LoR Deck Guide: Zoe Lee Combo Deck

How to Play Zoe Lee Combo

Targon Lee Sin combo isn’t anything new, but with the addition of Zoe, it has become stronger.

It is one of the best decks on ladder as well as tournament play.

When played well, this deck can have a decent match up into almost any deck, but simple missteps can quickly cause a loss.

Supercool Starchart offers critical choices that can be one of the most testing skills in the deck.

Lee Sin’s combo is quite simple. With leveled up Lee Sin, he casts a Dragon’s Rage upon Challenging a unit.

This causes him to destroy or recall a unit when it is kicked. He also does the amount of his attack damage directly to the enemy’s Nexus.

Deck Code: CEBAOAYJBENSGKBJGNOAEAQCAMDAIAQDBEVFKAIDAIKACAICGEAQEAQJAIBAGCITKYAQEAQF

[See Zoe Lee Combo deck details]

With Overwhelm from Zenith Blade, Lee Sin then can also attack through where the blocker was before he kicked it.

This allows him to do double damage when he is leveled up with Overwhelm.

The combo is simple, but living to see the combo is the hard part of the deck.

In this article, I will be discussing the ideal turns, how to mulligan with the deck, as well as key elements in different matchups with the deck.

Win Conditions

This deck is a combo deck.

It plays the early game somewhat defensively while advancing its gameplan through Zoe, accumulating Gems, and playing defensive spells to Level Up Lee Sin.

Zoe has proven to be an incredibly strong champion.

She gains so much value through creating Supercool Starcharts through striking the opponent’s Nexus.

These Starcharts give the deck so much flexibility.

Previously, the deck relied on Spacey Sketcher to give answers, but now it has the ability to no longer discard cards (usually Gems) to find answers.

Now, the Supercool Starchart allows the player to create a card using spell mana and no longer discarding a card.

Zoe is also a must answer card.

She offers an alternate win condition that the deck previously didn’t have.

Spell Thief, Gems, and Supercool Starcharts all help with Zoe’s Level Up condition of seeing 10 unique cards being played.

Sparklefly or a Dragonling from Eye of the Dragon can give all units Lifesteal to help stabilize if Lee Sin has not won the game already.

Another card that made this deck a force to be reckoned with was the addition of Sparklefly.

Sparklefly is a 2 mana 1|2 creature that has the Lifesteal and Elusive keywords.

Sparklefly is also able to carry Gems and sometimes even Zenith Blade well.

It is one of the best ways to shut down aggressive decks by using the hard to deal with Lifesteal unit that can often get free attacks against most aggressive opponent’s decks.

The deck can have a hard time against other Targon decks due to Hush.

Hush is one of the best cards at shutting down Lee Sin.

The best way to counter this is to play Bastion or sometimes Moonglow (from Supercool Starchart) on Lee Sin when you anticipate your opponent trying to shutdown Lee Sin.

This can also be done if you are against a Freljord opponent who is running spells that can Frostbite Lee Sin.

Ideal Turn by Turn Game Plan

Turns 1 and 2

The general game plan is to play Zoe on turn 1.

Mountain Goat is often an ideal turn 2 as it is a solid blocker against most decks.

It may also get a free attack against some Grand Plaza decks who will often not play any creatures on the first two turns.

The Gems that Mountain Goat’s strikes create offer a lot of utility.

Mountain Goat can be used giving Lifesteal units more attack, Leveling Up Lee Sin, activating Lee Sin’s Challenger ability, or at times acting as an easily disposable card for Spacey Sketcher.

In some cases, you may want to play an Eye of the Dragon on turn 2 if given the option especially if you have ways to consistently create a Dragonling in the future.

Turns 3 and 4

Mentor of the Stones is commonly played on turn 3 or 4.

During its attack, it grants a unit +2|+2.

When Mentor dies, it gives three Gems which are huge for leveling up as well as activating Lee Sin.

Even without Lee Sin in play, Mentor of the Stones can give buffs to Sparklefly, Zoe, or Mountain Goat in the early game which can prove quite effective against most opponents.

When Mentor of the Stones isn’t available, it isn’t necessarily a bad idea to play a Zenith Blade with Daybreak activated onto one of the units you developed on turns 1 or 2.

Mountain Goat can be a good carrier for Zenith Blade as it can put a lot of pressure on the opponent.

The Daybreak effect also allows you to draw an additional Zenith Blade which will be ready for Lee Sin in the future.

It will also filter through your deck to increase the chances that you will draw a card you are looking for in upcoming turns.

Keep in mind that you will likely want to keep spell mana up for Nopeify! as well as additional mana for the upcoming turns when you develop Lee Sin and will want to protect him.

Turns 5 and 6

This is around the time that you are looking to develop Lee Sin.

Generally, you will want to develop him on turn 6 with full spell mana so you have enough mana up for Deny, Bastion, or Nopeify.

If your opponent taps out of their mana too quickly on turn 5, you might be able to develop him on that turn.

These turns are mainly focused on getting Lee Sin on board and protecting him while continuing to work on Leveling Up Lee Sin.

Lee Sin can also be an incredible tool defensively.

When two spells are played he can gain a barrier that can be used to defend against your opponent.

Spell Thief is an incredible way to activate his barrier.

Guiding touch and Pale Cascade can also be helpful for this while simultaneously creating Dragonlings if you have Eye of the Dragon on board.

