For both these decks, your two biggest cards to help you win are Avalanche and Blighted Ravine. Knowing when to play them for maximum value is key. Ravine is great because it gets around all of their counters, so you want them to develop into it. The Box is an amazing turn 4 play after Wayfinder. Your best friend is to pass and bluff you have answer after answer. Every recall or Twin Discipline used to keep a unit alive on defense means less damage to you. If they Deny your Avalanche or Box, you basically win with FTR/Harrowing. It's a tough match, but plays into your favor if they're mindlessly spamming units.
Scouts is making a comeback since it shreds SI/FR Control decks and does well into Ahri/Kennen. Use your Challengers to snag those small health units into MF's ability. If they spend mana recalling/buffing units, then they aren't developing stuff to attack with. Your board gets bigger and Rally crushes them.
This is an all-out, face-is-the-place aggro deck. What this deck does well is make some enemy draws useless. Your units are meant to attack once and die. If they attack twice, bonus! It does well into Ahri/Kennen and great into midrange decks (Pantheon, etc). Sadly it folds to mass healing decks (FTR), which are common due to Ahri/Kennen. Best to play Scouts if you're looking for a better win-rate, but this deck is surprisingly good.
HOLD ON, PUT THE PITCHFORK DOWN! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em? This variant of Ahri/Kennen destroys the mirror match since Go Hard allows you to interact with a lot of their 1-health stuff. It has lower overall winrates against the other match-ups that standard Ahri/Kennen has, but still above 50%. This feels a lot more of a "fair" version of Ahri/Kennen.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
Just realized this afternoon that I've literally not played the game for like 4 days now. Have no urge to do so. Spending my dithering about time doing literally anything else.
I'm still not a fan of what they did with the PvE stuff, it's slow and clunky, I feel like it needs a skip button for a million things in it. Just let me play card game, that's what I booted up card game to do.
And the meta is fucking atrocious. Worst meta I think I've seen since I started playing, and I started playing when Aphelios was hot.
Just realized this afternoon that I've literally not played the game for like 4 days now. Have no urge to do so. Spending my dithering about time doing literally anything else.
I'm still not a fan of what they did with the PvE stuff, it's slow and clunky, I feel like it needs a skip button for a million things in it. Just let me play card game, that's what I booted up card game to do.
And the meta is fucking atrocious. Worst meta I think I've seen since I started playing, and I started playing when Aphelios was hot.
The meta is Ahri/Kennen dominated, but nowhere near the worse meta we've ever had. That belongs to Azir/Irelia or Sivir/RuinRunner.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
I hope they nerf Shurima cutscenes soon. I haven't tried a mono Shurima deck since the region first got released, but repeated cutscenes each match will probably drive me batty enough to surrender once my own animations start playing.
And thank you both for the deck ideas. I'll probably try Scathus Kindred first. I've been enjoying Kindred a lot since the latest patch.
Just realized this afternoon that I've literally not played the game for like 4 days now. Have no urge to do so. Spending my dithering about time doing literally anything else.
I'm still not a fan of what they did with the PvE stuff, it's slow and clunky, I feel like it needs a skip button for a million things in it. Just let me play card game, that's what I booted up card game to do.
And the meta is fucking atrocious. Worst meta I think I've seen since I started playing, and I started playing when Aphelios was hot.
The meta is Ahri/Kennen dominated, but nowhere near the worse meta we've ever had. That belongs to Azir/Irelia or Sivir/RuinRunner.
Azelia was pretty bad but there were lots of counters to it and they were fun to play. Hell, you showed us a Matron Cithria deck to counter it that I had a lot of success and fun with and eventually Viego joined that party.
Just realized this afternoon that I've literally not played the game for like 4 days now. Have no urge to do so. Spending my dithering about time doing literally anything else.
I'm still not a fan of what they did with the PvE stuff, it's slow and clunky, I feel like it needs a skip button for a million things in it. Just let me play card game, that's what I booted up card game to do.
And the meta is fucking atrocious. Worst meta I think I've seen since I started playing, and I started playing when Aphelios was hot.
The meta is Ahri/Kennen dominated, but nowhere near the worse meta we've ever had. That belongs to Azir/Irelia or Sivir/RuinRunner.
Azelia was pretty bad but there were lots of counters to it and they were fun to play. Hell, you showed us a Matron Cithria deck to counter it that I had a lot of success and fun with and eventually Viego joined that party.
Whereas the counters now are...spiders! Pass!
