5 Targon Decks Worth Trying (Beyond the Bandlewood)

5 Targon DecksWorth Trying (Beyond the Bandlewood)

How the mighty have fallen.

Where once its name was a curse upon the lips of all ladder players, now it sits in the time-out corner and waits for someone to remember it has cards other than tiny cantrips.

I’m Jordan “WhatAmI” Abronson and I have a confession to make. I miss playing Targon Invoke decks.

Yes, I know that at the end of the day the power level just isn’t quite there right now for them to make it into tier one.

However, we’re in that wonderful grace period between seasonal ladder counting and the next one firing.

What better time to whip out some old favorites and remember why we love them?

1. Spooky Dragon

Deck Code: CECAGAYJC5KFMAQFBJQK6AIBAQEQ2AQBAUUDIAQEAMEUSV24MABACBIZGYBAGAIFB4JR2AIEAU4A

[See Spooky Dragon deck details]

This one has been my favorite variation on the concept for quite a while now.

Whatever the different tech cards end up being there is something immensely satisfying about making a big unit, bonking your opponent with it once, and then throwing it at their head.

The current iteration of Shadow Isles/Targon is using Thresh and Aurelion Sol as a kind of backup engine to Starshaping and Atrocity.

While Thresh is generally more a removal spell plus deterrent package if your opponent is not careful zero mana space dragons are most certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Beyond that, we’ve got some new faces in the form of Loping Telescope and Tenor of Terror to help the value train keep chugging along.

Tenor is ridiculously easy to activate in this deck as all you need to do is cast any created card. After that, they are basically just a big house spider.

The deck rounds out with its plethora of removal spells. Old fans may note Sunburst has come in hot here all the way to a three of.

Look no further than the mass of Sion and Nami decks on ladder for the reasoning behind that particular tech choice.

2. Zoe/Vi

Deck Code: CECQMAYJBELVIVS4MAAQICINAECQIEIBAUFJQAIBAICAQAYCAECBWNACAMCAKDIBAUFK6AIA

[See Zoe/Vi deck details]

Another old favorite with a few new faces, this deck was originally titled “Rubin’s Zoo,” but it’s iterated so many times from there we mostly just call it by its champion names these days.

This version is a lot heavier on the control side of things than many used to be.

Instead of maxing out on Mystic Shots and Get Excited’s, Sump Fumes and Sunburst are here to keep Poppy and Sion decks honest.

This fits in with the new game plan of Aloof Travelers taking the slot over Subpursible.

While we do lose a lot of our burn out potential we get to focus in heavily on answering our opponent’s threats.

In a metagame with as much speed and power as this one has I think if we want a chance to survive that’s the only real way we’re going to manage to do it.

Plus there are few better feelings in Runeterra than casting Iterative Improvement on your Aloof Travelers.

The value this deck turns out is just absolutely insane and the control player in me cannot help but cackle in glee as all my opponent’s power cards burn away.

3. PoppyGon

Deck Code: CEBQEAYJBFRAMBIKFF2IIAMYAGTQDLYBAECASDICAECQUBAEAMEROI2UKYAQGBIKAGTADUIB

[See Poppygon deck details]

Back when they were at the height of their power we started calling them “Targon Piles.”

This was because you could really just put the fifteen strongest invoke cards in with whatever else you wanted and it would all turn out pretty ok in the end.

Poppy has so much straight-up strength that her decks have been called “Poppy Piles,” as well.

So I figured, why not put them together? This deck is a little lower on the removal spell package. Your only packing a few key shots so you’re going to have to hold them for the proper moment.

That said what you gain in compensation is protection for your key units.

Leveling Zoe or Poppy are both very Legitimate win conditions when you have six pump spells in your deck to keep them safe.

And either champion hitting level two is generally a death sentence.

If that doesn’t work though the traditional unreasonably value of both Bandle City and Targon is on full display. Mayor, Telescope, and Aloof are here to cause their traditional brand of mischief, and Starshaping is always a good way to shut down a game that has just gone on a bit too long.

4. Bamboozle

Deck Code: CEBQGAYJENKNOAIDAIBAGBQIAEAQEKIEAMBQSM2VMAAQGAQJAIBAEBIJAIAQEARRAIBAGAQFCQAQCAQM

[See Bamboozle deck details]

Yes I know it has Lee Sin in it but I promise that is not the main goal of this deck.

This might in fact be the only deck that carries that particular champion that isn’t going all-in on kicking its opponent in the face.

Here more than anything we are a Karma control deck. Stunning, bouncing, and dragon-ling-ing our way into the late game.

After that, there are few more fun ways to close out a game than doubling up a Starshaping. Or even better doubling up the Cosmic Insight that follows.

This one has been far too slow for any meta lately, but the play patterns it puts out are still absolutely brutal. On top of that because of the Karma choice over Zoe, it has always been a good call for late game Lee Sin mirrors.

It will also always have a special place in my heart. One of the testing groups I am a part of put it together and I told them it looked ridiculous and they were “bamboozling” me.

They then proceeded to kick my behind with it for solid days straight, and when I eventually picked it up it did amazing in tournaments.

5. Blood Moon

Deck Code: CECAGAIDCQRS4AICAMEQEAYJKZOAIBIDAECASDICAQBQSFZDKRQACBAJBUAA

[See Blood Moon deck details]

This is another fun one I am picking back up and playing around with that just never quite achieved the power level I had hoped for this season.

While Sion, Draven, and Lost Soul are both impressive tools, Spacey Sketcher just can’t really keep up with the discard power that Piltover and Zaun offer.

Don’t get me wrong, seeing The Great Beyond on the board alongside a leveled-up Sion is extremely cool.

Even better having Sunburst or Comet in the Sion mirror is absolute destruction. But the issue is the card draw and in direct correlation, the consistency.

The other Sion decks get an immense amount of card draw from their region splash. While Targon has many strengths, actually drawing real cards out of your deck instead of creating fun new versions of them in your hand has never really been on that list.

That means we just can’t put together our crazy synergies as effectively as many of the other contenders for Sion’s throne, so in the race to tier one we get left a bit behind.

Conclusion

As I said at the top, for tournament performance as much as I’ve tried I don’t really think that Targon Invoke is where it is at right now.

That said it’s still an awful lot of fun if this is your play style, and the next couple of weeks are the perfect time on ladder to whip out whatever your old favorites are without any silly ranking consequences getting in your way.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to ask WhatAmI during his streams (around 10AM PST basically every day).

WhatAmI streams at twitch.tv/xxwhatamixx around 10AM PST every day