Legends of Runeterra Best Decks – Meta Report (Swim + Alanzq)

The Best Meta Decks for Legends of Runeterra

Hey everyone! Welcome back to our Meta Decks Monday Report for Legends of Runeterra.

We’ve added brand new decks for the Rising Tides expansion set.

As always, these deck recommendations will be provided by our experts EG Swim and TL Alanzq.

EG 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

• Midrange Frostbite (Freljord + Noxus)
• Scouts (Bilgewater + Demacia)
• Ezreal TF (Bilgewater + Piltover/Zaun)
• Endure Spiders (Freljord + Shadow Isles)
• Pirate Aggro (Bilgewater + Noxus)
• Demacia Elusives (Demacia + Ionia)
• Ezreal Karma Combo (Piltover/Zaun + Ionia)
• Tempo Sejuani (Bilgewater + Freljord)
• Deep Monsters (Bilgewater + Shadow Isles)
• *NEW* Lux Thresh Control (Demacia + Shadow Isles)
• Nox Ezreal (Noxus + Piltover/Zaun)
• *NEW* Spooky Ezreal (Piltover/Zaun + Shadow Isles)
• *NEW* Anivia Control (Freljord + Shadow Isles)
• Kinkou Elusives (Ionia + Freljord)
• Midrange Shen (Demacia + Ionia)
• Warmother Control (Freljord + Shadow Isles)
• *NEW* Dreadway (Bilgewater + Shadow Isles)

Recently removed:

• Heimer Combo (Piltover/Zaun + Ionia)
• Burn Aggro (Piltover/Zaun + Noxus)
• Braum Swain (Freljord + Noxus)
• Yasuo Control (Ionia + Noxus)
• Corina Control (Piltover/Zaun + Shadow Isles)
• Darius Aggro (Noxus + Shadow Isles)

To see the best decks ranked across S/A/B tiers, check out our LoR Meta 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

Midrange Frostbite

Deck code: CEBAOAIBAQFRMHRGFIYAKAIDAQMBUHZBAEAQEAICAEBACAZTGU

[See Midrange Frostbitedeck 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.

Against aggro or burn decks, you’ll need to mulligan for early interaction like Culling Strike to deal with cards like Crimson Disciple without taking too much damage.

Against other midrange decks, you have a comfortable suite of options to play for but you’re mostly looking for value.

Dropping some Trappers and a Hearthguard will get your deck buffed up for Trifarian Assessor to draw you even more gas to flood the board.

Once you established a winning board, leaving mana open for Harsh Winds, Elixirs, and Brittle will guarantee that you can deal with any combat trick your opponent throws at you.

Scouts

Deck code: CEBQOAIAAEERUHJHFMZQGAQGBALDUAYCAADASCQAAEAQCABJ

[See Scouts deck details]

General Info

Scouts is a new concept introduced in Rising Tides. It’s very similar to Midrange Bannerman but takes advantage of fast leveling Quinn and Miss Fortune with the multiple attacks from Scouts instead of using Garen and Fiora.

Consider picking scouts up if you were itching for a Demacia list that was a bit more aggressive.

How to Play

Your early game is straightforward. If you’re going second, Fleet Feather into War Chefs or Brightsteel Protector lets you trade up in value. If you’re defending on turn 2, Brightsteel Protector is a good card to keep. The Barrier can completely shut down aggro starts if they choose to develop.

After you get a solid start and reach turn 3/4, don’t tunnel hard on sticking a Miss Fortune against removal heavy decks.

Against decks like Ezreal or Corina Control, try sticking Miss Fortune on turn 3 if they don’t have mana open for a Grasp or Get Excited!

Even though Grizzled Ranger is a 4 drop, it’s a great card to keep in your opening hand because of how pivotal it is to the deck.

If you play the early game right, you’ll have enough steam to close out the game through your top end on turns 6 and 7.

Ezreal TF

Deck code: CEBAIAIEDMSCWNAIAIDAQCY2DQQS2MJ2AIAQEBQUAEAQIHYA

[See Ezreal TF deck details]

General info:

A deck chock full of removal and draw spells. Perfect for players who love to always have options in their hand and love flashy finishes.

