By the Numbers – Ten Strongest Decks, 24hs Into the Patch

LoR Current Ten Best Decks

As we saw in the Early Birds article earlier this morning, Kai'Sa is very not dead, Darkness is back, and the tide's just right to be a Pirate:

Below we'll recommend the best-performing decklists according to Legna, Balco, and MaRu's own data-mining – we'll only check decklists with a minimum of 90 games played, so some archetypes (for example Scouts) won't be listed (because, even if the archetype as a whole seems to be doing very well, none of the decklists in our data sample break past the 90-game mark).

Pirates Ahoy!

Pirates are punching hard. What you see below is both the most played decklist from among all archetypes (with a whopping 1,100+ games played) and sky-high winrate. As noted earlier today, it's not just that aggressive strategies tend to do well early on, while the Meta is up in the air – Pirates were the real deal pre-patch, and now are the real deal with WTF!? performance on top.

They fold to Darkness, and funnily enough are underdog to Pandemonium Monkeys; they seem favored into Lone Kai'Sa, while roughly even against Akshan Kai'Sa; and brutally murder Jhinnie, Azirelia, and Heimer Jayce.

Regions

Noxus
18 cards

Bilgewater
22 cards

Rarities

29 200

6

6

6

22

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

12

1

8

2

6

3

6

4

2

5

6

6

0

7+

Champions

6

3

Miss Fortune

3

4

Twisted Fate

3

Followers

21

1

Jagged Butcher

3

1

Legion Rearguard

3

1

Legion Saboteur

3

1

Precious Pet

3

2

Legion Grenadier

3

2

Marai Warden

3

4

Zap Sprayfin

3

Spells

13

2

Make it Rain

2

3

Noxian Fervor

3

5

Eye of Nagakabouros

2

6

Decimate

3

6

Riptide Sermon

3

Veigar Senna, aka Darkness

Currently the most popular archetype on the Plat+ ladder – it is fairly "scattered" (there are several different lists, all doing quite well), with the most popular shown below. The buff to Twisted Catalyzer, and the general shift in the meta, seems to have suited Senna and Veigar well.

Darkness handily spanks Pirates, and is slightly favored into Jhinnie and Heimer Jayce – on the other hand it's a slight underdog to Deep, and gets utterly crushed by… Aurelion Ramp! (yes, it's a thing, as we'll see below!)

Regions

Shadow Isles
15 cards

Bandlecity
25 cards

Rarities

25 100

6

1

13

20

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

0

1

14

2

2

3

12

4

3

5

7

6

2

7+

Champions

6

4

Veigar

3

5

Senna

3

Followers

17

2

Conchologist

3

2

Darkbulb Acolyte

3

2

Twisted Catalyzer

3

4

Aloof Travelers

1

4

Stilted Robemaker

3

6

Ixtali Sentinel

3

7

The Rekindler

1

Spells

17

2

Pokey Stick

3

2

Vile Feast

2

3

Wallop

2

4

The Box

1

4

Transposition

2

4

Withering Wail

2

6

Hidden Pathways

2

6

Vengeance

2

9

The Ruination

1

Annie Jhin

Being underdog to both Pirates and Darkness puts Jhinnie in a bit of a rough spot, yet bullet buff and blazing brat are doing fairly okay overall – they are the third most popular archetype, and the second most popular decklist overall, as seen below (with, not surprisingly, little changes from pre-patch).

Life's gonna be real, real hard as long as Pirates are a thing, though, because that matchup is horrible – both Deep and Heimer Jayce are also pretty awful.

Regions

Runeterra
28 cards

Noxus
12 cards

Rarities

22 000

6

0

3

31

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

12

1

15

2

7

3

3

4

0

5

3

6

0

7+

Champions

6

1

Annie

3

4

Jhin

3

Followers

28

1

Crackshot Corsair

3

1

Legion Rearguard

3

1

Legion Saboteur

3

2

Boomcrew Rookie

3

2

Imperial Demolitionist

3

2

Solari Sunhawk

3

2

The Stagehand

3

2

Tusk Speaker

3

3

Arachnoid Sentry

1

3

Doombeast

3

Spells

6

3

Noxian Fervor

3

6

Decimate

3

Heimerdinger Jayce

Professor and Student seem to enjoy the current chaos – there's little data to tell exactly why (above all since they don't seem to do too well against neither Pirates nor Darkness), but their most popular lists are doing quite well.

