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Monday Meta Report - March 20th

Are you looking for the best Legends of Runeterra decks? Leer takes a deep dive into the data to show you what lor meta decks you should play and prepare to face!
Runeterra Meta Report

‘sup everyone, Leer here. As Annie Jhin continues their reign, power relations are further changing. Jayce Lux is only a Tier 2 deck now, while many arise to challenge the king.

Legends of Runeterra Decks

Sorting MaRu’s LoR Meta Tier List and meta stats by playrate (PR), we see the following:

After Annie Jhin (Jhinnie) won big last week, they also toppled Jayce Lux from the popularity throne this one.

Garen Jarvan IV (Elites) takes third place, solidifying their position at the top of the meta.

Ryze IOIonia is getting more popular again, and this time around even with an above-50% winrate!

Heimer Jayce (Shadow Tech) is a permanent part of this meta, enjoying a mid-level playrate. Not too high to get targeted but also not too low to be niche.

Evelynn Kai’Sa continues its trend downward, while Pyke Rek’Sai (Urgh) is making up an alarming part of the meta.

Taliyah Ziggs is maintaining their position, while Jax Ornn’s popularity appears to be short-lived.

Zilean Nasus is the (far from busted) newcomer this Monday!

Turning to winrates (WR), we get this result:

Jhinnie lost a significant part of their winrate… just to remain the #1 winrate deck with a two percent lead above the next contender…

… which is Shadow Tech! Heimer Jayce performed well last week, and with Jhinnie becoming more popular, the control deck found the perfect prey.

Meanwhile, Gwen Quinn (White Gwen) is rising through the ranks while raising little attention. Similar things can be said about Gangplank Sejuani (Plunder)!

Elites is still a solid deck when it comes to winning games, while Taliyah Ziggs can’t allow themself to lose any more WR points. 

It was difficult to imagine two weeks ago, but Jayce Lux is no longer one of the best Legends of Runeterra decks. Still, they found an anodyne seventh place on ladder.

Jax Ornn is losing grip on the meta in this department as well. They rose as a counter to Jayce Lux and Elites, but with their popularity falling down, they follow suit.

Kayle Leona is giving us a life sign, while we could do without one from Urgh.

Factors Shaping the LoR Meta

The Jayce Lux era (or more like the Jayce Lux interlude) is over and the game is revolving around Anne Jhin. While we critically scrutinized Jhinnie last week, let’s look at some newcomers of this week.

Gwen Quinn delivers (like a good carrier pigeon) for the second week in a row. The DEDemacia SIShadow Isles tempo brew can be compared to the long-forgotten Scouts, beating Aggro, like Jhinnie, and control decks, like Shadow Tech, alike. 

Against Aggro, their early curve and access to QuietusQuietus and Hate SpikeHate Spike, as well as GwenGwen’s healing assure a prospering prospect. 

Against control, QuinnQuinn and Eternal DancersEternal Dancers are nightmares to deal with. CataclysmCataclysm on a Scout unit and Relentless PursuitRelentless Pursuit represent Rally opportunities to seal the deal before enemy value engines can come online.

White Gwen excels at demolishing Ryze IOIonia, leaving little room for the archmage’s trickery. Urgh is the only meta archetype with a higher winrate against that deck (72.4%).

The weakness of Scouts Gwenn Quinn are tall units, and Elites can mainstream those 24/7. They make it difficult for White Gwen’s champions to attack (without getting value-blocked) and Gwen Quinn lacks the tools to counteract Champions' StrengthChampions.

In conclusion, Gwenn Quinn is well-positioned in the meta with few weaknesses. They profit from Jhinnie’s rise, a deck they counter, and benefit just as much from Elites’ recent recess. 

Moving on, Plunder has been performing well. While I personally paired Plunder with Jax Ornn for an anti-Jayce Lux lineup, these two FRFreljord blends have some significant distinctions that show this week. While Plunder has a whopping 55% winrate, Jax Ornn only reaches a 53% one.

A quick look at the matchup tables side by side reveals the reasons – while both brews are excellent at beating Jayce Lux, Jax Ornn struggles staggeringly against Jhinnie and Ryze, while Plunder doesn’t.

This can be deconstructed to Jax Ornn’s going-tall nature being susceptible to the Stuns of Jhinnie and Stuns + Recalls of Ryze. Plunder in that regard is more well-rounded, being able to go wide with cheap units and control the board with SejuaniSejuani and GangplankGangplank.

In a different world, Jax Ornn would be better. For example, if Elites was the present powerhouse. In the current meta though, you are better advised to queue Plunder on ladder, and deploy Jax Ornn in specific tournament lineups!

Countering Annie Jhin

This meta report showed you some accomplished counters to Jhinnie, like Shadow Tech, Elites, and Gwenn Quinn. Still, there are some less popular choices to have fun with when queueing into Jhinnie.

