Table of Contents
Introduction
Hello! I am Raphterra, a Legends of Runeterra content creator who's played at the professional level of LOR ( Peak Rank 1 Masters, Worlds 2021 Competitor, 3x Seasonal Tournament Top-Cut Finisher ).
Today, I'm sharing my picks for the best decks that you can use to climb the ranked ladder in Legends of Runeterra. My picks are based mostly on meta data and stats, with a little bit of my personal preference in card choices.
If you're looking for the best deck lists that will take you to high ranks, you are in the right place!
The Top Picks For Ranked Ladder
These are my top recommendations if you just really want to climb and destroy ranked ladder.
The Best Meta Deck - Nami Lee Sin
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To no one's surprise, Nami Lee Sin is still the best deck in the meta. The archetype has a whopping overall winrate of 58.3% in 22,000+ games. The decklist I picked out has a winrate of 58.8% in 1700+ games. This is also the list I used to hit Top 13 Masters (518 LP) earlier this season.
Nami Lee Sin has no bad matchups against the other top decks in the meta. Taric Poppy is the most relevant unfavored matchup in terms of stats, but I think this matchup is still very winnable for skilled pilots.
The Duelist Returns - Fiora Pantheon
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Fiora Pantheon is the latest addition to the list of high-tier decks, with an overall winrate of 57.4% in 14000+ games. The best-performing decklist, featuring only one copy of Iula, has a winrate of 59.6% in 1400+ games.
This Fated combination does poorly against Nami Lee Sin and Akshan Lee Sin, but does very decently against everything else! Twisted Fate Swain has a difficult time dealing with this deck due to several units with Spellshield.
Ionia is the Answer - Akshan Lee Sin
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It seems you can't go wrong with Lee Sin and Ionia! The pairing of Akshan and Lee Sin has an overall winrate of 55.5% in 6500+ games. The decklist I featured has a very impressive winrate of 58.2% in 450+ games.
This deck loses to Lee Sin Nami (like every deck does), but is a potent counter pick for Fiora Pantheon and Twisted Fate Swain. The recent popularity of Fiora Pantheon definitely helps pump up the numbers for Akshan Lee Sin.
An Unlikely Duo - Swain Norra
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Another new brew has emerged as Swain makes his second appearance in this article. Swain Norra packs an overall winrate 55.3% in 4700+ games. The list above is the most popular and best-performing build, with a winrate of 55.8% in 2200+ games.
The deck does very well into popular decks like Twisted Fate Swain, Karma Master Yi, and Leona Asol. Unfortunately, Nami Lee Sin and Fiora Pantheon are bad matchups for this archetype. This deck can also be very skill-intensive, so exercise caution when queuing this list for the first time.
The Most Popular - Twisted Fate Swain
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Twisted Fate Swain is the most popular deck in the meta, and most players are still having success with the archetype. This pairing has an overall winrate of 54.5% in 46000+ games, with the list I picked out having an impressive winrate of 56.3% in 4800+ games.
Being the most popular deck comes with a price: counter decks! Twisted Fate Swain is unfavored against Lee Sin Nami, Fiora Pantheon, and Norra Swain. Despite this, it's still putting up great numbers because it crushes popular aggressive and midrange archetypes like Elise Nocturne, Leona Asol, and Taric Poppy.
Decent Decks For Climbing
These are decks that are showing promise, but not quite top-tier. Still very good for climbing the ladder!
Can't Block Me - Gwen Katarina
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After the nerf to Hate Spike, Gwen Katarina is once again crawling it's way back up on the tier list. The archetype currently has an overall winrate of 54.8% in 5400+ games. The decklist running Black Spear instead of Hate Spike is the best-performing one, with a winrate of 55.0% in 250+ games.
Gwen Katarina is a counter deck against Fiora Pantheon, and surprisingly goes evenly against Twisted Fate Swain and Nami Lee Sin! This is promising archetype, but we may need a larger sample size before making final conclusions.
Shurima Duelists - Akshan Pantheon
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Pantheon and Fated seem to be poised to become a staple in the meta. The Shurima version of Fated has an overall winrate of 54.2% in 4600+ games. The list featured above has a very promising winrate of 59.3% in 200+ games.
This archetype gets demolished by Nami Lee Sin, but is slightly favored against Twisted Fate Swain and Fiora Pantheon. This is an underrated archetype; not may players are using this even if there aren't too many bad matchups for the Akshan Pantheon pairing!
Niche Meta Decks
These are decks that do decently against the general field, and some hard-counter the top tier lists. Use these depending on what you're facing in ladder!
Rally Your Way To Victory - Taric Poppy
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As expected in every meta, Rally decks are still meta staples. Taric Poppy has an overall winrate of 52.8% in 9400+ games, with the decklist above having a winrate of 54.0% in 1000+ games.
Taric Poppy is the only relevant counter to the meta menace, Nami Lee Sin. This comes at a price though, as the matchups against Twisted Fate Swain and Fiora Pantheon are unfavored.
Yordle Control - Veigar Norra
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This one's for the control-enjoyers out there! Veigar Norra has a very respectable overall winrate of 52.5% in 5400+ games. This list running Minimorph has high potential with a winrate of 62.0% in 180+ games.
Veigar Norra is a counter pick against the popular Twisted Fate Swain, but loses to both Nami Lee Sin and Fiora Pantheon. This is a very matchup-specific deck, I would only recommend using this deck if you're playing against several Twisted Fate Swain players.
Tribeam Returns - Swain Caitlyn
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Noxus Tribeam makes it's return to the meta following Swain's buffs! Caitlyn Swain currently has a winrate of only 51.7% in 7800+ games, but there are some promising builds for this archetype. The decklist above has an impressive winrate of 57.5% in 390+ games.
The positive winrate of this deck can be surprising, since it's unfavored against Nami Lee Sin, Fiora Pantheon, and Twisted Fate Swain. However, it does very well against Taric Poppy and Veigar Norra.
Conclusion
Patch 3.16 seems to be a very open meta! It's rare that we have a Legends of Runeterra meta featuring five top tier decks. I reckon that there are more unexplored concepts out there, and it's likely that the meta will have a big shift again in a few weeks!
If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on YouTube or Twitter!
