Greetings everyone, and welcome to the submission thread of the first episode of our brand new Duels series: Master Duelist.

General Information

This challenge will begin today, August 10th, and will end on August 31st. During this window of time, you'll have to start a Duels run with a starting deck including Y'Shaarj, the Defiler and 3 other Corrupt cards of your choice, being them either class or neutral cards. 

Everyone who'll post proof of a 7+ wins run in this article's comment section will be awarded with a different amount of gold, an in-site currency you'll be able to earn from different activities and that will be used to purchase cosmetics in our in-site shop.

Submission Rules

In order for your run to count towards the challenge, you'll have to provide an appropriate proof of your feat; otherwise, your result won't count. To be precise, you will have to reply to this forum thread including:

• a picture of how your run ended;
• a picture of your starting deck;
• a picture(s) of your final deck.
• any other information you want: even though it's not necessary, it may help other players or generate a discussion!

Remember that we have to make sure you actually played following the rules, so please help us in doing so - disqualifying players feels bad, and we'd want to avoid it if possible!

Challenge Rewards

Here's a quick breakdown explaining the rewards you'll receive based on your performances:

Moreover, who will obtain the best score in the least amount of will also have the chance of suggesting the next challenge's theme! 

The winner will be contacted through Direct Messages, where the next challenge's theme will be discussed. In case no one will be able to hit 12 wins before the deadline, the next challenge's theme will be decided by none less than Avalon himself.

Time Criteria

Those which follow are the time criteria we'll use to determine the winner in case of identical scores:

• An Heroic run will be considered more difficult than a Casual one, therefore Heroic players will have the priority.
  • If you get the best score overall with a 10-wins run in Casual and somebody else gets a 10-wins run in Heroic, the latter will be the winner of the challenge.
• In case of more people getting the same score, the winner will be decided by the submission time.
  • If more players will get to 12 wins, losses will count as well: a 12-0 will be considered better than a 12-2 or a 12-1. 
  • You could get the highest score on the first day as well as on the last day of the challenge, but if someone submits the same score before you do, then they'll be the winner.

Closing Information

If you want to learn more about this challenge, make sure to visit our guide page, where you'll be able to find a couple of starting decks provided by ourselves in order for you to take inspiration for your runs.

Moreover, don't forged to share your own creations with the community by adding them to our deck database via our deckbuilder.

I have just reached for the 9th time in the month Diamond 1 + 3 stars.

All the previous times, this was the start of a sequence of losses, leading to restart the process to reach Legend ... now I decided to stop and go to bed ... Let see tomorrow, the last day of the month, if I finally succeed to reach Legend ...

Major egregious problems with LoR still remain.  So much so that I honestly can't say it's any better than Hearthstone's meta at the moment.  Both games appear to be in major balance dumpster fires at the moment.

(for those unaware, Questlines in Hearthstone were just released a few weeks ago and have been creating huge game winning conditions that are almost uncounterable as early as turn 5-6 on a consistent basis).

Anyhow, my two main issues with LoR (and this patch) at the moment:

Problem 1: Ooh Shiny!

Newer champions are being pushed hard, while older champions are eschewed and forgotten.  Any competitively viability from older champions was either nerfed into the ground.  Not only that, but instead of creating creative cards that could be potentially used in multiple archetypes with clever deckbuilding and play, they create forced archetype inclusions. One such example is Caitlyn Bombs/Teemo Shrooms.  Forced inclusion archetype cards that without makes those heroes suck.  Yes, I know to some degree all champions have those.  For example Ashes needs Frostbite, but technically you could build an Ashe deck without any other cards and eventually she would level up on her own...

But when is the last time you saw Garen, Lux, or hell even Hecarim used? (and no bronze/iron does not count).  I understand not *every* champion can be competitively viable at the same time, but it says something when nearly all the old champions are eschewed for newer ones.  This isn't hearthstone.  There is no yearly rotation (yet), and Champions are supposed to be more of a build around/win condition than Hearthstone legendaries.  So why does it seem like Riot is just pushing newer champions for the last year with little to no support for older champions? The only time I can recall "older" champions making a huge comeback was when Scargrounds landmark was released it revitalized Vladimir/Braum style decks for a small period of time.  

To put problem #1 in a nutshell: I think that we are being put on the "new expansion" train where the latest and greatest is pushed (as with any card game) so that way you either use up your wildcards, or you buy more coins to build all the new shiny decks. Most decks feel like they are "on rails" being pushed with new cards, and have very low skill caps to be effective. (Which is not what drew me to the game in the first place.  If I wanted a low skill cap card game to play, I could go play Hearthstone.)