To each their own.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
Hey @Thawmus, GrappLr uploaded a Ahri/Kennen hate video using Maoki, Prankster, Sharks, and Neverglade Collector. Mills, drains, and Challengers oh my!
Made an Azir monoShurima deck and have yet to lose a game just playing unranked. I've been pretty low on life everytime, but once I get the special emperor deck every card in it is so broken the main danger becomes decking myself. One was really close as I was at two life against a Jinx deck and all they had to do was top deck any fast burn spell but they did not and got trampled by an army of sand monsters.
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
If you're an Amazon Prime member, you'll be getting a Rare Prismatic chest in addition to the monthly Epic Wild card.
Also, today I decided to give Matron Cithria a whirl. One of my opponents was FTR, which they played on turn 9. That was really cute and I used my board of 10/10+ units from turn 8/9 double Matrons to casually clear them out.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
Hey, I'm back now! While I was on a trip I was basically just playing Champions. Something I discovered in Champions is that there might be some potential in an Ahri/Diana deck, which I am mentally calling MoonBounce, but I am not good enough at deckbuilding to make it work outside of the Champions context. The very basic concept is using Nightfall when you have the attack token to give Diana Challenger, then having Ahri bounce her back to your hand. Repeat. When Diana flips, bounce a different cheap Nightfall card; Lunari Priestess can be good for this because Invoke is Good. This uses a lot of Dancing Droplet esp since after Ahri flips, bouncing it makes it 0 cost.
What's something fun that I can use to lazily ladder climb rn? I tend to never get above Silver anyway because I'm really lazy but still.
Okay I'm hooked now. Really enjoying the Path of Champions, though a lot of the enemy decks come out of nowhere with absurd boards. Maybe I'm not seeing the equally absurd things I could be doing.
I've dipped my toes into PvP for a few games but haven't been focusing on it. Is there a significant reward for achieving a high rank each season, like in Hearthstone? Enough that it's worth investing in a cheap higher-tier deck to push up the ladder with? How are expeditions? The deck building in expeditions seems really complex compared to MTG draft or HS arena and that's making me hesitant to jump into one.
Okay I'm hooked now. Really enjoying the Path of Champions, though a lot of the enemy decks come out of nowhere with absurd boards. Maybe I'm not seeing the equally absurd things I could be doing.
I've dipped my toes into PvP for a few games but haven't been focusing on it. Is there a significant reward for achieving a high rank each season, like in Hearthstone? Enough that it's worth investing in a cheap higher-tier deck to push up the ladder with? How are expeditions? The deck building in expeditions seems really complex compared to MTG draft or HS arena and that's making me hesitant to jump into one.
Rewards for rankings include and Ranked level Icon (Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc) and Prismatic rewards (see below).
You don't earn any cards, chests, or resources for having a higher rank. If you manage to get to Masters, the top 700 players can enter a bi-monthly, ten-thousand player tournament (first place $10k).
Being new, and coming from Hearthstone, the lack of card rewards might be shocking. But worry not, the game will give you all the cards if you play daily, or at a decent pace. I've had 100% of the collection complete now for months, without spending a dime, something I never accomplished in 7 years of playing Hearthstone.
Expediations are like Arena/Draft stuff. Honestly, the mode is fun at first, but sort of wears thin after a while. It's not a very fleshed out mode, although the skeleton is pretty good. Hopefully they'll update it to be more interesting and rewarding to play. You're basically looking for stats, combat tricks, and removal. Demacia is the best region in Expedition since it has fewer synergies to rely on to make work.
The drafting is basically like this:
Choose a Champion and supporting cards, do this again with a different region. Now you're two regions are set and you'll get picks that are "Synergy" or "Wild". Synergy picks work with the Champions you've selected. For example, if you draft Teemo first, you'll get Puffcap cards. Wild cards are just that, cards that have no synergy with your Champions. It's possible to end up with three different regions.
I'd recommend playing Expedition once a week with your Expedition token from the Vault. Even if you go 0-2/0-2, you still get a guaranteed Epic capsule. Since Epic cards are duplicate protected, you'll always get something you need. Plus there's a good chance to get an upgrade to a Champion.
Good luck and have fun!
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
The starter pack includes 75% of the spider aggro deck that's on LoR meta aggregators. This feels like a path of temptation and darkness.
Yeah, spiders are a great jumping-off point for ranking up. The meta shifts quickly, but that archetype is usually pretty solid. Looking forward to your progress!
