Sirturmund’s & MonteXristo’s Bo3 Lineup Recommendations

Lets Beat Scouts 

Scouts have been soaring in popularity over the past week and a half and we expect it to be the most prominent deck in this week’s tournament meta, so it makes sense to try and target it. 

Pantheon Shyvana

Fizz Lulu Yordles in Arms

Sivir Akshan

While we’re focused on beating Scouts with this lineup, it has the added benefit of doing well into any aggro lineups that look to target Ahri Kennen.

This lineup may struggle a bit into control, however. That’s not to say it’s completely un-winnable if you do run into a control player, just that you’ll find you may have to work a bit harder for the win.

When deciding what to ban with this lineup you should prioritize taking out Ahri Kennen > Trundle Tryndamere Feel The Rush > Kindred decks of all sorts. 

You should also know that Spiders can be very problematic for Shyvana Pantheon. If you don’t feel comfortable playing for a 2-1 set win, consider banning them out. 

If you’re not a fan of one of these decks, a good alternative choice is to bring Scouts yourself… as the saying goes: “If you can’t beat’em, join’em”.

Lurk is also another option here. Replacing Yordles in Arms with either of these decks lets you also target Darkness players. 

Alternatively, Kindred Sentinels can fit into this lineup as it boasts a good win rate into Scouts and Aggro.

Lets Ban Scouts

This lineup looks to ban Scouts and focuses on beating the rest of the field. 

Ahri Kennen (SI Version)

Darkness

Thralls

This lineup tends to do well versus other Ahri Kennen decks, FTR, and other control-centric lineups. The AoE spells provided by Darkness and Thralls also give you some defense against unit-heavy decks or aggro-style decks. The main weaknesses to this sort of lineup, aside from Scouts, are Zilean Xerath and Pantheon Shyvana decks. 

When choosing what to ban, the priority should be Scouts > Zilean Xerath > Pantheon Shyvana. If none of those decks are present, banning Rally-type decks tends to be a safe bet as two of your decks tend to be vulnerable to rally strategies. 

If any of these three decks don’t speak to you, alternative options include Scouts itself or Zilean Xerath. Both of these decks also sport good matchups against Ahri Kennen and control decks. Of course, the downside is that the Scouts ban becomes a bit weaker, in which case if substituting I would prioritize banning the Pantheon decks then Scouts.   

Anti-Control

This lineup looks to beat the full control lines up that you might run into in the tournament, while still giving you some flexibility to survive against Scouts- and Thralls-centric line-ups.

Xerath Zilean

The Bandle Tree

Miss Fortune Quinn

All three of these decks sport fantastic win rates against the likes of Darkness and FTR. In addition, they have even matchups vs Scouts, and these versions of the decks are teched so they do very well vs Thralls. The lineup also doesn’t do too horrible vs Ahri Kennen SI, perhaps allowing you to go after a more dangerous deck for your ban in certain situations. This lineup allows you to cover a wide spread of different lineups. 

In terms of unfavorable matchups, Pantheon decks tend to be very scary. I would prioritize my ban here. Ahri Kennen Shurima variants can also go way faster than you can, and they will probably ban your Scouts to ensure they have favorable matchups vs the rest. 

If you want to replace any of these three decks with something else, some dark horses such as TK Raka and Lurk can do very well vs control lineups as well, without sacrificing too many points vs Scouts or Thralls. 

Triple Control

Feel The Rush

Darkness

Kindred Sentinels

This is the standard control lineup that has been around for the past two weeks or so. SaltySimon piloted this lineup to a win in the MasteringRuneterra Championship Qualifier #4 so you KNOW it’s got the potential. 

These lists are looking to prey on the Aggro players, like Monte, who’ve decided to target Ahri Kennen. It should also do well into the general field as it is a “three good decks” lineup. If you enjoy open-passing and running your opponents out of steam then this lineup is an excellent choice. 

