The Best Meta Decks for Legends of Runeterra
Hey everyone! Welcome back to our Meta Decks Report for Legends of Runeterra.
As always, these deck recommendations will be provided by our Glimpse Beyond experts, Swim and Precipic.
Swim will be creating and curating competitive decks for our site and content so be sure to bookmark his Mobalytics Deck Library and follow him on Twitch, Youtube, or Swim’s LoR website.
If you want to explore the meta on your own, check out our Meta Stats feature for the most in-depth statistics in LoR.
Best Runeterra Decks
- S-tier: Spider Aggro (Noxus + Shadow Isles)
- S-tier: Burn Aggro (Noxus + Piltover & Zaun)
- S-tier: Go Fish (Bilgewater + Piltover/Zaun)
- S-tier: Fiora Shen (Demacia + Ionia)
- S-tier: Pirate Aggro (Bilgewater + Noxus)
- S-tier: Discard Aggro (Noxus + Piltover/Zaun)
- S-tier: Azir Scouts (Demacia + Shurima)
- A-tier: Midrange Frostbite (Freljord + Noxus)
- A-tier: Liss Trundle (Freljord + Shadow Isles)
- A-tier: Slow Burn (Noxus + Piltover/Zaun)
- A-tier Targon Lee (Ionia + Targon)
- A-tier: Shurima Overwhelm (Freljord + Shurima)
- A-tier: Life After Death (Shadow Isles + Shurima)
- A-tier: Scouts (Bilgewater + Demacia)
- A-tier: Lucky Shot (Bilgeater + Targon)
- A-tier: Endure Aggro (Freljord + Shadow Isles)
- B-tier: Lebonk Sivir (Noxus + Shurima)
Note that our experts update the tier list often so there may be some lag time between this blog version and the one on our site. When in doubt, use the LoR Meta Tier List feature for the most up-to-date tier list. If you’re a new player, check out our best LoR budget decks article.
LoR Meta Decks
Whether you like to play aggro, midrange, control, or combo, we’ve got meta deck archetype for you. Enjoy!
S-tier LoR Decks
Spider Aggro (Noxus + Shadow Isles)
Deck code: CEBQKAIDAIGA6KBXAMBQKAYEAYBQCBJHGU4AEAQCAMBQIAIBAMXACAIBAUXQ
[See Spider Aggro deck details]
General Info
Play this list if you want to flood the board and overwhelm your opponent with followers that they can’t keep up with. It’s a simple deck that practically plays itself if you curve out.
How to Play
Your early game consists of one goal which is to flood the board. This is important since it lets you flip an Elise that you can use to quickly close out games on turns 5 and 6.
With a large board, you can use your spiders with Fearsome/Challenge to get around big blockers along with the usual burn from Noxus to finish the job.
Burn Aggro (Noxus + Piltover & Zaun)
Deck code: CECAGAIDAISSQBIBAQEBCJZUGYBAGBAFBMBAEAYDAQAQEAIDBQXAA
General Info
I would recommend playing this deck if you really enjoy winning games with a pile of burn spells. This deck also generates some really fast games so if you want your games to be quick this is the deck for you.
How to Play
This is a very very focused deck. Every single card in this deck is focused on dealing as much direct damage to the opponent as possible. It wins by pushing early chip damage with small aggressive units like Teemo and Legion Saboteur and then from there finishing the opponent off with every single burn spell that you have access to in these regions.
This deck got a ton of great additions that make it much better than before.
Ballistic Bot is just one of the best 2 mana cards in the game right now and it fits perfectly into this deck by pushing 1 point of damage every single turn while being a reasonably sized body. This deck also got another super playable burn spell in Aftershock.
In mulligans, you should be looking to keep any aggressive early play. If it’s an early unit you should probably keep it. Late game you should accept that you will eat a decent amount of damage and just look for ways to deal the last points of lethal burn.
Go Fish (Bilgewater + Targon)
Deck code: CECQGAYEAUGREBACAYNCMKZOAMAQIAJNGQAQEBADAEBQMEICAEBQIGIBAECCOAA
General Info
This deck, aptly named by WhatAmI, has some of the fastest Twisted Fate level ups in the entire game and can pretty consistently draw its entire deck every single game.
