All Hail The Mermaid Queen
Nami was the top deck before the patch? YEP
Everything else got nerfed? YEP
Nami is still the best deck after the patch? YEP
Nami Ionia
21 cards
19 cards
35 100
Poppy Taric
19 cards
21 cards
29 200
Scouts
26 cards
14 cards
28 100
Triple Demacia will have to take a backseat for Nami this time around. With her power level sitting as high as it is, it simply doesn’t make sense to play a third Demacia deck over her. This lineup is looking to play into the mirror however so ensure you’re comfortable with that. You’re also going to do just fine into other “small” Demacia that you encounter and most Norra decks should be a reasonable matchup for you as well
This lineup will struggle into bigger Demacia as they just ban your Nami and take down your own rally decks. As such, we’ll be banning out anything like Pantheon Fiora that we run into. Heimer Jayce may also be a problem for the same reasons.
Boomer Time
Norra and Heimerdinger are often paired together but this lineup seeks to use each of them in their own deck to let you control the board and make your opponents miserable!
Nami Ionia
21 cards
19 cards
35 100
Norra Veigar
17 cards
23 cards
26 600
Jayce Heimerdinger
31 cards
9 cards
28 600
This is likely one of the better control lineups for the current meta. With some of its predators getting nerfed, Heimerdinger Jayce is in a much better spot than it was in the previous patch. These decks pair nicely because they’re both effective at dealing with Swain TF and want to be banning bigger Demacia like Pantheon Fiora. It should also be an effective lineup into Akshan Lee which is another major player in the current tournament field.
Unlike most of the other lineups in this week’s article, this lineup can leave Nami up if necessary - though you should be banning it whenever possible. Other good bans, as mentioned, are Pantheon Fiora and Leona Asol.
The Bird Is The Word
Swain’s back and the meta shift he’s caused (alongside Iula’s buff) has brought Pantheon back into the fray. These two are teaming up to take on all the smaller Demacian decks that are running around.
Swain TF
17 cards
23 cards
30 300
Pantheon
14 cards
26 cards
28 500
Kai’Sa
19 cards
21 cards
29 300
I put Kai’Sa into this lineup because it’s the only bigger Demacian deck that doesn’t have its regions eaten up - Leona ASol was another deck I had my eye on for this lineup but it contests Pantheon Fiora for the slot and is not thoroughly tested. You could also look at Sivir Akshan or Akshan Lee Sin for this lineup as well - both decks work with our strategy of beating other Demacia without opening up many additional weaknesses.
Our ban here is going to be spent to protect Swain, this means removing stuff like Lee Nami, Akshan Lee, and potentially even Timelines or your opponent’s Pantheon Fiora.
We’ll Clip Your Wings
Swain is a fan favorite which means you can expect to see a lot of it in the upcoming week. Thankfully for us, Swain is a LOT easier to target than Nami.
Nami Lee
21 cards
19 cards
35 100
Panth Fiora
14 cards
26 cards
28 500
Karma Yi
29 cards
11 cards
35 400
Going after Swain can be a bit tricky as Nami Lee and Lee Akshan are the two best decks for the job but you can’t play them together and Nami loses a LOT of power without Lee. So we have to resort to a different Ionia deck to get the job done, Karma Yi is the newest tool in the shed and it’s really good at beating up on birdmen.
Like nearly every lineup this week, this one also wants to be banning Nami. Karma Yi appears to be weak into rally according to the stats (and there are actually quite a lot of games on this deck already).
For an alternative lineup take a look at the one below that Yang and 4LW piloted in Friday night’s duo's tournament.
COPIUM
This lineup is pretty much the same as the one above but Yang and 4LW believe that Nami TF Ionia is still advantaged enough into Swain that you can afford to play Lee in Lee Akshan.
Karma Yi
29 cards
11 cards
35 400
Nami TF Ionia
19 cards
21 cards
33 600
Lee Akshan
26 cards
14 cards
31 200
Monte’s Testing Day
This is what I piloted to a 5-2 finish in today’s $1,000 Mastering Runeterra Celebration Tournament, mostly because I was keen to test out Norra Swain and I didn’t have a deck that appealed to me, outside of Taliyah Ziggs, in my client. Unfortunately, my tie-breakers were not good enough for top cut but I was rather happy with how the lineup performed.
Norra Swain
18 cards
22 cards
28 400
Ziggs Taliyah
17 cards
23 cards
24 300
Nami Lee
19 cards
21 cards
35 100
My goal with this lineup was to beat Demacia, be reasonable into opposing Swain decks and have some game into any Lee Akshan I encountered.
The lineup did what it was supposed to do and felt pretty good, I was originally going to play Veigar Norra instead of Swain but the shiny new toy was distracting. Norra Swain was a solid deck but I’m not sure if it’s the best use of either champ, I do think it’s a very reasonable deck to include in a lineup.
Bans here are going to be Nami! We’ll also want to ban Pantheon Fiora and Gwen Noxus. You can consider banning Timelines as well. Stats have Veigar Norra beating Swain Norra but I’m not sure if that works out in practice, it is something worth keeping on your mind though.
Good luck in Gauntlet this weekend!
About the author
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! He also hosts the weekly Mastering Runeterra Squadcast on his stream every Wednesday at 10:30pm EST.