Problem 2: Ionia and beyond!

I truly believe at it's heart Ionia was created with great intentions, but very poor execution balance wise.  In addition the biggest issues with deck building in general seem to come from 3 things:  Elusive units.  Rally effects. And too much draw. (A problem I believe is also plaguing Hearthstone at the moment as well, as too much draw effects allows decision making to be trivialized because you have multiple options and answers available)

I actually saw someone else point this out on reddit today in the competitiveLoR sub, and they got downvoted to hell.  Granted, I understand gamers can be mercurial; and maybe the way they presented it wasn't the most contructive, but still...

I feel like the region identities are fine, but there's currently some very broken decks and cards out there that still haven't been touched (or if they were, the wrong thing was nerfed.)  For anyone aware, I'm mainly referring to Sivir, and their respective region cards as being markedly broken.  (Ruin Runner, Merciless hunter for Shurima as well as Ionia's usual cadre of Elusive cards and counter spells available.)

Maybe I'm looking at things wrong, but I'd love for some constructive feedback to see if I'm just drinking too much Kool-aid or of I'm on the money with my assessment of things currently. Thanks!

So I've been vocal that I think this expansion is pretty great.

We had a big issue where the meta was entirely dominated by burst spells and decks 

While statistically those lists are still strong, more then ever it feels like we have the necessary value tools to combat quick attackers, elusive, and other buff sticks.

So I figured I'd go over some off meta decks that I believe offer some very strong potential in meta matchups.

Ziggs Zillian, Thaliyah is statistically the best landmark deck on mobalytics with an astounding 51% winrate.

Now their version runs bandlewood, so you get what? A 1 mana 2/1 that is worse than treasure seeker, a stun at slow speed instead of the better fast speed option, and a 8 mana finisher that's slower than the 6 mana finisher.

Solution just cut bandlewood, run the good targon cards, and you even have room for the champion tutor which a 3 champ distribution  needs.

Possible the fastest aggro deck in the meta if a little high rolly. Go wide early, burn them out late game. Bonus points for landing butcher on the 0/1 on turn 2 or lulu on turn 3 transforming it into a 4/4.

Go Hard Senna is bad it has a 50% winrate on mobalytics and is just worse than the bandlewood version, instead we run go hard Viego, which gives us a much better late game wincon, along side Ezreal.

Speaking of infinite value, Anivia is a beast right now alongside Kindred. Which is largely the result of two factors, not a lot of pure aggro, and two not a lot of 3 mana answers being run like Blackspear and harpoon.

Your line of play here is to play the 3 mana follower and get your darkness. Then bring him back and get your darkness again, this is all just to delay to getting to the good stuff.

Ie free kindred kills, and anivia sweeps.

I think everybody loves Heimer, he's just a fun champ, and while I won't claim this is an amazing deck, it does have the privilege of being the best Heimer deck.

Having acess to bandlewood value engines alongside targon stall, and a few extra "silences" means that there is a possibility that Heimer will actually get to do his thing.

If cheap spell triggers are good for fizz they are also great for Lee Sin. Here we double down on his control potential because he's no longer the best combo stick, and he was never really designed for that anyway. 

Up the cost of your opponents answers, play leveled Lee Sin backed up by yassao and kick everything, it also helps that hidden pathways is just better than deep med for digging through your deck.

Its no secret that regions that appear "off set" ie. Not featured as part of the initial champion release in the first part of the expansion can end up feeling a little weak.

But never before had this felt so clearly the case as with Bandlewood. There are arguments to be made that Ionia and Targon aren't seeing a lot of play right now, however these regions do have strong arguments for deck inclusion. 

Ionia has Lee Sin, it has counters, it has token generation, and stuns/recalls. Targon has invoke and hush, and daybreak, but what about Frejord?

Ramp strategies are unviable, landmark decks are better in other regions, midrange identity is playable but not great, and control is definately one of the worst choices right now.

Don't believe me? Graplr just posted a video poking fun at how Freijord is the most underrepresented region at the moment.

https://youtu.be/DoEZF7vsXT0

Since I've done similar threads for numerous events (like last expansion's Shurima event) I'm just gonna continue the tradition. Hopefully someone will find this useful.

List of regular Runeterra daily quests can be found here.

Repeatable Quest (3 Acorns)

• Explore the Bandlewood
  
  • Win a matchmade or AI game (matchmade counts double) (0/6)

Event Questline (3 or 4 Acorns)

1. Bandlewood Adventures
   
   • Slay enemy units while exploring the Bandlewood (0/30)
2. Aggressive Whimsy
   
   • Go on the offensive by dealing damage with created cards (0/30)  OR
   • Attack or block with units that have 6 or more power (0/20)
3. Bandlewood Blessings
   
   • Spread joy through the Bandlewood by playing Yordles (0/25)  OR
   • Deal non-combat damage (0/35)
4. Magicify!
   