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
Gauntlet this week is just sizing stuff up for seasonals. I really want to bring Ahri but I need more experience and don't really want to put in the work. I might change to a ban Ahri plan and try to dunk on SI people.
Match Score (4-1)
Game Score (8-3)
AK SI (1-2, 2 bans)
CQDACAYCAUAQGBIQAECAEDYBAUFDUAQFAICAOBABAIFQYLBSAQAQCARRAEBAEBIBAMBBIAIFAIKQEAICAIFACAYCBE
Match 1
Predict Shellfolk, Matron Cithria, Karma Shellfolk
I ban Karma Shellfolk, opponent bans MF Scouts
Game 1: AK SI (L) v Predict Shellfolk
Game 2: AK SI (L) v Matron Cithria
Match 2
Scathus Pile, Drumble Sion, Liss Yetis Ionia
I ban Scathus Pile, opponent bans AK SI
Game 1: TLC (W) v Yetis
Game 2: MF Scouts (W) v Yetis
Match 3
Darkness, Deep, Kindred Nasus
I ban Darkness, opponent bans AK SI
Game 1: MF Scouts (W) v Kindred Nasus
Game 2: TLC (W) v Deep
Match 4
Kindred Nasus, Rumble Tristana Noxus, Taliyah Targon
I ban Rumble Trist, opponent bans MF Scouts
Game 1: TLC (W) v Kindred Nasus
Game 2: AK SI (W) v Taliyah Targon
Match 5
Azirelia, Katarina Yasuo, Dragons
I ban Azirelia, opponent bans AK SI
Game 1: TLC (L) v Dragons
Game 2: TLC (W) v Katarina Yasuo
Game 3: MF Scouts (W) v Katarina Yasuo
Only 2 wins this week before losing. Looks like tier 2/3 decks are a sure-fire way to lose in Gauntlets. :rotate:
I was thinking about the future of the game the other day and was wondering if they'd ever consider making the Gauntlet format the standard in Ranked. The existing single deck ranked format would still exist and unranked.
I know that wouldn't be ideal for most, but I'd prefer that format for climbing since I can ban the stuff I hate playing against. Would definitely make for longer games, but I'd prefer the trade-off.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
They've been asked in the past and said it's not impossible but they have no plans for it currently. Stated concerns being splitting the matchmaking queue and whether it's a format that anyone has an interest in other than the most competitive parts of the player base.
I do like the gauntlet style but it's very difficult to put in that time. I don't even have kids and I can't get that kind of time to myself without someone wanting something from me.
So over the last couple of days, I’ve played maybe 2 Ahri/Kennen decks and no Poros. It’s been a large variety of decks from Aggro to midrange to control. This is a surprisingly fun meta after starting so frustrating. It’s almost like everyone have a gentleman’s agreement not to play Ahri/Kennen.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
So over the last couple of days, I’ve played maybe 2 Ahri/Kennen decks and no Poros. It’s been a large variety of decks from Aggro to midrange to control. This is a surprisingly fun meta after starting so frustrating. It’s almost like everyone have a gentleman’s agreement not to play Ahri/Kennen.
I don’t want to brag too much, but you have me to thank. As soon as I equipped my Ahri/Kennen counter decks, I stopped seeing Ahri/Kennen.
After 20 losses, I finally beat Naut with TF. Everything about that run is absolutely brutal. Your deck is stupidly useless against Tough units. The final build that got me through the nightmare was finding Ashe and the "Freeze the strongest enemy at the start of the turn" power. I also found a Howling Peak with "Countdown 3: Deal damage to the enemy Nexus equal to twice my cost" and "When I'm summoned or destroyed, heal your Nexus for my cost."
Even with that, I still just barely squeaked by with the win.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
After 20 losses, I finally beat Naut with TF. Everything about that run is absolutely brutal. Your deck is stupidly useless against Tough units. The final build that got me through the nightmare was finding Ashe and the "Freeze the strongest enemy at the start of the turn" power. I also found a Howling Peak with "Countdown 3: Deal damage to the enemy Nexus equal to twice my cost" and "When I'm summoned or destroyed, heal your Nexus for my cost."
Even with that, I still just barely squeaked by with the win.
Putting Viktor after Nautilus feels like giving us a victory lap. Not that Viktor isn't hard but I reeeeally don't think he's harder than Naut.
It really is the Tough that does it. There are so many things that turns off, and a lot of them are things they give us as upgrade powers! Like, come on.
I finally beat Karma in Path of Champions and then went on to crush the rest of the adventure! Was using Miss Fortune.
