Note: This is an older article.
For the most recent data, check the latest LoR Best Decks article, or our Meta Tier List!
Best Legends of Runeterra Decks
As of early Monday, these are the seven most popular LoR decks according to the Mastering Runeterra Meta Tier List:
Overall LoR Ladder Trends
Though there's much ado about the Rune Mage, Ryze decks' win rates are modest at best – while, on the other hand, the LoR meta seems about ready to crown its new Queens: Kayle
and Leona
.
An iteration of last patch's Katarina Leona (it's pretty much the same card list, including Shunpo
, but with more -yle and less -tarina), it's as we'll see today the strongest deck if you want to climb the Legends of Runeterra ladder right now.
For those that may be unaware, though: do bear in mind that we are expecting a Variety Patch next week (without new Champions, but with at least one new card for most regions), so the Legends of Runeterra meta and it's Top Dogs may see a shift soon – if you are short on shards and wildcards, you may to delay what you craft until the next meta settles.
LoR Meta FAQs
Where does this data come from?
Directly from Riot (via Riot's API) – Liver, our wonderful coder and unsung MaRu 🐐 (also in charge of designing the website) makes the data automagically appear in our meta tier list and meta stats page, and all-around LoR 🐐 Legna shares his data (from the same source, although following a different set of players) with us too.
What are the best decks in LoR?
Short answer: Depends on how you define "best", of course! =)
Much longer answer: Check the Technical Note at the end of the article, above all about the differences between "archetypes" and "decks" in Legends of Runeterra's data.
Practical answer: As of today, Kayle Leona, Heimerdinger Jayce, and Annie Ezreal with Broadmane.
Which is the highest win rate deck in LoR?
Among all decks showcased today: That would be Annie Ezreal at a crazy 59%, although with a smaller sample size than Kayle Leona and Heimerdinger Jayce
Among decks with more than 2,100 games played in the last three days: Kayle Leona, at 57% – hence why it's probably the best LoR deck right now.
How do I beat…
How do I beat Ryze decks? Options abound – Ryze's popular, and may be annoying, but a terrifying menace it is not). Kayle Leona is probably the best of the bunch here (since you'll beat the majority of other decks, too!), but Jayce decks, Teemo Tristana or Kalista Nocturne work great, too.
How do I beat Kayle Leona? Bring Annie Ezreal – the hottest deck in town right now! Heimer Jayce and Braum Norra will also do the job.
Juggernauts – Best Legends of Runeterra Decks
Here we showcase LoR decks with more than 2100 games in the last three days, and a good-to-great win rate – the best tried-and-true tools the LoR meta has to offer!
Queens of the Hill: Kayle Leona
Let nobody say nerfs and buffs are inconsequential!
Leona was already a powerhouse when paired with Katarina last patch, after being an okay Champ for most of last year. Kayle, on her part, was quite a disappointing Champ when she was released (some top pilots joked about Riot having forgotten to code a level-up animation for her, since it was never seen…). And now, along with nerfs to Kat, here we have what's probably the best LoR deck right now.
And is not even fully refined yet! Here's the best version according to MaRu's data, with a win rate above 57%:
14 cards
26 cards
26 900
There's a second list, though, with less spells, that would be slightly better if you check Legna's data (and only slightly worse, at 56%, if you check MaRu's):
27 cards
13 cards
29 000
Both lists are bona fide powerhouses, though, so you can confidently bring any of them (or mix between the two, if you are the sort of pilot with a penchant for personal touches) to the LoR ladder.
Kayle Leona destroys Ryze decks, murders Darius LeBlanc, and kicks Kalista Nocturne weeping and crying back to the Shadow Isles. Teemo Tristana, on the other hand, is a tougher bone to chew for our current Queens, both Heimer Jayce and Norra Veigar are fairly bad matchups, and Annie Ezreal is utterly awful.
Ryze
Yeah, well, raise would not be a bad strategy for this deck, above all in the win rate department. Top pilots like MajiinBae think that Ryze decks are very strong (Majiin also thinks that you may be piloting them wrong…), but as far as stats go, it's not a deck we would recommend: win rate struggling at 48% according to our data (and doing even worse per Legna), in more than 3,000 games for both data samples.
It may be a deck worth putting the effort into mastering, given how highly it's rated among top players, but if your goal is to climb, there are clearly more efficient options.
19 cards
21 cards
19 800
Ryze crumbles like wet toilet paper at the sight of Kayle Leona, gets overrun by Teemo Tristana and Darius LeBlanc, and dies to Jayce decks.
The Rune Mage does have great odds into today's hottest deck, namely Annie Ezreal (which itself destroys KayLeona), so we may see a three-way, rock-paper-scissor-ish dynamic in the future if the burning brat and the gauntlet boy manage to push KayLeona to the side; thus far, though, that's in the realm of "maybe".
Darius LeBlanc, aka Yetis Ahoy!
