Legends of Runeterra

So Tempo decks are essentially ruling the meta right  now

1. Azir Irelia 58 percent winrate

2. Zed Sivir 57.5

3. Pirate aggro 58.7

4. leblanc sivir and shen jarvan 56.5

5. discard aggro 56.8

6. Zed Temo 56.3

7. Draven Fizz 57.1

The reality is that there isn't a single slower deck that breaks the 55% winrate barrier, meaning that none of them can be considered A/S tier if we are simple going off statistics

Poor turbo thralls has dropped from a S tier deck to barely a 50% winrate, I think that this is definitely indicative that tempo>control right now

Ideally we would see a healthy balance between these two forces, where opponents who hit the board hard without thinking can get punished 

But as it stands right now this simple isn't the case if we go by the numbers

Do we need to start seeing across the board buffs to removal options?

If combat tricks can give a card 3/1 for 1 mana or 3/0 0/3 for two, what about removal buffs?

6 mana vengence, 7 mana reckoning, 4 mana grasp, a P and Z card that does 4 dmg like soul spear

If we look at any of these deck lists none of them are attempting to control out the opponent that's a problem

Let's see one more balance adjustment with a focus on removal options in August

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

Already we have some pretty definitive data here.

Anything that curves out is doing exceptionally well right now, and anything that doesn't isn't.

So 55% and up

-shen jarven

-delvers 

- sivir decks

- aggro decks

Decks closer to 50%

- Le sin decks

- Turbo thralls

- thresh nasus

- viego

It turns out that when all the slower decks do is go for one turn lethal they kind of get blown out by anything that builds up its board.

I would say the solution is to run removal but sivir, ruin runner complicate that climbing equation.

Not enough to stop Ezreal Draven, and Swain Tf from being the strongest control decks in the meta...must be all that removal they run.

Legends of Runeterra is a unique game in the sense that many champions offer infinite card advantage.

We have champions that generate removal, champions that generate draw, champions who double your spells, champions who generate token, champions who outright win the game.

So if thats the case why do sooo many players sit and do nothing marveling at their 10 card hand as they loose the game.

Its because they haven't realized one simple truth...card advantage is for control decks.

When each piece of removal equals a dead resource on your opponents end card advantage absolutely matters.

But if you're midrange, combo, or aggro it frankly doesn't. You should instead move actively towards your game plan.

If you're thresh Nasus, absolutely kill your own creatures I'd you can't kill your opponents.

If you're Lee Sin, cast spells they don't have to do anything I'd you're 3 cards ahead anyway just cast them.

The sooner you realize that flipping that champ or sequencing the cards correctly is how you win games...the sooner you'll stop card haording.

And the faster you can start winning games, and it won't take you 30 minuites to do it.

I had said previously that rise of the underworld was absolutely a top notch expansion for brewers but I have to say that these card releases during this event might be just as good if not better 

----lets run through a few of the standouts---

Champions:

Akshan is a very flexible card, he can be aggressive and combo oriented, he can be a card advantage tool for control decks, and he's just great landmark support.

Shadow dude is a bit meh by comparison, I like the idea of mind control being better implemented into the game (follower stealing) but I don't like that he's also a better Nasus at the same time. (A little too easy mode) but not op because of how slow he is.

---Removal----

We were just talking about how there's no good removal in shadow isles, and we just got two really strong pieces. It turns out spending 4 mana for slow speed champion removal is actually kiiiinda good, it also adds value to all your healing 

Similarly 5 mana drain two from two units is kind of a high value static shock I love it.

---followers---

Shurima gets a 5 mana 5/5 finally and getting free treasures is pretty strong if you have the support to keep it alive

6 mana for a better cat submarine in Ionia is beyond strong. Because you can choose slow, fast, or burst you can actually reliably tutor out answers...like I dont know 4 mana champion removal.

I like Ibex a lot for more support pieces poor lulu needs some love.

Getting free attacks in noxious is pretty interesting, having a way to turbo level MF in a pirate aggro shell ads nuanced possibilities to a hunga bunga deck

Ice wolf mother is probably my low key favorite, even without running "a lot" of frostbite I found the wolf cub getting to like a 12/12 in Long games and it offers a finisher for frostbite decks that makes more sense thematically

Fury dude is the last one to mention, it's a little akward because if you get a really big Shivana you need to give her overwhelm to win, so that's absolver or sunlight blade, and I'm not an all in on one card kind of player.

Overall just a really solid event that pairs well with both the new champions/cards we got last go around plus the large number of balance changes.

I'm willing to admit that this outstanding work by Riot and honestly if they want to adopt the it ain't broke dont fix it mentality for the rest of the summer they've earned it honestly.

Those of us who have a background in MTG or even Hearthstone have a pretty good idea of what a control deck is.

Take warrior for an example, he equips a weapon and smacks a dude using life as a resource.

He wins when the opponent runs out of stuff.

In MTG a control player might run planes walkers who have their own health gage to be used as a resource to grind the opponent out.

But in Legends much of what we call "control" is actually combo decks.