   • Feeling frisky? Play 2+ spells in the same round (0/10)
5. Guerilla Tactics
   
   • Start attacks 5 times in a round in a matchmade game (0/1)  OR
   • Deal damage with units (0/240)
6. Out on a Limb
   
   • Lighten your load by discarding cards (0/20)  OR
   • Draw cards (0/65)
7. Whimsical Experiments
   
   • Play Labs for some lighthearted fun (0/10)
8. Bandle City Pranksters
   
   • Plant mushrooms or flashbomb traps in the enemy deck (0/125)  OR
   • Summon units (0/60)
9. Rollicking Rascals
   
   • Slip past the enemy's defenses to deal Nexus damage (0/80)
10. Marvelous Mana-festations (4 Acorns)
    
    • Spend 20+ mana in a round in a matchmade game (0/1)  OR
    • Overkill enemy units (0/210)

Second Event Questline (3 or 4 Acorns)

Possibly unlocked by Acorn progress.

1. Surprise Antics
   
   • Surprise your opponents by playing cards from Beyond the Bandlewood (0/50)
2. Devilish Tomfoolery
   
   • Use your wits to slay enemies with Bandle City units (0/15)  OR
   • Deal damage with spells (0/90)
3. Magical Discovery
   
   • Manifest cards to unlock hidden magic (0/25)  OR
   • Win games vs AI (0/9)
4. Rompin' & Stompin'
   
   • Go bonkers! Strike enemy units (0/50)
5. Bandle Builders
   
   • Summon or destroy 15+ landmarks in a single matchmade game (0/1)  OR
   • Play 3 or more cards in a round (0/15)
6. Highjinks & Horseplay
   
   • Attack with 4 or more units at once (0/15)
7. A Curious Magic
   
   • Keep the magic alive by spending spell mana (0/55)
8. Fruitful Escapades
   
   • Have units in play from four or more regions in a matchmade game (0/5)  OR
   • See 5 or more units die in the same round (0/25)
9. Frolic in the Bandlewoods - 4 Acorns
   
   • Cut loose by spending mana on cards from Bandle City (0/270)
10. Roughhousing Gone Wild - 4 Acorns and Puffcap Pup icon
    
    • Attack with more than 75 combined power at once in a matchmade game (0/1)  OR
    • Win games with extra Nexus health to spare (0/165)

Special Quests (3-10 Acorns)

Seems like there will be one special questline every week, as usual.

• Tristana's Troops (1 of 3) - 3 Acorns
  • Help Tristana train her troops by raising the power of allies in play (0/10)
• Tristana's Worldly Recruits (2 of 3) - 5 Acorns
  • Play multi-region units to gather new recruits (0/25)  OR
  • Cast spells (0/70)
• Tristana's Bandle Gunners (3 of 3) - 7 Acorns and Tristana icon
  
  • Level up Tristana to secure Bandle City's entrances (0/4)  OR
  • Level up champions (0/25)
• Ziggs' Demolitionists (1 of 3) - 4 Acorns
  • Countdown, destroy, or Obliterate landmarks (0/120)  OR
  • Block or get blocked (0/150)
• Ziggs' Shenanigans (2 of 3) - 6 Acorns
  • Deal damage with unit skills and activated effects (0/170)  OR
  • Have allied units survive damage (0/85)
• The Yordle Bomber (3 of 3) - 10 Acorns and Ziggs icon
  
  • Level up Ziggs, the Hexplosives expert (0/6)  OR
  • Deal damage with champions (0/290)
• Poppy's Aid (1 of 3) - 4 Acorns
  • Raise the health of allies in play to keep them safe (0/40)  OR
  • Play units with equal power and health (0/75)
• Poppy's Impact (2 of 3) - 6 Acorns
  • Deal Impact damage to thwart enemy invaders (0/50)  OR
  • Strike the enemy Nexus (0/105)
• Poppy's Expedition (3 of 3) - 10 Acorns and Poppy icon
  
  • Level up Poppy to help her find her hero (0/6)  OR
  • Slay enemy champions (0/20)
• Veigar's Master Plan (1 of 3) - 4 Acorns
  • Play created cards to help Veigar achieve world domination (0/30)
• Veigar's Dark Intentions (2 of 3) - 6 Acorns
  • Deal damage with Darkness to unleash Veigar's power! (0/155)  OR
  • Summon units or landmarks (0/125)
• Veigar's Sorcery (3 of 3) - 10 Acorns and Veigar icon
  