If you enjoy playing a combo aggro style of gameplay this is definitely the deck for you.
How to Play
Fizz TF is an aggressively slanted combo deck that is focused on 2 different powerful win conditions.
The first is flipping Twisted Fate incredibly quickly and the second is just killing your opponent with a massive swarm of Elusives.
The most notable aspect of this deck is that it basically never runs out of resources and will always be able to execute its game plan every single game because of how much draw it has. In your mulligan you should be looking to keep your cheap cards and your powerful cards.
This means you always want to keep Fizz, Twisted Fate, Ballistic Bot, Zaunite Urchin/Poro Cannon if you have Discard Fodder, and Mystic Shot if you need early removal.
A couple of tips for this deck include that you should be constantly tracking how easily you can level Twisted Fate over 1-2 turns and determining whether or not you need to commit something like Pick a Card or Zap Sprayfin to ensure he is able to level.
Another tip is to calculate how much damage you need to kill them with Elusive damage over multiple turns and keeping enough of your Elusives alive to enable a kill on your next turn.
Fiora Shen (Demacia + Ionia)
Deck code: CEBQGAICCMQCWAYBAAERULICAMAAMDQFAEBQEFABAEBDCAIEAABAEAIAEUZQCAQAAEBQEAIABU2ACAYCBEAQCARF
General Info
Fiora Shen is a deck that uses Barrier to protect high threat units to generate value. If that sounds appealing then this deck is for you.
How to Play
You can have explosive openers with turn 1 Tracker into turn 2 Brightsteel Protector. However, it’s not bad to go into mid game with some mana banked to make use of your defensive and reactive spells.
Rivershaper is a high value unit in this deck because he can often draw 2 or more cards when protected by Shen, Barrier, or just using your challenger units to get in unblocked. Fiora is a great win condition but don’t get baited into over-committing into her or rushing out a fast level for the win.
This deck has a lot of defensive options so it’s wise to stack a few in your favor before investing in for a Fiora victory. Your late game is solid against heavy decks because of strong units like Genevieve and Brightsteel Formation that are backed up with Deny to protect your board from huge plays.
Pirate Aggro (Bilgewater + Noxus)
Deck code: CEBQKAQGCYQCMOR4AQAQGAQMEUUAGAQDAMCAKAIBAEBS4AQBAIDAKAIBAMZQ
[See Pirate Aggro deck details]
General Info
A deck that pushes for fast wins giving you short game times. A great choice for players looking to punish greedy decks.
How to Play
Your biggest priority is making sure you have a good early curve with your 1 drops.
Mulligan for an aggressive early game, your late game finishers and over the tops like Decimate will come naturally in your later draws.
You don’t want to use Noxian Fervor proactively unless you’re forced to or you have multiple back up plays to push through lethal.
Noxian Fervor is great as a counter to drain spells like Grasp or general removal since you can use it in response.
Sometimes you can use the kegs to set up burn turns or have a better attack with Miss Fortune.
Discard Aggro (Noxus + Piltover/Zaun)
Deck code: CEBQCAYECIDACBAMBUOCOKBNAQAQGBYJE43QEAQBAMKCGAIBAQAQCAIBAQEA
[See Discard Aggro deck details]
General Info
Discard Aggro is an aggressive burn deck that uses Jinx and Draven to fuel its strategy. It uses strong early starts that dump their hand early then finishes their opponents off with burn damage.
This deck requires a lot of decision making on when to use your burn for removal or face as well as when and what cards to discard.
How to Play
The goal of this deck is to swarm out early with a lot of units so that you can get down a huge Crowd Favorite or Visions.
Jinx is very important to keep alive so that your deck has value going into the mid to late game, so keep an eye out for what deck you’re playing against.
Against removal heavy Piltover decks, keeping Jinx until she’s leveled will go a long way to keeping her alive with 4 health.
