Recursive Heroes 101 - Runeterra Labs

The Rules

Quote From Lab Description

Make a singleton deck with only one Champion in it, or use one of Heimer's decks!

• Your champion always starts in your hand.
• When your champion is killed, it becomes imprisoned in a Landmark that spawns in its place.
• A Jailer will spawn on your opponent's side of the board as your champion is imprisoned. Kill your opponent's Jailer to revive your champ next round!

Notes:

• Constructed decks must have exactly 1 copy of 40 different cards including exactly 1 champion card. Championless decks are not permitted.
• Tri-region decks are not permitted. Mono-region decks are, but it is extremely difficult to create a viable singleton deck from a single region.
• Your champion will be the left-most card in your opening 4 card mulligan. You can mulligan it away, but that's probably not a good idea.
• Each time your champion is killed or obliterated, a Landmark named Jailed Champion will spawn in their place with text "Round Start: If your opponent doesn't have a Guard, kill me. When I leave play, revive your champion."
  • It is possible to have multiple landmarks if you've cheated out multiple champions -- e.g., with Dawn and Dusk
• At the same time the landmark is created, a Jailer will be summoned for your opponent. It is a 0|X follower with Vulnerable and text "When I'm summoned set my health to the opponent's champion's cost." (E.g., for a Fiora it would be 0|3, for an Ashe it would be 0|4, etc.)
  • If your opponent's board is full, one of their units will be obliterated to make room for a new Jailer
  • It is possible for your opponent to have multiple Jailers if you cheated out multiple champions. In this case, all Jailers must be killed before any champions will be revived. Killing only some of the Jailers have no effect.

The Premade Decks

Shyvana offers a nice midgame / board-bully deck, Jinx offers aggressive burn, and Trundle offers stall and control. The only deck that seems out of place is Gangplank's -- he has a very awkward curve and several Ionia control spells that seem out of place for his usual plunder-heavy playstyle.

Strategies

Most strategies will revolve around your champion since its the only guaranteed card and it is so easy to revive. Less expensive champions like Teemo and Zed have a distinct advantage. Scouts are also very valuable thanks to their ability to snipe Jailers so easily. Try to deny your opponent from leveling their champion if you can.

When We've Seen Recursive Heroes 101