Note: This is an older article - for the most up-to-date data, check the latest LoR Best Decks article!!
LoR Best Decks – Dawn of the Age of Portals?
As of early Tuesday, these are the best LoR decks right now, according to Balco and MaRu Meta Tier List:
Compared with data we saw for the best LoR decks last Sunday:
- Pirates stay on top, but with their WR taking a wee bit of dent (much to talk today about why),
- Sej Gwen keeps gaining traction (by the way: fresh new Sejuani Gwen Deck Guide, right out of the oven!)
- The Rally Crew, with Scouts (aka Miss Fortune Quinn) and Tappy, keep punching up, and
- Norra Hemeir, of whom we'll speak about a lot today, is now the second most popular LoR deck (and for good reason, as we'll soon see!)
Technical note – About archetypes and decklists, and what we mean by "LoR best decks"
Balco's chart above, like most data sites (including MaRu's Meta Tier List) and articles (like Leer's LoR Meta Decks Report last Monday, and the best Legends of Runeterra article last Friday) sorts LoR decks by archetype ("archetype" being the aggregate of decks with a specific champion combination) – that's also how matchup data is shown.
In this article, we'll sort decks by the best specific decklist for each archetype – 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 four arbitrary categories, by amount of games played in the last three days in the data samples we check:
- Juggernauts: decks with more than 2100 games – these are the best tried-and-true decks for the climbing job.
- Heavyweights: between 2100 and 900 games played – other excellent choices, with large enough samples to confidently say, "Yeah, this works."
- Punching Up: between 900 and 300 games – we're entering the Land of Small Sample Sizes here, on top of the meta being up in the air, but as far as numbers go, these decks can put up one hell of a fight.
- YMMV: between 300 and 150 games – risky stuff, but here's where you usually find the spice!
For this article, in all cases we'll look at decklists in Platinum and above, and in the last three days, unless stated otherwise – and when talking about decks in general, or best LoR 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). As a rule of thumb, decks with a winrate (WR) above 52% catch our eye, above 53% are eye-widening, and anything over 55% is exceptional.
On the other hand, do notice that when talking about matchup tables, it's always about archetypes – in other words, we'll recommend which are the best LoR decks (ie. specific decklist) you can choose to face the most popular archetypes (since you'll find all versions in the ladder).
Last but not least: all stats and recommendations above are for choosing the best LoR deck for the Legends of Runeterra Ranked Ladder environment – if you are in need of weapons of choice for the Best-of-Three format, be sure to check Sirturmund's & Monte's recommended Tournament & Gauntlet Decks and Lineups (which they usually update every Thursday).
Sources: Balco, Legna, MaRu's own Meta Tier List.
If you have any feedback on how these decks could be showcased differently, do let me know! =)
Juggernauts – Best LoR Meta Decks
Decklists with more than 2100 games and good-to-great WR: these are the best LoR decks, tried-and-true tools for the climbing job – currently Pirates are the sole dweller of this category!
Heimerdinger Norra
Alright folks… welcome to a new Meta! In past articles we kept slapping the "LoR best deck" tag to Pirates, to the point that it's not too much of a stretch to say that the last four weeks have been LoR's Golden Age of Piracy…
… but that may be about to change. There are three decklists today that make the Juggernaut cut, and two of them are Heimer Norra variants; they perform nearly identically (both at 53%+ with 2,300 games) so it's hard to know which one is best (and the list will likely go through further refinements); recommended below you'll find the one with slightly more games, and here is the other one.
Top pilots are massively impressed by this list, by the way: it has already proven its viability in Tournaments, with Cephalopod taking down the OLS tournament last Sunday with it, and Majiin got great results on the ladder.
Heimer Norra's matchup table (at Diamond+) should make clear why; according to Legna:
… our portaling Yordles are even or favored against most of the field, their only really bad matchups being Timelines and Sejuani Gwen – and even their poor odds against Gwen Katarina may be due to pilots' inexperience: when looking at Masters-only data, that particular confrontation is roughly even.
While Pirates, as we'll see right next, still have the best-performing Juggernaut deck, we've entered uncharted waters: now the second most popular archetype, and the only other Juggernauts in sight, are preying upon them!
