LoR Deck Guide: Corina Control (Monuments of Power)

How to Play Corina Control

Corina Control is primarily a Shadow Isles control deck that preys on aggressive decks, such as the new Elise Twisted Fate Go Hard deck. I played this deck from Diamond 4 to Master in one day, so it’s definitely solid in the current meta.

This deck doesn’t mind Pack Your Bags against it as it plays few creatures. It relies on spells for removal and healing itself so Pack Your Bags doesn’t have too much of an impact against it.

It’s one of the easier decks to play and not too expensive to craft. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to climb the ladder especially if you’re running into a lot of aggressive opponents.

This archetype has made somewhat of a comeback as Go Hard has been a great addition to this deck due to the 1 mana ping. Pack Your Bags is not played often in this list, but when it lands, it can be really helpful.

Deck code: CEBQGAIEDMYDIAQDAUBBABIBAUHR2IJIGUBAGAIFAERCWAICAQEACAQBAUMTC

[See Corina Control deck details]

Go Hard shuffling in additional Go Hards makes it so Corina’s spells hit a little more reliably. Unspeakable Horror also creates additional cards so you don’t have to worry about running out of resources as often.

How It Works

The deck has very few creatures in it. This is due to Corina Veraza discarding the top 5 cards and for each spell she does damage to the units and the opponent’s Nexus.

Ledros is the other finisher in the deck which halves the Nexus Health each time it is played. It also has a Last Breath where it goes back into your hand, so this card can be summoned over and over against as long as it is not silenced.

Generally, Ledros is played before Corina so that they can both get more value. However, against more aggressive decks or decks with a lot of creatures, oftentimes, Corina will need to be played to stabilize the board especially if Ruination had not been played earlier in the game.

In the early game, Elise and Hapless are the units that can be played to help the board state. They are either used aggressively against slower decks or as tools to slow down aggressive decks until you reach the late game for Corina and Ledros.

Region Matchup Breakdown

If you are seeing a lot of decks using Noxus, Piltover and Zaun, Bilgewater, and Demacia then this deck will generally do well against those regions.

If you are seeing a lot of Targon, then this deck will have a tougher time and I would recommend not running it.

If you are playing against a lot of Feel the Rush, then Passage Unearned is a great tech choice that will help your Freljord matches out a lot.

So overall, here’s a breakdown:

• Regions it’s good against
  • Noxus, Piltover & Zaun, Bilgewater, and Demacia
• Regions it’s bad against
  • Targon and sometimes Freljord

Gameplan (Mulligans and Matchup Strategies)

Against aggressive lists, it is best to mulligan for Hapless Aristocraft and Elise. The ideal spells are Thermo Beam, Vile Feast, and Go Hard.

Against Discard Aggro it is best to keep Withering Wail in hand as well. Against aggressive lists such as Draven Jinx Thermo Beam should be saved for Draven or Jinx.

In the matchup, you play defensively with your spells and units until hitting your Corina or Ledros turn. By the time you play either of these cards, your opponent is out of cards and you are closing out the game.

Against slower decks such as Feel the Rush, look to mulligan for Elise and try to push as much damage as possible with her. After that, you continue to pass back to your opponent and hope to close out the game with Ledros. You also hold Ruination and try to force them to hold their units back due to fear of Ruination.

Against Scouts, you want to mulligan for Go Hard, Elise, Thermo Beam, and potentially Vi. Ruination is often what ends up closing out the game as Demacia does not have a way to recover from a solid Ruination.

You want to save Thermo Beam to kill Miss Fortune. Scouts have a hard time winning without Miss Fortune as she is where a lot of the damage comes from and where the Challenger units get additional value.

Against Ezreal Swain, you want to pass as much as possible. They are looking to deal with damage to your creatures to level up Swain and Ezreal, so you can get away with not playing any creatures and simply reacting to the creature that they play.

You can also hold onto Ruination and Vengeance mana to deal with Swain, Ezreal, and Leviathan. Look to close out the game with Ledros in this match up. There are some cases where an early Corina is useful against Ezreal or Chump Wumps on the board.

Against Tahm Soraka is probably the hardest matchup as Hush can cause you issues. In the mulligan, you want to keep Vengeance and Ruination. Your best hope in these matches is to take damage from units and then have a big Ruination and then come back with Ledros and Atrocity.

