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 the Legends of Runeterra meta!
As explained in the Technical Note at the end of this article, we'll first take a glance at a snapshot of our LoR Meta Decks Tier List, which sorts 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.
A fairly big balance patch has just arrived, so let's find out what are the best decks in Runeterra right now, and how things have changed since yesterday's first glimpse at the LoR meta!
Best LoR Decks for the Standard Ladder
These are the 6 most popular Standard LoR archetypes according to the Mastering Runeterra Meta Tier List:
Sources: MaRu's data (which samples Plat+ players)
Overall LoR Ladder Trends – Standard
Turbulent tides have shaken the LoR meta as Legends of Runeterra Balance Patch 4.10 introduced plenty of buffs and nerfs:
Jack
Sett
has jumped forward, and as we'll see in just a bit has become the most popular specific decklists. The majority of the decks that were strong pre-patch still seem to pack a punch in spite of the nerfs they have received, but their relative power level has changed as they scramble to adjust their builds – and a couple of what were until last week just fringe options, like Janna
Teemo
, seem ready to rock the Onward boat quite hard.
Juggernauts – Best Legends of Runeterra Decks for the Standard Ladder
This early on, there's just one specific deck in our data with more than 3000 games played since the patch landed:
Jack Sett
These big burly boys have put the buffs to Nukkle
's crew and The King's Court
to good use!
Yesterday they were the most popular decklist, and today they have retained said title by ample margin: about 3400 games played since the balance patch set sails, more than doubling their closest follower's play rate.
They have lost a bit of steam in the punch department since yesterday, though, dropping from a 54% to a 53% win rate – which, while still quite good, is nothing spectacular in the early days of a fresh meta, when the strongest decks tend to squeeze a lot of LPs from weaker, unrefined brews and winrates in the 56%-60% range are not uncommon.
In particular, Jack Sett seems weak against Janna Teemo, which is the other big news today.
20 cards
20 cards
32 400
Heavyweights – Strong LoR Decks for the Standard Ladder
These decks have between 1800 and 3000 games in the last three days – solid heavy-hitters for your LoR laddering needs!
Teemo Janna
Now this one is an interesting story. Last week, Teemo Janna was a potent but fringe deck, and with two nerfs to their build, it would have been reasonable to expect it to wither off.
But, what do you know: cutting the nerfed Epic Scraptraption
and adding a few more Followers while still retaining Exalted Cloudwinder
, Teemo Janna went from fringe to early post-patch powerhouse. It was yesterday, and still is, the deck with the highest win rate (above a silly 60%) from among all decks showcased today:
9 cards
31 cards
36 800
Jax Ornn
With one nerf to Innovative Blacksmith
and a buff to Omen Hawk
, Jax
Ornn
current best list is pretty similar to what it was packing last week – and it was already gaining a lot of traction back then, so unless the LoR meta shifts against it, Weaponmaster and Forge God will be ready to hammer things hard.
As of now, they've put about 1000 games with a beefy 54%+ win rate – they seem a bit weak against Janna Teemo and Lurkers, but quite solid overall.
Note: thanks to Valent-1331 for pointing out the nerf to Innovative Blacksmith!
24 cards
16 cards
25 100
Struggling: Aatrox Kayn and Lonesome Shyvana
Aatrox Kayn and Lonesome Shyvana Freljord are very popular right now, but the results don't seem to match the eagerness with which pilots have embraced them. Aatrox Kayn is not terrible (just a middling 50% win rate), but Frozen Shyvana is just… don't.
Punching Up – Standard LoR Decks Doing Great
Standard LoR decks with between 600 and 1000 games since the patch landed – we're sailing into small data samples here, so pilots beware!
Sejuani Teemo
Another interesting story! Last week, Frozen Puffcaps jumped out of nowhere with an astounding 59% win rate – Sejuani
Teemo has been a thing in the past, but this modern version is a lot less puffcap-y and a lot more Warden-y.
And, in spite of the nerfs to Warden of the Tribes
' nerf, which seem to have cooled off Gnar Jarvan, and Epic Scraptraption, Sejuani Teemo shows up today with the exact same list as last week and with an excellent 56% win rate.