19 cards
21 cards
27 300
Miss Fortune Twisted Fate, aka Pirates
With Heimer and Norra breathing down their neck, Fate & Fortune still punch at nearly 55% in 2,300 games – technically they still are, today, the best LoR deck to take to the ladder, but whether or not they will remain so is far from assured now.
As said above, Pirates lose to Heimer Norra; Sejuani Gwen gaining traction is also bad news for them; and Viego Evelynn, Scouts and TF Nami Ionia keep being a thorn in their thigh.
On the other hand, Pirates brutally demolish Trundle Timelines (a deck that itself handily beats Hemeir Norra), and have an edge on Taric Poppy (another rising morning star, with an edge on the Portaling Yordles), while retaining their advantage against most of the rest of the field, so… uncharted waters, ahoy!
18 cards
22 cards
29 200
Notably Absent: Kindred Nasus
Wolf, Lamb and Doggy remain extremely popular for some reason, even though their performance would suggest they are being quite overplayed – although they have a decklist in the Juggernaut category by play rate (well over 2,000 games), we won't recommend such list today on grounds of it punching at only 48%.
Heavyweights – Strong LoR Meta Decks
These LoR decks have between 900 and 2100 games in the last three days, making them solid choices with large enough samples to confidently say, "Yeah, this works".
Twisted Fate Nami Ionia
Ionia's Nami TF remains the hardest-hitting Heavyweight, slugging above 55% (and way above a couple of Pirates and Heimer Norra variants that would fit the Heavyweight category too).
Things look very good for these two Champs: they spank Pirates, beat Norra Heimer, crush Timelines and Sej Gwen (the two strongest Heimer Norra counters), and have improved their odds against Ezreal Kennen and Kat Gwen: these last two matchups are now roughly even. As long as they don't bump into the Rally Crew (Scouts and Poppy), it's all good winds and smooth sailing for Nami & friends. If you need some tips, here's our Nami TF Ionia Deck Guide by the way.
17 cards
23 cards
35 900
Katarina Gwen, ft. Elise
These three ladies keep losing steam, the meta having turned aggressive to them – they manage an okay 51%+, but they are far from the Juggernauts they were not too long ago. Trundle Timelines is currently the only popular matchup where the odds are clearly in Kat Gwen's favor; the rest are roughly even or disfavorable for them, with Scouts and Eve Viego being particularly bad. For further reading, here's our Katarina Gwen Deck Guide.
22 cards
18 cards
28 800
Notably Absent – Norra Bard, Akshan Pantheon
As the Meta shifts and refines itself, some decks are left out – the most popular decklists for Norra Bard (which showed quite a bit of promise until Sunday), and Akshan Pantheon (which was doing adequate) have now fallen below the 50% WR mark.
Punching Up – Off-Meta LoR Decks Doing Great
LoR decks with between 300 and 900 games played in the last three days in Platinum and above – note that several popular archetypes can be found here, meaning that they tend to be quite "scattered" (ie, have lots of different lists, unlike the Juggernauts in which the majority of pilots choose the same deck).
Sejuani Gwen
Sej Gwen has forked in two minimally different version – the one recommended last Sunday, namely this one, is still doing very well (53%+ across 850 games), but tweaking one less Atrocity
for an extra Three Sisters
, as seen in our recommended deck below, produced a whopping 56%+ WR in around 700 games. Do notice that, for these sample sizes, pilot skill and dedication starts becoming a factor (as in: 4-5 highly skilled and very dedicated players, playing 30 games per day each, would account for roughly 50% of the games played on a 700-game sample), and lists with a single tweak could very well be a small, highly-skilled team sharing a specific tech.
That being said, with 1500+ games between both lists combined, Sej Gwen is definitely a player this Meta – above all when considering that they brutally cull Heimer Norra, while also beating Timelines and Kat Gwen. Pirates, TF Nami Ionia and Scouts are Sej Gwen's common bad matchups – although Sej Gwen has the upper hand against the other Rally deck, Taric Poppy.
And, interestingly, this is another deck that has turned the tables on a bad matchup: EzKen, unfavorable last Sunday, seems roughly even (and perhaps slightly favored) for the Cold Crew now.
22 cards
18 cards
24 200
Scouts, aka Miss Fortune Quinn
The "classic" version of Scouts takes the lead today (with the more "Pirate-y" variant, running Eye of Nagakabouros and Riptide Sermon, not doing great right now), hitting above 53% in 750+ games.
