Legends of Runeterra |OT| Yay! Now I Can Bat Around the Bodies!

[Dahbomb]

It's kinda crazy that so many crazy strats and builds are introduced in this expansion that would otherwise be tier 1/tier 2 decks easily but because of stuff like Bastion and Hush, most of the new crazy stuff is kept in check.

Also kinda makes it so that Targon might be the best region in the game right now. It feels SO bad not to be running stuff like Hush/Pale Cascade/Bastion right now.

 

[ZeroX]

lol so far I've been smashing Targon, but my deck doesn't care about Hush or Bastion

Stun on the other hand fucks my shit up and just got wrecked by a mono Yasuo of all things

 

[Hassansan]

What's the source of the Frostbite? If it's a unit (like Ashe, Sejuani, Archer) then no. Should only stop spells and unit skills (the reactable ones).

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It was ashe's attack, makes sense now.

 

[LightBang]

Only played a bit of expeditions yesterday since ranked was down. I had flashbacks to Hearthstone with this much card generation. It will be better when everyone learns all the cards and can somewhat play around it. Had a game where 80% of the cards in hand were generated, I'm including my opponent here...

Daybreak seems pretty powerful, the 6 mana removal was the most impactful card in the games I played.

Going for constructed later today, clearly expeditions aren't worth it besides change pace once in a while.

 

[Totakeke]

Lulu feels pretty good but definitely leans towards a high roll aggro since playing the one drop on turn one is pretty essential to her strength.

Diana felt quite promising with the Cygnus finisher, tried out a couple variations including a Diana Vi deck. It does work, but in the end, fell into the standard midrange problem where fighting on the board fairly without rally always lacks the punch through you need,

Although I haven't seen many of them, it's super annoying to play against yasuo decks with midrange decks, I can never draw the bastions when I need them.

 

[Sande]

The expedition archetypes are kind of a mess for the expansion. First I tried to go for Nightfall, picked a couple copies of the 1 drop enabler that's useless without payoff, never got offered any Nightfall cards. The next run I went for trolls and was barely offered any 8+ drops.

 

[halvvapoori]

I love the new expansion and enjoy playing with most of the new champions. It was honestly hard to decide with which champions I want to build a deck, but I think I'll go with Taric first and then Diana. I feel like Taric + Zed is pretty legit do y'all see my vision 😁

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Yep, finally got to play Targon + Leona and managed to get 6 wins without defeats, only losing to another Targon shitter in the 7th game :(

Once you start pulling those Celestial cards, it is like Labs again. You have overpowered cards that keep refilling. Plus Leona is just a Minotaur who is actually hitting useful units instead of spiders.

 

[Sylvee]

What's funny is that I feel like Aurelion is actually worse in a dedicated Celestial deck than he is in one with little to no Invoke cards. Celestial decks can opt to take one or a couple of the 7-10 mana finishers with their invokes while also having the option to use those invokes to get other cards that might be more immediately useful, which makes the idea of having a 10 mana champ that only functions as a wincon feel unnecessary.

 

[Sande]

Once you start pulling those Celestial cards, it is like Labs again. You have overpowered cards that keep refilling. Plus Leona is just a Minotaur who is actually hitting useful units instead of spiders.

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Invoke gets a huge boost from day 1 unrefined decks. When things settle, I see a lot of Invoke heavy decks dying on turn 6 with a hand full of OP cards.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Invoke gets a huge boost from day 1 unrefined decks. When things settle, I see a lot of Invoke heavy decks dying on turn 6 with a hand full of OP cards.

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I am playing Expeditions.

It is pretty much the opposite that should happen: new champions and cards should perform worse because we had so much time learning other expedition-based decks and power picks.

Wish there wasn't a 3 Expedition limit anymore. I blazed 3 drafts/day during MTGA set launches... Muh fancy Godzilla cards :)

 

[Sande]

I am playing Expeditions.

It is pretty much the opposite that should happen: new champions and cards should perform worse because we had so much time learning other expedition-based decks and power picks.