22 cards
18 cards
28 800
Pyke Rek'Sai, aka Lurkers
Lurkers is either starting to feel Pyke's nerf, or they find the current meta not as cozy as last patch's: they still look like a force to be reckoned with, but with 900 games played their winrate has dropped a bit compared with yesterday, and more than a bit when compared with last week.
Still, it seems that some folks will always play Lurkers, so I wouldn't bet against them being around this patch cycle.
Further reading: Pyke Rek'Sai Deck Guide
15 cards
25 cards
26 400
Opulent Gwen Vayne
Regaining the lost ground (yesterday Gwen
Vayne
was doing okay, but not amazing), these opulent ladies punch today at nearly 55% – they were an excellent climbing choice last patch, and without a dent to their build they seem well-positioned in this meta.
27 cards
13 cards
28 800
Janna Nilah
Brewers are hard at work with Janna Nilah
, with several different lists trying to find the best build. Adding Called Shot
to the card-draw mix seems a very promising option, although today not the most popular. And there's still no consensus on Acorn, the Hextechnician
– all in all, a solid archetype that is still under construction.
Further reading: Nilah Janna Deck Guide
29 cards
11 cards
35 500
Galio Volibear
Striking with renewed vigor, Galio
Volibear
appears very happy with the recent round of buffs and nerfs, even when Balen the Benevolent
was one of the victims.
Last patch, Galio Volibear had started as the deck to beat, to later fall into a popular yet middling deck. Yesterday, it started this patch with an excellent 57% win rate, and today it punches at 56% – it would seem like angry bear and big statue are back in the race.
Further reading: Galio Volibear Deck Guide
29 cards
11 cards
30 500
Struggling: Janna Seraphine and Lonesome Nidalee
Lone Nidalee was another of the surprises form the previous patch cycle, which it ended among the strongest decks in LoR. The nerf to Valley of Imitation
seems to have been fairly harsh in this case; although still popular, Nidalee struggles to cross the 50% mark right now.
Janna Seraphine was a playable deck last patch, and started quite well yesterday, but it's another brew that is having a bit of a hard time finding its footing right now.
Your Mileage May Vary
If none of the above floats your boat, here are a handful of more fringe options that are doing well on the Standard LoR ladder – sample sizes are small, though, so tread carefully!
Gnar Jarvan IV
It seemed yesterday that they had shrugged off the Warden of the Tribes nerf, but it's not so clear now – Gnar
Jarvan IV
maintains a positive winrate, but they no longer look like the best deck in the Runeterra meta.
Further reading: Gnar Jarvan Deck Guide.
20 cards
20 cards
29 700
Caitlyn Teemo
A bit like Lurkers, Caitlyn
Teemo is a deck that always sees play, even in metas when it's not really good… but while the former is once again true, current numbers suggest that the latter may be false right now!
If flashbombs and puffcaps galore float your boat, it may be the best time to take these two champs for a spin.
13 cards
27 cards
26 700
Akshan Pantheon
God slayer and grinning rogue were another okay, fringe option to play during last patch – and they are still a bit of a fringe option, but Akshan
Pantheon
's performance is quite solid this early on.
Further reading: Pantheon Akshan Deck Guide
20 cards
20 cards
31 400
Ashe LeBlanc
Ashe
LeBlanc
was starting to get some traction by the tail-end of last patch, and have started this one with the right foot. We'll see if they stay around, though – as the Black Rose is said to do, they tend to vanish after the first week.
19 cards
21 cards
29 600
Teemo Yuumi
Teemo Yuumi
's case is a bit odd: they were great last patch, were great yesterday, and they still pack a very nice 55% win rate today, but their play rate has dropped compared with other decks – for some reason, pilots seem to have lost interest in this brew today, even if it's still performing wonderfully.
20 cards
20 cards
33 300
Wrapping Up
The balance patch has only produced one fresh pair of faces thus far, but even this early on it seems clear the relative power level of decks has changed quite a bit, and some brews that last patch were just fringe options are having their time under the limelight.
Let's see what pilots and brewers come up with during this first weekend, and how the Runeterra meta looks like next week!
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.
