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
The puzzling surprise this week is that overall play rates for the most popular archetypes have remained fairly constant: Even though there are a couple of decks (Galio
Elder Dragon
Morgana
and Teemo
Yuumi
) that are undoubtedly head and shoulders above the rest, pilots have restrained themselves from flocking en masse to the strongest brews. Therefore, play rates are fairly balanced overall, even if the strongest decks are super clear right now.
By the way: all data and figures in this article are for ladder decks – if you're looking for decks and lineups for the upcoming Runeterra Open this Saturday, do check Sorry's recommendations in his Top 5 Lineups for the Runeterra Open.
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
By now we can call this deck solved: it has reigned supreme for three weeks in a row now, and although Teemo Yuumi's win rate is nearly as high (both are slightly above 60%), Galio Elder Dragon Morgana is massively more popular: 11000+ games played in the last three days, and with several other lists with minimal tweaks punching at a similar performance.
This is, plain and simple, the most dominant deck we've seen in quite some time.
G.E.M. does have a couple of counters, namely Viego Elder Dragon Mordekaiser, and Mordekaiser Morgana. But none of them are too strong in the current meta, and their edge on the reigning Juggernaut is solid (about 55% for Elder Mord, and 60% for Morgana Mord) but far from auto-win.
Eddy Morgalio, on the other hand, has an edge against several of the best decks out there (including Teemo Yuumi and Annie Jhin), has nearly pushed to extinction some otherwise strong decks (like Elder Norra, Elder Shivana, Darius Gnar, and the list goes on…), and casually crushes underfoot any low-tier or for-fun brew.
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
Teemo Yuumi
Eddie Morgalio is without a doubt this patch's biggest story, among other reasons because it went from zero to villain/hero after going undiscovered in Worlds. But Teemo Yuumi's success is no less impressive: quietly growing from a somewhat fringe deck last patch to a powerhouse now, these two have steadily punched at a 60% win rate and today their best decks shows close to 6000 games played in the last three days.
The fun part is that these little folks are collaborating with Eddie Morgalio in dominating the meta, and the big guys are reciprocating.
Teemo Yuumi absolutely murders Mordekaiser decks (which are GEM's only counters) – in particular, the Yordles' edge over Elder Viego Mordekaiser is large enough to call it auto-win.
And GEM wipes the floor with the likes of Gnar Zed, Elder Shivana or Morgana Riven, which used to keep Teemo Yuumi in check.
As Sorry recommends in his Decks and Lineups for the Runeterra Open, GEM and Elusives are clearly the best decks in Runeterra right now.
21 cards
19 cards
33 300
Viego Elder Dragon Mordekaiser
Viego
Elder Dragon Mordekaiser
is very solid against Galio Elder Morgana…
… but, alas, that's all that it seems to be. While still massively popular (about 4500 games played in the last three days), its win rate has deflated to a mediocre 50%.
Anything that goes fast and furious runs circle around Elder Viego, and the confrontation against Teemo Yuumi is particularly brutal (odds below 20%!). You can play this deck, you can certainly climb with it, and you will have an edge against the ruler of the current LoR meta – but there are several much better decks out there.
Further reading: Sorry's Viego Mordekaiser Elder Dragon Deck Guide
31 cards
9 cards
25 000
Heimerdinger Jayce
We do have one surprise this week: Heimerdinger
Jayce
has carved a spot for itself among the most popular decks!
It's not doing wonders overall (just a very modest 51% win rate), but it's in the interesting spot of having game against most other popular decks.
Professor and Student are almost exactly 50/50 into Teemo Yuumi, roughly even against GEM, has an edge over Elder Viego, and is somewhat disfavored against Mord Morgana – and odds against the majority of other popular decks fall in the 40/60 range, making Heimer Jayce one of the most "fair" decks out there right now.
Not a meta-breaker by any means, but a very playable deck with a couple of fairly unique Champions.
15 cards
25 cards
26 900
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!
Mordekaiser Morgana
Mordekaiser Morgana has changed a bit, its best build now packing three copies of The Darkin Halberd
. The tweaks looks very promising, and may revert the archetype's poor results: Mord Morgana's performance is around 50% overall, but the Halberd version showcases a 55% winrate.
And the deck is the best counter against Galio Elder Morgana from among popular decks (57% odds in its favor), and also very solid against Darius Gnar and Gwen Zed.