All it took was the +1/+0 to all allies on draw power, and the epic power that summons a sapling every attack round, and the epic power that summons a poro every round. At no point did any opponent come close to gaining board control against my endless army of 2/1s and 3/1s.
I had one run where I got two Epic powers; Lil' Buddies (summon a Poro at Round Start) and Yipp's Genius (grant all 1-cost units +2/+2). That meant every turn I got a free 3/3 unit. Easiest run ever.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
Won my LCG with an anti SI control lineup. I think I'm sticking with this, everything here is a comfort deck and the lineup is solid into most stuff.
I've been told by better players that Thralls and Azirelia are both favored into AK, and anecdotally that feels accurate, but the statistics don't back it up. Thralls I can see because that deck is very weird, people play it pretty poorly on ladder, and AK in particular is a matchup where you don't immediately all-in on a single landmark. Azirelia is a lot simpler though, there shouldn't be a skill gap there.
Match Score (2-0)
Game Score (4-1)
Scouts (2-1) 1 ban
CICQCAYABYAQIAACAIBAAAQGAMAQABQJDUBQEBQWHI7AGAIBAAZQCBIGAEBQEAAHBEFAA
Thralls (1-0) 1 ban
CMBQEAIBCQZAIBABAECQUDQEAQDR6LCCJEBACBABBMBQIBYNEJ4AEAIEAEEQCBAHHM
Match 1
Mono Pantheon Demacia, AK SI, Zoe Lee
I ban Mono Pantheon, opponent bans Scouts
Game 1: Thralls (W) v AK SI
Game 2: Azirelia (W) v AK SI
Match 2
AK SI, Scouts, TF Nami PnZ
I ban Scouts, opponent bans Thralls
Game 1: Scouts (L) v AK SI
Game 2: Scouts (W) v TF Nami PnZ
Game 3: Azirelia (W) v TF Nami PnZ
I realllly wish that Champions had like... a node skip item. Like once per game you can just *skip* a fight. Or a way to skip the first node at least after you've gotten your ass handed to you enough times.
That would be a pretty cool common relic. While you skip the fight, you do lose out on the rewards so it balances out. Make it not work on the sub-boss though.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
I just got to Viktor for the first time in PoC but damn does he build boards insanely fast. Definitely going to have to figure out how to build decks that beat him specifically, like with Karma earlier.
I must say the all-enemies-have-tough passive is a huge letdown when your two most used heroes are Jinx and Miss Fortune. I'm not even sure how Miss Fortune gets through that adventure? I only beat it with Jinx by leveling her passive from 1 to 2 damage.
And that's my first Viktor! Had a great combo with LeBlanc and Viego holding the "Strike an enemy when you're summoned" item, Leblanc making copies of Viego that immediately did damage then died, which powered out more copies of Viego, and caused carnage that OG Viego was very happy to witness.
And that's my first Viktor! Had a great combo with LeBlanc and Viego holding the "Strike an enemy when you're summoned" item, Leblanc making copies of Viego that immediately did damage then died, which powered out more copies of Viego, and caused carnage that OG Viego was very happy to witness.
Now that's a sick engine right there. And yeah, Naut is by far a more difficult path/boss than Viktor. The only problem with Viktor is the high rolling of challengers and/or lifesteal on quick attack units. I had one game where Viktor got 3 Armed Gearheads in play with challenger, overwhelm, and lifesteal respectively. I died on turn 5.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
This was just a busted build. All attacking units gain +1 during their attack and raise their health to match their attack. With everything 3-cost or less being Lurk, my Blades would activate Lurk and scale out of control. My board was scaling like mad and Viktor got obliterated. Felt good.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
Best seasonal I've had yet. I was a little worried about Azirelia but it turned out pretty great. It probably wouldn't have held up in match 5 but I ended up dropping both Thralls games anyway. Both my prismatic chests got upgraded too, ended up with Genevieve and Zoe.
