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New decks for the competitive Beta season!

Shadawx shares brand new LoR decks and archetypes made available by today's patch update. Jax, Ornn and Lucian take the stage!
jax legends of runeterra deck

Greetings! With Patch 4.1.0 we get some exciting changes! We get a balance patch that should take down the power level of some popular decks like Kayntrox and GWAT, but also breathe some life into lesser played champs like JaxJax, OrnnOrnn, and IllaoiIllaoi! We also got a pair of new cards added, Soul CleaverSoul Cleaver and CastigateCastigate.  And on top of all that we’re kicking off the new competitive beta season! That means there’s going to be a new system of daily & monthly tournaments to join, a new rewards track with exclusive cosmetics, and more! It’s important to note that this is just a beta test season to see how everything feels, and once it’s all good and set this will be the path to qualifying towards the World Championship!

But enough about that, let’s take a look at some new decks to brew!

Jax Ornn JaxJax OrnnOrnn

Regions
Freljord
18 cards
Runeterra
22 cards
Rarities
24 900
champion
6
epic
1
rare
12
common
21
eternal
Mana cost
0
0
7
1
13
2
7
3
6
4
3
5
0
6
4
7+
Champions
6
2
Jax
3
Jax
7
Ornn
3
Ornn
Followers
16
1
Weaponsmith's Apprentice
3
Weaponsmith's Apprentice
2
Favored Artisan
2
Favored Artisan
2
Ionian Hookmaster
1
Ionian Hookmaster
3
Adept Weaponsmith
1
Adept Weaponsmith
3
Piltovan Castaway
3
Piltovan Castaway
4
Combat Cook
3
Combat Cook
5
Hearthblood Mender
2
Hearthblood Mender
8
Wrought Colossus
1
Wrought Colossus
Spells
18
1
Catch!
2
Catch!
1
Three Sisters
2
Three Sisters
2
Entrancing Lure
3
Entrancing Lure
2
Sharesies
1
Sharesies
2
Troll Chant
3
Troll Chant
3
Fish Fight
3
Fish Fight
4
Parts Made Whole
3
Parts Made Whole
5
Harsh Winds
1
Harsh Winds

So to kick things off, we got 2 champs who got buffs to themselves and their packages. JaxJax got Overwhelm on his level 2 form, and the Weaponmaster package got Roar of IcathiaRoar of Icathia and Fish FightFish Fight added to the region. OrnnOrnn got a small stat buff to bring him up to 5/5, Weaponsmith's Apprentice got another point of health, Favored ArtisanFavored Artisan became a 2/3, and finally Hearthblood MenderHearthblood Mender got -1 attack but now Forges an ally twice instead of once. With all these changes together, I think we can finally see Jax Ornn be quite the powerhouse of a deck.

In this list we have Apprentice, Artisan, and Mender as the supporting cards for Jax’s Weaponmasters. Being able to Forge the Equipments that Jax, Piltovan CastawayPiltovan Castaway, and Combat CookCombat Cook get go a long way since they can be transferred later with the buffs that get put on the Equipments. There’s also one copy of Ionian HookmasterIonian Hookmaster that I felt fit in just as another 2-drop to play after Apprentice. One copy of Adept WeaponsmithAdept Weaponsmith is great as a solid Forge 3-drop, though if you feel you need more healing, a Kindly TavernkeeperKindly Tavernkeeper can be slotted in.



So another great thing about Forging the Equipments; since the buffs are on the Equipment and not the unit itself, once the unit dies or you get that Equipment back to hand you can transfer it to another unit who could make better use of it. Cards like SharesiesSharesies and Fish FightFish Fight can help transfer Equipments to different units. Ornn is another card that benefits from having buffed up Equipment since his ability will create a copy of it on himself to use, and even if he gets removed you’ll still have that copy to use on another unit.

Overall I think Jax Ornn will be a deck that’ll be tried by many, the buffs really helped revitalize both champs and as an Ornnthusiast I’m interested to see how it’ll go.

