Try Out the Runeterra 1.11 Buffs with This Zany Healing Deck

Hail, Champions! Say...

• Do you enjoy playing decks with lots of freshly-buffed cards?
• Does the phrase 'off-off-meta' get you excited?
• Are you such a big Soraka fan that you'd play a deck built for her even though she's not actually in the game yet?

...If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then boy do we have the theorycraft deck for you to try as soon as Patch 1.11 hits! Inspired by an encounter the author had earlier this week, we present to you a deck built around Star Shepherd.

The secret weapon that pulls this deck together is the fact that regeneration does proc Star Shepherd's passive ability, so Braum and Trundle will be providing even more value than normal. Additionally, we have a few more regen units from Augur of the Old Ones and Uzgar the Ancient as well as conventional healing from Guiding Touch, Broadbacked Protector, Resplendent Stellacorn, and of course multiple Gems. But the big headline here is that we are utilizing 3 cards which are receiving significant buffs from this patch. Let's deep-dive each!

This change to Bastion is so strong, even Live Design Lead Steve Rubin is admitting it might be too much. Frankly just the change from "until end of round" to permanent is very significant; the +1/+1 is just icing on the proverbial cake. This card already had some application as a 3-mana Deny; now you can also cast it proactively without worrying about it expiring. SpellShield will negate all spells and some unit's skills. In case you are unfamiliar with exactly which skills are and aren't negated, the general rule is: if it can be Denied, then SpellShield will negate its effect. That means it will stop skills like those of Arachnoid Sentry and Devourer of the Depths but not Icevale Archer or The Infinite Mindsplitter.  

Now that he buffs 2 targets, Grandfather Rumul is essentially Bloodsworn Pledge on a stick. Between the having so many units in this deck enjoy health buffs, his native 8/4 overwhelm body being essentially L1 Tryndamere stats, and his 8 mana cost providing a possible Behold activator for Augur of the Old Ones, there's a lot going on for Rumul in this deck. Simply put: we don't think we could tailor a better deck around him if we tried.  

Last but not least, we have Mountain Goat. For a unit with an On-Strike ability, the difference between 1 HP and 2 HP is night and day. Just ask Rivershaper, who received the same treatment back in 1.6 and went from being just another early-game chump to a solid workhorse in so many Fiora decks. Not only can Goat now safely contest 1-attack units but if he survives, then you can use the Gem to heal the damage and now he's a 4/2.

Here's the full decklist:

Full disclosure: even after the buffs, this archetype will probably on the meme-y side of the competition spectrum. In particular, Lee Sin players will probably be extremely excited to try out the upgrade Bastion in their existing decklists, and his Dragon's Rage will completely ruin any unit regardless of its stats. That said: Lee Sin's popularity could easily create a resurgence in aggro burn decks trying to out-race them, and this deck should be able to out-heal any burn deck. The Broadbacked Protector + Resplendent Stellacorn combo is especially devastating.

Are there any decks you're excited to try out after 1.11 deploys? Let us know below!