  • Level up Veigar to command the dark fury of the stars (0/6)  OR
  • Play 2 or more champions in a game (0/20)

Frankly the numbers are super early and I don't think there's very much firm Intel to gain, but we can have some fun for sure.

https://lor.mobalytics.gg/stats/archetypes

1. Ziggs as it's being built right now is doing badly its somewhere between 40%

2. Darkness control is very good 56%

3. Fizz has a 51% winrate

4. Temo Catalyn has a 41% winrate

5. Burst meta decks are strong, Sivir, Zed, Akshan, Lu Lu, Azir Irelia

6. Draven Sion is probably worse than Draven Jinx, but they are both good

7.  Poppy and Tristana are good at 56%

8. Pirate Aggro still does aggro things 

So based on my previous predictions I was wrong there are solid control, aggro, midrange and combo lists so overall things feel healthy. 

We're never gonna have a state in this game where all champions and decks are equal, but as long as there are valid archetypes that represent each playstyle that's good enough.

Hi guys,

I've had to abandon my work on my custom expansion for the time being as I'm finding it difficult to get past some mental creative block. I had an idea for a much smaller scale project that I can come back to as when I want. 

I've decided to undertake creating Hearthstone boss fights for random boss battles in WoW or possibly even for Hearthstone-original characters like the Boomsday Project scientists. I want to stay fairly faithful to the fight mechanics from WoW, which I've taken from WoWPedia. 

For the first one, we're heading to the Scarlet Monastery to face off against High Inquisitor Whitemane.

Special Cards

Decklist

Hopefully this'll be the first of many more to come. These only take me like half an hour to do, so they're perfect for when I just have a little bit of time. Any feedback on this fight will be much appreciated and I'll try to implement any criticism moving forwards with this idea. Have a good day and thanks guys!

GRIM ENCOUNTERS

A Hearthstone Battlegrounds expansion

Everyone, get in here and welcome to the Grim Guzzler! I'm Plugger Spazzing, the boss of this place, and from now on I'll be your host. Our beloved Bob unfortunately had to take a break for reasons totally unrelated to me (just ask my laywer). Six years ago, a horde of adventurers paying a children's card game ransacked my bar just for fun. But now, we're back in business! If you like beer, brawls, literal hot chicks, brawls, and getting in here, this is the place for you! Did I say brawls already? 'Cause that's important! Here's what we have in store today:

• 30 new minions!
• 4 new heroes!
• Frenzy : Something good came out of the Barrens after all! Patrons LOVE to hurt each other!
• Pints : What would the Grim Guzzler be without its Dark Iron Ale? For the very affordable price of 1 Coin, you can give a minion +3 Health!
• Dark Iron dwarfs : A brand new minion type! Dark Irons like three things: taking damage, having high Health, and BEER!

(Note: I started this before Quilboars were revealed, I didn't expect they would have such a similar mechanic)

THE SET

PLUGGER SPAZZRING'S LINES

The new bartender isn't as nice as Bob...

A new Champion Noxus Unit, Sion, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

Is it too early to already want a separate, no-quest ladder? I can't believe how fast I have come to hate this expansion, due to every single game I play involving a quest, and the fact that these quests essentially complete themselves with plain draw RNG. All you do is watch your warrior/hunter/warlock/mage opponent throw their crap down every turn, and hope your bullshit RNG is better than their bullshit RNG, and that's the game. This is, to me, going to be the least interactive, least interesting meta that has ever existed in this game, and I'm already getting sick of it, and I actually feel ashamed when I play that stupid pirate warrior. Please give me hope that the team will step in quickly and make some of these slightly more challenging to complete.

Ever felt dirty playing that T0 net deck or getting away with some insane RNG win that was totally undeserved? Here's the place to ease your mind! We'll listen, we'll understand and most importantly: we won't judge.

I'll start with a confession of BM. I was playing Disco Lock and queued into a golden Odd Warrior. My first mistake was not to concede after Baku's animation, I knew I'd have to draw like a God to win that matchup. Of course RNGesus was busy elsewhere and I not only drew really really bad, but also suffered from abysmally bad discard outcomes. The straw that broke the camel's back was my opponent roping almost every turn until the mid game when it was crystal clear I had already lost the game. I don't think they did it on purpose, it felt more like they were doing something else and not really paying attention. Even late in the game their turns took far longer than necessary and that's something that really gets to me from time to time. So yeah, the last three turns I roped them without any cards left to play just to give something back. I usually never do that since I'm despicing this behavior with all my heart but today I couldn't help myself. Dear Odd Warrior player, if you should happen to read this: I'm sorry. Please do your fellow players a favor and concentrate on whatever your doing and don't multitask Hearthstone. 

