It’s the second week since Patch day and oh boi did the meta get shaken up. At this point, analyzing the metagame feels more like gazing at a wobbly jelly dessert.
The Data
I usually include all decks that have a playrate (PR) of more than 3% in this place. With 8 members this time around, this week has to be the most diverse so far!
We see Gnar Trundle as the undisputed #1 with a 6.6% PR. Three decks sport a 5% PR: Swain Gnar, Pyke Rek’Sai (Urgh), and Veigar Senna (Darkness).
They are followed by another flock of decks – MF Quinn (Scouts), Gnar Ziggs, and Bandle Tree – sporting a 4% PR.
Akshan Gnar is the only deck that is played 3% of the time.
Sorting by winrate and comparing this to last week, we see a shockingly different landscape. Tristana DE has taken the chart by storm and taken the #1 spot with a mind-boggling 56% WR.
Miss Fortune Quinn did not only get stunning arcade skins (how do you like today’s thumbnail? =)) but also a meta in which they can thrive! They take #2 this week with a 54.6% WR.
When you pair a heroic muscle man and a magical cat together, what do you get? Some would argue a Josei show with a lot of fanservice. But for us nerds, it means an overwhelming deck that takes the #3 spot with a 54.2% WR.
The next contenders all exhibit a 53% WR – Fizz Lulu, Trundle Gnar, Akshan Gnar, and Gnar Ziggs.
Most notably, Swain Gnar is missing – an archetype that was considered S-Tier last week.
The Reasons
Remember last week, when we looked at Trundle Gnar Timelines’ matchup table? No? Well, what should I have expected…
What can we see?
The table contains a lot of green and only a splash of light red. Well done, you can identify colors. You’ll do great when getting your driver’s license!
Trundle Gnar had no real bad matchup and a ton of good ones. Of course, it would rise to the top. (Remember Plunder’s matchup table?!)
With Gnar Ziggs getting kind of targeted by Swain Gnar, Bandle Tree, and Darkness, one of those slightly bad matchups of Timelines was on a downward trend.
Most interestingly, Gnar Ziggs benefits from Timelines being this popular and the deck effectively keeps Gnar Ziggs competitive.
Since Timelines was on the rise and Gnar Ziggs on the top last week, any deck that beats these two would do great this week. Scouts is exactly this deck:
This is the second time for Scouts that the deck isn’t on top because it is utterly broken but rather ‘cause it fits perfectly into the meta.
If Timelines is the plankton, and Scouts the fish, Pantheon Yuumi has to be the orca *orca emoji*.
Pantheon Yuumi has great matchups into Scouts and Timelines and can be considered their predator.
As you can see, the archetype benefits inordinately from Gnar Ziggs going out of meta. Personally, I found a lot of success with Yuumi Panth on the ladder, and I enjoy the deck exceedingly.
I think this is the best deck to beat the meta with and to climb. If you wanna learn how to pilot the deck, mulligan correctly, and navigate all the popular matchups, check out my brand new guide: https://masteringruneterra.com/lor-deck-yuumi-pantheon-demacia/
Tristana has been an underwhelming champion ever since her release. But this week, she finally found her place! And oh boi she did.
As we can see, the deck thrives against Timelines and Gnar Swain. If last week’s metagame was defined by Gnar Ziggs and Gnar Swain, this week’s is by Timelines and Gnar Swain!
Tristana DE is great at accelerating the game through discounting their units over several turns, as well as manifesting countless amounts of creatures.
If you wanna learn more about the #1 WR archetype this week, check out Maybenextime’s Premium deck guide here: https://masteringruneterra.com/lor-deck-tristana-faeries/
In my opinion, Fizz Lulu was never out of the meta. And since most of the good decks got hit by the latest balance patch, but Fizz Lulu wasn't, the deck would naturally float on top.
There has been a slightly different version of the deck running Gnar and some other cards instead of Lulu, but this week appears to favor the Lulu variant. The Gnar version “only” sits at a 52.4% WR at the time of writing this report.
If you wanna check out a guide about the deck by yours truly – premium membership not required – click here.