Heimer Norra are doubly bad news for them, though – Heimer Norra itself is a slightly bad matchup for Scouts, and so is the Portaling Yordles' counter, namely Trundle Timelines. Scouts also keeps being hunted by Eve Viego (a horrible matchup), but have otherwise a great matchup table: they crush Kat Gwen, Nasus Kindred, EzKen, and TF Nami Ionia, while also having a bit of an edge on Pirates and Taric Poppy.
29 cards
11 cards
26 800
Ezreal Kennen Ionia
Ezreal and Kennen are the hardest-hitters in this category, striking at an amazing 56% across 700+ games – which is to say a lot, given they do have some fairly awful matchups. They clearly more than make up for it by clobbering their prey most harshly.
Pirates are bad news, Heimer Norra even worse, and Scouts make EzKen's wail like a baby. On the other hand, EzKen destroys Timelines, Kat Gwen and Eve Viego.
3 cards
37 cards
31 200
Viego Evelynn
Things are shifting quite a bit here – the list we recommended last Sunday (namely this one) is not doing too well, whereas tweaking Barkbeast
for Hapless Aristocrat
, and cutting one Domination
for The Rekindler
, seems to be working wonderfully.
Both tweaks give a lot of support to comments I've read on reddit, about on the one hand Barkbeast feeling sub-par (even though, up until now, the best list usually ran it), and the deck being quite reliant on their Champs (to the point of being one reason why quite a few pilots, even when considering Eve Viego a strong deck, feel it's not too fun to play given the lack of agency, and somehow not in-character for Viego, so to speak).
13 cards
27 cards
28 900
Taric Poppy Demacia
Taric and Poppy (or Tappy, as Master Namer Leer likes to call them) keep hammering their way upwards. The joy of any Rally lover (the current list packs five Rally card, and if you are unfamiliar with Taric, notice that said Rally cards are targeted; in other words, if cast on Taric, he'll in turn cast them on his supported ally, thus Rallying again), and packing a 54% punch in 400+ games.
Still a fairly "scattered" archetype (lots of different lists, meaning pilots have not yet agreed on the optimal version) but with the recommended deck below slowly gaining popular support.
Tappy doesn't do well against Pirates and Sej Gwen, and Eve Viego is a nightmare – on the other hand, they are one of the few decks with good odds against Heimer Norra (a small edge in this case), and are roughly even or slightly favored against most of the remaining field.
20 cards
20 cards
27 200
Plunder Pandemonium, aka Elise Twisted Fate
These crazy monkeys keep making quite the ruckus, now at almost 53% in nearly 400 games – there's not too much data to try and puzzle why, but they seem amazing against Pirates, and not too bad against Heimer Norra.
4 cards
36 cards
32 900
Nasus Kindred
At the bottom of our Punching Up category we find the first Nasus Kindred list with really good results (an impressive 55%+ WR in a bit more than 300 games) – several other more popular lists all punching below 50%, though, do take this with lots of grains of salt: high-skilled pilots are probably behind this particular deck, above all when noting this is a very "traditional" list without Equipment (a staple in more popular list).
7 cards
33 cards
31 600
Your Mileage May Vary – Fringe LoR Decks
LoR decks with less than 300 games played in the last few days – promising, but too little data to say for sure!
Karma Lux
Alright, now this is looking real-deal-ish: exact same list we saw last Sunday, and with WR dropping to around 52% – but now almost 300 games under its belt (when last Sunday it was scratching to get to 100), which is the somewhat arbitrary line we've drawn to think that a deck is quite likely to be steered by more than half a dozen pilots. And if one were to guesstimate that 50% of the 200% increase in playrate is due to inexperienced pilots grabbing this deck in the last couple of days (thus dragging the performance down as they learn its ins and outs – it's always wise to remember that, according to Legna's & bA1ance's Mastery Curves, it does take 20+ games to get the feel of a deck you've never played before) then, yeah: we may have a for-real real-deal here!
