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.
Best LoR Decks for the Standard Ladder
These are the 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
Galio
Elder Dragon
Morgana
has overcome every other LoR deck in every metric that matters: most-played archetype, highest (and off-the-charts) winrate, and as we'll see next, it boasts the best-performing and most-popular specific decklist by several miles.
In other words: Yeah, Eddy Morgalio's broken.
There are a couple of viable decks that can beat it (although not by much) when going toe-to-toe , and a couple of other decks that also perform extremely well in the current LoR meta, but as far as cold metrics go, G.E.M. is brokenly good and without a doubt the best deck in Runeterra.
Juggernauts – Best Legends of Runeterra Decks for the Standard Ladder
Decks in this category have at least 2400 games played in the last three days, and good to great win rates – as far as current numbers go, these are the best LoR decks in the Standard ladder.
Galio Elder Dragon Morgana
As noted above, Galio Elder Dragon Morgana reigns supreme in every metric – in particular, its most popular version has 9200 games played in the last three days (nearly tripling its biggest competitor), and with a silly 62% winrate it's also the best-performing deck out there.
Its builder really broke everything with this brew.
G.E.M. does have a couple of somewhat bad matchups among popular decks: Viego Elder Mordekaiser has a small edge against Eddy Morgalio, and Mordekaiser Morgana tends to have the upper hand. But not by a huge margin in either case.
And some fringe brews (like Lissandra Volibear, or Tryndamere Volibear) can crush GEM, but they are weak decks that don't seem capable of gaining too much popularity.
Eddy Morgalio, on the other hand, has a huge edge against several of the best decks out there (like Darius Gnar), has nearly pushed to extinction some formerly potent Elder Dragon brews (like Elder Norra or Elder Shivana), and has a small edge against the aggressive options that are doing well, like Teemo Yuumi, Gwen Zed, or Annie Jhin.
If you want the best of the best in the current LoR meta, Galio Elder Morgana it is.
Further Reading: Leer's Galio Elder Dragon Morgana Deck Guide
11 cards
29 cards
32 600
Viego Elder Dragon Mordekaiser
Being an okay deck by itself (win rate of about 52% overall) and having an edge against GEM, Viego
Elder Dragon Mordekaiser
has shot to the top of the popularity rankings. It's the third most-played archetype overall, and with 3500+ games in the last three days with its best list it's the other Juggernaut of the LoR ladder today.
31 cards
9 cards
25 000
Viego Elder Mordekaiser has 55/45 odds when facing GEM (which is not a lot, but against Eddy Morgalio there are not too many options…), and destroys Mordekaiser Morgana…
… but the Shirtless King dies painfully when facing anything that can deal damage fast: Annie Jhin, Gwen Zed, and even Caitlyn Teemo run over Viego Elder Mord, and Darius Gnar also has an edge on it.
Heavyweights – Strong LoR Decks for the Standard Ladder
These decks have between 1200 and 2400 games played in the last three days – thus far, they are among Runeterra's heavy-hitters!
Teemo Yuumi
For third week in a row, Teemo
Yuumi
earns our "Don't Sleep On It!" award – no, yes, really: it's been punching above 60% for quite a while now!
Some folks are starting to catch up and today Teemo Yuumi, with 1900 games under their belt, is the most popular deck in our Heavyweights category, and has the second-highest winrate from among all decks showcased today.
The Elusive s bunch does have a couple of bad matchups (Darius Gnar and Zed Gnar in particular), but is roughly 50/50 against GEM, wrecks Annie Jhin and Mordekaiser Morgana, and it's practically auto-win (odds close to 85%) versus Viego Elder Mordekaiser.
If you're tired of swallowing big spoons of midrange soup, this is the deck to bring!
24 cards
16 cards
33 300
Mordekaiser Morgana
Mordekaiser Morgana is in an interesting, if tough, spot.
It's the best counter against Galio Elder Morgana from among popular decks – not by a huge margin, but a solid 57% odds in its favor.
And it does beat some other solid decks, like Darius Gnar.
But the other solid GEM counter, namely Viego Elder Mord, absolutely wrecks Mordekaiser Morgana – which in a way is yet another reason for why Eddy Morgalio is having such a good time: one of its counters kills the other!
Mord Morgana also has a problem with fast, aggressive decks like Annie Jhin or Teemo Yuumi, and its overall performance is not amazing.
Further Reading: Sorry's Morgana Mordekaiser Demacia Deck Guide
34 cards
6 cards
28 900
Annie Jhin
Pilots have picked up that Annie
Jhin
is good again – and it has in fact improved its win rate from 57% last week to nearly 59% in the last few days, making it the third most-punchy behind GEM and Teemo Yuumi.
Blazing brat and bullet buff are not too bothered by Galio Elder Morgana, and they are solid against the Juggernaut's counters: Annie Jhin has a small edge against Mord Morgana, and a big edge against Elder Viego.
25 cards
15 cards
27 500
Darius Gnar
With Noxian steadfastness, Darius
Gnar
keeps punching above the 57% win rate mark even though its playrate has steadily dropped.