Illaoi Vayne IllaoiIllaoi NagakabourosNagakabouros

Regions
Demacia
18 cards
Bilgewater
22 cards
Rarities
27 900
champion
6
epic
3
rare
16
common
15
eternal
Mana cost
0
0
5
1
17
2
11
3
4
4
2
5
0
6
1
7+
Champions
6
3
Vayne
3
Vayne
4
Illaoi
3
Illaoi
Equipments
5
2
Eye of God
3
Eye of God
2
The Darkin Aegis
2
The Darkin Aegis
Followers
13
1
Steadfast Elkin
1
Steadfast Elkin
1
Watchful Idol
3
Watchful Idol
2
Hired Gun
2
Hired Gun
2
Petricite Broadwing
3
Petricite Broadwing
3
The Sea's Voice
3
The Sea's Voice
8
Nagakabouros
1
Nagakabouros
Spells
16
1
Catch!
1
Catch!
2
Answered Prayer
2
Answered Prayer
2
Heavy Metal
2
Heavy Metal
2
Sharpsight
1
Sharpsight
2
Single Combat
2
Single Combat
3
Cataclysm
2
Cataclysm
3
Fish Fight
2
Fish Fight
3
Tentacle Smash
1
Tentacle Smash
4
Riposte
1
Riposte
5
Eye of Nagakabouros
2
Eye of Nagakabouros

Here’s a deck I played a lot of that got buffed. VayneVayne IllaoiIllaoi!

Illaoi and her TentacleTentacle package got some big buffs in this patch. Illaoi herself got +1 attack, Tentacle SmashTentacle Smash became a 3-cost spell, and finally NagakabourosNagakabouros the almighty will now activate on Summon as well as Round Start! Along with QuietusQuietus being nerfed, Illaoi has less to fear from Shadow Isles decks and has some more power level to boot!

The whole gameplan of the deck is to really just Spawn a giant Tentacles, hit your opponent with it until they die, and level Illaoi so they can die faster. VayneVayne is a great champion to pair with Illaoi because the TumbleTumble she creates works very well with Illaoi to spawn Tentacles and buff herself. And it’s extremely useful with Eye of GodEye of God to Spawn an even bigger Tentacle, great to put on a Tentacle and have it buff itself! (Note: Eye of God equipped on Illaoi does not work in the good way. Illaoi effect will activate first, she’ll get her Spawn and attack buff, then Eye of God will trigger it’s Spawn.). This is also why CataclysmCataclysm works well in this deck to help Illaoi or a giant Tentacle push through a ton of damage when they have Overwhelm.

You also have a lot of strike spells like Single CombatSingle Combat, Fish FightFish Fight, and Tentacle SmashTentacle Smash. They help level Illaoi if used with herself or a Tentacle, and it just helps keep the board clear. There’s only 1 copy of Tentacle Smash because I do think Fish Fight might just be better overall, but we’ll see how it feels after trying.

And finally, there’s 1 copy of Nagakabouros to have some sort of high end finisher that could blow out your opponent if you have a big enough Tentacle. With Eye of God I’ve gotten some really big Tentacles, but didn’t have Illaoi or The Sea's Voice to have an easy way to close out the game, so Nagakabouros should help there a bit. 

Lucian Azir LucianLucian AzirAzir 

Regions
Demacia
20 cards
Shurima
20 cards
Rarities
32 600
champion
6
epic
8
rare
12
common
14
eternal
Mana cost
0
0
12
1
13
2
12
3
3
4
0
5
0
6
0
7+
Champions
6
1
Lucian
3
Lucian
3
Azir
3
Azir
Landmarks
3
2
Emperor's Dais
3
Emperor's Dais
Equipments
2
2
The Darkin Aegis
2
The Darkin Aegis
Followers
14
1
Dunekeeper
3
Dunekeeper
1
Forsaken Baccai
3
Forsaken Baccai
3
Domination
3
Domination
3
Greenfang Warden
3
Greenfang Warden
4
Voice of the Risen
2
Voice of the Risen
Spells
15
1
Ranger's Resolve
3
Ranger's Resolve
2
Blinding Assault
3
Blinding Assault
2
Sharpsight
3
Sharpsight
2
The Absolver
2
The Absolver
3
Cataclysm
3
Cataclysm
4
Rite of Negation
1
Rite of Negation

With LucianLucian getting changed to be a 1-cost 2/1 unit, the first thing that came to my mind was revisiting an old classic, Sand Scouts. I thought about the Lucian on 1 into Emperor's Dais on 2, and AzirAzir on 3 curve. That seemed really promising and I had to try it out.

So going over some of the card choices in this, on the combat tricks like Ranger's Resolve and SharpsightSharpsight I went with a full 3 copies to try and keep my units safe from early ping spells for a cheap price, though with Lucian having 1 health now, Tough won’t protect him from something like Mystic ShotMystic Shot, but it will stop Vile FeastVile Feast or Pokey StickPokey Stick. You’ll also notice there’s DominationDomination and Voice of the RisenVoice of the Risen to make your units hit harder, particularly your Sand SoldierSand Soldier units since they are created simply by just attacking and benefit from both Domination and Voice. Finally there’s 3 copies of Greenfang WardenGreenfang Warden and Blinding AssaultBlinding Assault, which are your scout units to try and abuse Dais and Azir’s Sand Soldiers. Constantly attacking with a Sand Soldier generator on board will eventually overwhelm your opponent, and if you have your champs on board they’ll quickly level up thanks to the whole setup of summoning Ephemeral Soldiers and them dying on their attack.