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They're gonna have to be really careful with Invoke. If it's balanced for constructed it's pretty much by definition OP for expeditions. Thankfully expedition balance is really malleable since they can adjust the archetypes as they wish.

 

[Dahbomb]

Yeah I can already telling without playing Expeditions that Daylight cards and Invoke are insane there.

Also hot take: Stargazer is an easier, more reliable finisher than Aurelion Sol for most decks with Targon in it. I am running two in my Yasuo/Leona deck and it gets the job done.

 

[Deleted member 28523]

ez doesn't really need a nerf.

not sure what i'm going to end up playing first. maybe some sort of starlit seer and gems deck. seems fairly degenerate.

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here's the deck. not nearly as degenerate as I was hoping for. the daybreak and invoke stuff is just too overpowering. This deck can't win against any sort of control deck and all the silences going around just hurt even more. Still a fun deck and maybe it would be decent in a different meta. also Fury of the North did need a nerf but boy does only giving 3 attack hurt. maybe it should have just gone to 5 mana.

 

[Dahbomb]

Really curious to see where the meta ends up settling, seeing all sorts of decks.

Right now the only Targon archetype that feels underwhelming is the whole Nigthfall Shadow Isle package. Mist Wraith and SI Elusives are stronger archetypes now but anything with Nocturne just feels mediocre, it relies too hard on a high roll to win. Honestly speaking the Targon/Frejlord ramp deck has been putting in more work than the SI Nightfall deck.

The falling 5 decks I have seen to have most potential:

*Lulu Demacia. Players still tinkering around with this but I think the answer is to cut Shen and go more aggressive with Relentless Pursuits.

*Taric Lee Sin. This is actually sort of scary now. Taric alone can win the game and if it goes later than that then Lee Sin can force a close. Denies, Hush and Bastion can keep Lee Sin and Taric alive easily. They are goijg to be buffing Lee Sin as well.

*Daylight + Swain/Yasuo/Celestial package: Daylight package is obviously very strong but we still don't have an optimized finisher for this yet. I think Swain + Daylight is better than Yasuo + Daylight as you need an extra finisher for the Yasuo version (like I am running Mindsplitter and 2 Stargazers). Mono Targon Celestial is too slow speed to be good long term.

*TF + Ezrael is still very good. Riptide and Ezrael can still force a close.

*Ramp Celestial deck or Thresh + Sol/Targon. These are the two only way to really use ASOL. Celestials are good enough finishers. Trundle is solid when you ramp into him.

*Mistwraith deck or SI Elusives. Lots of support here for the archetypes. Was in a game where the opposing player got a 10/3 Mistwraith out.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Got 3 champions from capsules already. None in the Vault, but it is fine.

First Expedition got my face kicked in because I wasn't offered Targons, second and third were 6 and 7 wins. Daybreak/Invoke is probably stronger than launch badgerbear hoarding was.

 

[Totakeke]

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The Diana Vi deck, it's quite fun to finish with a big elusive combo so it's worth sharing. Diana Nocturne loses far too easily to any midrange like Leona, so Vi gives it a little more lasting power until it can play Cygnus finish or burn finish. Rummage is quite good because often times you don't really need the Gem or Duskpetal Dusk, and just need Nightfall to trigger. Vi also levels relatively easily with all the spells you use for Nightfall and one Gem gives Vi +2 attack. Also healing Vi is worth quite a bit. Outside of Nocturne Diana, Diana loses a bit of the Nightfall power to be a finisher, but is still good enough most of the time.

The thing about playing Nightfall is often you don't want to play things out if you can wait for it, and instead play most things in the same turn if you can, so you don't have to search for Nightfall activators as often. Otherwise you want to play non-Nightfall cards on your defensive turn, and save your Nightfall on your offensive turns.

There's still questions like whether to play Poro Cannon or Bastion, the former is questionable of its value outside of a Nightfall trigger, and the latter feels a bit too dead against the many Targon matchups right now. The right burn package to use is also a question mark still.

 

[Toxi]

The LoR subreddit moderation made a statement that bigotry is not welcome in the community.