How to play:

This deck can play out for Twisted Fate or Ezreal win conditions very seamlessly. Ezreal levels very quickly in this deck because of some of the cards from Bilgewater that target multiple units like Make it Rain while both of these regions contain many draw spells that can level up Twisted Fate in the span of a turn.

The amazing thing here is that you have a slew followers that help pressure your opponent or gives you board presence against aggro decks while trying to set up your strategy. The mana curve of this deck is fairly cheap so you’ll have good early game plays in most of your mulligans.

Against aggro decks, cards like Thermogenic, Chempunk, and Petty Officer are very necessary to deal with early 3 health followers from aggro decks so that you can block or kill them effectively.

While saving Make It Rain for 1 health 1 drops will let you a lot of value. Keep Black Market Merchant if you also have a Pilfered Goods in hand otherwise you won’t be getting a lot of value out of it initially.

Saving Warning Shots for your Merchants, Goods, and Rex is ideal since you’re not an incredibly aggressive deck.

Don’t forget that your Petty Officer summoning kegs is a very good option when you have mana or when you’re attacking so that the next turn you’ll have mana for Make it Rain and Statikk Shock to get extra value out of the multi targets.

Endure Spiders

Deck code: CEBQGAIBAMLCEBQBAUPCQKZQGE2QCAQFAQBQGAIFA4FRSAICAEDQCAQFAEAA

[See Endure Spiders 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

Your primary objective is to fight for board and make favorable trades until you can stick a large They Who Endure.

You have an alternate win condition through Neverglade Collector and your endless amount of summons. One of your biggest early game pressure plays is Cursed Keeper into Blighted Caretaker when attacking on turn 3.

The huge amount of board flood and challenger units heavily swings the board in your favor while generating triggers for They Who Endure.

If you have They Who Endure on the board, generally you want to wait as long as possible before going for Atrocity since you want to use it in response to your opponent trying to remove They Who Endure, or use it when your opponent is tapped out of mana for their key answers like Will of Ionia, Deny, Vengenace, and Harsh Winds.

A-tier LoR Decks

Pirate Aggro

Deck code: CEBQKAQGBALCMLJ2AUAQGAQPDYSSQAQCAMBQIAQBAEBS6AICAYQAA

[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.

Mostly, you’ll be playing Petty Officer B for the extra unit and board presence. Sometimes you can use the kegs to set up burn turns or have a better attack with Miss Fortune.

Demacia Elusives

Deck code: CECAKAICAYERCFBMAMAQAFIWEYAQEAQFAEBAACIDAIAQEFRUAIBAABYIAEAQAAYA

[See Demacia Elusives deck details]

General Info

The key to this deck is learning how to combo out big turns. Combining cheap cards like Greenglade, Navori Bladescout, and Keeper of Masks with Relentless Pursuit you can pump 14+ damage easily in one turn. Use your health as a resource so that you can have big swing turns for lethal.

How to Play

Elusives have a game plan that is hard to interrupt. Play this deck if you like being hard to interact with.

Ezreal Karma

Deck code: CEBQIAIEDMPSINAEAIBACAYFBEBQCAQCFE4QEAQBAICDCAIBAQAQCAIBAQ5A

[See Ezreal Karma deck details]

General Info

Ezreal Combo is a fun deck but playing the same Freljord variant can get tiring.

This deck is a nice way to add some variety while staying within the same concept. It plays a lot slower than the other variants so only pick this up if you have the patience for long games.

How to Play

This variant of Ezreal is especially slow so your objective is to stall as late as possible until you get a leveled Ezreal and combo off. Use Thermo, Mystic Shot, and Statikk Shock to deal with early game threats if you’re against aggro.

Against decks with bigger units, you’ll want to prioritize Thermogenic Beam and blocks to deal with them since Statikk Shock will be to little damage.

Some games you’ll have control over the mid game and can push for damage with Elusives. Getting chip damage is good but never overextend. The longer the game goes, the easier it is for you to win.

Tempo Sejuani

Deck code: CEBQUAQGBAFRIFQ4EEWTCOR6AEAQCFQCAIAQEBYAAEAQEBQR

[See Tempo Sejuani deck details]

General info:

A deck for players that like to curve out and play to the board while having tricks in their back pocket.

