Note: This is an older article.
For the most recent data, check the latest LoR Best Decks article, or our Meta Tier List!
Howdy, and welcome to our weekly selection of the best decks in Legends of Runeterra!
As explained in detail in the Technical Note at the end of this article, we'll first take a glance at a snapshot of our Tier Lists, which list LoR archetypes (that's to say, the aggregate of all decks with the exact same Champions) by popularity, and then we'll dive into the data to check how individual decks perform to showcase the best LoR decks.
Best LoR Decks – Song of Yordles and Sirens
These are the 7 most popular Standard LoR decks according to Legna the Mastering Runeterra Meta Tier List:
Sources: MaRu's data (which samples Plat+ players) and Legna's data (which samples High Diamond & Masters players) – both sources in turn get their data directly from Riot (via Riot's API).
Overall LoR Ladder Trends
It's always with a bit of trepidation that one writes articles like today's "By the Numbers"...
… because you never know if Riot is going to make them obsolete right after you publish them (or while you write them, even!) with an unannounced hotfix, so let's spell it out: yeah, Siren Song
looks like a broken card.
It's an interesting kind of broken, though, a bit like Vayne
at her heyday: extremely powerful, but also extremely flexible, thus empowering several different decks – so much so that some Siren Song decks are countering others.
But, as we'll see with today's Juggernauts:
- The best of the Song decks, Lonesome Fizz, has very few counters, and
- Since Siren Song
is so flexible that it allows several different top-tier decks to exist, it's entirely possible to make a Tournament lineup in which all three decks are Song decks.
In other words: expect the nerfbat to swing soon.
In the meantime, let's see what the best LoR decks are (as noted above, not all good decks are Siren Song decks!), including a couple of newcomers that actually have a fighting chance against the Song deluge.
LoR Juggernauts – Best Legends of Runeterra Decks
Here we showcase LoR decks with more than 2100 games since the patch landed, and good-to-great win rate – the best tried-and-true tools to be found in our LoR Meta Tier List!
Lonesome Fizz Song
This is how a (most likely) broken deck looks like:
20 cards
20 cards
16 700
… going from nearly-zero to 6500 games in the last three days, smacking at nearly 60% win rate, but above all, very few weak spots among other strong decks:
Lonesome Fizz's case is quite interesting: a lot of its edge comes from how soundly it beats other Siren Song decks. That's not to say Fizz is a one-trick pony: the aquatic Yordle also thrashes Annie Jhin, Illaoi Swain, Lurkers, and the ascending Gnar Jhin, among other strong decks.
The only strong counters to Song Fizz are either fringe options (like Ekko Nidalee or Ekko Jinx), or the new Kennen Jinx deck – and in those cases, Song Fizz still has a fairly solid fighting chance.
At any rate, there's little doubt by the current data: Siren Song Fizz
is the best LoR deck right now, and it's not even close.
Evelynn Kayle
As noted above, Siren Song has proven so powerful and flexible that some Song decks are countering others – although Evelynn Kayle remains a powerhouse (with 5000+ games played in the last three days, and a great win rate of nearly 56%), it's suffering greatly from Lonesome Fizz's onslaught.
20 cards
20 cards
30 800
Also, as was evident last week, Evelynn Kayle has no shortage of other counters among other strong LoR decks: Annie Jhin in particular, but also Karma Sett, Lurkers, and to some extent Jinx Samira all have a good matchup into the Husky menace.
The archetype is still being refined, though, so there may be an as-of-yet undiscovered optimal build for Evelynn Song decks (for example, there's a Kay-less, Lonesome Evelynn deck, although it doesn't seem to perform as well as the Ka-yes version, and as we'll see in a bit, a Diana Evelynn version that is doing well).
Further reading: Evelynn Targon Deck Guide
Annie Jhin
It's been an interesting week for Annie Jhin, with two competing builds (one of them close to the classic version, the other running Ravenborn Tome
and Captive Greyback
)...
… that once again seems to prove that you just can't improve what's already perfected: the close-to-classic version looks, by current numbers, as an excellent LoR deck (with 3100 games played while smacking at 56%) while Tome builds struggle to reach the 50% mark.
25 cards
15 cards
27 500
As whenever an archetype has two competing builds, matchup data is hard to parse (because matchup data aggregates results from both builds), and we have new decks this week (making comparisons with past performance impossible) – that said, it looks like Annie Jhin is roughly even against Song Fizz, appears as a strong counter to Evelynn decks (which was already apparent last week), and weak to Jinx Samira and Illaoi Swain.
Further reading: Annie Jhin Deck Guide
Jinx Samira
Everybody's favorite Riot grrrls have gained a lot of traction, accruing close to 3000 games in the last three days (up from 2000 last week), punching at an excellent 56% win rate.