Ezreal is a great example he encourages you to remove your opponents followers to level him, he's a control card right? No...because he actually becomes a combo card once leveled bursting the opponent down to 0.

We see something similar with Lee Sin overwhelm, they who endure/nasus and karma is often used as a direct dmg tool as well.

So what is a "control" card in Legends given the unique way this game is designed.

Lux is a pretty obvious choice, she literally just gives you free removal, J4 for sure, Tom ketch, kindred, TF, Aphelios, and thats kind of it right now.

It doesnt help that many of these cards aren't very good, with the exception to the recent buff to j4 he's great.

Personally I think the developers should be less scared to print hard control tools and Champs going forward, because even lisandra is being used as a combo piece right now.

No word of a lie I've been getting my butt handed to me.since rise of the underworld dropped.

The meta was very weird, like all the decks seemed to generate infinite value, had tons of beef on board, and was incredible hard to control out with spells.

Well turns out I was doing it wrong, challengers are like better versions of removal because they present situations where the opponent has to react with a spell to go even with your follower, then you can counter with your own spell.

Factor in 6 card that provide extra attack phases and if your opponents deck is all about playing solitaire (most are right now) you will win guaranteed.

What do I mean by solitaire?

Turbo thralls, I do a bunch of stuff till I have a massive board.

Yetis I do a bunch of stuff till I have a massive board.

Poros I do a bunch of stuff till I have a massive board.

Delivers, sivir, you get the point.

So if every deck relies on building up steam, what if we just prevent that from happening every attack phase.

Chances are we'll win.

https://lor.mobalytics.gg/meta-tier-list

Big changes here:

1. Zed Sivir being listed as S tier with a 53% winrate, more likely finding its longterm home in A tier

2.Turbo thralls is going down to A tier even though it's numbers are largely the same

3. Azir Irelia is listed in S again, but its numbers aren't doing any better so no idea what's up with that

4. Poros dropping a ton of tiers, it was trash and just because swim could literally win with any meme deck he chooses doesnt mean it was good.

Increasingly, I find the tier lists to be governed by the whims of the editors instead of quantitative data.

Last time I mentioned a ton of decks with a 55% winrate that go ignored, like deep, or Swain Tf or J4 barriers.

If you go into card stats you get an even clearer picture of performance.

Want to know what cards have the highest winrate? Literally every single one in pirate aggro.

Now do I think the deck should be tweaked, probably not this meta is still fun and fresh. 

And I think this is the best part of the shurima expansion so far.

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

If it feels like this meta might be a little weird you'd be right.

What we're seeing across the board is that except for the top 3 decks those being pirate aggro, turbo thralls, and sivir

Every deck is roughly equal in terms of winrate at 52% suggesting it doesnt really matter what you play.

Swim got to diamond with Poros and lists it as an A tier deck, is it actually no...but again it doesn't really matter what he chose to play outside of that narrow margin of top decks.

How do I feel about this? The competitive deck brewer in me is frustrated by the fact that the only way to get a leg up is to play lists that essentially don't make sense.

But the casual player in me is happy that you can essentially play whatever the hell you want and have the same chance of winning as long as you aren't rolling S tier deck lists.

What kind of help are you looking for?

With the new expansion I started to focus on EKKO builds.
This is my most conistent and enjoyable list so far:

https://outof.cards/legends-of-runeterra/decks/14362-ekkozilean-steampunk-blaster

Which EKKO builds are "hot" right now?
Which ones worked for you?
I find it "hard" to play with EKKO. The concept works and is strong but besides some "high roll fun" most of my Ws really needed to be earned
and were clutch as f****.

BBG is also a committed "EKKO player" now but struggles a lot to find the right balance.
Like "is it KAHIRI or RUIN RUNNER?", "is it SIVIR?", "DROPBOARDER or not?", "ITERATIVE IMPROVEMENT or just a nice 3drop?"

The META is still yound and so far no one has really find that one recipe "to rule them all"?
What do you guys play?

Has anyone else run into an issue where they cannot access the gauntlet? In my UI it is all faded out, and when I click on it it says I have to play more challenges and quests. 

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

1. Deep has a 56 percent winrate suggesting in the right hands it will work just as well as turbo thralls, this is great the deck used to be unplayable

2. Discard aggro at a 55 percent winrate suggesting the nerf to rumage didn't really hurt it

3. Shurima overwhelm needs a deck list update, but is still hitting 57 percent

4. Thresh Nasus obviously, only got hit on it's aggro lines of play 55 percent

5. Leblanc Sivir , very scary now thanks to the new treasure seeker 58 percent

Honestly, these winrates would be top tier in any other meta and things are so balanced

We're just splitting hairs at this point...

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

Straight from the region statistics.

The 3 top decks are turbo thralls, LeBlanc sivir, and pirate aggro.

So typically when we see decks with high winrates like these but relatively low play rates.

The meta is very healthy.

While these decks might statistically be doing well right now, people aren't really playing them in any number to be concerned of.

