Treasured Trash: Kinkou’s Mercenary — a Shen Sivir Deck Guide
Ana shares their Barrier-based midrange deck
Hello fellow Runeterrans, Ana here! I'm a Legends of Runeterra player from APAC who has hit Masters several times.
I am a deckbuilder who loves to cook up funny decks (that can actually work) and climb with them, and so you can often find me in the deckbuilding section of LoR Discord servers (under diefishmaggi #2837), where I post my homebrews and provide opinions for others on how to refine decks.
Today, I'm here to share with you a deck that has been a long-time favorite of mine, and have recently received quite a bit of love from Riot.
You can find the deck’s code [HERE]
About the deck
A long, long time ago…
A lot of you might remember the Sivir Flurry combo back in 2021, where she was paired with Zed for maximum aggro potential.
Well, at that time, I noticed something that people did not care much about: along with the change that made Double Attack shareable, Sivir can also share Barrier too!
So, obviously, I took it upon myself to build a Shen Sivir deck.
However, back then Sacred Protector was not yet released, and so the deck was pretty weak and slow.
But now, Sacred Protector does not only guarantee us drawing Shen, but it also provides us with the Double Attack win condition that Sivir Zed prides itself on.
… and Now
Shen Sivir is a midrange combo deck at its core.
Shen and his Barriers allow for free trades when paired with cards that make the opposing units Vulnerable, while Sivir – being a five-power Quick Attack Spellshield unit – allows us to maintain board superiority against other board-based decks. Combining both of these Champions gives us great board control in the mid- to late-game.
So, the first question you may ask is, why pick Shen over Zed?
Well, Sivir Zed is an aggro-combo deck that rushes the opponent down with a Double Attack combo that bails them out in the mid-game phase – if that is indeed your preferred playstyle, then there is not really anything I can say to convince you to switch to Shen. =)
Shen Sivir, on the other hand, is a midrange deck that also has the ability to “SMOrc” down opponents with early units, but at the same time resilient to interactions and opponent’s attacks. By taking value trades, we are able to keep our board intact against slower decks until we are finally able to get the combo going.
Sivir is undeniably one of the deck's main finishers, as sharing Overwhelm (through The Absolver) or Elusive (through Ghost) with other attacking units is pretty good on its own.
In addition to that, with the help of Shen’s Barrier and Sacred Protector’s Double Attack, we are guaranteed to have enough power to lethal our opponent in conjunction with the aforementioned keyword-sharing.
Shen is also a menace when he levels, as every Barriered unit will have an extra 3 power, making them very threatening for the opponent as they will have to make unfavorable blocks or take massive Nexus damage.
Note: The deck list is constantly changing as meta-evolves, but I will provide you with a guide on how to modify it to suit you in a later part of this article. I reached 70% win rate with this deck in the Magic Misadventures season, and fellow players that requested the deck from me have also seen success with it.
(As of Patch 3.11, there is currently a bug with Kai’Sa that progresses Shen and Greenglade Caretaker by 4 instances with a Second Skin cast onto a Barriered unit. This interaction made that deck way better at turbo-leveling Shen, but I believe the bug is not intended and will be fixed. That deck is also slower than Shen Sivir, and so I would still recommend Shen Sivir to anyone interested in a Shen deck beyond Demacia)
Mulligan and Gameplay advice
Against Aggro
Generally, you would want to find one- or two-drops like Treasure Seeker, Kinkou Student or Blastcone Seedling to provide you with early board control against decks that aim to rush you down.
Merciless Hunter is fine to keep too if you are not on a round-five clock (e.g. keep against Scouts as you can remove MF while not being at 9 hp on round two; but kick against Pirates if you do not have one- and two-drops).
You should aim at surviving and out-valuing them (while of course taking good attacks to force blocks).
Use Spirit's Refuge wisely, and remember that Noxus aggro can use Noxian Fervor to stop the Lifesteal.
Against Control
If you are against a slower combo or control matchup, then you will want to find your combo units to push for a big swing.
Cards like Ruin Runner, Sacred Protector and your champs are a keep in situations like this, and three-drops and Preservarium are also a keep as you generally would not want to waste mana on round three by passing without creating any board pressure. If you happen to get early drops, aim to chip in as much damage while you look for your combo finishers.
Against Midrange
When facing other midrange decks you will want to curve out – keep a few early drops, but not too many.
Deny spells are a keep only if you expect a big blowout spell from them (e.g. Buried in Ice from Timelines, or Harrowing from TF Nami SI), and this applies to control/combo matchups as well.