17 cards
23 cards
28 100
Jinx Samira has an uneasy relationship with Siren Song decks: it's slightly favored against Kayle Evelynn, roughly even against Lonesome Fizz, and the underdog against the ascending Diana Evelynn.
In other matchups, Jinx Samira folds against Illaoi Swain, while reliably beating Annie Jhin and Lurkers.
Illaoi Swain
Priestess and Grand General have surged forward, and in spite of their poor odds against the Fizz tide they showcase a nice 54%+ winrate across 2900 games.
26 cards
14 cards
30 200
Illaoi Swain can hold its own against other Siren Song decks (like Evelynn Kayle, or Evelynn Diana), gets wrecked by Fizz Samira (which seems in the decline), and consistently crushes Annie Jhin, Jinx Samira, Lurkers, and Karma Sett.
Further reading: Swain Illaoi Deck Guide
Jinx Kennen
Turns out Fizz is not the only Yordle that leapfrogs to the top this week!
Jinx
has found in Kennen
an eager partner for her Discard synergies, in particular gaining access to Return-o Wrench
:
25 cards
15 cards
25 200
Performance is thus far very good (with a rocketing 56% win rate in about 2400 games), and with an interesting twist: Jinx Kennen is one of the very few decks with an edge (albeit slight) over Song Fizz, while brutally murdering Annie Jhin and Fizz Samira, and consistently beating the other Discard deck, Jinx Samira.
Jinx Kennen's problem is Illaoi Swain, which is a horrendous matchup, and looks like the underdog against the new Evelynn Diana and Gnar Jhin.
Frozen Puffcaps: Teemo 
Freljord
There are actually three Yordles leapfrogging to the top this week – and one of them, Teemo
actually comes in two flavors!
Eschewing his partnership with Caitlyn (and for good measure: Caitlyn Teemo is not a good deck right now) and putting Sump Monument
to good use, 
Freljord Teemo goes all-in on Poison Puffcap
s – and the bet seems to be paying off, because Frozen Puffcaps punches at a 52% in about 2300 games. The deck consistently beats Evelynn decks, but dies to Song Fizz and Annie Jhin.
32 cards
8 cards
24 200
LoR Heavyweights – Strong LoR Decks
These decks have between 1000 and 2100 games since the patch landed – while still too early to tell, the majority of these are well-tested decks that were already among the best LoR decks last patch, so it's a safe bet they'll serve you well in the coming days.
Diana Evelynn
While fairly similar to other Evelynn
Siren Song decks, Diana
seems to fit very well in a shell that already had some Nightfall triggers, and is all about buffing units with Husks.
At any rate, the best Diana Evelynn deck (there are several versions doing quite well) showcases a chunky 55% win rate in 1800+ games, but with a somewhat different matchup spread than other Evelynn decks: in this case, Annie Jhin is an even matchup (rather than quite bad), while Karma Sett goes from favored to disfavored.
19 cards
21 cards
30 000
Lonesome Song
If Siren Song is Heart of the Huntress' true Champion, how about running it all alone?
Turns out: it works, too! Evelynn Kayle or Evelynn Diana are arguably better, but Lone Song does very well all on its own.
30 cards
10 cards
13 400
Pesky Elusives: Teemo 
Ionia
Don't let the Siren Song tree obscure the Yordle forest: this week has been excellent for our furry friends, and Teemo shows up with a second deck!
Forget about Puffcaps, it's all-in on Elusives this time, for a very solid 53%+ performance in around 1700 games – and very good odds against all Siren Song decks!
Teemo 
Ionia has one of the worst matchups out there against Illaoi Swain and Karma Sett, though, so if you're going Elusives keep an eye on how the meta shifts.
19 cards
21 cards
23 800
Lonesome Bilge Aatrox
Now that Reaver's Row
and Siren Song are all the rage, let's not forget who came up with merging Xolaani and one-drops a long time ago: Aatrox
Bilgewater!
Yet another deck you may consider either for the LoR ladder (punching at nearly 56% win rate in about 1400 games) and/or your triple-Song Tournament lineup, Aatrox Bilgewater is perhaps the runt of the litter, losing badly when facing other Song decks, and also losing to Annie Jhin and Fizz Samira.
On the other hand, it has excellent odds against Karma Sett, which tends to be a tough nut to crack for other Song decks.
Further reading: Aatrox Reaver's Row Deck Guide
33 cards
7 cards
16 400
Karma Sett
Like Annie Jhin, we find Karma Sett with two different builds this week – but in this case, both Karma Sett decks seem to be doing fairly well.
