Welcome, my friend! Glad to see you again!
And as glad as you shall be, I am certain, to see how open and balanced our Meta remains. And yet, new faces keep showing up among the Cream of the Crop.zerp
Please, step inside, and let me parade our wares – brews and blends furnished by formidable formulistas Balco, Legna and Seth, along with prominent pilot's takes overhead at the Blue Bird Inn, and those that we've collected ourselves.
A Glimpse to our Most Balanced Meta
As far as numbers go, my friend, this has been thus far one of the most balanced metas in recent memory:
While two decks have a bit of a lead, none surpasses the 55% WR mark – and none did so last week, either – which is unprecedented in recent patches.
Cream of the Crop
The best of the best – Meta Staples that perform above 54% WR then Platinum and upper ranks are considered.
If you are after confidence and performances, these are as good as it gets.
Elise Viego
The threesome having proven fun but ultimately not as powerful, the Shirtless King has crowned Elise as her Queen for the meta throne.
It's no secret that Legion Deserter
is the real champion here, though!
We shall recommend the second most popular list for this archetype, which fares even better than the most popular in the last three days.
Strong Against: Thralls, Annie Jhin, Galio Bard, Deep
Struggles Against: Fizz Riven, Heimer Jayce Shadows, Vi Zoe Aphelios
14 cards
26 cards
26 300
Those faithful to the Katarina variant may be interested in Sirturmund's extensive writings on the topic.
Heimerdinger Jayce Shadows
Professor and Student keep their slow, steady climb to the top, only a few decimals away from Elise Viego… and being the superior choice should they face each other.
The only hurdle for this blend seems to be Thralls, against which it suffers horribly.
Strong Against: Annie Jhin, Viego Noxus, Galio Bard, Ezreal Annie, Vi Zoe Aphelios
Struggles Against: Thralls, Fizz Riven, Yuumi Pantheon
32 cards
8 cards
26 400
Other Strong Meta Staples
Other extremely solid choices, all above the 53% WR in Platinum and upper rungs of the ladder.
Fizz Riven
Like Heimer Jayce, another medley we have seen growing from fringe to staple to, now, one of the most serious challengers to the Meta throne, being favored against the two strongest decks, anda against Thralls too.
Strong Against: Thralls, Viego Noxus, Lurkers, Sun Disc, Deep.
Struggles Against: Poppy Bard and Yuumi Pantheon (quite badly), Ezreal Caitlyn and Jhinnie (slightly)
17 cards
23 cards
26 900
Vi Zoe Aphelios
The pile has made it!
A medley we missed last week when crafting our selection – and included later thanks to infighter's attentive recommendation – Vi Zoe Aphelios has proven to be the real-deal. Yet another blend whose performance is marred by a horrible Thralls matchup, but fairly solid against most else.
The recommended list, by far the most popular, performs above 54% – the archetype's average performance is dragged down by several much less popular, low-performing lists, probably due to pilots experimenting with the shiny new toy.
Strong Against: Viego Noxus, Jhinnie, Lurkers, Deep
Struggles Against: Thralls, Galio Bard, Heimerdinger Jayce, Ezreal Caitlyn
24 cards
16 cards
22 600
Aphelios Viktor
It has to be said that Aphelios fans have seen their patience and faith paid in spades by recent patches – there seems to be no shortage of options for them in every meta.
Shares quite a few similarities with Zoe Vi Aphelios, but these are certainly different blends – in particular, Aphelios Viktor is slightly favored into Thralls.
Strong Against: Thralls (slight edge), Jhinnie, Viego Elise, Sun Disc,
Struggles Against: Heimerdinger Jayce (horribly!), Viego Katarina Elise, Galio Bard
21 cards
19 cards
24 700
Other Meta Considerations
These are the best formulas available for other popular Meta choices (the deck's name shall provide a link to the full list):
Thralls: the most popular formulas have lost potency, but our recommendations punches above 55% across more than a thousand games.
Galio Bard: a very solid choice, the most popular formula sitting at 53% WR.
Taric Poppy: the most popular formula actually performs badly – but our recommended blend, the second most popular, reaches 54% across nearly 500 games.
Annie Jhin: this champion pair remains one of the most popular, and now for good reason – pilots have learned to play the best lists, and our recommended formula – overwhelmingly the most popular – sits at 53% WR.
Zed Bard: like with Jhinnie, pilots have learned to choose the stronger lists. Not the most powerful of archetypes in the current meta, but a solid 52%+ WR.
The Connoisseur's Corner
Our selection for those that dislike mirror matches – well-tested (at least two hundred games in the last few days) but little-seen formulas.
Lux Jayce
For reasons that I'll leave to others to puzzle, this champion pair – which seemed about to take the Meta Throne last week – has now dropped to fringe-meta play rates.
Its potency remains unchallenged, and has even increased due to its diminished popularity. Why pilots have abandoned it, though, remains a mystery – perhaps its hard time against the two most popular decks make pilots remiss to bring to ladder this blend.
Strong Against: Jhinnie
Struggles Against: Thralls, Viego Noxus
20 cards
20 cards
26 800
Jayce Sentinels
A well-known blend that has taken a bit of a backseat in the current meta, but still packs quite a punch.
A bit of a polarizing archetype – good matchups are great, bad matchups are horrible.
Strong Against: Murders Annie Jhin and Annie Ezreal, strong into Viego Noxus and Vi Zoe Aphelios
Struggles Against: Dies horribly to Thralls, Galio Bard, Deep, Sun Disc
20 cards
20 cards
25 900
Riven Viktor Ambush
Another tried-and-true archetype that will not be unknown to frequent visitors of this section – and with scarily high performance in the last few days.
14 cards
26 cards
24 000
Trundle Viktor Timelines
Yes, this is a thing, my friend – punching above 54% WR, too.
And it seems to be gaining popularity, given the number of games in the last few days, and experimentations (not too successful thus far) to add Gnar to the mix.
15 cards
25 cards
28 700
A Walk on the Wild Side…
Tired of tried and true? Look no further: high performance, little-tested blends to jump into uncharted waters.
Ziggs Annie
Some Champs just want to watch the world burn!
A take on Shurima Noxus aggro, which had a bit of the spotlight during the Dark Age of Azirelia.
21 cards
19 cards
24 900
Vi Riven
An interesting mixture of Burn, Overwhelm and Elusives, with the possibility of single-unit Rally via Ruined Reckoner
.
18 cards
22 cards
23 800
Ahri Bard
As Zed Bard proved, Chimes and Elusives are not a bad idea – this blend takes the concept along with Ahri's package.
31 cards
9 cards
25 900
Lux Aphelios
As mentioned previously, Aphelios fans find no shortage of options these days – scary winrate across a not so small sample.
16 cards
24 cards
24 800
Bard Twisted Fate
A fairly exotic concept – what we'd normally call "a Pile" – but with numbers to back it up.
Interestingly, a perhaps more reasonable approach (with Zap Sprayfin
, Wiggly Burblefish
and a lot of card draw, to buff Elusives) does horrible; there seems to be something in the below pile that just works.
24 cards
16 cards
26 600
Very well, my friend…
… I truly hope you find our selection today to your liking and delight!
Any questions or comments, or more data you may need, feel free to:
Poke me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HerkoKerghans,
Ping me on Discord: https://discord.gg/VNN5NmGhXY,
Or find more writings on substack: https://riwan.substack.com/
And good luck in your climb!