Annie Ezreal

Regions
Noxus
22 cards
Piltover & Zaun
18 cards
Rarities
23 800
champion
6
epic
0
rare
12
common
22
eternal
Mana cost
0
0
12
1
8
2
5
3
6
4
3
5
6
6
0
7+
Champions
6
1
Annie
3
Annie
3
Ezreal
2
Ezreal
3
Katarina
1
Katarina
Landmarks
2
1
Ravenbloom Conservatory
2
Ravenbloom Conservatory
Followers
7
2
House Spider
2
House Spider
3
Arachnoid Sentry
2
Arachnoid Sentry
6
Lord Broadmane
3
Lord Broadmane
Spells
25
1
Blade's Edge
3
Blade's Edge
1
Piltovan Tellstones
1
Piltovan Tellstones
1
Ravenous Flock
3
Ravenous Flock
2
Disintegrate
3
Disintegrate
2
Mystic Shot
3
Mystic Shot
4
Caustic Riff
3
Caustic Riff
4
Statikk Shock
3
Statikk Shock
5
Drum Solo
3
Drum Solo
6
Formula
3
Formula

What better way to counter an AnnieAnnie deck than with another AnnieAnnie deck! Ragnarosich used this particular list to claim rank in EMEA, achieving a 69% (nice) WR over 140 games. 

While not everyone can be a rank one gamer, Annie Ezreal also sports a 55% WR over 1.2k games in the past three days. Against Jhinnie specifically, it wins 56% of the time.

There’s a comprehensive Annie Ezreal deck guide by Jasensational available on Mastering Runeterra!

Pirate Aggro

Regions
Noxus
20 cards
Bilgewater
20 cards
Rarities
29 200
champion
6
epic
6
rare
6
common
22
eternal
Mana cost
0
0
14
1
7
2
7
3
6
4
3
5
3
6
0
7+
Champions
6
3
Miss Fortune
3
Miss Fortune
4
Twisted Fate
3
Twisted Fate
Followers
23
1
Crimson Pigeon
3
Crimson Pigeon
1
Jagged Butcher
3
Jagged Butcher
1
Legion Rearguard
3
Legion Rearguard
1
Legion Saboteur
3
Legion Saboteur
1
Shellshocker
2
Shellshocker
2
House Spider
3
House Spider
2
Marai Warden
3
Marai Warden
4
Zap Sprayfin
3
Zap Sprayfin
Spells
11
2
Brothers' Bond
1
Brothers' Bond
3
Noxian Fervor
3
Noxian Fervor
3
Sigil of Malice
1
Sigil of Malice
5
Eye of Nagakabouros
3
Eye of Nagakabouros
6
Decimate
3
Decimate

If countering the Annie deck with another Annie deck is best, countering the Aggro blend with another Aggro blend is second best. Nas thinks so as well, asserting rank one in AM, rocking a 73% WR with Pirates over 50 games.

Again, not everyone can win games left and right to top the ladder standing. On average, Pirates win 58.5% of the time over 2.6k games in the past three days. Against Jhinnie, they materialize a mind-boggling 72% winrate.

MaRu also got you covered on this one, with a beginner-friendly Pirates deck guide by Seasonal runner-up ThChEm!

Norra Veigar

Regions
Shadow Isles
15 cards
Bandlecity
25 cards
Rarities
27 700
champion
6
epic
3
rare
15
common
16
eternal
Mana cost
0
0
2
1
19
2
0
3
7
4
3
5
6
6
3
7+
Champions
6
2
Norra
3
Norra
4
Veigar
3
Veigar
Followers
16
2
Conchologist
3
Conchologist
2
Junk Construct
3
Junk Construct
2
Twisted Catalyzer
3
Twisted Catalyzer
4
Aloof Travelers
2
Aloof Travelers
6
Ixtali Sentinel
3
Ixtali Sentinel
8
Dess & Ada
2
Dess & Ada
Spells
18
1
Quietus
2
Quietus
2
Hate Spike
2
Hate Spike
2
Pokey Stick
3
Pokey Stick
2
Vile Feast
2
Vile Feast
4
Puzzling Signposts
2
Puzzling Signposts
5
Portalpalooza
3
Portalpalooza
6
Vengeance
3
Vengeance
9
The Ruination
1
The Ruination

Norra Veigar is taking the SIShadow Isles removal tools and instead of pairing them with HeimerdingerHeimerdinger and PZPiltover & Zaun, it pivots to BCBandle City’s additional removal and go-wide tools.

Following the first two decks, you might’ve thought somebody reached rank one in APAC with this pick. Alas, this is not the case. Still, the BCBandle City SIShadow Isles symbiote beats Jhinnie 60% of the time and achieves a 53% WR over 2.5k games in the past three days. 

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this week's meta-report and making it this far. If you’re still here and read this, leave a “Hi” in the Reddit thread comments, and I will “Hi” you back! =)

The data has been due to MaRu’s Meta Tier List while the matchup tables have been from Legna’s brilliant homepage. 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!

The talented Hazy has been converting the metadata into these stunning graphs for the Monday Legends of Runeterra Meta Report, I can't express my gratitude enough to him!

You can reach me on Twitter (@Leer97) or on Discord (Leer#2026).

Thanks for reading this Monday's LoR Meta Report and see ya next week!