Your ban priority with this is Iceborn Legacy decks (Poros or Spiders) > Landmark decks (in order) Thralls, Xerath Zilean, The Bandle Tree > Taric Pantheon

Note: The ladder stats indicate Ahri Kennen is a reasonable matchup for this lineup but that can quickly go out the window if you’re playing against a competent pilot (ex. xXWhatamIXx, Kevor24, or Aikado). Doubly so if they are on the Shadow Isles (SI) version of the list, if you find yourself in this position or have not played the matchup you should BAN IT!

Alternative choices that you can consider if one of these decks isn’t your style (or you don’t like that Kindred PnZ has bad control matchups) are Scouts, or Anivia. 

Another choice, if you’re particularly confident with the deck, is Ahri Kennen (SI) (if you’re feeling really spicy, you can play Icevale Archer as your splash in Ahri Kennen to improve its matchup into Aggro) as alternatives. 

Sirturmund’s Lineup (Ban Ahri Kennen)

When coming up with my tournament lineups, I like the approach where I try to counter as many of the meta decks as possible while trying to take as many neutral matchups as possible. In this meta where I expect Scouts, Ahri Kennen, and Control to run the field, it makes it straightforward to predict what my opponents might be bringing, thus I came up with the following lineup:

Xerath Zilean

Tahm Kench Soraka Star Spring

Pantheon Taric

This lineup will ban Ahri Kennen decks automatically, as their spells are very dangerous for both TK Raka and Pantheon Taric. Instead, this lineup seeks to beat Scouts, Darkness, and Thralls. All three of those decks are currently popular but they are all usually in different lineups, meaning that my lineup can target different styles of lineups. This gives us an advantage as we are not at the mercy of any one bad opposing match-up.

In terms of really bad matchups, aside from Ahri Kennen, the deck should theoretically struggle against other elusive oriented decks such as Iceborn Legacy Poros and it also struggles against Kindred Viego. Low to the curve aggro decks that include fearsome such as Spiders and Nightfall might also be problematic if you are not able to draw your heals or removal quick enough.  

An alternative for a deck like TK Raka would be Bandle Tree, although that will lose you some match-up points vs Scouts. An alternative for Pantheon Taric is using Scouts, although that now makes you vulnerable to anti Scouts lineups. 

Monte’s Lineup (Beat Ahri Kennen)

Spiders

Scouts

Nightfall

My goal with this lineup is to farm the Ahri Kennen players. Out of everything in the current meta-game, these three decks boast the best win rates into Ahri Kennen. This is also an anti-aggro, aggro lineup.

You’ll want to ban out the most threatening control deck you see. In my opinion, this is Kindred decks, followed by whatever has the most healing. If there is not a more pressing ban, I would prioritize banning Rumble Draven > Yordles in Arms .

Alternative decks for this lineup are Pirates, the current lists with Island Navigator do a good job of forcing out blocks from the Ahri Kennen players, and Ekko Zilean.

Do NOT bring Ekko Zilean if you have not put a good amount of time into the deck, the Ahri Kennen matchup is very much a skill matchup and without a deep understanding of the Ekko’s play patterns you will struggle.

About the authors

Sirturmund is a long-time player of the game, having played LoR since beta. He has found competitive success in the past year with a couple of seasonal top cuts finishes, rank 1 ladder placements, and first spot in a Qualifier of Mastering Runeterra's Championship. Best known for being one of the very few to still bring Star Springs to tournaments, you can find Sirturmund lurking around all the social media sites absorbing anything he can about the game!

MonteXristo has been playing the game since closed beta and has consistently made it to masters every season he’s been active.  His accomplishments include having peaked in the top 20, taking first place in the “Streamer Sideboard Showdown” and LPP Riot Grand Prix. When he’s not writing for Mastering Runeterra he keeps his card-slinging skills sharp by playing in the Runeterra Academy tournament, with his team The Wobbly Wombats!