A new Champion Shurima Unit, Xerath, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

A new Rare Bandle City Spell, Mega Inferno Bomb, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

So while I won't claim that these concepts are wholey unique, these champs will be played they just won't be in the brews I made.

I've always approached card games differently from most people, it isn't about finding the simplest, fastest way to build a list, it's about surprising opponents and winning games I shouldn't and climbing that way.

With that said here are the lists:

Elusive cancer but instead of going all in on burst like the old versions used to you have pranks, and board presence and something of a midrange play pattern. 

Temo Catlin is the obvious choice where you go all in on the six drop that triggers all traps in top 5 cards, but then people just start running deny and you loose.

Ezreal Catlin can take its time, it can stall, it doesn't need to rush, and it just plays good cards. Wouldn't be surprised if this is the best version long term once the meta starts adjusting.

Poppy banerman has the potential to be the king of midrange once again, which is what Demacia deserves. The exact ratioing might change but the concept is simple, value value value. 

Go Hard darkness. We have some varied control tools availible, but I think you still run Elise. Legends is a game where loosing the early game to aggro is auto conceed, and that means you can't climb in Plat 

Really looking forward to the destroy your landmark archetype and this version should be good enough to play day 1. Have fun!

A new Common Bandle City Spell, Pokey Stick, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

A new Epic Bandle City Unit, The Arsenal, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

Now that we've gotten a lot of reveals at this point and the direction of the set is starting to become clearer let's do a quick rundown.

Ziggy: A 3 mana 3/4 that has both a weak MF effect and serves as an agressive value engine. This guy could end up being pretty scary. Keep in mind that he's also living in the same region as a lot of vulnerable synergy so you can challenge what you want.

Xerath: 4 mana 3/3, you basically have to hold him till leveled and that's when his control effect starts getting strong. He's a slow card compared to Ziggs but if you have the stall tools he can do well, better than lux probably.

Nami: Seems like a natural friend to elusive decks, keep in mind her buffs can trigger as many times a turn as you want. I can already tell she's gonna be gross, her 2/3 body doesn't die to mystic which is good enough.

Sion: Strikes me as the card malphite wanted to be, you play for his gameplan and then you win the game, he's a better tyndamere, not much else to say except that he's got a great support package.

Tristana: 3 mana quick attackers are never not good. She gets bigger she makes your followers bigger, she's like a banner man on steroids, only thing is she has a high deck building cost but so do a lot of Champs in this set.

Senna: Same akward statline as Kindred, however unlike kindred she "cycles" and gives you a darkness right away. That's probably good enough, and if she does live obviously you'll do nutty control stuff.

Veigar: 4 mana 1/4 so like azir you just let him sit there, gives you the darkness right away which is nice, and buffs the dmg for all future spells afterwards. I want to say that Veigar is good, you're gonna need a pretty solid control list to deal with all the aggro bs.

Catalyn: Possible the strongest champ in the set, with her what if Draven and Temo had a baby approach. 3/3 quick attack for 3 and late game value to close things out. Hard to level is the balance for her, but than again if you add shroomes now it's easy.

Poppy: soo poppy looks bad when you read her as a 4 mana 4/3 with no keyword that has to swing for value. But than you realize as soon as they pass turn priority she's a 5/4, so all you need is sharp sight in hand to guarantee value, and buff your board. Second swing she's a 6/5 etc. Basically punshishes decks that don't have any hard removal and even then you still have to deal with her little things that got very big.

If I had to guess right off the bat, Xerath, Veigar and Senna will struggle the most when the set releases because A control is the worst performing archetype in Legends right now, and B control is the worst performing archetype in Legends right now 😅

Have I seen anything that suggests this will change...maybe there are enough unique and interesting followers that there are too many variables to consider, but the spells themselves aren't great and that's kind of important.

Leads me to think that burst speed combo decks of either the elusive or all in variety will be strongest, than aggro, than midrange, with us try hard controllers still doing our best to make things work out.

A new Common Bandle City Unit, Bomber Twins, has been revealed!

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Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

A new Rare Bandle City Unit, Safety Inspector, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

A new Common Bandle City Spell, Yordle Contraption, has been revealed!

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Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

A new Common Bandle City Spell, Bouncing Bomb, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

A new Common Bandle City Landmark, Hexplosive Minefield, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

A new Champion Bandle City Unit, Ziggs, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!

A new Common Bandle City Unit, Inventive Chemist, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Beyond the Bandlewood

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Beyond the Bandlewood!