It also means nobody has attempted to counter these decks yet, meaning what we are really seeing is early climbers blitzing ladder before people can adjust 

Other good news signs, Azir Irelia is down to a 50/50 winrate which sounds right given its supposed to be a "combo" deck.

Honestly, still feeling very optimistic about things overall.

It’s riot I don’t know why I expected anything different. I need a different job with less down time and hopefully less people trying to kill me. Or at least consequences for people trying to kill me so I can stop playing mobile games.

Echo seems about right. Kill wave one. Revived them with rally. Killed wave two. Revived them with rally. Didn’t have a response for wave three. Denial and Nopify have just gained a metric fuckton of value. I was looking forward to being able to play a bunch of different decks. Looks like I’ll need SI or Ionia in one of my slots. 

https://playruneterra.com/en-us/news/game-updates/patch-2-11-0-notes/

Its the patch to end all patches. It hits every single 55% winrate deck, it hits decks that are just irritating to play against, it hit Irelia Azir, and it buff vanilla cards nobody plays.

Can't really get any better then that.

Karma is fixed, Heimer is fixed, will of Ionia buff installs it as a core card for the region again. Make it rain is back for bilgewater.

Snake is a 1/1 challenger so Zoe can't just eat 2 drops for free anymore...God that was dumb.

The watcher now operates like mokai so you don't just loose instantly on your next draw

Ezreal Draven has taken a hit that's great to both its essentially free draw 2  at 1 mana, and it's key removal piece.

Thresh Nasus shouldn't have insane aggro plays anymore, and it's combo hasn't been touched

Its a bold new world, where literally nobody knows what will be dominant and I feel confident brewing again 

https://lor.mobalytics.gg/sets/rise-of-the-underworlds

I know I've been super meh about the card reveals so far, but today's 4 reveals are literally saving zillian as a champion.

Let's talk about everything they added to zillian as an archetype just today!

Anti- aggro deck thinning!!! This is literally a one of a kind card for Runeterra thus far and shows that somebody on the development team is doing his job.

Yes its just a do nothing 1/3 body for 1 mana, but it's a free body that comes down along side Zillian to chump block sandman against azir irellia and get you closer to finding the cards you want to play.

Time winder is literally a two mana static shock that forces a discard, guess what Zillian has card advantage for days what he needs is cheap pings along side his landmark.

Oh hey they literally just printed opt at two mana, fine by me!!!

Plus an actual good 3 drop to put in predict decks that duplicates and let's you find answers, and the body is infinitely better then that dumb 2/4 elusive.

God they should just call this card reveal timmies rejoice, we do want our game to be complicated and not just be a creature slug fest.

I take it all back Riot I'm so sorry ;)

Every now and then I play a few games in diamond on my phone to see if the metas shifted and to make predictions for how new card releases will impact things.

But as far as I can tell right now, nothing being released will stop the 60% Azir Irelia meta from being dominant unless there are "substantial" changes made to the decks mechanics.

Like you can match them 1 for 1 with drops and healing and you'll still loose pretty much every game due to their massive tempo advantage.

While Riot claims their internal statistics and matchup tables are "healthy" all I see on mobalitics is a few very dominant decks in the 55% winrate category and one straight up busted one in the 60% category.

As we enter July I guess we'll see if Riot gets the balls to start hard nerfing certain archetypes after all the player frustration but so far its been nothing but pussy footing around by the balance team.

Fizz Tf was literally a bundle of kittens compared to what it's like to play at high ranks these days.

I just saw that all boats like Leviathan or The Syren got a change from "summon" to "play".
I am just a casual but I play Swain really a lot so I wondered how much impact that has.

Can someone can explain to me the decisive difference or give some examples of why that matters?

THX

EDIT: Is it maybe that a "play" is faster than a "summon" and you e.g. get a Swain just for "playing" the Leviathan instead of having it "fully summoned" to the board?

https://lor.mobalytics.gg/sets/rise-of-the-underworlds

Just gonna highlight a few of the interesting new cards

Has a home for sure, there are aggressive shadow lists that would rather have the nexus dmg over the draw 2

yeti tribal yes pls, hook a brother up

In my nightfall lists I would literally run the 1 mana aphelios card as a cheap activator so this inclusion is a no brainer

a good non blade dance scout activator very solid

Lurk is basically a good aggressive use for scrying in runeterra which hasn't existed yet, as the only person who still plays Zillian trust me I know. While I hate to see every mechanic be reduced to an aggressive creature based strategy, instead of doubling down on the control potential; I also understand the necessity in the turbo meta, if riot doesn't want to make substantial overhauls to design.

mostly pushes Azir mf and I'm fine with that

This is the control Ziillian tool I was looking for keep in mind every predict is a reshuffle and another chance at using this spell in conjunction with a time bomb

Everything else revealed so far strikes me as a little meme-tastic but I want to hear your thoughts in the comments

I love the mechanics of these two champions, and they fit similar roles, but I’m having a hard putting them into good decks. I’ve tried mixing with both Shurima and Freljord, but I’m having a hard time maximizing their potential.

anyone with some interesting ideas?