LoR Deck Guide: Unyielding Kegs

How to Play Unyielding Kegs

Unyielding Kegs has long been one of my favorite deck archetypes in Legends of Runeterra.

When Unyielding Spirit was first released, it was a Burst speed spell which made it a lot easier to get Unyielding Spirit on a Keg. This was also before playable Silences such as Hush were introduced to the game.

Despite cards that make this deck hard to pull off, this deck is too much fun to pass over.

There aren’t many things more satisfying than stacking up 5+ Powder Kegs with a Dreadway on board and activating a Riptide Rex to destroy the opponent’s board and Nexus.

Deck Code: CEBQSAQGAQEAWHBAEETC2OQBAMAA4AICAACQEAQCAYBBIAIDAYIACAICAYGA

[See Unyielding Kegs deck details]

The amount of damage this deck offers is unmatched when this deck pops off and will bring joy to any Timmy player.

Win Conditions

This deck is mostly a for fun deck, but it can be played on the ladder with success.

The deck’s main goal is to get Unyielding Spirit onto a Powder Keg and then stack additional Kegs on it.

You can then use spells without the Powder Keg(s) getting destroyed. This is what allows the deck to do its satisfying combos.

At the start of the game, you want to be sure to get the jump early game with Jagged Butcher and Black Market Merchant. This is your main defense against faster decks, but it can also pressure against slower decks.

Once you are in a stable position, you generally want to play Unyielding Spirit onto a Keg on the defensive turn. Ideally, they attack into you and pull in the Powder Keg.

This is when you bring out your Unyielding Spirit so your Keg doesn’t die. If they don’t pull the keg, then you try to get their mana to as low as you can manage before playing the Unyielding Spirit.

Once you have Unyielding Spirit onto your Powder Keg, that is when the fun really begins. Assuming your opponent doesn’t have access to Silences, this is when you start to stack more Power Kegs.

Often you will use Warning Shot and Riptide Rex to end the game. These are sometimes paired with Dreadway.

If you are unable to get Unyielding Spirit onto a Powder Keg, the next best targets are Gangplank or Dreadway.

These are both high impact units that your opponent wants to be able to deal with and will have a hard time winning with these units alive.

The Mulligan Phase

It is important to mulligan for Jagged Butcher and Black Market Merchant in most matchups to make sure that you can get enough tempo early game to avoid early damage.

These can also be used as tools to pressure the opponent. Against Elusives or Zoe decks, you can also keep Sharpsight.

Against slower decks such as Freljord Ramp, you can potentially hold onto Unyielding Spirit as it is your main win condition against slower decks.

Good Matchups

There aren’t any really strong matchups for this deck, but there are decks that it struggles less against.

The less interaction a deck has with you, the better this deck does against it.

Weak Matchups

This deck has a hard time against Hush and Invoke decks. This is because Hush can Silence the Powder Keg and make it useless. Invoke can also find Equinox which can Silence the Unyielding Powder Keg.

This deck can also struggle against decks that have a lot of interaction. Shadow Isles can be quite tricky due to Vile Feast and Unspeakable Horror which are 1 damage pings that can target the keg.

However, Sharpsight helps that as if you leave enough mana up for Spirit and Sharpsight, then you can trick the combat this way.

Against Demacia, Single Combat can be brutal in particular as it is only 2 mana, often represents a lot of damage, and there is little downside to the opponent single combating the Keg due to its natural 0 attack.

Tech Choices:

• Brightsteel Protector
  • It can be used to win early trades or played on a Keg to protect it to make it easier to get Unyielding Spirit onto a Powder Keg.

• Pilfered Goods
  • This can be used to extend your resources and has good synergy with Black Market Merchant.

• Parrrley
  • This is an additional removal and activator card for Riptide Rex. It can also be used to help level up Gangplank.

• Monkey Idol
  • If you want to focus on leveling up Gangplank more.

• Twisted Fate
  • He works well with Powder Kegs and is a great card overall.

Closing Thoughts

This deck has long been one of my favorite decks in Runeterra. I love stacking several Powder Kegs and ending the game with a massive Riptide Rex that wreaks havoc on the board.

The Dreadway with Gangplank is also a lot of fun! Who doesn’t love doubling damage on everything! I hope you enjoy this deck. It is a blast to play and easily the most satisfying deck in Legends of Runeterra.

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

Catch Silverfuse live at www.twitch.tv/silverfuse