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, and State of the Game
A snapshot of the LoR ladder shows pretty much the same faces as last week – which continues to be a bit puzzling, but by now we can expect it: Galio
Elder Dragon
Morgana
is neck, wings and shoulders above the competition, but the playerbase has collectively taken the chivalrous stance of not abusing this GEM on the ladder, and its playrate has kept roughly constant.
And Pyke
Rek'Sai
is definitely back; its performance is far from amazing, but if not even death could stop Pyke, feeble facts and figures are not gonna stop the school of Lurker enjoyers.
On the other hands…
… faces in Riot, and the LoR team specifically, are changing.
A lot.
The LoR official account on X will release (or has released, depending on when you read this) a vid about the game's future at some point during Thursday (at about 10am PST, if I had to guess):
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
Two weeks ago, the best Galio Elder Dragon Morgana deck had a 6.69% share of the top metagame, with a 60% win rate.
A week ago, with a similar win rate, its share had moved to… 4.59%.
This week its win rate has improved to 61%, it's abundantly clear its the best deck in the format… but this specific deck's share has dropped again, this time to 3.7%, while the archetype's overall play rate has also decreased slightly.
LoR pilots don't seem to enjoy bringing a bazooka to a knife fight, one would think! =)
At any rate, and for clarity's sake: This is the best deck in LoR right now; the strongest we've seen in a very long time. Pilots have shown restrain in adopting it, but had they flocked to it instead its playrate could match that of Azirelia's in its heyday.
It does have a couple of counters–Mordekaiser decks like Mord Morgana or Elder Mord Viego–but, overall, it's unstoppable.
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!
Gwen Zed
Gwen
Zed
can go toe-to-toe with GEM, slices Lurkers into sashimi, destroys Elder Mord Viego, and overall smacks at nearly 57% overall across 1700 games.
Gwen Zed's main problems are Annie Jhin and Elder Norra. It's also 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
Teemo Yuumi
Pilots seem to have remembered that Teemo
Yuumi
is perhaps the second, and is certainly among the three best decks for the LoR ladder: The elusive crew has regained traction this week, packing a 58%+ punch and seeing their playrate increase.
Teemo Yuumi murders Mordekaiser decks (above all the Elder Viego variant, which is auto-win for the Yordles), eats Lurkers alive, has a small edge against Annie Jhin, and is roughly 50/50 versus Gwen Zed.
GEM is a bit of an uphill struggle, though, and Teemo Yuumi has nightmares about Elder Shivana Morgana.
24 cards
16 cards
33 300
Viego Elder Dragon Mordekaiser
Viego
Elder Dragon Mordekaiser
has improved its performance this week to an okay 52% win rate, showing it may be good at something else other than beating Galio Elder Morgana.
It dies horribly to anything that punches face fast, like Annie Jhin or Gwen Zed – and against Teemo Yuumi it might just as well concede on the spot.
Further reading: Sorry's Viego Mordekaiser Elder Dragon Deck Guide
31 cards
9 cards
25 000
Annie Jhin
Last week's plateau at the 55% winrate mark was just a short respite before blazing brat and bullet buff shot upwards even higher, and we find them this week hitting at an amazing 58%!
Annie
Jhin
is nearly even versus Galio Elder Morgana (GEM has a tiny edge here), demolishes Elder Viego, Gwen Zed, and Lurkers, and has only one glaring weak spot versus other strong decks: Elder Norra.
All in all, a very nice matchup spread!
25 cards
15 cards
27 500
Pyke Rek'Sai
The one deck that won't notice if LoR never gets a new card ever again, Pyke Rek'Sai resurfaced last week and has firmly clenched its jaws around a sizeable chunk of the LoR meta.
Performance has kept steady at an adequate 52%, but here's the thing: Lurkers can reliably beat, if not by much, our current Eddie Morgalio overlord.
Pyke's crew gets wrecked by Annie Jhin, Gwen Zed and Teemo Yuumi, but that won't stop it: In LoR's darkest hour, Lurkers have shown up for the fight.
15 cards
25 cards
26 400
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 Morgana Shyvana
Last week it seemed that Elder Dragon Morgana Shyvana
could have a shot at putting GEM's supremacy at stake, but it has cooled off a bit as of late.
Performance is still amazing (above 58% across more than 1000 games in the last three days), but with both play rate and win rate decreasing since last week it seems clear that GEM is the best deck in the format.
Elder Shyvana Morgana is slightly the underdog against Eddie Morgalio, but consistently beats the best aggro decks out there: Gwen Zed, Annie Jhin, and above all Teemo Yuumi are fairly easy prey.
27 cards
13 cards
32 600
Mordekaiser Morgana
A bit like Elder Viego, Mordekaiser Morgana is an overall mediocre deck that happens to beat GEM – which is no small feat, by any means, and has kept Morg Morgana relevant, but its popularity keeps plummeting and its performance hovers at around 52% for its best version: three copies of The Darkin Halberd
seems to be the way to go.
Further Reading: Sorry's Morgana Mordekaiser Demacia Deck Guide
34 cards
6 cards
27 300
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!
🔥Hot! – Morgana Riven
If you're looking for some off-meta spice, then this is it: in the fringes, Morgana Riven
keeps getting traction while also improving its performance: it punches over 58% right now, and it's playrate has kept growing.
Yes, it's a Morgana deck. But, c'mon now: it's a Riven deck!
23 cards
17 cards
24 900
Frozen Caitlyn Teemo
The trap pair is one of the most rock-paper-scissor-ish decks out there right now: it auto-loses versus GEM or Annie Jhin, and gets brutally murdered by Lurkers – but demolishes Mordekaiser, and auto-wins versus many of the weaker brews..
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
Elder Dragon Norra
The portalling has been yo-yoing as of late – it is not looking as good last week, but much better than two weeks ago, and today it showcases a very solid 54%+ winrate across 600 games in the last three days.
And Elder Dragon Norra
is very strong against some of the current aggro staples, namely Annie Jhin, Lurkers, Gwen Zed, and Teemo Yuumi.
You don't want to run into GEM while piloting Elder Norra, though!
Further reading: Yang's Elder Norra Deck Guide
15 cards
25 cards
28 400
Miss Fortune Nilah
Don't sleep on this new take on pirates, folks – Miss Fortune
Nilah
keeps coming back with great numbers!
Yeah, dies to GEM. But runs circles around Lurkers and Annie Jhin, and puts Elder Viego to sleep!
15 cards
25 cards
28 600
Ashe LeBlanc Mordekaiser
Now this one is brand-new. A quick glance at the champ lineup may make you think this is just Ashe LeBlanc with a pinch of Mord, but it's Ashe
LeBlanc
Mordekaiser is a very different take.
And, in the fringes, it has been working quite well.
30 cards
10 cards
32 400
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
Teemo Tristana Elder Dragon
Norra is not the only Yordle willing to team up with the grumpy ol' lizard, and Teemo Tristana
Elder Dragon has been making some waves.
For tips and tricks, here's Sorry's Teemo Tristana Elder Dragon Deck Guide.
14 cards
26 cards
36 300
Jinx, sometimes ft. Kennen
Return of the Return-o Wrench
– Jinx's rockets have regained all their boom, and then some!
Right now the Kennen-less version looks like the best boom-for-buck deal, but you can always bring Jinx Kennen to the fray.
21 cards
19 cards
24 100
Fizz Yuumi
While clearly not the best elusives deck (that would be Teemo Yuumi), Fizz
Yuumi's got game and punches at a very nice 57%.
19 cards
21 cards
27 300
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.
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."