The Piltover & Zaun version, which has been in the past months the only one that consistently worked well, performs today at a solid 52% in about 1100 games, and finds itself in an interesting spot when it comes to matchups: it's roughly even against the majority of strong decks (including Annie Jhin, Jinx Samira, Evelynn decks, and Lonesome Fizz), with only two weak spots: Illaoi Swain, and Aatrox Bilgewater:
22 cards
18 cards
29 800
But the biggest news is the rise of the Targon version of Karma Sett: it never did too well in previous LoR metas, but we find today punching at 54% in close to 1000 games:
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24 400
The Targon version's trick seems to be its amazing odds against Evelynn decks – Fizz and Lurkers become fairly bad matchups, though, and the Piltovan version of Karma Sett is far superior in the near-mirror.
Fizz Samira
While still popular, Fizz Samira is just a shadow of its former self, with a modest 51% win rate.
Still very playable, but Siren Song Fizz or Jinx Samira are superior, depending on which champ you prefer.
25 cards
15 cards
31 500
Garen Jarvan Kai'Sa
From among archetypes that were among the best LoR decks before this expansion, Elites is arguably the one that enjoys Siren Song the least: violently dislodged from the upper echelons, Garen Jarvan Kai'Sa drops to 1300 games with a 53% win rate – still a very good deck, but with lousy matchups against Lone Fizz, Aatrox Bilgewater, and Evelynn decks.
Elites still have the upper hand versus other strong decks (like Jinx Samira or Annie Jhin), so should Siren Song get nerfed, it may be again time for Garen Elites to shine.
22 cards
18 cards
27 100
Garen Neeko
At the bottom of our Heavyweights category, with a modest 51% win rate, we find the first viable deck with one of the new Champions: Garen Neeko.
Quite a playable deck, and gets extra points for novelty's sake, but far from the strongest option for the LoR ladder.
25 cards
15 cards
32 100
Punching Up – LoR Decks Doing Great
Runeterra decks with between 600 and 1000 games since the patch landed – we're sailing into small data samples, yet all decks here have quite a few games under their belts.
Gnar Jhin
For the first time in ages, Jhin has seemingly found a new profitable partnership: Gnar Jhin brings back Lord Broadmane
with tons of pings, to punch at 53% in nearly 1000 games.
There are several different versions here (some of them including Norra, and even versions running Gnarr Norra instead of Jhin) and all of them doing well, which usually suggests a better, more streamlined version is about to show up!
11 cards
29 cards
28 700
Pyke Rek'Sai, aka Lurkers
Pyke's crew is doing okay among all these Sirens – Lonesome Fizz is a horrible matchup, but Pyke & Co. have a small edge against Evelynn Kayle.
25 cards
15 cards
26 400
Ekko Nidalee
And here is Nidalee's only viable deck, with a modest 51% in about 600 games.
It actually has very good odds against Song Fizz, but Evelynn decks run over it, and also has a rough time against the likes of Illaoi Swain and Karma Sett.
14 cards
26 cards
28 100
Other Strong Considerations
If none of the above float your boat, here are a handful of fringe options that are doing very well.
Bard Garen
Chimes and Elites had a brief moment under the sun several patches ago, but never gained traction – today they showcase an amazing 57% win rate in close to 500 games, so there may be something here!
34 cards
6 cards
28 600
Evelynn Viego
Yyyep, and other Siren Song deck – but in its defense, at least it's not a Xolaani deck! And to be fair, Viego was the first partner that Evelynn saw success with, back when Hate Spike
arrived at Runeterra.
18 cards
22 cards
29 400
Jinx Teemo
Not sure if you've noticed already, but it appears that a new card, Siren Song, that is pretty strong… =)
But, well, Teemo Jinx also put The Swindler's Den
to work, so there's that.
16 cards
24 cards
29 400
Miss Fortune Quinn, aka Scouts
To close our today's selection, here's a Bilgewater deck but without Siren Song – a well-worn deck for veteran players, this very old archetype is doing very, very well on the fringes.
26 cards
14 cards
26 900
Wrapping Up
As noted at the start, early impressions about Heart of the Huntress seemingly low power level were incorrect – this expansion's Champions have certainly failed in making a splash, but one card has turned the LoR meta on its head.
Still, new-but-Song-less decks are nevertheless able to make a splash, as Yordles other than Fizz have shown this week.
Hope you've enjoyed today's selection, beware of Sirens (or, you know, join 'em and enjoy' em while they last!) 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,
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 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.
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's LoR data website, Mastering Runeterra Meta Tier List, and our LoR meta stats page.
Where does this data come from?
Directly from Riot (via Riot's API) – in other words, all the numbers in this article are "from the horse's mouth," so to speak.
Liver, our wonderful coder and unsung MaRu 🐐 (also in charge of designing the website) makes Riot's 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.