This further helps you stabilize before working your way to your explosive end game.

Ideally, during these turns, you play Zenith Blade on Lee Sin to prepare him for his combo, but if you are unable to, you can easily do this in a turn or two.

Turns 7-9

These turns are the ones where you are typically looking to end the game.

You should have access to plenty of Gems, Counterspells, as well as Lee Sin that is Leveled Up or very close to it.

He should have Zenith Blade on him giving him Overwhelm, but even without it, Lee Sin can still put a lot of pressure on the opponent.

If you have access to Zenith Blade, make sure to play it on him when possible because this allows you to double your damage dealt with leveled up Lee Sin.

The Mulligan Phase

The most important card in the mulligan is Zoe.

Zoe on turn 1 with the attack token is a huge step ahead of the game.

She is critical due to the value she creates and the utility that she offers.

According to Mobalytics statistics, she has a 60% win rate when kept in the starting hand.

Other cards that you will be looking for are Mountain Goat, Mentor of the Stones, Sparklefly, Space Sketcher, or Eye of the Dragon.

In some cases, you will want to keep Lee Sin in your starting hand.

If you have Zoe, then I would recommend that you keep Lee Sin in your mulligan.

He is often critical for the deck to win. Mobalytics stats also back this up as keeping Lee Sin in the starting hand leads to a 56% win rate.

Good Matchups

This deck can do well against just about any deck when played properly especially with a Zoe on turn 1 with an attack token.

One of its best match-ups is Tryndamere and Trundle.

This deck can easily Deny the Atrocity finisher of the deck as well as kick the high-cost units that the opponent plays.

It as well as many other control decks cannot put enough pressure on the deck early and then fold to the Deny, Hush, and finisher that the Lee Sin Combo offers.

Other decks that rely on big creatures being played such as Sea Monster Deep decks, Trundle Aurelion Sol decks, Darius Sejuani decks, They Who Endure Decks, and Teemo Sejuani, are all too slow against Lee Sin Combo.

When I say too slow, I mean that these decks do not generate enough pressure to make Lee Sin lose.

In the mid and later stages of the game, Lee Sin can win before these opponents can play their finishers.

This deck also has a surprisingly high win rate against multiple aggressive decks such as Lucian and Hecarim Grand Plaza, and Miss Fortune and Gangplank Aggro decks.

This is most likely due to the strength of Sparklefly allowing decks to stabilize as well the defensive tools that this deck offers.

Nopeify! is also huge as it stops Grand Plaza Decks from summoning ephemeral units and pirate aggro from playing its cheap burn spells.

Any deck that doesn’t have a very aggressive gameplan can often not do much against this combo deck.

Although Targon decks have access to Hush, the Hush only delays the Lee Sin as they must kill the Lee Sin as well which can be quite a task.

Even if Lee Sin is killed, then another Lee Sin plus Zenith Blades is drawn from the Daybreak can present additional problems for the opponent.

Weak Matchups

The weakest match up for this deck is Miss Fortune and Quinn Grand Plaza Scouts.

Unlike the Ephemeral spells that the Lucian and Hecarim Grand Plaza deck relies on, this deck is all about creatures that are harder for this deck to counter.

Often this deck can rush you down while using Challengers to take control of the units on the board.

Another weak match-up is Tahm Soraka as its access to Hush is important.

It is also important to recognize that it is harder to create Gems in this match-up due to often not being able to attack into the opponent’s board due to Star Spring healing up units and progressing the Tahm and Soraka game plan.

The best hope for this match-up is to be able to squeeze a Lee Sin combo before they can level up Star Spring.

Fiora and Shen is also a tough match-up. Fiora can be a monster to deal with as you are limited to Hush as your main interaction with her.

They have many ways to keep Fiora alive despite Hush. This deck also often plays Deny which can stop the Dragon’s Rage combo.

Tech Choices

Spacey Sketcher

• This can be added if you feel the need of having more flexibility from the utility that Spacey Sketcher offers.

Steel Tempest

• This is a solid defensive option that can be especially strong against units with Scout due to being able to deny two attacks.
• It can also do well against midrange decks with larger creatures if you are delayed in getting your combo going.

Hush

• An additional Hush can be strong especially if you find yourself facing a lot of mirror matches.

Sonic Wave

• Sonic Wave feels pretty nice when you have it as a spell from a second Lee Sin.
• An additional Sonic Wave or two can offer more flexibility in the early game by forcing Mountain Goat to trade with other creatures for example.
• It can also help with activating Lee Sin’s barrier.

Sunblessed Vigor

• This is run as one of in a lot of current lists to help protect Lee Sin and other units.

Solari Sunforger

• This is a tech choice meant to help against aggro matchups.
• This card is one of the strongest cards in the game, so it can fit just about anywhere.
• Generally, you are working on getting your combo set up before this card would be useful.
• But I wouldn’t count it out especially in certain metas.

Solari Priestess

• This card can be used as a toolbox card to find other useful cards such as Falling Comet or Golden Sister.

This deck has been a strong choice for tournaments as well as top ladder players.

It is a deck that can reward small but very impactful decisions.

Small decisions can easily be the difference between a win and a loss.

It is another reason why a lot of top players prefer this deck is due to the skill expression the deck allows.

With some practice, this combo deck is highly satisfying to play and incredibly strong.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to ask Silverfuse during her streams (usually daily from 2-6PM CST).

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