You have to take damage early to prevent giving heals for Soraka and Star Spring and hope to stabilize and then close out the game with Ledros. This matchup is very tough overall. If you are seeing this deck a lot on the ladder, then it is probably best to change decks.

Good Matchups

• Ezreal/Swain or Ezreal/Draven 
  • You are often able to close out games with Ledros with ease. You also don’t have many creatures, so they have a hard time leveling up Ezreal.
  • Your Vengeance is also great against Leviathan if you are against the Swain version.
• Discard Aggro and other aggro decks 
  • You have so much heal and removal that it is hard for this deck to get past it. Withering Wail on its own can often shut down Discard Aggro.
• Scouts
  • Your removal is strong enough to deal with Scouts efficiently. Thermo Beam for Miss Fortune is often critical.
  • You have to be mindful of Rangers Resolve. If you are able to get them to use a Ranger’s Resolve on a singular unit rather than multiple you are satisfied.
• TF/Elise Go Hard
  • You are able to use your removal on their creatures as well as cards like Mystic Shot on Zap Sprayfin.
  • You want your own Go Hard in this matchup, as well as Elise, is really helpful as they don’t have many fearsome blockers in this deck, so she gives the deck additional value.
  • This is another list that Ledros is incredibly important for closing out the game.
• Fiora/Shen
  • It is played similar to Scouts. You are able to remove Fiora with your countless spells. You also have pings to deal with their early game.
  • You must be mindful of Deny at times, but if you are able to pull off a Ruination – you most likely win the game on the spot.
• Ashe/Sejuani Frostbite
  • This can be a tough match up, but it is another matchup where Ruination can easily decide the game. Thermo Beam is also important to deal with the more beefy units.
  • Ideally, you can use Thermo Beam on Ashe or Sejuani. You want to do your best to keep them from getting too much value out of Trifarian Assessor so when you do play Ruination they won’t have a way to refill their board.
• Harrowing Anivia 
  • Although Ramp can be a tough matchup for this deck, Anivia is not as spooky as Trundle. Your Go Hard makes it easier to deal with Anivia’s eggs after a Ruination or a block with Ledros.
  • You can use your Ruination to respond to Harrowing.
  • Ledros is used to close out the game which you may have noticed is a common them against every control list this deck might play against.

Bad Matchups

• Tahm Soraka
  • Your pings that are used for removal are not effective against a deck that loves to heal its own units.
• Greedy Ramp decks
  • You don’t have very effective ways of punishing Ramp. Against Feel the Rush decks, you can tech in Passage Unearned if you are running into these a lot.
  • You must do your best to use Ledros and potentially Atrocity to close out the game instead.
• Shyvana Dragons
  • Their units are hard to deal with. They also have multiple combat tricks such as Sharpsight which make dealing with their creatures even harder.
  • Vengeance and Ruination have to be your best friend in this match. They are likely to be able to overwhelm your board with Dragons though.
• Targon Midrange
  • This list has access to a lot of obliterates as well as Hush which makes Ledros less effective.
  • Ruination is a key card in this matchup after you poke off Spellshields with Go Hard or another ping.
  • Ledros plus Atrocity is your best bet in this game as Corina’s damage is often not enough to clear the opponent’s board.

Tech Choices

• Statikk Shock
  • This is a great removal tool that also allows for card draw.
• Grasp of the Undying
  • Add if you need extra heal or ways to remove bigger units
• Passage Unearned
  • If you are playing against a lot of Feel the Rush decks, this card single-handedly takes care of them!
• Gotcha!
  • An additional removal tool.
• Brood Awakening
  • If you are looking for more units to have on your board, add this (although it is quite costly).
• An additional Atrocity
  • If you are playing against a lot of control lists, you might find yourself wanting more ways to end the game.

Closing Thoughts

This was the deck that I used to get Masters with and I wanted to recommend it to others as well.

It’s in a fairly good spot and not many people play it. It does excellent against aggressive decks and holds its own against midrange decks. It can also perform well against control lists on the back of Ledros.

Note that it has a tough match up with Tahm Soraka due to not being able to remove units with pings due to all the heals in the decklist, but other than that, you have a pretty decent shot in a lot of matchups.

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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