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
Depending how you look at it, the biggest news this week for the LoR meta is Lurkers' sudden spike, with Pyke
Rek'Sai
returning to the top of the charts…
… or, well, how Riot has kind of brutally found a way to make Elder Dragon
un-unstoppable.
In case you've somehow missed the news, Riot's CEO has announced some very harsh cuts for the company as a whole, and LoR specifically, including a refocus on PvE.
Dave Guskin – current Executive Producer and Game Director for Legends of Runeterra, although he'll soon be moving to a different team – has shared additional details about the reorganization and refocus. "After we have regrouped as a team," Dave writes, "LoR will once again recenter and refocus, this time with the rising star of the Path of Champions forming the core of the business."
Dave later clarified, on Twitter, that LoR is not being shut down (shot down as it may have been…) and that PvP is still in the menu…
… so, in a way, the usual caveat we love to use in these LoR meta reports happens to apply: too early to tell what will happen, we'll have to wait and see next week.
For the time being, here are the current best-performing decks for the Legends of Runeterra ladder!
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
A big chunk of pilots seem to think that bringing a gun to a knife fight is the dishonorable thing to do, though, and G.E.M.'s playrate has decreased this week even further, a trend that we've seen for two weeks now.
Galio
Elder Dragon Morgana
is still simply the best weapon to bring to the LoR ladder, and it's not even close. There may be something as strong (namely Shivana Elder Morgana), but with 4700 games played and sky-high 60% win rate, GEM tops every performance chart.
Further Reading: Leer's Galio Elder Dragon Morgana Deck Guide
11 cards
29 cards
32 600
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!
Pyke Rek'Sai
Like yelling "You are downsizing what game, now!?" Pyke Rek'Sai has surged out of nowhere and now is the second most-popular deck in the LoR ladder.
Performance is nowhere near to the ruling GEM leviathan, but Pyke's crew still punches at a respectable 53% win rate across 2200 games.
And Lurkers do have a small edge against GEM, so it's not just out of nostalgia that they have returned. They do have a really hard time against Annie Jhin and Gwen Zed, though.
We'll see how long this resurgence remains, but it sure is hearthwarming to see long-time staples return to the fight when LoR needs them most.
15 cards
25 cards
26 400
Gwen Zed
Gwen
Zed
's performance remains excellent, and has actually improved to nearly 57% this week (up from 55% last week). It has a small edge on Eddie Morgalio and a big edge against Lurkers; it also brutally murders Elder Viego, a mediocre deck that just refuses to leave the LoR meta.
Gwen Zed's main problems are Annie Jhin and Elder Norra, and may not be happy if Elder Morgana Shivana keeps gaining traction.
Further reading: Sorry's Gwen Zed Deck Guide
15 cards
25 cards
27 000
Viego Elder Dragon Mordekaiser
Viego
Elder Dragon Mordekaiser
is very solid against Galio Elder Morgana, but that's it's only selling point (or one of its main selling points, depending on your stance on shirtless, big-sword-wielding kings). Still very popular with close to 2000 games played in the last three days, but struggling to keep above a 50% win rate mark.
Elder Viego has an edge over GEM and is not worried about Lurkers, but overall struggles against the current field and, in particular, Annie Jhin or Gwen Zed shred it to ribbons.
Further reading: Sorry's Viego Mordekaiser Elder Dragon Deck Guide
31 cards
9 cards
25 000
Teemo Yuumi
Teemo
Yuumi
is what you take to the ladder when you want to enjoy GEM-like win rates but without playing curses and dragon boons.
Teemo Yuumi murders Mordekaiser decks (above all the Elder Viego variant, which is auto-win for the Yordles) and has a small edge against Annie Jhin.
GEM and Gwen Zed are slightly disfavored, while Lurkers are roughly 50/50 – and, should Elder Morgana Shivana keep growing, Teemo Yuumi will be very, very sad.
21 cards
19 cards
33 300
Elder Dragon Morgana Shyvana
If there's one deck that could turn the LoR meta on its head, it would be this Elder Dragon Morgana Shyvana
. It does have a lot of points in common with GEM, of course, but it's a fairly different deck.
Performance is amazing (around 60%, just like GEM)... but, also like GEM, pilots seem remiss to bring a machine gun to a knife fight, and Elder Morgana Shyvana has kept a stead play rate.