Regions

Piltover & Zaun
32 cards

Shadow Isles
8 cards

Rarities

25 600

6

2

10

22

eternal

Mana cost

5

0

4

1

9

2

7

3

5

4

3

5

7

6

0

7+

Champions

6

4

Jayce

3

5

Heimerdinger

3

Followers

12

1

Adaptatron 3000

2

1

Forge Chief

2

2

Ferros Financier

3

3

Hextech Handler

3

4

Aloof Travelers

2

Spells

22

0

Production Surge

3

0

Thermogenic Beam

2

2

Mystic Shot

3

2

Vile Feast

3

3

Aftershock

1

3

Flash of Brilliance

3

6

Piercing Darkness

2

6

Shock Blast

2

6

Vengeance

3

Akhsan Kai'Sa

Alright, let's talk about the Abomination in the room. No, she's not dead. And not only she's not dead, she's killing foes harder than pre-patch, even though she's doing so now with who was, until now, her least powerful partner.

The decklist below punches at 60% across 500+ games, and as noted in the Early Birds article this morning, top pilots think this is not a fluke – WhatAmI took this exact same list to Rank #1, and according to Prodigy, "Kai'Sa isn't dead, she is just being played in a very different way than before."

AkSai seems even into Pirates, and heavily favored against Darkness.

Regions

Demacia
15 cards

Shurima
25 cards

Rarities

29 100

6

5

11

18

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

3

1

15

2

5

3

5

4

9

5

0

6

3

7+

Champions

6

2

Akshan

3

5

Kai'Sa

3

Landmarks

2

2

Preservarium

2

Followers

23

1

Voidling

3

2

Belvethi Elder

3

2

Brightsteel Protector

2

2

Petricite Broadwing

2

3

Durand Protege

2

3

Merciless Hunter

3

4

Void Blaster

3

5

Radiant Guardian

2

9

Void Abomination

3

Spells

9

2

Blinding Assault

3

4

Rite of Negation

2

5

Concerted Strike

2

5

Golden Aegis

2

Nautilus Maokai (ft. Twisted Fate), aka Deep

Keeping with this morning's momentum, the Deep duo's best list now sits at 54% with 300+ games played. They have a fairly large edge over Jhinnie, and appear to be roughly even against other popular archetypes (and both Darkness and Pirates in particular).

Regions

Shadow Isles
17 cards

Bilgewater
23 cards

Rarities

28 400

6

4

13

17

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

4

1

8

2

11

3

6

4

3

5

4

6

4

7+

Champions

6

4

Maokai

2

4

Twisted Fate

1

7

Nautilus

3

Followers

18

1

Dreg Dredgers

3

2

Sea Scarab

3

3

Deadbloom Wanderer

3

3

Jaull Hunters

2

4

Megatusk

2

5

Abyssal Eye

3

6

Devourer of the Depths

2

Spells

16

1

Jettison

1

2

Bone Skewer

2

2

Vile Feast

3

3

Lure of the Depths

3

3

Undergrowth

3

4

Salvage

1

6

Vengeance

2

7

Atrocity

1

Ramp Aurelion Sol

Yep, it's a thing! This trusty archetype shows up now and again, and this time it's quite the early showing – 200 games and 54% WR for the build recommended below, and an intriguing matchup table: heavily favored into Darkness, severe underdog to Jhinnie.

