Legends of Runeterra
Best Deck New Meta Rundown
So the expansion has been out long enough that we can start talking about the best new decks and their optimized variants that are winning 56% plus to make them top tier.
1. Annie always run with Jhin turns out that the only optimization that this deck needed was having stagehand and sun hawk on 2 for tempo stun so your turn 1 play can guarantee dmg.
2. Illoi probably the scariest and most versatile new card with 56% winrates with Jarvan, Lux, Thresh because it doesn't really matter Illoi is cracked tentacles are good, Overwhelm is good etc, everything else is just control and delay.
3. Bard, always run with Zed but you also do the handbuff stuff with inspiring mentor and greenglade elder which I figured if it wasn't freijord it would Ionia for thr turbo level. Everything else is payoff cards like the maker and highway men.
4. Thralls at 56% percent again thanks to their two new cards sand of time, and the extra 2 mana dude. That's all it takes sometimes.
5. Deep also at 56% thanks to the 4 mana healer, and the 3 mana removal both great cards into aggro.
Decks we are not seeing:
Yassao, despite all these amazing stun tools we just aren't seeing this guy played much. Possible because he has a 3 region spread and Jhin is a terrible stun card so more like 4 regions.
Are any of the old decks bad?
No you can still run your pantheon, your feel the rush, your traditional pirate aggro or scouts. It's just that you're going to feel more competition on ladder now, and more things to play around.
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So the expansion has been out long enough that we can start talking about the best new decks and their optimized variants that are winning 56% plus to make them top tier.
1. Annie always run with Jhin turns out that the only optimization that this deck needed was having stagehand and sun hawk on 2 for tempo stun so your turn 1 play can guarantee dmg.
2. Illoi probably the scariest and most versatile new card with 56% winrates with Jarvan, Lux, Thresh because it doesn't really matter Illoi is cracked tentacles are good, Overwhelm is good etc, everything else is just control and delay.
3. Bard, always run with Zed but you also do the handbuff stuff with inspiring mentor and greenglade elder which I figured if it wasn't freijord it would Ionia for thr turbo level. Everything else is payoff cards like the maker and highway men.
4. Thralls at 56% percent again thanks to their two new cards sand of time, and the extra 2 mana dude. That's all it takes sometimes.
5. Deep also at 56% thanks to the 4 mana healer, and the 3 mana removal both great cards into aggro.
Decks we are not seeing:
Yassao, despite all these amazing stun tools we just aren't seeing this guy played much. Possible because he has a 3 region spread and Jhin is a terrible stun card so more like 4 regions.
Are any of the old decks bad?
No you can still run your pantheon, your feel the rush, your traditional pirate aggro or scouts. It's just that you're going to feel more competition on ladder now, and more things to play around.
Saying that Bard has to be played with Zed in ionia seems a bit off to me.
Any list that can make sure you draw the chimes you plant in your deck and hold off early aggression is good with Bard.
It doesn't matter weather it is Zed who for sure profits well from extra stats or if it's a Sparklefly, Maokai an Insightful Investigator even a Trifarian Assessor... everything works as long as it's not going too greedy
Bard with Aphelios is more spooky imo. You get tons of healing to sway any aggro matchup in your favor, and Aphelios can give you tons of value and flexibility with his weapons, on top of Chimes themselves giving him protection.
"Truth is in the shadows, waiting to be revealed by the light. But light only disperses the shadow." - Me
"If other people shared traits of those considered naive, the world would've become a better place." - Also me
Are people still pretending that Yasuo is not a garbage champion and only need good support?
The main reason Yassao doesn't work is that his deck struggles when he isn't drawn.
So you want to go Targon to tutor, but now you're not getting access to noxious which has his best support cards.
So generally speaking I think right now the double legion general setup is correct
I might be wrong but those 9/9 legion generals are a pretty solid oh no no Yassao but I still win option
That goes for any champion centric deck, like Gangplank/Sejuani couldn't win without it's champs and the only tutor was an 8 drop, yet the deck still managed to be tier 1, we have been getting plenty of good stun cards for 3 expansion now and there is not even one viable Yasuo deck.
The main reason why the stun/recall archetype never worked imo is that it lacks a second unit like Yasuo to make it consistant.
I know it doesn't quite compare but when I played Blue White Magecraft in MTG standard the deck never was that competetive because it relied so much on stormchaser drake to be drawn that whenever you would not draw the drake you would run out of cards fast.
The release of the latest expansion brought illuminator virtuoso as stormchaser drake version 2 and out of the sudden the deck totaly slaps other decks because the gameplan is almost always coming together.
Seju GP works because you have 6 champion cards and you have tutors for them (dreadway and babbling bjerg) decreasing the odds to not draw them significantly.
Oh and no, Jhin is not Yasuo version 2... in my opinion Jhin himself is actually not that good of a champion given he needs a lot of support and resemles a Yasuo at home when he is in play.
I mean I can pinpoint exactly why Yasuo is bad compared to other champion centric decks.
The main reason being is that you're not actually doing much with him until he's played on board and sticks, not drawn but played. I think that's one big misconception people have with him. His effect is slow, meaning that you have to play another card after you play him for his effect to work. Engine type champions are fine and all but he literally sits there doing nothing. Compare it to another engine type champion like Aphelios or Udyr that does something when played and you see why he's not good. Another champion to compare it to is Jhin, but the fact that Jhin doesn't need to be played for him to have The Virtuoso proc is really nice.
He's a champion that also doesn't work well with his package. He's a 4 mana 4/4 Quick Attack but that's really it. Yasuo as a champion is meant to slow down your gameplan and having a 4/4 Quick Attack doesn't really help much if his main game plan is not pushing damage on the enemy Nexus. If you want to argue that the other stun cards like The Stagehand, Fae Bladetwirler or Legion General are there as big stats to push damage, then why are you running Yasuo in your deck? You're running literally a champion that doesn't help you stun or recall.
tldr; Yasuo would be a lot better if he himself stuns a unit or smth on play. If you're running Fae Bladetwirler and Legion General, don't run Yasuo and vice versa.
Take my words with a grain of salt. I'm unranked and only play casuals lmao.
The best versions of GP/Sej didn't run Babbling Bjerg because that card increase the chance of you missing allegiance on Yordle Grifter.
https://mobalytics.gg/blog/lor-deck-guide-sejuani-gangplank-sentinels-of-light/
https://masteringruneterra.com/gangplank-sejuani-deck-guide/
https://runeterraccg.com/gangplank-sejuani-deck-guide/
Also champions don't need to have identical effects for the deck to work, Gangplank was definitely not Sejuani version 2. They just need to have synergy.
Yasuo has plenty of champions that can synergies with him (Kennen, Swain, Leona, Malphite) and even a champion with similar effect (Jhin) and yet he can't even get a tier 2 deck.
It's something of a running gag seeing Yasuo fans claiming that he will be finally viable any time a good stun card is released only for them to be wrong each time.
Hard to say, Deep and Thralls became viable again just by offering more support.
So believing Yassao or Kindred is similar isn't crazy so much as wishful thinking.
That being said the new double stun in noxious and stun spider are great for him, they just aren't amazing op.
In a world with massive buffs, insane burn, and giant tentacles.