How to play:

This deck has an easier time leveling Miss Fortune because of scouts and protective spells like Fury of the North.

Make sure you hold a good curve in your opening hand so that you can put pressure on your opponent.

If you have a Sejuani and hand then you can aggressively use your Warning Shots off in order to level your Sejuani and set up Plunder.

Deep Monsters

Deck code: CEBQCAQFBIBACBI5FACQEBQ5E4XTKOADAIBAKBYIAIAQKGJWAIBAMJJMAIAQEBIDAMAQKKZOGQ

[See Deep Monsters deck details]

General Info

Deep Monsters is a cool thematic deck that uses a majority of cards from a new region. It’s one of the first decks that finally gives the fantasy of playing a ton of huge creatures. Pick this deck up if you like big stats and huge boards.

How to Play

Deep Monsters wants to hit Deep as fast as possible while dealing with aggression.

This means you don’t want to be using things like Jettison until you get to the turn where you want to hit deep, you want to be using your early mana to stay alive and stabilize.

Think of your units as removal options so you want to play slow with them and use them to get value blocks and challenges instead of pressuring face.

You’ll win by hitting deep then overwhelming your opponents with huge units, not by chip damage.

Be careful with Devourer of the Depths. Ideally, you’ll want to hit Deep before you use him but if you can’t then you need to keep in mind what damage options your opponent has as they will be looking to hit its health before the effect goes off.

Look to play around mana thresholds and let your opponent tap out.

Lux Thresh Control

Deck code: CEBQIAIFCQVTCNAFAEAAMDY2EEVAEAQAAEEQEAICAABAEAIFAEUACAICAACQ

[See Lux Thresh Control deck details]

General Info

This is a really fun deck that takes a bit to get going before it reaches critical mass. Consider picking up this deck if you love a little bit slower decks that have an explosive midgame and good board control.

How to Play

Lux Thresh is a fantastic midrange deck. You play a great beatdown role vs control and combo decks and you are able to stop aggro decks from being able to kill you. With this deck your most important card is Radiant Guardian.

Your goal is often to have her active on turn 5 with lifesteal and tough and then use cards like Single Combat and Concerted Strike to kill the opponent’s units while gaining an obscene amount of life. Another key tool in this deck is Remembrance.

A good amount of the time you will want to set up board where 1-2 units die before you cast this and then you get to get a sizeable mana discount on your cards.

You look to finish the game with Lux who will generate final sparks off of your 6 mana spells which you can use to both destroy the opponent’s board and deal a ton of damage to their Nexus.

Nox Ezreal

Deck code: CEBQQAIEAENR6JBHFU2DUAICAMEQEAIDCQXACAQBAMCBMAYBAEBSGAICAQDACAIEGE

[See Nox Ezreal deck details]

General Info

Ezreal decks come in all different flavors. Nox Ezreal opens up more removal options and early game units compared to other Ezreal decks.

How to Play

You want to use your early units to block and slow down the game in combination with your removal suite.

Noxus opens up a few more removal options instead of stall options with Culling Strike, and Guillotine. Culling Strike helps deal with early followers while Noxian Guillotine gives a more reliable way to deal with multiple big followers.

Your endgame win condition is the same as all Ezreal decks, level him up and play out your hand burst speed.

You want to avoid dropping your Ezreal early unless you know that your opponent’s deck has no way to deal with him or you have multiple in hand.

If you throw away too many Ezreals too early, you’ll have to wait a much longer time to draw another one to close out the game.

Sometimes you have an early board presence and you can push damage before closing the game out with standard burn to the face.

Spooky Ezreal

Deck code: CEBQIAIFAMKCQLYFAECACGY7EQ2ACAQEAYBAIAIFAEHSWMIBAECDUAA

[See Spooky Ezreal deck details]

General Info

Pick this deck up if you want to combo kill with Ezreal in a more controlling shell.

How to Play

This is a deck that looks to kill the opponent from a very high life total by using Ezreal with The Harrowing to get multiple Ezreals into play so that every spell deals an absurd amount of damage.

You should be playing this like a control deck for the early turns. Do everything to stop your opponent from killing you while working to level up your Ezreal.

Eventually, you want to cast a Harrowing and then use spells like Fading Memories to deal a massive amount of damage to your opponent.

