you are targeting has two health the only way they can save it is through Stress Testing so keep that in mind before playing Double Up.

• If you have not finished the game by turn six and your opponent is keeping nine mana open watch out with developing as they might have The Ruination in hand and can blow you out.

Fizz Poppy Bandletree (Favored):

Mulligan: one Parrrley, Inventive Chemist, Crackshot Corsair, Conchologist, Dreadway Deckhand, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Make it Rain, one Pokey Stick, Lecturing Yordle if you attack on pairs and Twisted Fate (if you already have Dreadway Deckhand).

• This should be an easy matchup as you normally deal damage through blocks with Crackshot Corsair and Stone Stackers. If you manage to get a Powder Keg+ Make it rain or Red Card] against this deck you can probably blow them out as all their units are low health.

• Keep Parrrley on your opening hand as they only have one health one drops and this can help you deal damage, remove a unit and advance Gangplank level up.

• Keep mana open to remove Bandle City Mayor if they play it because it is the most valuable card in their deck and he can fill their board with chump blockers if not removed.

• Double Up is a great card in this matchup as they can only kill their own unit if it's damaged or has one health. Try to target two health units to guarantee the four nexus damage.

• You have no way of dealing with The Bandle Tree so kill them before they finish its condition.

Gangplank Twisted Fate Bandle Pirates (50/50):

Mulligan: one Parrrley, Inventive Chemist, Crackshot Corsair, Conchologist, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Make it Rain, Pokey Stick and Lecturing Yordle (if you attack on pairs).

• The name of the game in this matchup is: Who can level Gangplank first? Your objective in the mirror is to deal as much damage as possible every turn while preventing your opponent from dealing damage to your nexus.

• Marai Wardens can be very good chump blockers if you have a slower start than your opponent

• Stone Stackers is the best card in the mirror as its pings are ineffective against them and they can’t get blocked effectively by any early game units in their decks.

• Try to keep ping open in your hand in case they play Dreadway Deckhand so you can remove their Powder Keg as it can combo with removal cards such as Make it Rain and blow you out.

Ezreal Vi Shellfolk (slightly unfavored):

Mulligan: Crackshot Corsair, Inventive Chemist, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Lecturing Yordle (if you attack on pairs), one Parrrley.

• This is a slightly unfavored matchup because they run a lot of removal and can survive your early game pressure with chump blockers as well. Your best bet against this deck is to go as wide as possible to try to swarm them while removing their low health blockers with pings.

• Stone Stackers is probably the best card in this matchup as they can only be removed by Sump Fumes and Aftershock in against this deck.

• Be very careful when playing Gangplank to finish the game. As they can remove it with Vi, Minimorph and Thermogenic Beam. Try to play him when they are below five mana so he is safe from removal.

• If they play Station Archivist they are probably looking for removal so try baiting the fleeting card out and then playing your real threat after they play it.

• When playing Dreadway Deckhand keep in mind that they have a lot of removal for your kegs such as Mystic Shot, Pokey Stick and Sump Fumes.

• Your opponent can kill their own units when you cast Double up so be mindful of how much mana they have left before casting it.

Sivir Akshan (50/50):

Mulligan: Crackshot Corsair, Inventive Chemist, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Lecturing Yordle (if you attack on pairs), one Parrrley, Dreadway Deckhand, Twisted Fate (if you have Dreadway Deckhand) and Make It rain.

• In this matchup you play for your normal win condition of dealing as much damage as possible every turn so you can level up Gangplank and close the game.

• Keep Parrrley to kill Fleetfeather Tracker or Treasure Seeker on turn one and advance Gangplank’s level up.

• Don’t get too baited into removing a single unit as they run a lot of buffs and can probably protect it. So, cards like Double Up are not very effective in this matchup.

• Dreadway Deckhand is very good in this matchup as they don’t have pings to remove Powder Keg and their units are usually low health. A good Powder Keg + Make it Rain or Red Card combo can stop their swing and they probably won’t be able to protect all their units.

• When they attack with barrier units and they are low on mana try to keep mana open for pings such as Pokey Stick to prevent a good value trade for them.

• Gangplank can be removed easily with Concerted Strike so try playing him when your opponent is below five mana.

Lulu Poppy Rally (slightly favored):

Mulligan: one Parrrley, Inventive Chemist, Crackshot Corsair, Conchologist, Dreadway Deckhand, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Lecturing Yordle (if you have a good hand), Make it Rain, one Pokey Stick and Twisted Fate (if you already have Dreadway Deckhand.

• You want to play this matchup the same as with Poppy Ziggs. Play for controlling the board with removal rather than units because they have a lot of buffs and can make value trades against you.

• Keep Parrrley to remove Fleetfeather Tracker and Yordle Squire on turn one.

• Don’t play Make it Rain without a Powder Keg as they run Ranger’s Resolve and you won’t deal any damage to their units

• Dreadway Deckhand is a great card to keep as they have no way of removing Powder Keg and they’re weak to AoE damage.

• Remove Yordle Smith as fast as possible as this is their most important card for making value trades against us. Bandle City Mayor is also important to remove but Yordle Smith takes the priority.

• Lecturing Yordle is a great blocker in this matchup so try keeping him if you already have a good hand.

• They can only save their units from Double Up with Sharp Sight or Ranger’s Resolve so try to target one health units if you are looking to finish the game.

• Marai Warden is a good keep as she summons a unit and can help you trade blocks against their units.

Lurk (Favored):

Mulligan: one Parrrley, Inventive Chemist, Crackshot Corsair, Conchologist, Dreadway Deckhand, Marai Warden, Stone Stackers, Make it Rain, one Pokey Stick and Twisted Fate (if you already have Dreadway Deckhand.

• This is an easy matchup as you have a lot of removal for their early game units as well as blockers while you deal nexus damage and they have no healing.

• Try to go as wide as possible and make value trades in the early game as they usually only play one unit per round and have a hard time keeping up.

• Try to level up Gangplank as fast as possible so you can play him on turn five or six to finish them off quickly before they have the chance to level up Rek’Sai or Pyke.

• Be careful when playing units that summon Powder Keg in the late game as they can pull it with their overwhelm units to deal direct damage to your nexus.

• Many versions of Lurk are cutting Bone Skewer so Double Up is effective against them as they don’t have any way to protect their units.

• Keep Parrrley to remove Treasure Seeker and [[Xer’sai Hatchling on turn one, denying them one lurk proc.

Wamuu

Top 200 Master LoR player. I have a lot of passion for this game and love sharing my thoughts and game knowledge through deck guides and articles. 

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