Azir Scouts (Demacia + Shurima)
Deck code: CECAKBAHAMNBYM25AIBAAAQJAIAQAFRBAECAAAYBAMAQACI5GMCACAQAA4AQGAAOAEAQAFIBAQDTS
[See Azir Scouts deck details]
General Info
If you enjoy playing a deck with incredibly explosive draws this is the deck for you. This deck has the ability to kill the opponent super quickly with its Rally effects and on the version with Lucian you can have both of your champions leveled by turn 4. Play this deck, if you want to swarm down your opponent with Sand Soldiers.
How to Play
One of the scarier Aggro decks in the game right now. You utilize Emperor’s Dais, Azir, and Scout effects to pump out a massive number of Sand Soldiers that can put an immense amount of pressure on the opponent.
This deck is able to level Azir by the third turn of the game, and when Azir is leveled and gives your Sand Soldiers extra attack that can sometimes be too much for the opponent to overcome.
One thing to note is that Cataclysm is both an attack trigger for Azir and Emperor’s Dais and when used with a scout unit it also serves as a rally effect. In general, you should be looking to keep Scouts, Azir, Emperor’s Dais in basically every matchup. You want to have a way to level your Azir by turn 4-5 in every hand you keep.
A-tier LoR Decks
Midrange Frostbite (Freljord + Noxus)
Deck code: CECAIAIBBMTCSMACAEBQIHYBAMAQEAIEAMBAIBABAEARMHRKAECACCQBAQBQIAIBAM2QEAIBAECACAQBAI
[See Midrange Frostbite deck details]
General Info
Frostbite is a good deck to play when fighting against other decks that rely on large followers and trading on board because of the combination of your Frostbite countering most combat tricks. Pick this up if you’re a midrange player that likes generating value on large followers.
How to Play
This is a deck that you’ll want to curve out on with the hardest decisions being when to leave mana open for spells and when to drop Trifarian Assessor for card draw.
Culling Strike can be an amazing card that punches above its mana cost while also having great interactions when combined with Frostbite reducing attack power to 0.
Against other midrange decks, you have a comfortable suite of options to play for but you’re mostly looking for value.
Once you established a winning board, leaving mana open for your combat tricks and Frostbites will give you a solid grasp on the game.
Liss Trundle (Freljord + Shadow Isles)
Deck code: CECAIAIFDUUCYLYDAQAQKCQOAEAQCFABAMAQMAQEAEAQGBYMDUAQIAIJAIBACAIBGIAQCBIP
[See Liss Trundle deck details]
General Info
I recommend playing this deck if you want to always feel like you have the long game and can answer everything your opponent does. You get to just sit back, relax and wait for your Frozen Thralls to turn into 8/8s and the Watcher to blow up the opponent’s deck.
How to Play
Lissandra Trundle is the premier control deck of the format. It looks to utilize a multitude of board clears, life gain, and removal to stall out the game so that it can get to its eventual win condition which pretty much always involves an army of gigantic units the most powerful of which is Lissandra’s Watcher which can obliterate the opponents entire deck.
The main thing to keep in mind when playing this deck is that you should almost never be taking the first action in a turn, you should pretty much always be passing banking spell mana and waiting for the perfect opportunity to blow your opponent out.
This deck has a lot of life gain, so if you take some damage doing this that’s fine, you’ll likely heal it all back anyways.
For mulligans it really depends on the matchup. In pretty much every matchup you should keep Lissandra, she’s a ridiculous card that is a powerhouse in pretty much every matchup.
Outside of that, you should be keeping all of your small removal spells for aggro decks (Ice Shards, Avalanche Vile Feast), and your main win cons against slower decks (most expensive cards).
One thing to note is that against pretty much anything that’s not super controlling you should be keeping a Blighted Ravine, the card has a ridiculous ability to shut down almost any strategy that relies on creatures.
In addition, vs any deck that is super all in one unit you should be keeping 3 Sisters (Atrocity decks, Fiora Combo, etc) the card has a ridiculous ability to shut these strategies down.