19 cards
21 cards
29 900
Trundle Vi Timelines
The Troll King's back! After being fairly well proven that it's not the Meta-breaker some thought he was early on (dies to Pirates, Kat Gwen, Nasus Kindred, EzKen, TF Nami, Sej Gwen, and Taric Poppy), shifts in the Meta have allowed Trundle and his Timelines tribe to not fall from the edge: they squash Heimer Norra, squarely smash Scouts, are favored against the other up-and-comer, Sej Gwen, and overall pummel at 55%+ across 260 games.
23 cards
17 cards
27 200
Twisted Fate Nami P&Z
Now, this one is an odd one: brewers and pilots tried quite hard to make this Champ & Region combo work during past Metas, but to no avail – yet there may be something here now, with solid performance in around 200 games.
15 cards
25 cards
31 100
Diana Nocturne
If you watched Majiin's vid about Heimer Norra, you may have noticed he mentions seeing a lot of Nightfall recently (since Fearsome is a really good keyword against EzKen) – quite the complex archetype to pilot if you've never done so (you may want to check Monte's Nightfall Deck Guide in that case; an archetype very close to his heart, and that he often recommends for Tournaments & Gauntlets), and that is performing quite well on the fringes.
21 cards
19 cards
24 000
Ramp Aurelion Sol
Alright, so this too may be the real-deal: third time in a row we see these two Champs show up with the exact same list, after we spotted them last Friday on our recommended Legends of Runeterra decks – now with 200+ games in the last three days, and jabbing at nearly 53%. And, guess what: while still dying horribly to Pirates, our rampy duo happens to be very good against Heimer Norra.
27 cards
13 cards
35 700
Lee Sin Viktor
Viktor has determined that Glorious Evolution
is not a good idea outside a Curious Shellfolk
deck, but his partnership with the blind monk continues to prove profitable. For those looking for a bit of spice, note the Scavenged Camocloaker
snuck in there!
15 cards
25 cards
30 400
Karma Viktor
You don't often get a chance to see two Karma decks doing well on the same day, but we've seen Pirates plundered by Portals, so I guess anything is possible!
Highest Random Generation Index outside Portal decks, by the way, with three copies of Back Alley Bar
.
21 cards
19 cards
29 700
Nami Norra
This was one of the first Norra decks to show some promise, although was later pushed to the fringes – doing quite well there, though, hitting at nearly 53%. For tips, tricks, and other intricacies, take a look at CardGamer's extensively detailed Nami Norra Deck Guide.
19 cards
21 cards
35 200
Sivir Akshan Noxus
As keen observers will quickly notice, this one has Ricko Rex's fingerprints all over it – or, well, I guess footprints, by how handily it stomps over the opposition. Crazy 57%+ WR, and has been performing excellently for several days now, so quite likely the real-deal even with its small sample size.
17 cards
23 cards
21 800
For a Fistful of Copium
55%+ WR.
Has Master Yi.
Final offer – take it or leave. No refunds!
17 cards
23 cards
31 800
Yuumi Pantheon Demacia
A bit like Ahri Kennen last Sunday (who were nowhere to be found today), these deposed Meta King and Queen have been seen on the fringes, and not doing bad. Fairly classic list, with a couple of Awakening toys and tricks.
13 cards
27 cards
25 800
Sivir Akshan Ionia
And, to close today's selection, yet another quite old concept, that used to sow terror on the ladder in its heyday: Quick Strick Elusives, packing Flurry of Fists
. A very fringe option, which should please those that follow the path of the OTK.
12 cards
28 cards
25 700
Closing Words
Is this how the Golden Age of Piracy ends? Are Portals their sunset?
As we've seen above, Pirates is nowhere near gone, nor seems in risk to be giving its current matchups – but being the underdog to the newest rising star is not a comfortable place to be, as Illaoi and Bard learned all too well when, right when they reached formally "broken" status, their counters, and specifically Kai'Sa, turned the tide.
Will, then, Norra Heimer become the new Yordle Ladder Royalty? A bit too early to tell.
To close today's recommendations, the usual reminder: all stats and recommendations above are for choosing the best LoR deck for the Legends of Runeterra Ladder – if you are in need of weapons of choice for a Tournament or Gauntlet run, be sure to check Sirturmund's & Monte's recommended Best-of-Three decks and lineups.
Good luck out there! =)
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 LoR Poetry Discord (we talk a fair bit about decks and data, too! =): https://discord.gg/VNN5NmGhXY,
Or find more writings on substack: https://riwan.substack.com/