Match 1: 0-0 Bracket
Opponent: PsyduckRules Rank 258
AK, YiA, TF Nami Shellfolk
I ban YiA, opponent bans Scouts
Game 1: Thralls (W) v TF Nami
Game 2: Azirelia (L) v AK
Game 3: Azirelia (W) v TF Nami
Match 2: 1-0 Bracket
Opponent: Draco Moriarty Rank 825
AK, Panth Shyv, Darkness
I ban Panth Shyv, opponent bans Thralls
Game 1: Azirelia (W) v AK
Game 2: Scouts (L) v AK
Game 3: Scouts (L) v Darkness
Match 3: 1-1 Bracket
Opponent: Daunter Rank 318
AK SI, Panth Shyv, Zoe Lee
I ban Panth Shyv, opponent bans Thralls
Game 1: Azirelia (W) v AK SI
Game 2: Scouts (W) v Zoe Lee
Match 4: 2-1 Bracket
Opponent: AFK Support Rank 616
AK SI, Panth Taric, Ziggs Taliyah
I ban Panth Taric, opponent bans Scouts
Game 1: Azirelia (W) v AK SI
Game 2: Thralls (W) v AK SI
Match 5: 3-1 Bracket
Opponent: borto Rank 693
Scouts, Nightfall, Spiders
I ban Scouts, opponent bans Scouts
Game 1: Thralls (L) v Spiders
Game 2: Thralls (L) v Nightfall
Match 6: 3-2 Bracket
Opponent: CleverWong Rank 378
YiA, Darkness, Panth Shyv
I ban YiA, opponent drops
Match 7: 4-2 Bracket
Opponent: COINTELPRO Agent Rank 1126
Thralls, Zil Xerath, Jayce Lux
I ban Jayce Lux, opponent bans Azirelia
Game 1: Thralls (L) v Zil Xerath
Game 2: Scouts (W) v Thralls
Game 3: Thralls (W) v Thralls
Match 8: 5-2 Bracket
Opponent: GuillermoParra Rank 1263
Spiders, Darkness, Scouts
I ban Scouts, opponent bans Thralls
Game 1: Scouts (W) v Spiders
Game 2: Azirelia (L) v Spiders
Game 3: Azirelia (W) v Darkness
Match 9: 6-2 Bracket
Opponent: Peace 01 Rank 539
Zil Xerath, Thralls, Scouts
I ban Scouts, opponent drops
There are 2 people that go 9-0, 18 people that go 8-1 and 72 people that go 7-2. So top 32 takes the 12 7-2s with the highest seed, which is usually rank 40 or better on ladder. I either qualified via LCG or I was in the high 600s at cutoff, so my seed is way too low to make it on a 7-2.
The more I play this game, the more I appreciate how much the "shared main phase" adds to it. There's such a great tension between pushing the gas so that you have the better board for combat, and sandbagging your turn so that you can respond to threats / go into combat with a mana advantage. And there's always so much to consider when deciding between attacking at the start of the turn or setting up a hopefully better attack later. Loving it.
What are everyone's favorite Champions for playing a slower controlling deck in Path of Champions? I thought Yasuo might be more controlling, but he feels similar to Jinx - get an early lead, then prevent the opponent from catching up by (bombarding their board with discard triggers / stunning and recalling their threats).
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Jayce was pretty good for that — stall until you play a few six cost spells then drop Jayce and blast.
In general Runeterra control doesn’t really feel the same as Magic/Hearthstone control, because removal is so bad. Runeterra control decks still need to play a lot of early creatures to defend.
Posts
Trundle/Tryndamere FTR:
CECACAYBAYAQIAIOAQAQCAIDCQZAIAIFAEJR2KADAEAQKGIBAMARMAQBAEGCOAICAECQ6II
Zombie Anivia:
CEBQCBABBYBQCAIBAMMAKAIFAEKB2KBRAMAQKBIDAIAQKAYPAMAQCFA5GIAQCAYBBE
For both these decks, your two biggest cards to help you win are Avalanche and Blighted Ravine. Knowing when to play them for maximum value is key. Ravine is great because it gets around all of their counters, so you want them to develop into it. The Box is an amazing turn 4 play after Wayfinder. Your best friend is to pass and bluff you have answer after answer. Every recall or Twin Discipline used to keep a unit alive on defense means less damage to you. If they Deny your Avalanche or Box, you basically win with FTR/Harrowing. It's a tough match, but plays into your favor if they're mindlessly spamming units.
Scouts:
CICQCAYABYBACAAJDUBAEBQWHYBAIAACA4BQEAACAYFAKAIBAADACAQGBEAQEAAHAEBQMCABAUDACAA
Scouts is making a comeback since it shreds SI/FR Control decks and does well into Ahri/Kennen. Use your Challengers to snag those small health units into MF's ability. If they spend mana recalling/buffing units, then they aren't developing stuff to attack with. Your board gets bigger and Rally crushes them.