Viego Elder Mord wrecks Mordekaiser Morgana, though, and Teemo Yuumi runs circles around it.
Further Reading: Sorry's Morgana Mordekaiser Demacia Deck Guide
34 cards
6 cards
28 400
Gwen Zed
Gwen
Zed
has had some interesting ups and downs this patch: it started off as one of the best decks (as it was right before Onward landed), then it was pushed to the sides while Gnar Zed became all the range, yet as of last week Seamstress and Shadow Master got their stride back and are doing wonderfully well together: a splendid 57% win rate across 1800 games, making it one of the deck that has improved its play rate the most this week.
The more aggressive versions, that cut Eternal Dancers
, seem the best suited against the current Runeterra meta: Gwen Zed can go toe-to-toe with GEM and Teemo Yuumi, and reliably beats Elder Viego. Heimer Jayce is a bit of a problem, though.
15 cards
25 cards
27 000
Annie Jhin
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.
It is also very strong against the returning Gwen Zed, overall punching at about 55% across 1700 games.
Main problem? Teemo Yuumi. It's not unwinnable for Annie Jhin, but the elusive yordles have quite the upper hand.
25 cards
15 cards
27 500
Elder Dragon Norra
The portalling Yordle is making a comeback!
Elder Dragon Norra
is one of the worst decks to face Galio Elder Morgana with. Like, auto-lose territory. So it was not surprising to see it pushed a bit to the fringes last week.
Yet it has regained quite a bit of win and play rate in the last few days – it's not entirely clear why (it's roughly even against Elder Viego and Teemo Yuumi, and its only good target among strong decks is Gwen Zed), but an overall absence of strong predators besides GEM seem to allow Elder Norra to shine again.
Further reading: Yang's Elder Norra Deck Guide
15 cards
25 cards
28 400
Master Yi Riven
Yep, this is a thing!
There's not too much data here to know what's going on (other than to say "don't expect to win against Eddie Morgalio here"), but Master Yi
Riven
has manage to punch above 51% and with 1300 games in the last three days – nothing to write epic poems about, but very solid results for a new brew this late in the patch cycle.
16 cards
24 cards
27 100
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!
Miss Fortune Nilah
Pirates be back!
Although we're approaching the Land of Small Sample Sizes, performance is very good in this case: win rate of nearly 56% across 1000+ games in the last three days.
Yes: it dies to both GEM and Teemo Yuumi, so this one won't upset the status quo that much. But, thus far, it's killing most other things out there!
15 cards
25 cards
28 600
Darius Gnar
With Noxian steadfastness, Darius
Gnar
keeps punching quite hard (close to 56%) even though its playrate keeps dropping.
Being awful against GEM is not a good place to be in the current LoR meta, but the Overwhelm boys still perform very well overall.
21 cards
19 cards
23 600
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!
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. Jinx
Kennen
is, like last week, a fringe brew, but it has consistently performed very well – if you like rockets and burn, take this one for a spin!
21 cards
19 cards
24 100
Neeko Teemo
The charming puffcappy Scout pairs 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 Garen
Elder Garen is a weird case: it has consistently been one of the best-performers, and this week showcases an amazing 59% win rate (albeit in a small 400-game sample) – yet for some reason pilots have turned their backs on it. Still, if you want an excellent off-meta choice (well, at least as far as an Elder Dragon brew can be considered off-meta), Elder Dragon Garen
is a superb choice.
Further Reading: Leer's Garen Elder Dragon Deck Guide.
10 cards
30 cards
24 000
Elder Dragon Riven
Elder Riven is doing quite well in the fringes, and it doesn't lose that badly to Galio Elder Morgana – not something most current decks can say!
25 cards
15 cards
31 600
Gnar Zed
Gnar Zed's play rate has deflated a lot but it's still an excellent, if fringe, choice: Gnar Zed's overall win rate is around 57%, and it bloody murders Elder Viego and Teemo Yuumi.
Further reading: Sorry's Gnar Zed Deck Guide
20 cards
20 cards
23 600
Wrapping Up
By this point, the LoR meta seems solved and with two clear winners – this week has seen a couple of new faces (Miss Fortune Nilah) or returning concepts (Heimer Jayce), but the dominant decks have remained the same for the last few weeks and there's no strong counter in sight.
Hope you've found your weapon of choice among today's selection, 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.