Being bad against Mord Morgana and awful against GEM is not a good place to be, but the Overwhelm boys still perform very well overall, and have too very juicy targets: they consistently beat Elder Viego, and smash Teemo Yuumi.
21 cards
19 cards
23 600
Not Recommended: Lissandra Volibear
We'll mention Lissandra
Volibear
here because it's a fairly popular deck, and it's very good against Eddy Morgalio…
… but, to be clear, it's not a deck we can recommend for the LoR ladder if your goal is to climb (as opposed to just raining on GEM's parade): it's performing below the 50% win rate mark.
Punching Up – Standard LoR Decks Doing Great
Standard LoR decks with between 800 and 1200 games played in the last three days – we're sailing into small data samples here, so pilots beware!
Elder Dragon Norra
Like several other decks today, Elder Dragon Norra
is a still-playable deck that's just a shadow of its former, Worlds-shaping self.
In particular, it's literally one of the worst decks to face Galio Elder Morgana with, while also being weak against Darius Gnar.
Still very playable, can still kill some very strong decks (like Annie Jhin or Teemo Yuumi), and portals still offer a different play pattern than most other decks out there, but overall not an amazing option if you're looking for the most efficient climbing tools.
15 cards
25 cards
28 400
Gnar Zed
Gnar Zed
's play rate has deflated tremendously this week, after being one of the hottest new trends last week. But it's still an excellent choice for your LoR laddering needs despite being a massive underdog to Eddie Morgalion: Gnar Zed's overall win rate is above 58%, and it bloody murders Elder Viego and Teemo Yuumi.
20 cards
20 cards
23 600
Gwen Zed
While Gnar Zed's play rate has cooled off, Gwen
Zed's has improved – and the same has happened with its performance, which now matches the Gnar variant.
It has also become more aggressive, with the best version cutting its one copy of Eternal Dancers
and Death Mark
to add an extra Opulent Foyer
and Greenglade Duo
.
15 cards
25 cards
27 000
Your Mileage May Vary
If none of the more meta decks 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!
Elder Dragon Shyvana
Among other accolades, Onward will be remembered as the expansion that made Shyvana great for once…
… for a couple of weeks, at least. It's a bit of a sad irony that not even the Elder Dragon, who makes pretty much everything good, has succeeded at providing Shyvana
with a top-tier deck for long. But it is what it is, and Elder Morgana is one of the decks that suffer the most against the new GEM menace.
Elder Shyvana is still a playable deck, though – just no longer one of the best options for the LoR ladder.
27 cards
13 cards
28 900
Caitlyn Teemo
Caitlyn
Teemo gets squished like a ripe shroom whenever it faces Galio Elder Morgana, and dies to Darius Gnar, and gets murdered by Annie Jhin…
… but they beat both of Eddy Galio's counters (and they particular ruin Viego's day) and overall maintain a healthy 53% win rate.
27 cards
13 cards
27 600
Jinx Kennen
Jinx's attempt of going solo this expansion didn't pan out too well, so everybody's favorite rocket-launching Zaunite grrrrl has teamed up again with the furry martial artist to revert that trend, and Jinx
Kennen
is doing very well for a fringe deck.
21 cards
19 cards
24 100
Elder Dragon Garen
See "Elder Morgana".
As in: In a meta where GEM is king, Elder Viego and Mord Morgana are its best counters, and Elder Garen is bad against all three… Elder Dragon Garen
is still a very good deck, but a far cry from what it was a few weeks ago.
Further Reading: Leer's Garen Elder Dragon Deck Guide.
10 cards
30 cards
24 000
Neeko Teemo
Third time's the charm, and the charming puffcappy Scout pairs this time with Neeko
for another go-small, go-wide deck. Although in this case with a lot less emphasis on Elusive s.
26 cards
14 cards
28 900
Elder Dragon Riven
Elder Riven is not exactly amazing right now, but doesn't lose that badly to Galio Elder Morgana, and it has an edge versus both Mord Morgana and Elder Viego.
25 cards
15 cards
31 600
KríSiS' Maokai Mordekaiser Mill
Last but not least: mill's still a thing!
Yes, that kind of mill: a deck that wants to win by running your foe out of cards.
Here's a reddit thread by KríSiS, the deck creator, with a quick explanation about this beauty!
12 cards
28 cards
26 700
Wrapping Up
There's always room for surprises in the LoR meta – Eddy Morgalio did come out of nowhere, after all, having been discovered after Worlds. But unless there's some huge surprise, Galio Elder Morgana will either be hotfixed, or end this patch cycle as a Tier Zero deck.
As noted, though, it's not the only good deck to play (even if it's clearly the best of the best), and if shackles and boons are not your thing, there are several other great climbing tools.
Hope you've found your weapon of choice among today's seletion, 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 1200 games played – other excellent choices, with large enough samples to confidently say, "Yeah, this works."
- Punching Up: LoR decks with between 1200 and 800 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.
