7 Beyond the Bandlewood Decks to Try During Launch Week

7 Beyond the Bandlewood Decks to Try During Launch Week

If you thought the meta after the last set of sweeping patch notes ended up wide hold onto your Yordles because we are about to blow it all straight to the moon once more.

I’m Jordan “WhatAmI” Abronson and I’m here to take you on a sightseeing tour through a few of the fun, crazy, and competitive brews I’ve got ready for day 1 of the Bandle City Expansion.

Remember as always that these are all effectively zero playtesting starting points, so craft at your own risk.

That said, they would not be up here if they didn’t show some impressive potential power on paper and weren’t on my personal “to test,” list.

Without any further ado, first, a new take on an old favorite.

1. Most Frozen

Deck Code: CEDAEAIBBMPAIAIEBAMSINABAMAQEAICAQFACAYECQAQKBATAMBACBA3HIAQIAIKAIAQCAJKAA

[See Most Frozen deck details]

Playing this deck is always a risk because if there is aggro about then life is going to get tough. That said if there isn’t then the new spell Most Wanted just fixed every non-aggro problem this deck has ever had.

Missing Hexcore Foundry and need to dig for it? Can do.

Need a few more Freeze spells to survive your opponent’s next attack turn? Gotcha covered. Want them to draw a bunch of cards and die from a mushroom overdose? Sounds good to me.

The playstyle of this deck won’t have changed much as the new Bandlewood cards come in, but it definitely got a power boost.

And that’s a good thing as the new region seems to be primarily full of grindy value engines that Teemo and friends love to prey on.

2. Darkness

Deck Code: CEBQOBIKAQNDSXK6MKXQCAIBAUUAEBIFBAEQGAQFBIA5CAIBAQCTQAQBAUAR2AA

[See Darkness deck details]

Speaking of which I’ve got this controversial little gem. I’ve heard opinions from people I respect in both directions saying this is potentially very powerful and also a load of useless nonsense. Myself, I remain unsure.

That said if you want a good place to start then this feels pretty solid.

You’re riding a bunch of powerful card advantage engines, removal spells, and life gain that will out grind most opponents and potentially even burn out a few if a leveled Veigar comes along.

You also get to close a few of the traditional weaknesses of old Shadow Isles control decks with Minimorph.

Lee Sin and Anivia are not going to be particularly happy if you ask them to deal with this particular monster under the bed.

3. Band-Elite

Deck Code: CECQQAIAAEEQYFAVDURDGAIEAADQCAYABYAQKCRJAEBAAAIBAIAQAJZWAA

[See Band-Elite deck details]

That said, let’s not pretend that any deck can cover all its bases. Sets of powerful units looking to get beefed up, even more, rallying in and headed up by new aggro standout miss Poppy is how you give a Shadow Isles deck nightmares.

There’s nothing particularly subtle about this deck, but sometimes subtlety is over-rated and the swarms of beefy units will get the job done.

While I don’t know exactly which aggro shell will best fit Poppy, I would probably start with Elusives as a close second.

4. Predict Mother

Deck Code: CECQQBAHAEGRYJZWM6AADAQBAEBQMCACAIDAKJQBAUDAUAIFA4HQAAIBAUDAG

[See Predict Mother deck details]

I will admit that when I originally made this I named it “Please don’t play this,” but whether it’s good or not it really does look too fun to keep all to myself.

I mean, isn’t new ridiculous jank half the point of the opening week of an expansion?

The theory here is that you can win either by turbo leveling your Zilean or by Greatmother or Tidal Wave Shenanigans. The entire deck is basically spammy creatures, a little removal, predict, and card draw, up to and including both of your champions.

What that means is that you should be pretty solid into most folk’s early games.

Then either Time Bombs or Colossal Waves will destroy your opponent, or you’re just spinning the Greatmother roulette wheel and seeing what comes out.

No, now that you mention it, I am not looking forward to the first time I get hit by a Skies Descend on turn five.

5. Blood Moon 2.0

Deck Code: CECQCAQDBECAGCKUKVLGAAIEBEGQEAIDCQXAEBIDAEEQIAIBAMRQEAYJJFOACBIDAQAQGAYNAA

[See Blood Moon 2.0 deck details]

Alright, I held out as long as I could but Targon got mentioned and I had to drop my favorite Targon brew with the new Bandle cards. Or at least the new cards from the expansion because Bandle City is surprisingly absent here, subbed instead for Noxian might and removal spells.

Instead, we’ve got some of the large parts of the Sion package all ready and waiting to be discarded by Draven and crew.

This deck was always missing just that little bit of extra punch to take it over the top in case a Starshaping wasn’t enough.

Sion and Lost Soul provide that admirably where I think Farron really wasn’t quite enough.

While the Decimates Farron provides are notoriously slow, it’s pretty hard to argue with a ten power overwhelm that will bring along another one as well as a rally if you dare to kill it.

6. Shady’s Back

Deck Code: CECAMAYJEMZUSVWZAHNQCAQDAYDRCAICAYWQGBIGAQCQWAQBAMEVKAICAYVAA

[See Shady’s Back deck details]

Another one that I am extremely interested in is an almost invoke-less Targon deck. I know, heresy, but hang on with me for a moment because some cool things are going on here.

Nami and Aphelios both start to look pretty busted if you can get a Veiled Temple online, and Boxtopus might cost another mana but is still as powerful a board control tool as ever.

We’ve also been gifted two mana Make it Rain which slots right into this archetype.

For the larger part of our curve, Fleet Admiral Shelly and Avatar of the Tides will start to do some absolutely nutso things as the mid-game ramps up, with or without a fleet of Burbling helpers.

If it gets too late and you really need help finding a kill though, Mind Meld’s always got your back.

7. Champless Turbo Sub

Deck Code: CECAOBIKAQNDCRMYAGTQDLYBAIBQIBINAIAQIJZUAEBAIAICAEAQIGYBAUFJCAIA

[See Champless Turbo Sub deck details]

Last but definitely not least I’ve got this pile of ridiculous nonsense. Because really, when you think about it, aren’t champions overrated anyway?

Doesn’t it sound more fun to have literally every unit you play to generate more cards?

This deck is going to be pretty hard to run out of stuff with. And all the while, you will be piling on the pressure leading up to boards full of 5|5 Elusives.

It may not look that similar but this deck reminds me a lot of Zoe/Vi and that has always been my favorite archetype to tool around in.

And just like that particular pile, this one is ready to drop the burn hammer to end games. With three of Mystic Shot, Get Excited, Ballistic Bot, and Lecturing Yordle, our opponents will have to be extremely careful with their life total as we come after it all game.

Conclusion

As usual at the start of an expansion, we are just barely scratching the surface of all the cool decks out there.

I’ve heard rumblings of crazy Sion Overwhelm Midrange, the resurgence of Go Hard, Mono Shurima Xerath, and much more.

More than anything these are looking to be fun and powerful places to start as well as ways to get your creative juices flowing so you can brew out in the Bandle Wood.

This might be my favorite expansion that has ever been dropped simply for its sheer variety of powerful tools and I can’t wait to experiment. I’ll catch you all out on the battle- I mean, Bandle-Field!

For more Beyond the Bandlewood decks, head to the Deck Library! To build your own, head to the Deck Builder.