Fizz Lulu works well into aggro decks thanks to its removal and cheap units. It’s also favored into midrange decks like Pantheon Yuumi thanks to its tempo-based nature and ability to close out the game with burn or Yordles in Arms 
just before they can kill you during their mid-game spike.
The deck is slightly unfavored vs Tristana DE since they are a little quicker and more consistent than we are. The deck naturally struggles against control decks like Darkness due to their AoE removal and chump blockers.
Finally, Akshan Gnar is a weird archetype to talk about. The deck wants to stall out the game with one-drops and cards like Wallop
until they find their powerful combo-pieces of Ruin Runner
/The Absolver
and Papercraft Dragon
to one-turn kill their opponent.
This archetype is good against two popular decks: Bandle Tree and Gnar Ziggs. I don’t wanna pretend like I’m a master of this deck that could explain it in detail, but if you wait for just a couple more days, we will publish a comprehensive guide by Maybenextime around Wednesday!
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Oh, you thought I’d talk about Darkness and Urgh? Well, if there is one physical law in the LoR universe, it’s that Darkness and Urgh will be overplayed, no matter the time, date, or place. =)
IMO they have their place in the meta, and some find them fun to play, but their WRs prove that they are overplayed and suboptimal to take to the ladder if all you care about is winning.
Which, you know, is probably only the goal of only 1% of the LoR player base. Otherwise, the Seasonal Broadcasts wouldn’t have gotten canceled... =/
Honorable Mentions
Fizz Riven
20 cards
20 cards
26 700
Another reason why Fizz is utterly broken: Fizz Riven. The archetype is similar to Muscle Dragons in trying to buff one unit and attack with it multiple times a turn through Midnight Raid
created by Ruined Reckoner
.
Where they differ is that Muscle Dragon buffs up Zed
and Horns of the Dragon
with Kato The Arm
and Twin Disciplines
. Whereas Fizz Riven enhances Fizz
with BC’s Papercraft Dragon and card creations through Conchologist
and Trinket Trade
to find more pump spells.
As it turns out, fellow data-slinger bA1ance took a liking to the deck and is currently working on a deck guide. If you’ve read his card slinger journey and Lulu Poppy guide, you know it’ll be fire!
Ahri Lulu
18 cards
22 cards
28 100
Did you think I was done with this list yet? I will hold this spot in the Honorable Mentions section hostage until Ahri Lulu gets above the 1% PR mark and appears in Balco’s stats. Right now the deck sits at a 60% WR btw =)
Ultraman has been refining the original deck idea by Japanese streamer TealRed for some time now and decided on this list.
The deck is great at dealing with aggro lists (read: Ziggs Gnar) thanks to their early drops, removal, and tempo discards. It does also well into control decks through recalling Sai’nen with Ahri… Furthermore, it destroys midrange decks by out-tempoing them with the Flame Chompers + Lulu combo and stopping their win cons with Deny and Concussive Palm.
If you haven’t noticed by this description yet – the deck is pretty broken =) Though my favorite is that you have a lot more decisions to make than with Fizz Lulu for example – Which card do you recall with Ahri? What spell do you stop with Deny? This makes the deck quite rewarding to play as you feel a lot more in control of the outcome of the game!
Draven Rumble
19 cards
21 cards
23 900
Draven Rumble is back! And it doesn’t use any new cards! =)
While Gnar Ziggs has taken a little hit this week, Draven Rumble is on a good way to appearing in next week’s stats. It seems to be doing mostly what Gnar Ziggs does, so let’s stay tuned for the upcoming rivalry of these two decks!
Conclusion
The meta is steadily shifting and hasn’t settled yet. While we see a rise of Timelines, Scouts, and Pantheon Yuumi, this might just be what’s needed for aggro decks to make their return.
What are your favorite picks this week and why? Please share them in the Reddit thread comments!
If you’ve managed to read this far: What’s your favorite English word? Just type the word in the Reddit comments without any context =)
The data has been due to the amazing website by Balco while the matchup tables have been from Legna’s website. They are doing an insane job at collecting all this data and presenting it to us in an approachable manner. They deserve all the praise in the world.
Thanks for reading and see ya next week! =)