Hey all! We’re now a few days into the Empire of the Ascended expansion and decks keep on getting discovered. From Azir aggro decks to Lissandra Trundle control, nothing compares to a strong midrange game plan! Here’s a deck spotlight on an underrated, but very powerful Renekton Sivir list!
The Champions
This deck might appear very similar to Renekton Sejuani decks that have seen some play this expansion. However, the most notable difference is Sivir instead of Sejuani. Sivir’s Quick Attack coupled with granting enemy units vulnerable allows for free trades, and the 35 damage required to level happens surprisingly quickly. Once levelled, Sivir will give Quick Attack and Spellshield to all your units!
It is important to keep in mind Sivir’s level-up ability is passive, as long as you are attacking. When attempting to level Sivir on your attack, it is easy to stick her as the far-right unit so she can level before it has struck. But, placing Sivir on the left side means it can level during combat, so your units on the right can gain Sivir’s keywords during your attack; just make sure Sivir survives!
Your other champion in this deck is Renekton, who also has synergy with giving Vulnerable to enemy units, as it can grow to a 6/5 when challenging on attack! Renekton is generally less likely to level up, but it acts as a great tool in the midrange beatdown strategy.
Challenging Units
The main quality that separates this midrange deck from an aggro one, is the ability to trade with enemy units using cards such as Exhaust, Roiling Sands and Renekton’s champion spell Ruthless Predator. Exhaust is a flexible option in this deck, because you can make a favourable trade and, for one mana, it is harder for the opponent to play around. Use this on your opponents Kindred for a huge blowout!
Overwhelm Finishers
After an aggressive start to the game, the opponent is hopefully down enough health for your Overwhelm units to finish them off. Renekton, Ruin Runner, Alpha Wildclaw and Ancient Yeti are your late-game finishers. Dropping each of these threats is usually too much for the opponent to handle; especially when you can fire off a Battle Fury for a burst finish. Sivir’s champion spell Ricochet can also be useful for some extra reach; although Ricochet’s random effect proved too unreliable to main deck it in this list, the choice is yours!
The Matchups
It’s still early days in the Empire of the Ascended expansion, so there are little refined decklists out there; although, a few decks such as Lucian Azir and Lissandra Trundle are becoming increasingly popular. Here’s how Renekton Sivir performs against each archetype:
- Has a good chance against aggro decks because of its low curve, just keep an eye out for your health against burn decks. Can give vulnerable to the opponent’s powerful champions such as Lucian or Miss Fortune
- Against other midrange decks, being able to challenge enemy units for a favourable trade goes a long way too. Be careful of Ashe Midrange’s Frostbite effects and Trifarian Gloryseeker
- Puts on a lot of pressure against control decks, in the form of Spellshield units that stick to the board, including Sivir and Ruin Runner
- Against combo decks, specifically Twisted Fate Aphelios lists, this deck can give vulnerable to champions that the opponent usually relies on
We hope this deck spotlight has given you a fresh way to play! Have you been using any similar midrange decks this expansion? Let us know down below!
Comments
Won my first match against a mono-Demacia Jarvan IV deck, without even drawing a Champion.
(I got lucky enough to go first and he had no turn 1 play; I think it's as simple as that.)
It's kinda funny (or sad) that Sejuani's play effect became so common with Shurima that you don't longer want to play her in shurima lists, it also shows that Shurima is actually THAT pushed that generic champions that can go basically in any deck outshine other region's champions in their archetype.
I don't know how long the community will be fine with that meta but it could very well be that we end up being fed up with Shurima very soon.
Frostbite on Seju should still make her feel different enough. Not to mention her lvlup. I think they just want to establish Vulnerable as a general 'removal option' for most regions, which i dont think ppl will be too upset about.