Slow Burn (Noxus + Piltover/Zaun)
Deck code: CECQMAIEDMPSIJRHGQAQEAYJAQAQGAQUFY3QCAYDBUAQGBARAAAQCAIEAE
General Info
This deck really rewards using removal at the appropriate time and learning how to shift between playing defensively and aggressively. I would highly recommend playing this deck if you like having the ability to answer any unit while still having a fairly proactive deck.
How to Play
The buff to Ezreal made this deck a really cool option. In general, you should be looking to keep Ezreal and Farron in your hand because they are your main win conditions. Beyond that, you should be trying to keep removal that works for any given matchup.
I would also recommend keeping early plays such as House Spider in basically every matchup because it lets you block vs aggro and beat down vs control.
Targon Lee (Ionia + Targon)
Deck code: CEBAKAYJBENSGKK4AIBAEAYGAQCQGCJIFIZVKVQBAMBBIAIBAIYQCAQCBEBAEAYJCNNQCAQCAU
General Info
This is easily the best combo deck in the game right now. If you want to combo kill the opponent from the full 20 with a big kick then this is the deck for you.
How to Play
This is the update to the old Lee Sin Zed deck but it has gotten some great new tools with the new set including Zoe and Sparklefly. The ability of these cards to make this deck’s early game much better into other aggressive strategies is just fantastic.
Other than that it is the same old combo. Draw your deck until you can set up Zenith Blade on a 10+ Power Less Sin and deal 20 damage in 1 turn with your Leveled Lee Sin while having Deny and Nopefy to protect it.
In general, you should be looking to keep your early game tools such as Zoe, Eye of the Dragon, Sparklefly, and Mountain Goat and you should also just keep Lee Sin because you will need it to combo kill at some point during the game.
Shurima Overwhelm (Freljord + Shurima)
Deck code: CEBQQBAHAEFRYJRNG5BV2AIDAEBAEAIBDIPQEAIEAEFAEBAHCRCQCAICAEBA
[See Shurima Overhwlem deck details]
General Info
This deck is one of the beefiest decks in the game. Your overwhelm units are big and scary. If you enjoy beating your opponent’s face in with absolutely massive overwhelm units then this is the deck for you.
How to Play
Shurima Overwhelm is one of the interesting new Aggressive Midrange decks in the format. It utilizes truly massive threats with overwhelm to attack for giant chunks of damage.
This deck includes Ancient Yeti which if you keep in your opening hand it can cost 4 by turn 4 and just gets cheaper from there which can give you some really powerful swing turns.
In general, you’re looking to play to the board aggressively in the early game so that by the mid game you’ve done enough damage where you can finish your opponent off with overwhelm or burn damage. You should be looking to keep any cheap unit/Ancient Preparation, Ancient Yeti and Xenotype Researchers in your opening hand.
Life After Death (Shadow Isles + Shurima)
Deck code: CEBAMBAHBUNCMLZ3KECQCBJCFAVTCNACAECAKEACAECQCHIBAEAQKGI
[See Life After Death deck details]
General Info
I recommend this deck if you enjoy utilizing a pile of death effects in order to hit your opponent with an absolutely massive unit. Play this if you enjoyed playing They Who Endure aggro but want something a bit slower and better vs aggro.
How to Play
Life After Death is a very controlling midrange deck built around killing as many of the opponent’s units and your own units as possible in order to get a very large Nasus or to level your Thresh so you can pull out a very large Nasus.
Once you have a massive Nasus you can finish the game off with a big Atrocity or you can just kill all of their Fearsome blockers.
It is very important with this deck to remember that Nasus is able to grow during combat so you should always order him last and you should identify ways of getting surprise lethals using things like Glimpse Beyond.
In mulligans, I recommend keeping Dunekeeper, Hapless Aristocrat, Rock Hopper, Thresh, Vile Feast and Withering Wail vs aggro, and Preservarium Thresh Dunkeeper and Rock Hopper vs slower Matchups.
Scouts (Bilgewater + Demacia)
Deck code: CECAKAIABEKR2JJTAMBAMFR2HYBQEAACAYEQCAYABYBACAQAA4AQEBQIAA
General Info
Scouts is a unit focused Demacia deck. I highly recommend playing this board if you enjoy completely dominating board combat with Challengers.