Anivia Control

Deck code: CEBQMAIFAEBR2KBLGECACAIDCQMDEAICAEDQCAYBAUHRINQBAEAQKLA

[See Anivia Control deck details]

General Info

A great deck for control players who like to have options to deal with aggro decks. With the tons of healing options available to you, you’ll always feel safe while playing the long game.

How to Play

If you’re playing against unit based aggro decks, it’s important to mulligan for your early units so that you have board presence to stall in conjunction with your removal spells.

If you’re against slower decks, it’s less necessary for you to have your early unit options unless you also have Glimpse Beyond to draw cards with.

The main win condition of this deck is sticking multiple Anivias to the board that can slowly grind your opponent out.

However, keep in mind the usefulness of Anivia’s champion spell, Harsh Winds. Instead of playing Anivia from your hand then using Rekindler, consider keeping copies of Anivia in your hand and using Rekindle to summon her so that you can utilize her champion spell on large overwhelm or elusive units.

Kinkou Elusives

Deck code: CEBASAICAIDASDARCQWDEOIBAEARMAYBAIBAKAICAEDQCAICCUBACAIBAQBQCARGGE2A

[See Kinkou Elusives deck details]

General Info

Kinkou Elusives is an aggressive deck that buffs elusive units that bypass blockers to hit face. This is a quick deck that will win if played correctly in favorable matchups and still have a good chance when against a tough one.

How to Play

Against control decks, the most important objective is to be able to protect your units with spells until you can push for a win. Against aggro decks, you want to develop faster than they can while using your 1 drops to chump block while your elusives finish the job.

This deck has a few tricks like Kinkou Wayfinder to buff up your Greenglade Duo by 3 attack in one turn. Navori Conspirator is great to keep when you already have a Bladescout or Omenhawk in hand.

Jeweled Protector is a great way to hold the board while setting up a huge unit to either stabilize the game or push through over removal.

B-tier LoR Decks

Warmother Control

Deck code: CEBAOAIFAEHRGHJIGY3QIAIBBQKBOGACAIAQKIJPAEAQCJYBAEAQKGI

[See Warmother Control deck details]

General Info

Warmother Control is the only ramp deck on the market right now. This is the perfect deck to play if you love grindy games and big explosive units.

How to Play

This deck combines the amazing removal from Shadow Isles with the late game threats and ramp from Freljord to create a slow and grindy control deck. Late game the deck aims to drop Anivia or Tryndamere with Ruination on the following turn to create a one-sided board wipe. In slower matchups, Warmother’s Call allows you to get multiple Tryndameres on the board at a time to close out the game.

Midrange Shen

Deck code: CEBAUAIAAEEQWDYVDIOSKKZNAIAQEEZAAEBACAAHGQAA

[See Midrange Shen deck details]

General Info

A midrange deck that looks to curve out. Perfect for players who like a consistent and easy strategy that honestly fights for the board.

How to Play

This is a simple curve out down so you’re looking for a 1-2-3-4 curve. Both Greenglade and Fleetfeather curve nicely into your 2 drops.

Challenger units are important to this deck since they curve nicely into Shen to utilize his barrier as well as being the main way you interact with and control the board.

Once Shen levels, his buff applies to those that receive a barrier after he levels and not those who already have it so be careful when trying to calculate trades and lethal.

Dreadway

Deck code: CEBASAQGAQEAWFA2DQQS2OQBAECSQAQCAIDCMMQCAECR2IICAEAQKNQBAIDAE

[See Dreadway deck details]

General Info

Play this deck if you enjoy killing your opponent with incredibly flashy combos and drawing a bunch of cards.

How to Play

This deck is an incredibly sweet combo deck. The goal of the deck is to use Commander Ledros plus Dreadway to one-shot the opponent.

Against aggressive decks this will play like a control deck. You just want to use your tools like Vile Feast and Make it Rain to stop them from killing you. However, against slower control decks, cards like Smooth Soloist can give a massive mana advantage by discounting all the creatures in your deck by 2 with its plunder trigger.

Beyond this, most of your cards draw cards so it’s almost impossible that you run out of steam against a controlling deck.

Conclusion

So there you have it! We’ll be posting the meta report every week so be sure to 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.