LeBlanc and yetis are a usual sighting at the fringes of the LoR meta – strange times indeed when you get the chance to list them among the current Juggernauts!
21 cards
19 cards
21 500
Not an amazing deck, hovering barely above the 50% winrate mark, but hey: Yetis are meta! =)
If you bring 'em to the fray, you should have an easy time against Ryze decks, Heimer decks, Taliyah Ziggs and Kalista Nocturne. Annie Ezrela, Veigar Norra, or Kayle Leona, though… much ouch.
Heavyweights – Strong LoR Meta Decks
These Legends of Runeterra decks have between 900 and 2100 games in the last three days – solid picks for climbing the LoR ladder!
Taliyah Ziggs
One quite old archetype that has stood the test of time, and a great choice if you either like Landmarks, or huge tempo swings (Desert Naturalist
into the Sarcophagus
left behind an Endless Devout
, for example). Interestingly, Rockbear Shepherd
, which was a mainstay last patch, has been dropped from the current best list (although it does see play in fringe versions, like this one).
The current best Taliyah Ziggs deck punches at nearly 55% across 1,800 games – has a bit of a rough time against Kayle Leona and Annie Ezreal, and does not like Yetis one bit, but can reliably beat Kalista Nocturne and Jayce decks.
24 cards
16 cards
26 000
Kalista Nocturne
Soul Cleaver
has managed to keep Kalista Nocturne relevant, and even replaced Legionary Charge
(a trick this deck had borrowed from Rumble Vayne – a couple of Precious Pet
is the only Noxus splash that remains). 54% win rate across 1,500 games, great into Ryze decks, Jayce Lux, and Teemo Trist – but awful against Kayle Leona.
38 cards
2 cards
27 100
Heimerdinger Jayce
Professor and Student make a stellar return, and for once have a clear best build (rather than showcasing a multitude of slightly dissimilar prototypes, as these two are fond of doing).
Interestingly, and also unlike previous iterations, their matchup spread is not too polarized: good odds against Ryze, KayLeona and Annie Ezreal (which is a great spot to be, in this meta), and also solid against Jayce Lux, Kalista Nocturne and Teemo Trist – its only weak spots seem to be Darius LeBlanc and Taliyah Ziggs.
29 cards
11 cards
28 200
Akshan Varus
The January hotfix had already managed to bring these two Champs back – and the current post-balance meta seems quite welcoming for the grinning rogue and his cultist sidekick: win rate close to 54% in 1,200+ games, and solid odds against Ryze, Jayce and Teemo Tristana.
They die a horrible death when facing KayLeona, though!
19 cards
21 cards
30 000
🔥🔥Blazing Hot! Annie Ezreal, ft. Broadmane
If you are looking for blazing-hot performance, this would be it: a crazy-high win rate (over 59% – the highest among all decks showcased today), and absolutely demolishes Kayle Leona (odds are 70% for burning brat and gauntlet boy in this matchup).
On the other hand, Annie Ezreal loses badly to Ryze – so there may be a rock-paper-scissor dynamic under development here.
At any rate, if you want the hottest toy in town, look no further!
20 cards
20 cards
23 600
Teemo Tristana
Shadow Isles is currently the best pairing for Teemo (Teemo Caitlyn is very popular, but very bad), and Teemo Tristana looks like the strongest version when play rate and win rate are considered (Gnar Teemo Tristana is doing very well, but with a much smaller sample size). Very good against all three Juggernauts (Ryze, KayLeona, and Darius LeBlanc), while very weak against Jayce decks, Annie Ezreal and Kalista Nocturne.
GeneralSchwartz describes the build in detail in this Tristana Deck Guide.
9 cards
31 cards
26 500
Gangplank Sejuani, aka Plunder
Plunder makes the cut as our last Heavyweight today – with the exact same list that was at the top of the meta last patch. Sometimes you just gotta avoid fixing what ain't broken! =)
Gangplank Sejuani is unafraid of Kayle Leona, but is another deck with a serious Ryze problem.
11 cards
29 cards
26 500
Punching Up – Runeterra Decks Doing Great
Runeterra decks with between 450 and 900 games in the last three days – we're sailing into small data samples, yet all decks here have quite a few games under their belts.
Curious Norra Twisted Fate
While Veigar is Norra's most popular partner, Twisted Fate is leaps and bounds the best performing. The deck which 4LW describes in detail in his Shellyfolk deck guide currently punches above the 55% win-rate mark in close to 900 games.
15 cards
25 cards
35 200
Master Yi Viktor
A deck sure to make pink haters turn the air blue, Master Yi Viktor packs nearly every fun-police gadget in the game while going for the Big Elusive kill. Not something that's overly amazing (just a solid 52% WR), but if you were fond of the Viktor Ambush decks of old, this may be down your Zaunite alley.
27 cards
13 cards
33 000
Jayce Lux
Quite the old pairing, always at least moderately relevant, and now packing quite the big punch: Lux, although a lot less popular than Heimer, proves a great pairing for Jayce, hammering above 56% in 700+ games.
