Top-performing decks with cards from the new Expansion!

Hey everyone! Shadawx here. So as a follow-up to my Magic Misadventures Decks to Climb With Day #1 article, we take a look at the top performing decks that contain cards from the new set. This can be brand new decks or old decks that are making use of these cards. I’ve used Balco’s website https://lor-meta.com/ to grab some data, and next to each deck I’ve included the # of games played with that champion combination and the win rate of that deck.

Pantheon/Taric - 11,679 games, 52.0% WR

Regions

Demacia
17 cards

Mount Targon
23 cards

Rarities

23 200

6

0

9

25

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

4

1

17

2

6

3

8

4

5

5

0

6

0

7+

Champions

6

4

Pantheon

3

4

Taric

3

Followers

11

1

Saga Seeker

3

2

Brightsteel Protector

3

3

Wounded Whiteflame

3

4

Blinded Mystic

2

Spells

23

1

Chain Vest

1

2

Confront

2

2

Hush

1

2

Pale Cascade

3

2

Sharpsight

3

2

Shield Vault

2

2

Single Combat

3

3

Zenith Blade

3

5

Concerted Strike

2

5

Golden Aegis

3

Mono Pantheon - 3941 games, 55.4%WR

Regions

Demacia
18 cards

Mount Targon
22 cards

Rarities

14 700

3

0

10

27

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

6

1

18

2

9

3

4

4

3

5

0

6

0

7+

Champions

3

4

Pantheon

3

Followers

12

1

Saga Seeker

3

2

Brightsteel Protector

3

2

Mountain Goat

3

3

Wounded Whiteflame

3

Spells

25

1

Chain Vest

3

2

Guiding Touch

3

2

Pale Cascade

3

2

Sharpsight

3

2

Single Combat

3

3

Cataclysm

3

3

Zenith Blade

3

4

Bastion

1

5

Concerted Strike

2

5

Golden Aegis

1

The newest Targon champion Pantheon is diving headfirst into the meta, being in the most popular deck at the moment. Pantheon/Taric is a strong deck that makes use of the Fated keywords on your units and the Rally cards. With Taric’s level-up condition synergizing with Fated and Pantheon, the two in a deck together makes sense. One of the most powerful plays in the deck is playing a rally card like Golden Aegis on Taric to allow you to attack up to 3 times in a turn!

On top of all that, the other Fated units like Wounded Whiteflame and Saga Seeker can become troublesome when buffed with Zenith Blade to give them Overwhelm on top of their increased stats. And into this meta where a lot of the other top decks have low hp blockers or use Recalls to “Phantom block”, Overwhelm is a really good keyword at the moment.

Speaking of Overwhelm, the other deck here is running just Pantheon and only 1 copy of Golden Aegis. The secret here is the 3 copies of Cataclysm! So instead of going for the rally abuse strat with Taric, this Mono Pantheon deck looks to make extra use of the Fated and Overwhelm keywords by challenging units with Cataclysm and swinging over them. The neat thing about Cataclysm is that it triggers Fated before the attack happens, since Cataclysm works in “2 steps”, whereas things like Single Combat or Concerted Strike won’t apply the Fated buff until after it resolves because it happens all at once.

Kennen/Ahri w/ The Absolver - 3,356 games, 56.3% WR

Regions

Ionia
38 cards

Shurima
2 cards

Rarities

24 400

6

0

15

19

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

10

1

20

2

4

3

6

4

0

5

0

6

0

7+

Champions

6

1

Kennen

3

2

Ahri

3

Followers

18

1

Dancing Droplet

3

1

The Mourned

3

2

Greenglade Duo

3

2

Navori Conspirator

3

3

Shadow Assassin

3

4

Kinkou Wayfinder

3

Spells

16

1

Recall

1

2

Nopeify!

3

2

Retreat

2

2

Syncopation

1

2

The Absolver

2

2

Twin Disciplines

3

3

Memory's Cloak

1

4

Homecoming

3

Kennen/Ahri w/ Go Hard - 3,702 games, 52.5% WR

Regions

Ionia
37 cards

Shadow Isles
3 cards

Rarities

29 300

6

5

12

17

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

11

1

11

2

3

3

11

4

2

5

0

6

2

7+

Champions

6

1

Kennen

3

2

Ahri

3

Followers

16

1

Dancing Droplet

3

2

Navori Conspirator

3

3

Shadow Assassin

3

4

Kinkou Wayfinder

3

5

Scattered Pod

2

7

Sai'nen Thousand-Tailed

2

Spells

18

1

Go Hard

3

1

Recall

2

2

Retreat

2

2

Twin Disciplines

3

4

Concussive Palm

2

4

Deny

3

4

Homecoming

3

With the arrival of Kennen and Ahri, the Recall archetype got some massive buffs, and it looks like it did the trick of reviving a once dead archetype. 

Being a majority of Ionia cards, both decks focus on the elusive package to guide them to a win while using other tools to help control the board. Kinkou Wayfinder is a key card to get out your Kennen and Dancing Droplet so you can use Mark of the Storm to stun and damage enemies while having a draw engine through Dancing Droplet. With all the Recall cards being run in the deck like Homecoming, Recall, and Retreat, your champions will level quickly through the course of the game. 

