Need to Grind Out Runeterra's Expansion Event before Wednesday? Try this Buried Sun Disc Deck!

This Wednesday marks the end of the Empires of the Ascended Event, meaning you only have a few more days to grind out the rewards. Even if you didn't buy the season pass, you'll want to at least try to get 230 total sun discs to unlock the free 3x Concurrent Timelines at Level 24. Regardless of whether you plan on playing these cards or not, Runeterra has epic duplicate protection and there's a total of 15 free epics so you'll want to snatch as many as you can before time runs out on Wednesday, March 31st 11 am PST.

Of course, if you're behind right now you're going to need to grind out the special event quests as much as possible before that deadline. This can be hard as many of the quests have a "shortcut" that rewards play the newer cards, but it can be hard finding competitive decks for each of these cards. Our recommendation? Don't play competitively! You can still gain progress by playing against the AI, and we've got a great Buried Sun Disc deck for not only burning through these quests but also having a great time doing it.

Buried Sun Disc Overview

There's a good reason you're not seeing many Buried Sun Disc decks on ladder or tournaments: you need your champions to be on the board progressing to win, and every competitive deck either has unit removal capabilities, landmark removal, combat tricks, and/or the capability to just outright run you over rounds before your sun disc flips. But with the AI, you don't really need to worry about any of that! Their decks are very linear, and even when they do have the opportunity to remove a champion, they don't identify it as a hidden threat the way human opponents do. Any while you only earn 1x Sun Disc towards the repeatable "win games" quest, since you should have a much higher winrate against the AI (>95%), the net pace should be roughly the same while allowing you to simultaneously target the nonrepeatable event quests.  

A sun disk deck is the ideal "one-stop-shop" for progressing those nonrepeatable quests, since their "shortcut" options are usually the same objectives as one of your champions: you're summoning units for Azir, you're making enemies vulnerable for Renekton; you're slaying units for Nasus. There are definitely more dedicated decks for taking on each quest independently, but if you just want a single deck that can plow through them all well enough then look no further. You're also constantly playing and leveling champions, and you'll gain the Emperor's Deck almost every game. And finally: while it has nothing to do with quest progress, it simply cannot be understated how much fun it is watching the cinematics chain pop as you level your second champion, essentially celebrating how you just won the game.

Buried Sun Disc Strategy

The sole goal of this deck is to flip the Sun Disc, which will require leveling 2 of your 3 champions. Azir will happen fairly effortlessly, but you'll have to work a bit for Renekton and Nasus. This task becomes exponentially easier as they acquire stat buffs -- 3x Xenotype Researchers, 3x Golden Ambassador, and 2x Siphoning Strike should help with that goal. If you have a Xenotype in hand, try to save your Preservarium and Aspiring Chronomancer until after you play it so you can fish for buffed cards.

Do not worry about pushing early damage -- if you can flip the sun disc, the game becomes almost unlosable. Renekton and Nasus both push for double-digits damage, and Azir's Emperor Deck is filled with cards that give card draw and board advantage. The one notable exception to this is if you are up another combo deck such as Deep, Lissandra, or Twisted Fate -- in these cases, you probably want to take up the beatdown role. Also: don't worry about early game tempo. Its often better to bank mana for a big Exhaust, Siphoning Strike, or Ascended's Rise rather than trying to curve out well.

AI-Specific Strategies

As we mentioned, we're targeting this deck for grinding out games against the AI. The AI is generally much less competitive than ladder, but there are still a few decks that can put your back up against the wall. Here are a few matchups to watch out for.

The Main Event (Draven) 

This is an aggro deck similar to Draven + Jinx Discard minus Jinx and any new cards. It can still put up a lot of damage in a hurry though thanks to Brothers' Bond and its ability to cheat out units like Jury Rig and Flame Chompers! This is one of those cases where you want to mulligan hard for Spirit Fire and bank mana to cast it early, as it will usually wipe the enemy board.

Shadow and Blade (Zed)

Similar to the above, this deck can just go wide fast. It also has a lot of elusive threats which can be problematic. Spirit Fire is still a great solution, as is the 1x Quicksand. This deck also runs a few trick cards like Will of Ionia, Steel Tempest, Shadowshift, and Spirit's Refuge which can catch you off your toes if you're not careful -- it's one of the few AI decks where Rite of Negation pays off well.

Scout it out (Miss Fortune + Quinn)

This is generally an inferior version of the laddering scout decks. As with above, Spirit Fire is a generally good answer. You can also be a little more aggressive than normal against this deck since Miss Fortune and Quinn are less powerful without chump attackers to send into battle.

Terrors from the Deep (Maokai + Nautilus)

This matchup can be tough for the opposite reason than the above: if they go deep and get a Nautilus on board, they have an opportunity to swarm the board with big sea monsters and just overrun you. Also, Maokai's deck attack can be devastating: if you haven't drawn your champions yet they are obliterated, and if you've already flipped to the Emperor's Deck, many of the cards become unplayable thanks to their draw. Try to prioritize denying your opponent opportunities to advance deep, killing the Nautilus, and saving your Azir until after Maokai flips.

Buried Sun Disc Mulligan Guide

• Azir and Renekton are almost always keeps; Nasus is generally a toss. If you have Renekton, Exhaust is also a keep.
• Xenotype Researchers and Aspiring Chronomancer are always keeps.
• Golden Ambassador is usually a keep; the exception is if you have Renekton and think you'll play him on curve.
• Dunekeeper and Rock Hopper are good stall tools; Hopper is also great for enabling Renekton.
• Spirit Fire is clutch if you are facing wide aggro; don't hesitate to hard-mulligan for it if you're worried.

Buried Sun Disc Decklist

Buried Sun Disc Substitutions

• 2 Azir / 2 Renekton / 2 Nasus is the optimal champion configuration for this deck.
  • That said: since it is a "just for fun deck", don't feel bad about changing the distribution or even adding in a copy or two of Sivir;
  • So long as you keep at least 1x copy of each of these Ascended champions.
  • Don't add Taliyah as she'll "spoil" your Golden Ambassador tutors and definitely do not add any champions outside of Shurima.
• You should have 3x free copy of Buried Sun Disc from your Shurima Region Rewards at Level 1 (250 XP).
• You should also receive 3x free copies of Ascended's Rise from the event rewards Level 5 (40 discs). If you haven't gotten this far yet, try either a 3rd copy of Preservarium or a 1x Ruthless Predator.
• Rite of Negation is the only epic in this list that isn't free and running 2x copies "feels right", but its arbitrary. Again, 3rd Preservarium, 1x-2x Ruthless Predator, or additional Ascended's Rise can make up any shortfall here.

We hope this helps everyone who's struggling to grind out the last bit of event rewards before the deadline Wednesday morning. Have you finished yet? Are you worried about finishing? Share your progress with us below!