 

[Dahbomb]

The LoR subreddit moderation made a statement that bigotry is not welcome in the community.

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Apparently the origin of this was from Tyari the Traveler being a trans character and some people were mad/complaining about it. So yeah the statement was more than warranted, was just stupid transphobia being spewed.

 

[Sr Kitsune]

Apparently the origin of this was from Tyari the Traveler being a trans character and some people were mad/complaining about it. So yeah the statement was more than warranted, was just stupid transphobia being spewed.

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Such a stupid thing to be mad about. Oh well, it's stupid transphobia.

 

[Poodlestrike]

The LoR subreddit moderation made a statement that bigotry is not welcome in the community.

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Good on them!

 

[jerd]

Fizz not being able to dodge leona stun seems weirdly inconsistent

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Fizz not being able to dodge leona stun seems weirdly inconsistent

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Nah, it is consistent. There have been cards which auto-lock on the enemy without officially targeting before Targon. Though the question is, if Make it Rain no longer targets, does the Fizz still counter it? I guess not.

The only way to beat someone in Expedition is to have better Targon cards. I think this might be the final nail for whoever still played Expeditions... You don't get Targon/Daybreak? Look at what opponent is rolling during the very first game (0 win round), even though I am guilty of pushing the same shit when I get Targon/Leona. And once you get Leona/Targon, the Daybreak cards are offered at such a high frequency that you will literally have 3+ of 3/6, priest and sun daddy.

Also I am out of Expeditions, played total 4 because I managed to sneak one before the Vault reset. No more games = no more complains this week

 

[Dahbomb]

Fizz does counter Make it Rain, just like how Ezrael levels from Make it Rain. Make it Rain has to choose targets itself even if the player isn't making the targeting.

This is definitely a weird ruling in the game though.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Fizz does counter Make it Rain, just like how Ezrael levels from Make it Rain. Make it Rain has to choose targets itself even if the player isn't making the targeting.

This is definitely a weird ruling in the game though.

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For the 20 hours since the Targon update, the interaction was updated to NOT consider Riptide/Make it Rain shots as targets, yet the patch notes said they will change it in the next patch, so it was reverted in the hotfix today.

 

[Dahbomb]

For the 20 hours since the Targon update, the interaction was updated to NOT consider Riptide/Make it Rain shots as targets, yet the patch notes said they will change it in the next patch, so it was reverted in the hotfix today.

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Ah ok, I missed that. I wonder if that was their intended change to "fix" Ezrael all along. It's possible that they might be testing it on their builds.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Tried to build a Diana/Nocturne deck in Expeditions.

My advice for anybody considering the same: don't.

 

[jerd]

Expeditions is rough right now. It's just all Leona vs Leona. It feels like you can't draft anything aggressive at all because their daybreak units just outcurve you

 

[Boat Times]

I dunno guys, I made a Teemo deck in expeditions and went 6-1 with it. I will say, I lost the last fight and it was against a Leona/Diana deck. That fight came down to the wire, though and I did make two big misplays during it. I've always done well with Teemo in expeditions though. He's my go to.

 

[Totakeke]

I went 7-1 with Taric Zed in expedition and all the games except for two or three were all celestial decks.

Looks something like this. Had 4x Pale Cascade.

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[ZeroX]

Ezreal's back in Targon form!? I'm here for it folks

 

[Totakeke]

The worst part about this expansion is definitely that none of the old archetypes got new tools without going into a Targon specific version of it.

 

[Dahbomb]

The worst part about this expansion is definitely that none of the old archetypes got new tools without going into a Targon specific version of it.

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Yeah that's going to take the rest of the expansions to flesh out. Feels super weird that 4 of the regions got like 1-2 cards at the most lol.

Like I am looking at Demacia and they got a 5 mana dragon that is basically another Swift Lancer lol. Its very obvious the next expansion will have Dragon synergy for Demacia but until then Demacia has to just play the usual Scouts/Bannerman style. I guess technically Lulu + Shen is "new" but its mostly just swapping out a few cards from the Shen + Fiora deck.

 

[Toxi]

Stalking Shadows is one of those card where you read it, go "Okay," then read it again and go "Wait this does what? For how much?"