How to Play
Scouts aim to curve out, trade efficiently, and level up Miss Fortune or Quinn. Miss Fortune is an amazing keep in the mulligan because of how easy she is to level with your scout units.
Your strong early plays are Fleetfeather into Brightsteel on turn 2 attack.
Avoid playing Miss Fortune into obvious removal unless you have a way to protect her with one of your protective spells.
Once you’ve built a wide board, you can overwhelm your opponent with Cithria the Bold or Relentless Pursuit for lethals.
Lucky Shot (Bilgewater + Targon)
Deck code: CEBAWAYJBERTGSKMKRLGBWIB3MA52AIBAMDAOAIBAMEVKAICAMESUSY
General Info
I highly recommend you play this deck if you enjoy playing with super flexible champions. Every single game having your champion give you 3 or 5 different choices when they are played is super satisfying when you can construct an effective game plan around them.
How to Play
Lucky Shot is quite possibly the most flexible deck in the entire game.
Both of your champions have a gigantic pile of options that allow you to be flexible with your gameplan in every single game.
Your goal with this deck should be to build up a powerful board by setting up an Aphelios that’s generating a gun every turn.
The win condition of this deck is very often Elusive beatdown, however, the champions in this deck can just win the game by themselves.
One of the coolest things this deck does is that it plays no 2 mana spells other than Boxtopus and Aphelios’s Cresendum will always pull out a 3/4 Challenger that’s undamaged.
In general, you want to keep your champions in this deck, other than that you can keep Lunari Duskbringer.
Endure Aggro (Freljord + Shadow Isles)
Deck code: CECQMAIFBMNB4KZQGEBAEBIEAYAQIBINAIBQKBAGAEAQCIQBAIAQKEAZAA
[See Endure Aggro deck details]
General Info
This deck is great for players who like to have answers and flexibility. With card draw, removal, and a strong suite of followers, you can pivot on any angle that you need to.
How to Play
This deck features incredibly potent early game openers backed up by They Who Endure as a late game threat. Your early game mulligan’s primary goal is to get the best early game curve you can.
Between Stalking Shadows, Glimpse Beyond, and Unspeakable Horror, this deck has a ton of card advantage while playing very aggressively.
Mid to late game, you’re likely to draw into your They Who Endures to close out the game.
B-tier LoR Decks
Lebonk Sivir (Noxus + Shurima)
Deck code: CECAIBAHCQWTOXIDAEBQWHZXAEBAGBIDAQBQEBAPAIBAIBYNHMAQCAZYAEAQIAYG
[See Lebonk Sivir deck details]
General Info
Lebonk Sivir really can give people the beatdown. The best thing about this deck honestly is the number of Spellshield units, it really helps punish the slower decks while also making your units nearly immortal vs the aggressive decks. I highly recommend playing this deck if you’re a midrange player that likes generating value from super high attack units.
How to Play
Lebonk Sivir is a fun name for Shurima Noxus Reputation Midrange. This deck looks to play absurdly efficient beatdown units most of which have 5+ Attack. Having 5+ attack is super important and enables the entire deck.
Firstly, it enables your level up on LeBlanc and Sivir incredibly quickly. Secondly, it enables Bloody Business giving this deck a super premium removal spell. Lastly it enables reputation on Whispered Words giving this deck a really powerful draw engine.
In general when playing this deck you should be able to play pretty aggressively vs any slow deck and vs faster decks you have a lot of tools to deal with their board. For mulligans, look to keep your cheap units and champions in pretty much every matchup.
Conclusion
So there you have it! We’ll be updating the decks regularly so check back here. We also have our dedicated meta feature for LoR within our platform. See you next time.
Thanks for reading! To explore all the cards in LoR, check out our Card Gallery or jump straight into our Deck Builder if you already got some ideas from our article. Show us your best decks in the comments below. Be sure to follow our expert, EG Swim, at his LoR website, Twitch, Twitter, and Youtube.
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