Teemo Burn:
CECAEAQDAMCAEAYEAUFQGAIDAISSQBIBAQEBCJZUGYBACBAEA4AQKBAMAA
This is an all-out, face-is-the-place aggro deck. What this deck does well is make some enemy draws useless. Your units are meant to attack once and die. If they attack twice, bonus! It does well into Ahri/Kennen and great into midrange decks (Pantheon, etc). Sadly it folds to mass healing decks (FTR), which are common due to Ahri/Kennen. Best to play Scouts if you're looking for a better win-rate, but this deck is surprisingly good.
Ahri/Kennen SI:
CQCQCAYFCAAQKCR2AECQEBACAQBA6FAFAEBAWDBMGI4QGAIBAIYQEAQCAUFAEAYCAUKAA
HOLD ON, PUT THE PITCHFORK DOWN! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em? This variant of Ahri/Kennen destroys the mirror match since Go Hard allows you to interact with a lot of their 1-health stuff. It has lower overall winrates against the other match-ups that standard Ahri/Kennen has, but still above 50%. This feels a lot more of a "fair" version of Ahri/Kennen.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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I'm still not a fan of what they did with the PvE stuff, it's slow and clunky, I feel like it needs a skip button for a million things in it. Just let me play card game, that's what I booted up card game to do.
And the meta is fucking atrocious. Worst meta I think I've seen since I started playing, and I started playing when Aphelios was hot.
The meta is Ahri/Kennen dominated, but nowhere near the worse meta we've ever had. That belongs to Azir/Irelia or Sivir/RuinRunner.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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And thank you both for the deck ideas. I'll probably try Scathus Kindred first. I've been enjoying Kindred a lot since the latest patch.
Azelia was pretty bad but there were lots of counters to it and they were fun to play. Hell, you showed us a Matron Cithria deck to counter it that I had a lot of success and fun with and eventually Viego joined that party.
Whereas the counters now are...spiders! Pass!
To each their own.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Give it a look see if you wanna punish Ahri decks. No idea how it does against everything else in the meta though.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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Also, today I decided to give Matron Cithria a whirl. One of my opponents was FTR, which they played on turn 9. That was really cute and I used my board of 10/10+ units from turn 8/9 double Matrons to casually clear them out.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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What's something fun that I can use to lazily ladder climb rn? I tend to never get above Silver anyway because I'm really lazy but still.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
I've dipped my toes into PvP for a few games but haven't been focusing on it. Is there a significant reward for achieving a high rank each season, like in Hearthstone? Enough that it's worth investing in a cheap higher-tier deck to push up the ladder with? How are expeditions? The deck building in expeditions seems really complex compared to MTG draft or HS arena and that's making me hesitant to jump into one.
Rewards for rankings include and Ranked level Icon (Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc) and Prismatic rewards (see below).
You don't earn any cards, chests, or resources for having a higher rank. If you manage to get to Masters, the top 700 players can enter a bi-monthly, ten-thousand player tournament (first place $10k).
Being new, and coming from Hearthstone, the lack of card rewards might be shocking. But worry not, the game will give you all the cards if you play daily, or at a decent pace. I've had 100% of the collection complete now for months, without spending a dime, something I never accomplished in 7 years of playing Hearthstone.
Expediations are like Arena/Draft stuff. Honestly, the mode is fun at first, but sort of wears thin after a while. It's not a very fleshed out mode, although the skeleton is pretty good. Hopefully they'll update it to be more interesting and rewarding to play. You're basically looking for stats, combat tricks, and removal. Demacia is the best region in Expedition since it has fewer synergies to rely on to make work.
The drafting is basically like this:
Choose a Champion and supporting cards, do this again with a different region. Now you're two regions are set and you'll get picks that are "Synergy" or "Wild". Synergy picks work with the Champions you've selected. For example, if you draft Teemo first, you'll get Puffcap cards. Wild cards are just that, cards that have no synergy with your Champions. It's possible to end up with three different regions.
I'd recommend playing Expedition once a week with your Expedition token from the Vault. Even if you go 0-2/0-2, you still get a guaranteed Epic capsule. Since Epic cards are duplicate protected, you'll always get something you need. Plus there's a good chance to get an upgrade to a Champion.