 

[Greenlock]

Haven't played in a bunch of months, since release basically, but jumped in now again. Started at rank floor and working my way up again. Game is fun :) Been playing a ramp Asol/trundle deck with alot of success, its fun going against aggro and surviving barely just to edge out a win at the end.

 

[Deleted member 28523]

messed around with Jack the Winner. Just using him in a fairly standard SI and Bilge deck but he seem fairly strong. I'll have to try him in a Noxus/Bilge deck as well. The new powder monkey card doesn't seem that strong. It's a bit too awkward to get powder monkeys on different turns.

 

[Dahbomb]

This is the Swain/Leona deck I have settled on. Daybreak cards to contest early/mid game, Swain/Lev + Stargazer to win late game. Went 8-2 so far, close to Diamond rank.

Tech card explanations:

*Zenith Blade was in this deck and it was working well enough however Culling strike hits this meta quite well. Culling strike can hit targets more frequently because of hush.

* Star gazer is a two of as an extra security for late. There are many late game decks at the moment and sometimes the Leviathon is not enough. In an optimized meta I can see star gazers being cut But for now it feels fine.

* Bastions are in this deck to protect the big units. There are many comets and meteors in the current MehaSo I need the extra protection. I can see discard being cutIn the future.

*Hush is too powerful not to include at least 2 of in any Midrange/Control Targon deck. Really shuts down support decks, Elusive decks, cards with spell shields and various buff cards. Super versatile and game winning.


I have a Yasuo + Leona deck as well that has honestly worked better than I anticipated. It just needs to fit in a few spot removals so I am still tinkering around with it. Singular Will has been game winning. Not some tier 1 deck but it works well synergy wise and that deck definitely is running Zenith Blades.

 

[Nkcell]

I've been an expedition only player since this game was in beta. I play a few matches almost daily and have gone through all 3 expeditions almost every week since the game has been out. I know it's only been 2 days since the patch, but it has really destroyed my enjoyment of the mode and thus the game.

It really feels like they did not think about or test the Targon Invoke buckets. There are too many cards that give you decent bodies to chump block with + an insane celestial card in hard. There's also abundant healing. It is so easy to stall out the game now so that you can start dropping the big boy celestials who all have 2-3 keywords. Expedition was already tightly tuned with the power of removal-- most expeditions you have just enough and the matches are good and close. Now people playing Targon have access to two different obliterate cards and they have many creatures with spellshield that require blowing 2 removal spells.

The matches are taking 10 minutes longer on average than they used to. The norm is now for people to have a full board and a full hand, which would have been bizarre to see pre-patch. It feels like tempo has disappeared and decks without targon cards are a joke.

I don't know if the cards themselves are the issue or that the buckets are too sparse so you can easily grab 4-5 Solari Priestess in a single draft. I do know it's shifted the game into a way less interesting place and I really hope they can address it.

 

[ZeroX]

I've been an expedition only player since this game was in beta. I play a few matches almost daily and have gone through all 3 expeditions almost every week since the game has been out. I know it's only been 2 days since the patch, but it has really destroyed my enjoyment of the mode and thus the game.

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I was an expedition player for the first set but really drifted away with The Rising Tides but yeah I can only imagine how bad this expansion is. My condolences.

You've probably got enough resources to just build anything in constructed now at least? Or wait until Labs/Gauntlet are good again. Also damn Gauntlet feels pointless.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

You've probably got enough resources to just build anything in constructed now at least? Or wait until Labs/Gauntlet are good again. Also damn Gauntlet feels pointless.

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I approve of the current Labs mode. I think it is a luxury compared to other card games that we can have functional trial deck mode against other people. It is such a great way to get the feel of new cards/decks without spending anything (not that crafting cards is difficult in LoR). Quick, easy and free ways to test-drive the Expansion.

And if you are new to the game and broke, this is by far the best way to play the game until you can build the library. Expeditions were an ok way at the start of the game, but now the balance and rewards are so much worse you shouldn't spend shards on them.