Although slightly the underdog against GEM, Elder Morgana Shyvana consistently beat the best aggro decks out there: Gwen Zed, Annie Jhin, and above all Teemo Yuumi are all easy prey.
27 cards
13 cards
32 600
Mordekaiser Morgana
Mordekaiser Morgana is perhaps this patch biggest mystery: extremely popular–the second most-popular archetype overall–but, unlike other popular archetypes in which most pilots flock to the best version, Mord Morgana remains a fairly "scattered" archetype.
Three copies of The Darkin Halberd
seems to be the way to go, and Mord Morgana manages to punch at 54% with that tech.
Further Reading: Sorry's Morgana Mordekaiser Demacia Deck Guide
34 cards
6 cards
27 300
Annie Jhin
Blazing brat and bullet buff have found a (temporary?) plateau and have kept a steady playrate this week. Their performance has also mellowed a bit, punching now at 55% when last week they were smacking at 57%.
They are close to 50/50 into Galio Elder Morgana, demolish Elder Viego, and have very solid odds against Gwen Zed and the ascending Lurkers.
25 cards
15 cards
27 500
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
The portalling Yordle keeps looking better and better – after a couple of weeks at around 52%, Elder Dragon Norra
is now showcasing an excellent 56% win rate.
You don't want to run into GEM while piloting Elder Norra. And you may want to stay away from Elder Morgana Shyvana.
But then you have a lot of good matchups: good odds into Mordekaiser decks, very good odds when facing Lurkers, and excellent if you run into either Annie Jhin or Gwen Zed.
Further reading: Yang's Elder Norra Deck Guide
15 cards
25 cards
28 400
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 rockets have lost a bit of boom this week (now at 55%, down from 57%) but Jinx
Kennen
is the best way to put burnin' rockets to good. Yeah, dies to GEM, but works wonderfully well otherwise!
21 cards
19 cards
24 100
Frozen Caitlyn Teemo
The trap pair is one of the most rock-paper-scissor-ish decks out there right now. Brutally squashed by GEM, Annie Jhin, Lurkers and Gwen Zed, it can demolish Mordekaiser decks.
Don't expect amazing results, but if traps are your thing then it's a great time to bring them to ladder!
27 cards
13 cards
27 600
Darius Gnar
With Noxian steadfastness, Darius
Gnar
keeps punching at a very solid 55%.
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
Seraphine Sett
Seraphine
Sett
showed a lot of promise last week – they haven't exactly delivered and have remained a fringe option, but they are still a fairly good deck to bring to the LoR ladder.
And you get to play Seraphine, which may be all the reason you need to choose, or reject, this brew!
24 cards
16 cards
32 800
Fizz Yuumi
While clearly not the best elusives deck (that would be Teemo Yuumi), Fizz
Yuumi's got game and punches at a nice 54%.
And it is amazing against Teemo Yuumi, so if you want to fight fire with fire, this is a very solid choice!
19 cards
21 cards
27 300
Teemo Tristana Elder Dragon
Norra is not the only Yordle willing to team up with the grumpy ol' lizard, and Teemo Tristana
Elder Dragon is making quite the waves.
For tips and tricks, here's Sorry's Teemo Tristana Elder Dragon Deck Guide.
14 cards
26 cards
36 300
Miss Fortune Nilah
Don't sleep on this new take on pirates, folks – Miss Fortune
Nilah
has been doing great for weeks now, and although a fringe brew it has GEM-like winrates!
Yeah, dies to GEM. But it's not an unwinnable matchup, and you have several matchups (Elder Viego, Annie Jhin) that are unwinnable for them.
15 cards
25 cards
28 600
Master Yi Riven
It's a very fringe brew, but it's the third week in a row that Master Yi
Riven
shows very good results – won't break the meta, but if you want something off the beaten path, this is a brew you may want to try!
16 cards
24 cards
27 100
Morgana Riven
Another Riven deck, Morgana Riven was quite popular some weeks ago – and, right now, has the second-highest winrate among fringe brews, right behind Miss Fortune Nilah.
23 cards
17 cards
24 900
Wrapping Up
Heh… it sure sounds ominous, "wrapping up", considering this week's news…
… but, hey, something that the Runeterra ladder shows time and time again is that it's always a bit too early to tell. So I guess we'll see.
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.