Good luck and have fun!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Yeah, spiders are a great jumping-off point for ranking up. The meta shifts quickly, but that archetype is usually pretty solid. Looking forward to your progress!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Match Score (4-1)
Game Score (8-3)
AK SI (1-2, 2 bans)
CQDACAYCAUAQGBIQAECAEDYBAUFDUAQFAICAOBABAIFQYLBSAQAQCARRAEBAEBIBAMBBIAIFAIKQEAICAIFACAYCBE
MF Scouts (3-0, 2 bans)
CIDACAYABYAQIAACAECQMAICAIAAEBQDAEAAMCI5AMBAMFR2HYBACAIAGMBAEAAHBEAQCAQABI
TLC (4-1, 0 bans)
CECACAYBAYBAIAIFBYBQCAIDCQZAKAIFAEOSQLBPAIAQCAIBAEAQKEYDAEAQCHIBAECQ6AIEAEFA
Game Notes
Predict Shellfolk, Matron Cithria, Karma Shellfolk
I ban Karma Shellfolk, opponent bans MF Scouts
Game 1: AK SI (L) v Predict Shellfolk
Game 2: AK SI (L) v Matron Cithria
Match 2
Scathus Pile, Drumble Sion, Liss Yetis Ionia
I ban Scathus Pile, opponent bans AK SI
Game 1: TLC (W) v Yetis
Game 2: MF Scouts (W) v Yetis
Match 3
Darkness, Deep, Kindred Nasus
I ban Darkness, opponent bans AK SI
Game 1: MF Scouts (W) v Kindred Nasus
Game 2: TLC (W) v Deep
Match 4
Kindred Nasus, Rumble Tristana Noxus, Taliyah Targon
I ban Rumble Trist, opponent bans MF Scouts
Game 1: TLC (W) v Kindred Nasus
Game 2: AK SI (W) v Taliyah Targon
Match 5
Azirelia, Katarina Yasuo, Dragons
I ban Azirelia, opponent bans AK SI
Game 1: TLC (L) v Dragons
Game 2: TLC (W) v Katarina Yasuo
Game 3: MF Scouts (W) v Katarina Yasuo
I was thinking about the future of the game the other day and was wondering if they'd ever consider making the Gauntlet format the standard in Ranked. The existing single deck ranked format would still exist and unranked.
I know that wouldn't be ideal for most, but I'd prefer that format for climbing since I can ban the stuff I hate playing against. Would definitely make for longer games, but I'd prefer the trade-off.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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I don’t want to brag too much, but you have me to thank. As soon as I equipped my Ahri/Kennen counter decks, I stopped seeing Ahri/Kennen.
Even with that, I still just barely squeaked by with the win.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Putting Viktor after Nautilus feels like giving us a victory lap. Not that Viktor isn't hard but I reeeeally don't think he's harder than Naut.
It really is the Tough that does it. There are so many things that turns off, and a lot of them are things they give us as upgrade powers! Like, come on.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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All it took was the +1/+0 to all allies on draw power, and the epic power that summons a sapling every attack round, and the epic power that summons a poro every round. At no point did any opponent come close to gaining board control against my endless army of 2/1s and 3/1s.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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I've been told by better players that Thralls and Azirelia are both favored into AK, and anecdotally that feels accurate, but the statistics don't back it up. Thralls I can see because that deck is very weird, people play it pretty poorly on ladder, and AK in particular is a matchup where you don't immediately all-in on a single landmark. Azirelia is a lot simpler though, there shouldn't be a skill gap there.
Match Score (2-0)
Game Score (4-1)
Scouts (2-1) 1 ban
CICQCAYABYAQIAACAIBAAAQGAMAQABQJDUBQEBQWHI7AGAIBAAZQCBIGAEBQEAAHBEFAA
Thralls (1-0) 1 ban
CMBQEAIBCQZAIBABAECQUDQEAQDR6LCCJEBACBABBMBQIBYNEJ4AEAIEAEEQCBAHHM
Azirelia (2-0)
CMBQCAICFICAIBYDDIZYUAIFAQBACBAFBAEQGAIEAIFQCBAHGYBACAQMGEBACAYCAUAQIB3Z
Mono Pantheon Demacia, AK SI, Zoe Lee
I ban Mono Pantheon, opponent bans Scouts
Game 1: Thralls (W) v AK SI
Game 2: Azirelia (W) v AK SI
Match 2
AK SI, Scouts, TF Nami PnZ
I ban Scouts, opponent bans Thralls
Game 1: Scouts (L) v AK SI
Game 2: Scouts (W) v TF Nami PnZ
Game 3: Azirelia (W) v TF Nami PnZ
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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I must say the all-enemies-have-tough passive is a huge letdown when your two most used heroes are Jinx and Miss Fortune. I'm not even sure how Miss Fortune gets through that adventure? I only beat it with Jinx by leveling her passive from 1 to 2 damage.