Card Choices
2x Sacred Protector
Draws Shen, one of our main combo pieces, and provides a Double Attack win condition.
Could not ask for more out of a card. It is, however, only a 2x in the deck, as drawing multiples can be a brick especially in the early game.
3x Merciless Hunter
One of Shurima’s best cards, even after the nerf.
Synergizes and curves out with both Shen and Sivir while giving ourselves favorable trades.
2x Treasure Seeker
Busted one-drop that is amazing for Sivir level up with the Waking Sands it creates.
2x Blastcone Seedling
Great two-drop that can proc Greenglade Caretaker and Kinkou Student in the early-game, level-up Shen in the mid-game, and gain Double Attack from Sacred Protector in the late-game.
2x Greenglade Caretaker
A one-drop that can scale indefinitely in the late game.
Greenglade Caretaker, Blastcone Seedling, and Treasure Seeker are all 2x because I prefer the slots for other cards. They can be 3x if you prefer.
2x Kinkou Student
Amazing 2-drop that catalyzes the entire Shen package’s gameplan.
Although it can die easily to pings, it is pretty busted in turbo-leveling Shen and being a free blocker on defense turns. It is only a 2x as it does not provide much value without other Barrier cards.
2x Ruin Runner
Best card to combo with Double Attack, and also a solid way to pressure our foe in the mid-game.
It is a 2x because without Sacred Protector or Shen, it is very fragile for a 5-drop that can die in combat easily.
1x Ghost and 2x Absolver
Game-ending spells.
1x Nopeify + 1x Deny
Counters for when our opponent tries to end our career prematurely.
1x Shuriman Tellstones
Mostly used for Ruthless Predator, to give ourselves a favorable trade, but having the flexibility of other options is nice.
2x Will of Ionia
Great tool to out-tempo our opponents as we remove their big threats from the board for only 4 mana.
1x Desert Duel and 2x Siphoning Strike
Interaction to kill our opponent’s threats.
Desert Duel is a cheap strike spell, but our unit will take damage if it is used against a high-power unit, whereas Siphoning Strike is more expensive but our units survive and buffs our champions if the kill goes off.
2x Twin Disciplines, 2x Quicksand and 2x Spirit's Refuge
Protection Spells.
Quicksand has the upside of countering opponent’s units with keywords, and Spirit's Refuge can be used to trigger Kinkou Student for another Barrier.
2x Preservarium
Fantastic card advantage for 2 mana.
Other Cards to Consider
Vekauran Bruiser
This is an amazing 5-drop that can out-value other decks by itself.
However, it does not provide immediate lethal and is susceptible to removal spells as compared to Ruin Runner, hence I would only recommend this if you face a lot of unit-based decks.
Concussive Palm
As compared to Will of Ionia, Concussive Palm does not remove the threats, which is one of the major downsides.
However, it also prevents the opponent from triggering summon effects again (such as Shipwreck Hoarder or Winding Light).
Compared to Will of Ionia, it is also better against faster decks, as we gain a blocker while stunning one of their attackers.
Rock Hopper
Pretty amazing for early pressure, and Roiling Sands allows you to trade favorably.
It dies fairly easily to pings and chump blockers, though.
Young Witch
Young Witch can be an absolute blast in the deck in conjunction with Vulnerable-giving cards such as Merciless Hunter, Ruthless Predator, and Rock Hopper.
Would recommend it if you are also on Rock Hopper.
Aspiring Chronomancer
As the deck can brick fairly easily, Chronomancer offers a way to control your draws with Predicts while also providing a solid 2|3 body for two mana.
Deny/Nopeify/Rite of Negation
Generally I would recommend a total of 3x of all these ‘Deny’ spells, but currently I am on 2x because there are not a lot of deny targets in the meta.
Nopeify is good when cheap spells are prevalent; Rite of Negation is good against decks that chain lots of spells/skills on the stack (like Riptide Rex); while Deny is the ol’ reliable for any major spell/skill.
Tellstones
Good cards in general.
Shuriman Tellstones can provide Ruthless Predator hence why I am including it in the deck.
Ionian Tellstones have great options too, but personally I value other cards.
Hothead
Solid statline for a three-drop, and has the upside of granting one of our champions +1|+1 and a random keyword on attack. The generated keyword can win games at times, but even without that the floor value of the card is just a 3 mana 3|3, which is not bad at all. Would recommend in a meta when people are not racing for stats.
Tasty Faefolk
Solid lifesteal unit that benefits a lot from Barriers, and also a pretty big game-changer if you face a lot of aggro decks.
And that's it!
I hope you steal some LP from your opponent, and have fun!
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