Hail, Champions! We are now a week into the new Cosmic Creation expansion -- how have you been faring? Have you found your new favorite deck? If not: we've got 13 proven decks from some of Runeterra's top players for you to try out below!
The Grand Plaza
If there's one new card that is standing above the rest, it is The Grand Plaza. Giving your units challenger is probably worth inclusion in many decks, but when combined with +1|+1 stats, it turns reasonable tempo plays into board-clearing assaults. With that context, it should be no surprise that many players are finding ways to use this powerful Demacia landmark to upgrade older archetypes.
Scouts deck seems to be the most popular application, with most players substituting out Quinn for Garen who's regeneration pairs well with challenger and the +1|+1 stat bonus. This particular decklist from Hyped continues with that slower-paced intention, dropping a lot of the customary Scout cards like Relentless Pursuit for cards that just synergize with Plaza better like Double Trouble and Tianna Crownguard.
Of course, if you're planning on drawing out games, why not build a control deck? BruisedByGod uses a much slower deck committed to stalling out early rounds and using Garen, Aurelion Sol, and Eclipse Dragon -- all of which are great mid-to-late game threats while also synergizing awesomely with Plaza.
Ephemerals are also getting some attention; since they are generally cheaper and higher attack than normal units, they make great challengers. This Lucian + Hecarim deck from Alanzq looks to spam the board with cards like Haunted Relic and Onslaught of Shadows and then finish using either champion's L2 ability.
Next, we have this Leona + Lux deck from RattlingBones which hopes to slam Daybreak units like Solari Shieldbearer and Solari Sunforger into opportune blocks while they have their temporary bonuses applied.
Gamebreak0r's Zoe + Leona deck takes that concept a little further, leaning heavily into celestials and going full Targon allegiance except for the 3x Plaza.
Hexcore Foundry
The other landmark that is seeing a lot of play is Hexcore Foundry. It has an obvious application in already-competitive Go Hard archetypes-- here's TealRed's take which partners Ezreal and Vi, both of which benefit greatly from Go Hard spam.
The other major placement for Hexcore is in puffcap decks, which turn their obstinent downside of giving your opponent an additional draw into an upside if they also have a lot of puffcaps in their deck. This is FreshLobster's updated Teemo + Sejuani list, which includes a 1x Feel The Rush for some spicy 10|10 Teemo fun.
Zoe
Out of all the new champions, Zoe raised the biggest concerns from the community about viability before the release. Now 6 days later, she's everywhere while it is Viktor and Riven that are looking a little underwhelming. Her level-up proved a lot more feasible than originally anticipated, and for matchups where she can't be kept alive, most decks can use her just a simple 1-mana threat that usually generates at least 1 free Supercool Starchart.
This is NicMakesPlays's Zoe + Viktor deck, arguably the best version of that partnership so far. It's a balance of elusives and invoke cards that hopes to finish with L2 Zoe granting a wide board elusive.
Alanzq's Teemo + Zoe deck goes all-in on the elusive concept, relying on cards like Bastion, Suit Up!, and Sunblessed Vigor to keep your champions alive.
If you're looking for Zoe decks, make sure you didn't miss Gamebreak0r's Zoe + Leona Celestial Grand Plaza deck posted in a previous section.
Riven
Despite very promising stats, most top players aren't finding success with Riven on the ladder -- however, we did manage to find 2 noteworthy decks with Riven.
Our first deck is from Jasensational, and some may question calling it a "Riven deck" since it runs 3x Yasuo + 2x Katarina + only 1x Riven. If the player sounds familiar to readers, they might recall that Jasensational took a similar "truly unique" deck to the seasonal tournament's open rounds and made it through to the playoffs; here he has essentially replaced Zed with Riven to provide more consistent value.
Our other Riven deck, from Tempo13X, leans more into the Reforge mechanic and uses a Noxus allegiance framework with Overwhelm and Decisive Maneuver. 3x The Harrowing are splashed in to provide some late-game finishing power.
Other New Spells and Followers
Finally, we have a few decks featuring some of the new spells and followers that didn't otherwise fit into any of the above categories. The first is using the very powerful Iterative Improvement to upgrade the already-powerful Mistwraiths decks -- there are a few subtle variations on this concept; we're showcasing Duckling's version which includes 2x Atrocity and 1x The Harrowing for finishing plays.
Finally, we have a deck from NicMakesPlay that proves Wiggle BurblefishBADCARDNAME is more than just a cute face and meme dream. His Solo Fizz deck features lots of elusives and inexpensive buff-givers like Starlit Seer and Shared Spoils. 1x Battle Fury provides a final finishing play.
Have you found any new decks you've enjoyed in Cosmic Creation? Tell us below!
Comments
I think the biggest issue with Riven is her all-inn nature where you buff her to 12+ attack with ease but get blown out by a stunn/frostbite in response. Also the issue with Riven decks is, she gets a lot weaker when drawn later on. Overall there aren't that many uses for her Sword so that the all in character of the deck gets even worse. The top decks of the current meta (although it certainly will change lot i think) don't mind if they don't draw their key cards, they just work WAY better if they do. Without a second decent user for the reforged blade, the Riven decks will stay bad just because their gameplan is too unreliable and fragile.
Riven is my favorite of the three new champs, so I'm disappointed she's not doing well. I think if Noxus had some Scout cards, Riven would excel more. But what do I know: I complete my quests against the AI most of the time lol.