Regions

Freljord
24 cards

Mount Targon
16 cards

Rarities

36 100

6

11

13

10

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

6

1

3

2

0

3

5

4

7

5

3

6

16

7+

Champions

6

1

Zoe

3

10

Aurelion Sol

3

Landmarks

6

4

Blighted Ravine

3

6

Targon's Peak

3

Followers

12

1

Spacey Sketcher

3

2

Faces of the Old Ones

3

8

It That Stares

3

10

She Who Wanders

3

Spells

16

4

Avalanche

2

5

Catalyst of Aeons

3

5

Celestial Wonder

2

5

Sunburst

2

8

Voices of the Old Ones

2

9

Buried in Ice

2

12

Feel The Rush

3

Trundle Caitlyn, aka Timelines

An archetype that was pushed back to the fringes in the last couple of weeks, after showing signs of making a comeback in the early Forces of Beyond days. Seems to be favored into Darkness, underdog to Jhinnie, and even against Pirates.

Regions

Freljord
16 cards

Piltover & Zaun
24 cards

Rarities

31 400

6

8

6

20

eternal

Mana cost

2

0

5

1

13

2

7

3

4

4

3

5

3

6

3

7+

Champions

6

3

Caitlyn

3

5

Trundle

3

Landmarks

1

4

Blighted Ravine

1

Followers

19

1

Zaunite Urchin

3

2

Boom Baboon

2

2

Ferros Financier

3

2

Vulpine Wanderer

2

3

Kindly Tavernkeeper

2

4

Aloof Travelers

3

6

Revna, the Lorekeeper

3

8

It That Stares

1

Spells

14

0

Thermogenic Beam

2

1

Three Sisters

2

2

Concurrent Timelines

3

2

Mystic Shot

3

3

Aftershock

2

9

Buried in Ice

2

Ezreal Kennen Ionia

Very low play rate (this list barely reaches 100 games), so no reliable matchup data, but quite the promising WR this early on.

Regions

Piltover & Zaun
3 cards

Ionia
37 cards

Rarities

29 700

6

5

14

15

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

8

1

10

2

9

3

10

4

1

5

0

6

2

7+

Champions

6

1

Kennen

3

3

Ezreal

3

Landmarks

3

3

God-Willow Seedling

3

Followers

13

2

Eye of the Dragon

3

2

Navori Conspirator

2

3

Shadow Assassin

3

4

Kinkou Wayfinder

3

7

Sai'nen Thousand-Tailed

2

Spells

18

1

Ionian Tellstones

2

1

Recall

3

2

Nopeify!

1

2

Sonic Wave

1

2

Twin Disciplines

3

4

Concussive Palm

2

4

Deny

2

4

Homecoming

3

5

Deep Meditation

1

Evelynn Maokai

A champion pair championed by Shadawx in his Day One Decks article yesterday – a very fringe option (barely 90 games – not something we'd normally recommend) with a 53%+ WR.

Regions

Shadow Isles
26 cards

Runeterra
14 cards

Rarities

28 100

6

3

17

14

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

3

1

14

2

11

3

6

4

3

5

3

6

0

7+

Champions

6

4

Evelynn

3

4

Maokai

3

Followers

20

1

Boisterous Host

3

2

Sea Scarab

3

2

Sultur

3

3

Conductor Of The Mists

3

3

Domination

3

3

Vora

2

5

Neverglade Collector

3

Spells

14

2

Glimpse Beyond

2

2

Hate Spike

3

2

Vile Feast

3

3

Undergrowth

3

6

Vengeance

3

Notable Absences

Nerfs and meta shifts have pushed Illaoi Bard to the side (at least for now), while buffs have not been enough to bring Ashe Leblanc to the forefront (yet), hence why none of these archetypes are recommended.

Scouts are doing quite well, but still in too small samples to say for sure – we'll see tomorrow in Weekend Warrior Weapons if they are ready for a comeback!

Wrapping Up

The meta has been shaken up plenty and, as tends to be the norm, established archetypes (either some of last patch's Top Dogs, or recently buffed and brought back like Darkness), are currently the forerunners.

We'll see tomorrow how things look like!

Any questions or comments, or more data you may need, feel free to:

Poke me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HerkoKerghans,

Stop for a chat on the Poetry Discord (we talk a fair bit about the LoR best decks and data, too! =): https://discord.gg/VNN5NmGhXY,

Or find more writings on substack: https://riwan.substack.com/

And good luck in your climb!