It all flows really nicely together, but we’ll have to see how strong the deck is these days, how the meta shapes up to be, and if Lucian is just too easy to kill now being at 1 health.

Darkness Soul CleaverSoul Cleaver VeigarVeigar 

Regions
Shadow Isles
16 cards
Bandlecity
24 cards
Rarities
25 100
champion
6
epic
1
rare
13
common
20
eternal
Mana cost
0
0
1
1
15
2
4
3
9
4
3
5
6
6
2
7+
Champions
6
4
Veigar
3
Veigar
5
Senna
3
Senna
Followers
18
2
Conchologist
3
Conchologist
2
Darkbulb Acolyte
3
Darkbulb Acolyte
2
Twisted Catalyzer
3
Twisted Catalyzer
4
Aloof Travelers
2
Aloof Travelers
4
Stilted Robemaker
3
Stilted Robemaker
6
Ixtali Sentinel
3
Ixtali Sentinel
7
The Rekindler
1
The Rekindler
Spells
16
1
Group Shot
1
Group Shot
2
Pokey Stick
3
Pokey Stick
2
Vile Feast
3
Vile Feast
3
Soul Cleave
2
Soul Cleave
3
Stress Defense
1
Stress Defense
3
Wallop
1
Wallop
4
Puzzling Signposts
1
Puzzling Signposts
6
Vengeance
3
Vengeance
9
The Ruination
1
The Ruination

Out of the two new cards we got, the one I wanted to try out the most (and I think everyone had the same thoughts) was Soul CleaverSoul Cleaver. CastigateCastigate was cool and all, but Soul Cleave can do some really funny things. Using it on cards that have Last Breath effects like Junk ConstructJunk Construct or Hunting BoarHunting Boar can be really exciting, but using it on cards that have summon effects like Cunning KittenCunning Kitten or Rissu, The Silent StormRissu, The Silent Storm was the first thing that popped into my head. 

So while this Darkness deck doesn’t contain Kitten or Rissu, it does have a bunch of other good cards to copy. There are lots of units in this deck that can give you little advantages, or can be used to do some tricky stuff. Using Soul Cleave on a Stilted RobemakerStilted Robemaker will make your DarknessDarkness cost 0 right away, or using it on an Aloof TravelersAloof Travelers  will net you 2 more draws and discard 2 more cards from your opponent’s hand. Using it on Rekindler will get you more revives of a champion if you need to fill up the board with SennaSenna or VeigarVeigar. Speaking of Senna, while she’s on the board she’ll make Soul Cleave a Fast speed spell, so you can use it in a pinch if your opponent decides to use some sort of removal on something. Finally the main reason I went to the Darkness route for a Soul Cleave deck was Ixtali SentinelIxtali Sentinel. If you summon multiple copies of Ixtali Sentinel on a turn, it will copy another Darkness to the enemy Nexus for each time it was summoned. So if you summon Ixtali, play Soul Cleave on it, then Darkness a unit, it will send 3 Darkness to the opponent’s Nexus all together…and I just found that really funny and could see it actually being a decent play. 

The rest of the deck is pretty much standard. Twisted CatalyzerTwisted Catalyzer to buff Darkness up, VengeanceVengeance, Vile FeastVile Feast, & Pokey StickPokey Stick to ping down units and control the board, Darkbulb AcolyteDarkbulb Acolyte to generate Darkness, and ConchologistConchologist to generate some spells according to the situation. There’s a few 1 of cards that I put in to fit what I expect to see the first few days (Probably Jax decks, Gwen, Lucian decks) like The RuinationThe Ruination, Group ShotGroup Shot, WallopWallop, and Stress DefenseStress Defense.

The end.

Well there you have it, some new decks to try out, and new concepts to play around with. I’m really looking forward to seeing what people come up with in regard to Soul Cleave decks. I think Illaoi and Jax will be the most played decks in the first week or so since their changes were quite big. Lucian’s change was big too but it’s hard to tell how well it’ll work out. But overall, I’m really happy with the patch and I’m looking forward to see all the different kind of brews people come up with. I’m especially looking forward to the first Daily Rumble with the Unlimited Champions format!

I hope you all enjoyed the article and decks, and best of luck with the new beta season! 

Thanks for reading!

About the Author

Playing LoR since beta, consistent masters player. LoR Dreamhack Champion/Aegis Season 0 Champion(BEAU) and other high-level tournament win/top cuts. Crazy deck builder, omega cracked player. I like garlic bread.

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