LoR Deck Guide: Fish TF

Fish TF Deck Guide

It’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung here and today I’m back with a new take on an old metagame staple.

We’re diving deep for these upgrades to become what I like to call; Fish TF!

Fizz is still present, but this time we’ve got help from Nami and her marine friends.

Forget the bots, mech suits, and burn. Embrace the pranks and full force of elusives.

While P&Z may have lost its favor with Twisted Fate, let’s just say Bandle City has found a path…

Deck Code: CECAMBIKAQCRUKBKUYAQEBIGBMGQGAQGDITCWAIDAYIQCAIFAYCQEAICAYXACBIKSEAQ

[See Fish TF deck details]

Deck Overview

We’ve taken the Fizz Nami Elusives shell and mixed it up with inspiration from Fizz TF. With the abundance of Pranks and other created cards, Pick a Card and Twisted Fate fit in perfectly!

This deck is about summoning multiple elusive units and buffing them with Nami or Fleet Admiral Shelly.

Pranks help to slow down the opponent so we can set up for future turns. Our cheap spells enable some explosive turns that can let us win out of nowhere.

Most importantly, Twisted Fate can consistently level up once again.

Almost any game is winnable from that point and it’s a big reason why TF dominated the meta for a long time. Is he good enough to make a comeback? Give this a try and find out for yourself!

Mulligan Tips

We want to prioritize early disruption by generating Pranks. This can help us stall and stabilize long enough to set up our elusive game plan. We’re a bit weak versus aggression as elusives naturally have lower stats. However, we’ve got plenty of card-draw so we can afford to make some mediocre trades.

• Always Keep:
  • Otterpus
  • Kelp Maidens
  • Twisted Fate
• Situational Keep:
  • Marai Songstress: Keep if you have Otterpus or Trinket Trade.
  • Purpleberry Shake: Good against decks with 1-2 damage removal.
  • Trinket Trade: Keep only if you have Marai Songstress.
  • Pokey Stick: Prioritize against decks with one health units.

Example Hand 1:

Example Hand 2:

Game Plans:

Fish TF aims to set up a powerful board of Elusives to overwhelm the opponent. Nami and Fleet Admiral Shelly turn every spell into more damage to ensure every card is valuable.

Despite everything else, if you can level up Twisted Fate then winning is inevitable.

Our greatest strength is the ability to cast multiple cheap spells and continuously draw more and more cards. We rarely run out of steam and always keep our opponent guessing what’s to come.

However, some setup is required before we can truly take advantage.

Otterpus is our best friend. This little guy immediately creates a Prank to help us disrupt the opponent from the get-go. As a 1|1 blocker, he can trade into those pesky 2|1’s, or sit back until we need to chump block a larger threat (Sorry Otterpus!).

Alongside all of this, he also counts towards Nami’s level-up condition, sets up Marai Songstress on turn two, and reduces the cost of Wiggly Burblefish.

This is everything we need and more, and because of this, you’ll often be choosing him off of Trinket Trade.

Knowing which player is the aggressor is important. At times, we will have to make mediocre trades and sacrifice some Elusives to stay alive. Learn your limits and plan turns carefully.

Most of our damage comes from combat, so if you know you can’t threaten lethal next turn, it’s okay to trade down to buy time. Pokey Stick and Twisted Fate are the only sources of reach outside of randomly generated spells.

Throughout the game, you should always be looking for opportunities to level up Twisted Fate. This usually starts with Pick a Card into TF, then evaluating the next turn to see if you can pull it off.

Count your draw effects and play slow-speed ones like Zap Sprayfin first. Pokey Stick can be cast in response to get that final draw, but we generally want to reach the point where Hidden Pathways finishes the job safely.

We also have some new unique ways of protecting TF. A flipped Nami can buff Twisted Fate if he’s the weakest unit on board. Fleet Admiral Shelly helps in any case so long as you have enough cheap spells.

However, both of these are rather win-more as you’ll usually be way ahead if this situation were to occur.

The most notable protection is actually Purpleberry Shake. While it doesn’t quite match the high-roll power of Suit Up, it can help survive any 1-2 damage pings.

Win Conditions

Fizz

Newly reformed to become part of Bandle City, Fizz is an obvious choice inclusion. Why is there only one of him you may ask?

Well without Suit Up, we don’t have the same early game high-roll potential. Fizz is best used later on when we have more cards and mana, and at that point, we’ve got multiple comparable options.

Regardless, Fizz makes resolving targeted spells a nightmare for the opponent.

He’s fantastic at keeping them on their toes and alongside Pranks is just downright mean. Welcome back, buddy!

Nami

Before level-up, Nami offers some repeatable attack buffs to her team. However, the target isn’t fully controllable and doesn’t grant any health.

Nami’s stats aren’t great for blocking and with the abundance of tricks in Runeterra, it’s a risk to block with her at all.

Nami truly shines once leveled and with proper planning it’s easy!

Post-level-up you’ll be swimming in value and it won’t take long from there!

Twisted Fate:

Speaking of value, nothing in Runeterra can compare to a level two Twisted Fate. If you reach this point you almost can’t lose; especially with the abundance of cheap spells this deck provides.

Red Card and Yellow Card help aid our lack of removal and stall the opponent from applying too much pressure.

Trinket Trade provides a minimum of two card triggers so if you’re ever light-handed it only takes one card to refill completely.

There’s not much more to say here, this is arguably the strongest level-up in the game.

Fleet Admiral Shelly:

I’m sorry Nami, but you’ve got some real competition in the buff department.

Shelly is AMAZING. This is basically the Cithria of Elusives because when Shelly comes around you’ll end games!

Make sure you use your focus speed spells first so you can reactively buff with your burst spells.

With so much spell generation it’s actually common to trigger Shelly twice in a single turn.

Absolutely insane card in the right home and Shelly fits perfectly here.

Wiggly Burblefish:

The backbone of the cheap spell archetypes, Wiggly Burblefish continues to provide a ridiculous tempo and card advantage once online.

This card provides a 0 mana target for Nami/Shelly AND generates a spell to fuel them.

Wiggly Burblefish ties the entire deck together and is a big reason why the archetype exists.

While it may have -1 killing power from its Fizz TF days, just watch, it won’t often be attacking for only two damage.

Other Considerations

Conchologist

While I’m a big fan of Conchologist in other regions, Bilgewater just isn’t where you want to be.

There are some great spells in Bandle City that you can hit, but Bilgewater is notorious for its overall poor spell pool. Definitely a fair option to try if you’re struggling against aggro.

Make it Rain

A great card but very meta-dependent.

If we need more one-damage pings then it’s an absolute no-brainer, but outside of that we already have Pokey Stick to handle those situations.

Stress Defense/Minimorph

Both are solid tech cards. Note that Stress Defense can be found off of Trinket Trade, so Minimorph likely has better value taking up a deck slot or two. Of course, this is all meta-dependent.

Mind Meld

If the meta slows down to where we need a bigger effect, Mind Meld is a nice over-the-top finisher.

But honestly, Fleet Admiral Shelly offers more than enough power so we likely don’t need it.

Shugo’s Productivity Thought of the Day

Working towards several tasks can be less productive than choosing one or two.

It takes time to make progress, and if we spread ourselves too thin it won’t amount to anything.

Discover what’s important to you and prioritize it. Everything else can wait.

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