Even though MTGA had that pre-coned mode using tournament decks one time, in most cases of pre-made deck modes, it is a barely cohesive jank which doesn't even come close to reassembling the actual deck.

 

[Dahbomb]

Considering games are longer/slower and more valued oriented on regular ladder, its same to assume its even more so on Exp as Targon has a 3x multiplier on appearance. And Targon is custom made to be really strong in such modes as any Invoke card gives you something that is much stronger than most other cards and they all work standalone.

That said I have been having a blast in the new expansion and can't wait for the next batch of cards. I also think its a net positive that games actually last turn 10 and beyond which makes way more of the card pool playable.

 

[jerd]

Really not a fan of invoke mirrors so far. Those games feel like they're never going to end

 

[Lumination]

Yep, finally got to play Targon + Leona and managed to get 6 wins without defeats, only losing to another Targon shitter in the 7th game :(

Once you start pulling those Celestial cards, it is like Labs again. You have overpowered cards that keep refilling. Plus Leona is just a Minotaur who is actually hitting useful units instead of spiders.

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Just went 7-2 with Mistwraiths and not even that many Mistwraith cards at that. Didn't even have the new Mistwraith package. The standard Targon daybreak early game is pretty similar to Demacia in that they're beefsticks, but you just take some face hits and they don't defend nearly as well. Run them off on your attack turns, just make sure you play around Leona on t4. They have no good combat tricks, so you win through combat mostly.

 

[ZeroX]

I haven't played that much but I'm still pretty happy with MF Scouts, sure that'll change soon though

I'm usually finishing on 6 or 7 which is when a lot of decks are just getting started, and yeah I'm winning combat against Daybreak units

 

[Sande]

Watching Swim's new video, I feel pretty smug for rating Icequake and Improbulator as high as I did.

 

[Dahbomb]

Watching Swim's new video, I feel pretty smug for rating Icequake and Improbulator as high as I did.

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Swim about to shave his head for the next 3 years after having to explain why the ASol deck is running 3 Ice Quakes as a main deck card.

Improbulator is pretty good but it's getting carried hard by Hush. Little chance Hush evades a nerf 3 weeks from now.

Overall I am happy with the tier list. All the new champions and archetypes are well represented (except Nocturne lul). There is also the 4 quadrant of deck types represented from combo, control/ramp, midrange and aggro/tempo. Many cards people thought were trash are seeing a lot of play (Mindsplitter, Icequake, Improbulator, Ravaged, Troll Shout, Sunburst etc).

Going to work on Lux + Leona next, I think this could be a very good combo too.

 

[ZeroX]

Icequake looks fucking terrible on paper, but boy does it seem to hit a lot of situations perfectly

I wonder if another region will get Daybreak? SI got Nightfall, Freljord got Behold and Demacia is getting Dragons so I wonder if someone between Bilgewater, P&Z and Noxus will get Daybreak (not that Leona needs the help). Noxus could be nasty with the Leona package and already lends itself to stun.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Just went 7-2 with Mistwraiths and not even that many Mistwraith cards at that. Didn't even have the new Mistwraith package. The standard Targon daybreak early game is pretty similar to Demacia in that they're beefsticks, but you just take some face hits and they don't defend nearly as well. Run them off on your attack turns, just make sure you play around Leona on t4. They have no good combat tricks, so you win through combat mostly.

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Kind of becomes an RNG-fest with whoever can invoke the best cards when you play Leona/Targon mirrors. Or whoever has Aurelion instead of Taric/Diana/Others.

I am unsure how you can trade well against them, the 5/5 daddy gives an extra unit. The daybreakers aren't running out of steam, giving plenty of time to collect invoke beasts or nukes.

 

[AWizardDidIt]

It's a popular opinion that Shurima is coming in the next xpac. I think that's probably when we can expect to see another region get Daybreak.

 

[Poodlestrike]

It's a popular opinion that Shurima is coming in the next xpac. I think that's probably when we can expect to see another region get Daybreak.

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Makes a lot of sense thematically for the region, though it's not really a great fit for any of the champs. Maybe Azir.