Legends of Runeterra: Patch 4.5 Variety Set Impressions

Patch 4.5 Variety Set Reveal and Breakdown

Hey all it’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung here to cover the new variety set coming with Patch 4.5!

The Eternal season is right around the corner, so what better way to celebrate that than with some new cards?

This variety set includes 11 new additions to shake up the meta.

Head to our Deck Builder now to start crafting new brews!

Captain Indari

At face value for six mana we get a 5/5 body, plus our choice of weapon from the Improvise pool. A passable stat line. However, if we’re able to trigger Plunder, we get a permanent board buff. The closest comparison that comes to mind is Genevieve Elmheart. Captain Indari would be played on similar board states, but this time trading Scout-Challenger for a semi-random keyword, permanent stats, and weapon synergy.

Plunder is a real cost though, let’s not forget that. Though with cards like Marai Warden and Brazen Buccaneer, Captain Indari could have some potential. At the very least, Jax gets a new card.

Beguiling Cobra

Of all the high-costed “do nothing the turn I’m played” units, Beguiling Cobra is certainly intriguing..

Also, hold up… Reptile!? Either Riot’s just giving us some extra flavor or a hint of what’s to come in the future.

Beguiling Cobra is another expensive engine, allowing for some potentially insane combos. It’s hard to discount something that says “copy”, and it gets better than that. These are EXACT copies, and unlike what we’re used to, these are NOT Ephemeral! Even with its “once per round” clause, once Beguiling Cobra gets going it’ll flip the game on its head. Even when the board’s full it can still get value; what a cool design.

Is it too slow to see play? Maybe.. But perhaps this is actually the card Ionia’s been waiting for. Outside of Karma shenanigans, we didn’t really have a powerful expensive payoff to spend our Coins on, but Beguiling Cobra could be just that. And honestly, even when behind, we can Beguiling Cobra into Jury-Rig to summon two burst speed blockers for only one mana. That’s a reasonable defensive option that could buy just enough time to get back into the game.

Perfidious Promoter

A 4/4 for four is a decent start, and on top of that, this is a value engine? Whenever we refill mana, we get a “playable” fleeting follower. Playable in the sense that it won’t generate something that we lack mana to play, which makes sense for a fleeting card.

Shellshocker and Coral Creatures work great here as they’re cheap enough to proc the effect, while still leaving enough mana to hopefully create a “better” random follower. Unfortunately in Standard, we don’t currently have any zero-cost units in the format, but Eternal would allow some additional cheeky plays.

The obvious place for Perfidious Promoter is in a dedicated Coin deck. Instead of waiting for the right moment to spend, Perfidious Promoter ensures every Coin can be exchanged for something.

Overall, there are no real downsides here. We’ll just have to see whether it’s good enough to make the Coin archetype worth playing.

Innovative Blacksmith

Innovative Blacksmith is a nice addition that will help smooth out the consistency of Ornn decks. Ornn has seen the most success with Jax thanks to the Weaponmaster package it provides. Freljord alone lacked a solid three drop for the deck, in particular, one with Improvise.

Now that we have one, it’s possible for Ornn to see more experimentation with other regions again, or perhaps lean back toward Demacia since this card could fill in for Piltovan Castaway.

Even without the Nexus healing effect, this card is great, but having it is a nice touch to help against aggro.

Sacrificial Scholar

Okay this card looks bonkers. We already know Fated is a busted keyword, but let’s not stop there.. The spells we invest into this card come back to our hand when it dies!? WOW! I know Targon’s been struggling post-rotation, but Pantheon still exists in Standard and is going to love this card.

There’s definitely some interesting play patterns that will happen with this card. Not only do we have to pay attention to the first three spells we cast on it, but we need to be aware of our hand size in order to gain the maximum value when it dies. It’s also going to create scenarios where we actually want the Scholar to die in order to get back an important spell. Perhaps we need a removal spell, so we trade this away and get back our Single Combat. Need access to a Challenger? Get back Samira’s Flair. There are a ton of possibilities here.

While we’re often used to just playing a Gem or Improvise card to efficiently proc the turn’s Fated trigger, Sacrificial Scholar may change that. Though even then, getting back some Gems can still be pretty valuable.

As a 1/2 for two, it is a tad on the frail side, so we’ll want to be packing a one mana combat trick if we drop it on curve. Turn three will likely be the plan against most matchups.

Royal Shimmerwing

Birds!? Well that confirms it. While the Reptile tag may not do anything, this new Bird tag certainly will. Stand-alone this card is pretty bad, but giving multiple units Quick Attack is no joke.

It’s likely safe to assume that Riot will errata existing cards to include the Bird tag, but we’ll have to wait and see before truly evaluating this card.

Grave Companion

As a 1/5 for four, Grave Companion has the potential to be a solid draw option. It’s got the pre-nerf Inferna stat line, except instead of being able to draw multiple fleeting cards in a turn, it simply draws one (non-fleeting). Not bad.

Combat will naturally trigger this effect, but outside of that, Shadow Isles has tons of ways to consistently slay its own units. If it wants the draw, it’ll likely get it. However, is it better than Spirit Leech? Spirit Leech offers two cards immediately while presenting a 4/1 blocker. Grave Companion needs time to come down, but would help fuel the deck every turn it can proc its effect. It’s hard to say, but I really think it’ll depend on the meta. I can definitely imagine a world where each card would be chosen over the other.

It’s also a Dog. 🙂

Altar to Unity

It wouldn’t be an LoR release without a funky-clunky landmark, but perhaps Altar to Unity is a little more than that? Replacing itself on summon is always nice, but just how relevant is that ability?

I think the funny part about this is that Demacia is a region with above-rate stats on their units. Altar to Unity isn’t going to do much for them.

However, it could do some pretty silly things with other regions. Just look at Lawkeeper!

I’m pretty certain we’re still in meme territory, but I hope the community comes up with something spicy to prove me wrong!

Pack Attack

A main-deck version of Parallel Convergence, but for Cats!? Whaaat?

Again, we’ll have to see which units are given the Cat tag before fully assuming everything. Though with enough support, Pack Attack could be one heck of a game-ender. Is it Cunning Kitten time?

Blowback

It’s been a while since Sion’s been in the light. Aggressive discard packages have pretty much taken over ever since Draven was nerfed to 3/2. The midrange package still has some great cards that even exist in Standard, such as Fallen Rider and Lost Soul, but it hasn’t got anything new in a long time.

Blowback may be just the card it needs. The deck’s always been able to push a lot of damage but lacked efficient removal, which often made it come up just short of lethal. Blowback can deal three to an enemy, AND the enemy Nexus! It’s like a cheaper Double Up that doesn’t require the enemy unit to die, but instead needs cards it can discard. That’s not usually a problem for the deck, as there’s plenty of fodder to go around.

I think there’s a real chance Sion makes a comeback.

Condense

Okay, this card is sweet, it’s Bandle City’s version of Iterative Improvement. While it won’t create a more powerful copy in terms of stats, this card has some insane combo potential. Being able to take an expensive unit’s effect and duplicate it for three mana is no joke. Beguiling Cobra anyone?

We’ve only really seen this type of effect as Ephemeral, so while we’ve been able to do some silly combos, they were only limited to that particular turn. What’s cool with this is that we can bank the 1-cost copy for later use. Play The Rekindler, then bank a cheap one for later. There are so many possibilities.

I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. 😉

Head to our Deck Builder now to start crafting new brews!