Now that's a sick engine right there. And yeah, Naut is by far a more difficult path/boss than Viktor. The only problem with Viktor is the high rolling of challengers and/or lifesteal on quick attack units. I had one game where Viktor got 3 Armed Gearheads in play with challenger, overwhelm, and lifesteal respectively. I died on turn 5.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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This was just a busted build. All attacking units gain +1 during their attack and raise their health to match their attack. With everything 3-cost or less being Lurk, my Blades would activate Lurk and scale out of control. My board was scaling like mad and Viktor got obliterated. Felt good.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Best seasonal I've had yet. I was a little worried about Azirelia but it turned out pretty great. It probably wouldn't have held up in match 5 but I ended up dropping both Thralls games anyway. Both my prismatic chests got upgraded too, ended up with Genevieve and Zoe.
Match Score (5-2, 2 drops)
Game Score (11-7)
Scouts (3-2, 3 bans)
CICQCAYABYAQIAACAIBAAAQGAMAQABQJDUBQEBQWHI7AGAIBAAZQCBIGAEBQEAAHBEFAA
Thralls (3-3, 3 bans)
CMBQEAIBCQZAIBABAECQUDQEAQDR6LCCJEBACBABBMBQIBYNEJ4AEAIEAEEQCBAHHM
Azirelia (5-2, 1 ban)
CMBQCAICFICAIBYDDIZYUAIFAQBACBAFBAEQGAIBAIGACBACBMAQIBZWAMAQCARRAECAO6ICAMBAKFA
Notes
Opponent: PsyduckRules Rank 258
AK, YiA, TF Nami Shellfolk
I ban YiA, opponent bans Scouts
Game 1: Thralls (W) v TF Nami
Game 2: Azirelia (L) v AK
Game 3: Azirelia (W) v TF Nami
Match 2: 1-0 Bracket
Opponent: Draco Moriarty Rank 825
AK, Panth Shyv, Darkness
I ban Panth Shyv, opponent bans Thralls
Game 1: Azirelia (W) v AK
Game 2: Scouts (L) v AK
Game 3: Scouts (L) v Darkness
Match 3: 1-1 Bracket
Opponent: Daunter Rank 318
AK SI, Panth Shyv, Zoe Lee
I ban Panth Shyv, opponent bans Thralls
Game 1: Azirelia (W) v AK SI
Game 2: Scouts (W) v Zoe Lee
Match 4: 2-1 Bracket
Opponent: AFK Support Rank 616
AK SI, Panth Taric, Ziggs Taliyah
I ban Panth Taric, opponent bans Scouts
Game 1: Azirelia (W) v AK SI
Game 2: Thralls (W) v AK SI
Match 5: 3-1 Bracket
Opponent: borto Rank 693
Scouts, Nightfall, Spiders
I ban Scouts, opponent bans Scouts
Game 1: Thralls (L) v Spiders
Game 2: Thralls (L) v Nightfall
Match 6: 3-2 Bracket
Opponent: CleverWong Rank 378
YiA, Darkness, Panth Shyv
I ban YiA, opponent drops
Match 7: 4-2 Bracket
Opponent: COINTELPRO Agent Rank 1126
Thralls, Zil Xerath, Jayce Lux
I ban Jayce Lux, opponent bans Azirelia
Game 1: Thralls (L) v Zil Xerath
Game 2: Scouts (W) v Thralls
Game 3: Thralls (W) v Thralls
Match 8: 5-2 Bracket
Opponent: GuillermoParra Rank 1263
Spiders, Darkness, Scouts
I ban Scouts, opponent bans Thralls
Game 1: Scouts (W) v Spiders
Game 2: Azirelia (L) v Spiders
Game 3: Azirelia (W) v Darkness
Match 9: 6-2 Bracket
Opponent: Peace 01 Rank 539
Zil Xerath, Thralls, Scouts
I ban Scouts, opponent drops
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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What are everyone's favorite Champions for playing a slower controlling deck in Path of Champions? I thought Yasuo might be more controlling, but he feels similar to Jinx - get an early lead, then prevent the opponent from catching up by (bombarding their board with discard triggers / stunning and recalling their threats).
In general Runeterra control doesn’t really feel the same as Magic/Hearthstone control, because removal is so bad. Runeterra control decks still need to play a lot of early creatures to defend.