Both decks here are running all Ionia cards to maximize their chances with Kinkou Wayfinder, except for 1 card from another region. Shurima’s The Absolver and Shadow Isles’ Go Hard. 

While both decks play similarly, the Shurima version seems to be a bit more aggressive on the Elusives by running copies of The Mourned and Greenglade Duo to put more pressure on and level Ahri quicker. One Ahri is leveled, when she’s paired with The Absolver, she’s almost unstoppable with a board full of minions to swap to.

On the flip side, the Shadow Isles version has 3 copies of Go Hard. It’s aiming to play more for a tempo-based game by setting up with the Ionia package normally, then once you’ve gotten your allegiances out of the way, you’re free to slam Go Hard as needed. It also runs Sai'nen Thousand-Tailed and Scattered Pod which can help search for Go Hard and Pack Your Bags.

Lulu/Ahri - 1832 games, 57.2%WR

Regions

Piltover & Zaun
24 cards

Ionia
16 cards

Rarities

29 400

6

6

7

21

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

6

1

16

2

9

3

3

4

0

5

0

6

6

7+

Champions

6

2

Ahri

3

3

Lulu

3

Followers

18

1

Zaunite Urchin

3

2

Boom Baboon

3

2

Flame Chompers!

3

3

Sump Dredger

3

7

Sai'nen Thousand-Tailed

3

7

Windfarer Hatchling

3

Spells

16

1

Poro Cannon

3

2

Mystic Shot

3

2

Nopeify!

1

2

Twin Disciplines

3

3

Get Excited!

3

4

Suit Up!

3

Another deck that has recently been climbing to popularity is Ahri/Lulu. This deck aims to really make good use of your Flame Chompers! by either buffing them up with Lulu to clear out some units or recalling them with Ahri so you can get multiple hits in and discard them again. 

This deck also can swarm the board quickly with Poro Cannon and Flame Chompers!. While alone they aren’t too threatening, with single buffs like Lulu and Suit Up! or board-wide buffs in Sai'nen Thousand-Tailed and Windfarer Hatchling, they can quickly take a chunk out of your opponent’s life total.

Lee Sin/Zoe - 6,963 games 51.8% WR

Regions

Mount Targon
20 cards

Ionia
20 cards

Rarities

27 300

6

3

13

18

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

3

1

20

2

6

3

6

4

5

5

0

6

0

7+

Champions

6

1

Zoe

3

5

Lee Sin

3

Followers

6

2

Eye of the Dragon

3

3

Wounded Whiteflame

3

Spells

28

2

Gifts From Beyond

3

2

Guiding Touch

3

2

Hush

2

2

Pale Cascade

3

2

Sonic Wave

3

2

Twin Disciplines

3

3

Zenith Blade

3

4

Concussive Palm

3

4

Deny

3

5

Deep Meditation

2

Kennen/Poppy w/ The Bandle Tree - 6,526 games, 51.5% WR

Regions

Noxus
6 cards

Bandlecity
34 cards

Rarities

23 800

4

6

8

22

eternal

Mana cost

0

0

9

1

9

2

10

3

7

4

0

5

5

6

0

7+

Champions

4

1

Kennen

2

4

Poppy

2

Landmarks

3

3

The Bandle Tree

3

Followers

17

1

Proto Poro

2

2

Bomber Twins

2

2

Grumbleslug

2

2

House Spider

2

3

Arachnoid Sentry

1

3

Bandle City Mayor

3

3

Loping Telescope

3

4

Aloof Travelers

2

Spells

16

1

Group Shot

2

1

Ravenous Flock

3

2

Pokey Stick

3

4

Buster Shot

3

6

Hidden Pathways

3

6

Minimorph

2

These last two decks I’ve grouped because they aren’t necessarily brand new decks, they’re older decks that have been improved with some new cards.

Lee Sin/Zoe now has a new threat to play. Wounded Whiteflame is just what the deck needed to help with those turns where you just don’t find Lee Sin. With it being a solid 3-drop that grows as you target it, it makes a great target for Zenith Blade and all the other buff spells that you would normally only want to use on Lee Sin. So now while fishing for your main win con Lee Sin, you can make do with a big, ever-growing, dragon to carry the game for you in the meantime.

The other deck that’s making good use of the new cards is The Bandle Tree! Now the champion pairing is Kennen/Poppy, and the addition of Grumbleslug means you don’t need to run Fizz anymore. While Poppy has been double nerfed, she’s still seeing play here…mostly for her Demacia region to help with The Bandle Tree. The reason Kennen is slotted over Fizz now is mostly because Grumbleslug is easier to access since you can also hit it off of Loping Telescope or Bandle City Mayor, whereas Ionia you had to rely on Bandle Commando or main deck Lulu.

Closing Words

That about sums up some of the top-performing decks that are making use of the new cards from Magic Misadventures. Personally, my favorite has been Pantheon/Taric, but I want to try out the Ahri/Lulu deck since it looks really fun. Even as I write this there are quite a few of these decks I’ve talked about in the top 8 of the MasteringRuneterra.com Championship Series Qualifier #2. 

Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the read and look forward to more articles in the future! 

About the Author

Playing LoR since beta, consistent masters player. LoR Dreamhack winner and other high-level tournament win/top cuts. Crazy deck builder. I like garlic bread.

If you’d ever like to chat, know more about the game, or would like some coaching sessions, feel free to hit me up on my socials!

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