Has a tiny edge over KayLeona while beating Ryze, and crushes Annie Ezreal while having no truly bad matchup – a great deck to consider if you want to have a fair chance against most opponents.
23 cards
17 cards
26 800
Braum Norra
Eat your heart out, Veigar; you're not even second-best when Norra chooses partners! =)
A bit of a meme deck last patch, Braum Norra has secured a solid, if somewhat fringe, spot in the current meta, with its best deck showing a great 54% winrate in about 600 games. Very good against KayLeona, dies horribly to Ryze.
19 cards
21 cards
26 600
Garen Jarvan
This year is truly the dawn of a new age for LoR: Elites are still a competitive deck! And actually very solid (if slightly unfavored) into the likes of KayLeona, Annie Ezreal, and Darius LeBlanc, while great into Ryze and Kalista Nocturne. Elites' main weaknesses seem to be Jayce (and specially Heimer Jayce) and Teemo Trist.
40 cards
23 100
Norra Veigar
There are tons of different builds (and, in fact, the most popular Norra Veigar deck is quite bad, struggling at 47%), but the second most popular Norra Veigar deck makes the cut into this section with a very good 55% win rate in close to 450 games.
Matchup data is always iffy when there's a mixture of good and bad builds, but looks like you're happy to bump into KayLeona, while VERY sad to run into the Rune Mage.
15 cards
25 cards
26 400
Your Mileage May Vary – Fringe LoR Decks
Legends of Runeterra decks with less than 450 games played in the last three days – very little data, so these may range from total flukes… to the next big thing.
Annie Jhin
If you've seen these two before, you've probably seen all there is to see: blazing brat and bullet buff keep doing their thing, never bothering changing a single card yet always remaining relevant. Truly a testament of what that tenacious stubbornness can accomplish!
Further reading: Annie goes to Stack School – A Jhin Annie Deck Guide.
28 cards
12 cards
22 000
Jax Ornn
All the rage early on this patch, pushed yet again to the fringes (a story these two poor Champs know all too well…), yet the below version has been hammering at 57% in the past three days.
27 cards
13 cards
23 700
Gwen Quinn
Now that Gwen has been knocked from the top of the meta, she's looking for new partners to take to the Revel. Quinn
shows a bit of promise (53% win rate in about 250 games), so there may be something here.
14 cards
26 cards
31 400
Jax Sivir
For our fringest brew, a really odd pair that is doing great right now. As usual for this spot, bear in mind that sample sizes are quite small here – but if you're looking for the left-field spice, this is probably it!
22 cards
18 cards
30 700
Wrapping Up
As noted, we are expecting a new patch next week, which should shake things up – most decks seen today should still be solid next week (as far as Riot has said, these Variety Patches will add a few cards, but just about one card per region), but if you want to play it safe with your shards and wildcards, you may want to wait and see how the new meta develops before crafting anything too expensive.
Hope you have enjoyed this showcase of the best Legends of Runeterra decks, and good luck out there!
If you have any questions or comments, or more data you may need, feel free to:
Poke me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HerkoKerghans,
Stop for a chat on the Mastering Runeterra Discord: https://discord.gg/8RQqZECTz2,
Or find more writings on substack: https://riwan.substack.com/
Technical Note – About overall archetypes and specific decks, and what we mean by "LoR best decks"
Most data sites (including our LoR Meta Tier List, and our meta stats page) and articles like Leer's Legends of Runeterra Meta Decks Report sort LoR meta decks by archetype ("Archetype" being the aggregate of all decks in LoR with a specific champion combination) – that's also how matchup tables are shown in pretty much all data sites.
In this article, we'll sort these decks by the best specific decklist for each archetype. And, whenever we talk about LoR decks in general, or best Legends of Runeterra decks in particular, we'll always be referring to specific lists (while reserving "archetype" to denominate the aggregate of all decks with a particular champion pair).
And, since in each archetype some decks fare better than others (and sometimes the difference is quite noticeable), we'll broadly group the best LoR decks in four arbitrary categories, by the number of games played in the data samples we check:
- Juggernauts: LoR decks with more than 2100 games – these are the best tried-and-true, top meta decks in Legends of Runeterra at the time of writing.
- Heavyweights: LoR decks with between 2100 and 900 games played – other excellent choices, with large enough samples to confidently say, "Yeah, this works."
- Punching Up: LoR decks with between 900 and 400 games played – we're entering the Land of Small Sample Sizes here, but as far as numbers go, these decks can put up one hell of a fight into the current LoR meta.
- YMMV: decks with less than 450 games in the last three days – fringe, risky stuff, but here's where you usually find the spice!
As a rule of thumb, LoR decks with a win rate (WR) above 52% catch our eye; above 53% are eye-widening, and anything with a WR over 55% is exceptional.
Sources: Legna, Mastering Runeterra Meta Tier List, and our LoR meta stats page.
