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The Burnt 'n' Bloody Show Must Go On: Annie Jhin, Back on Top!
As of Tuesday, here are the most popular and potent deck lists, according to Legna and Mastering Runeterra Meta Tier List:
The x-axis is win rate: the more to the right, the more that deck wins,
The y-axis (and also the size of the bubble) is the number of games in the last three days,
In all cases, it's for the specific deck list (that's to say, not the whole archetype as an aggregate, but the specific deck for that archetype that performs best).
As seen in the graph, we have a clear winner this week: the most played deck, Annie Jhin, is also the one with the highest win rate (and by a huge margin at that) – so much for Demacia's dominance: it's all burning bullets now!
Let's jump to the decks, which we'll sort by play rate of the most popular specific deck (as in: not by the archetype's overall play rate, but by the number of games of their most popular build).
Sources: MaRu's data (which samples Plat+ players) and Legna's data (which samples High Diamond & Masters players) – both sources in turn get their data directly from Riot (via Riot's API).
Juggernauts – Best Legends of Runeterra Decks
Here we showcase LoR decks with more than 2100 games in the last three days, and good-to-great win rate – the best tried-and-true tools for your ladder climb!
Out of Control: Annie Jhin
It's been a while since we've seen a deck dominate the LoR meta so harshly: with well over 3,000 games, Annie Jhin also has the highest win rate we'll see today: 59%.
And their best list has remain untouched since, like, forever:
Matter of fact, stubborn innovators ARE trying to tweak it, and there's a very popular list (with about half the play rate) switching one Decimate for one Blade's Edge…
… and losing 1% of performance in the process.
Keep it in mind, kids: such is the price of hipterism, when you mess with the classics!
Bullet buff and blazing brat lose to Elites and Heimer Jayce, but prey upon Jayce Lux, Eve Kai'Sa, Jax Ornn, Nasus Zilean and Taliyah Ziggs (and farm Ryze like nobody's business) – and with amazing odds in most cases.
Lone Demacia: Garen Jarvan
Even though they beat Annie Jhin, Elites finds themselves displaced from the Kings of the Meta throne. Garen Jarvan is no doubt an extremely powerful deck (and, according to Legna, may fare even better the higher you climb the ladder), but its otherwise great 55% win rate across 2,500 games kinda pales when compared with Annie Jhin.
The good thing about Elites is that they don't have any strikingly bad matchup outside of Heimer Jayce – most of their other bad matchups (Jayce Lux, Nasus Zilean, Taliyah Ziggs, Jax Ornn, Pyke Rek'sai) are only slightly disfavored. And they have an abundance of prey: Eve Kai'Sa, Caitlyn Teemo, Ryze, Azirelia and, most important, Annie Jhin are all welcome sights.
Heavyweights – Strong LoR Meta Decks
These Legends of Runeterra decks have between 900 and 2100 games in the last three days – solid picks for climbing the LoR ladder!
The Weapon Forge: Jax Ornn
Deflating a bit (at 53% today, down from 56% last week), Forge-god and Weaponmaster remain a very solid weapon of choice, should you enjoy their playstyle.
(Or their voice lines; above all since Jax's lines are factually and objectively the best in the game).
Forge-god and Weaponmaster demolish Jayce Lux and Eve Kai'Sa, while reliably beating Elites and Taliyah Ziggs – but, sweet Icathia, what a wreck they get turned into when they face Annie Jhin or the Rune Mage. And a newcomer, Fiora Shen, has proven disastrous too!
Lurkers, aka Pyke Rek'sai
Lurkers have a tendency to show up even when the meta is decidedly against them, but it's not the case this time: it's a great time to pack some Pyke & friends!
Like last week, we find Lurkers with a 53% punch across 1,800+ games. Amazing odds against Ryze and Azirelia, good odds versus Eve Kai'Sa and Elites, and unafraid of Annie Jhin and Jax Ornn – Lurkers' weak spots are Jayce Lux, Heimer Norra, Taliyah Ziggs and Fiora Shen.
The Six-Plus Pair: Jayce Lux
Defying the dictums of the Aspect of Big Spells, the best Jayce Lux deck adds a single Forge of Tomorrow to their list, for a powerful 55% punch across 1,300 games.
Jayce Lux is no longer the scariest thing out there, though – as an archetype, it remains the most popular, but as we've seen, several other champion pairs can put similar or better performance when we look at their best decks.
Both MaRu and Legna's data agree on the best build (Jayce Lux tends to have a lot of different variations) which would be this one:
Jayce Lux has evened the odds against Eve Kai'Sa, but still gets wrecked by Jax Ornn and Taliyah Ziggs, with Annie Jhin also being lousy matchup. And a new predator has emerged: Nasus Zilean, although not a solid deck overall, has put another dent on Jayce Lux's performance.
On the other hand, the Big Spells pair beats Elites, Eve Kai'Sa, Lurkers and Jayce Lux, keeps Ryze at bay, and has great odds versus this week's newcomer, Fiora Shen.
Fiora Shen
Well, truth be told, calling these two "newcomers" is a bit of a stretch – this is far from the first time we see Shen and Fiora teaming up, and to very good results. But while Fiora had a bit of the spotlight a few months ago (as part of the Vayne-Quinn-Fiora trident), the last we saw of Shen was in the Dark Age of Kai'Sa, when Bard Shen emerged as a great counter to then-tyrant Bard Illaoi.
(For those that weren't around at that time: yeah, Bard had really kinda wandered into half of the LoR decks of that meta… =)
But here they are now, Shen and Fiora, back to their midrangey ways, packing everything from denies to a solid curve to offensive spells to refill:
Thus far, they have managed a very good 53% win rate in about 1600 games with their best deck – they absolutely demolish Elites, Jax Ornn and Lurkers, while having problems with Annie Jhin (slightly), Jayce decks (quite a bit) and Taliyah Ziggs (a lot!).
Taliyah Ziggs
Taliyah Ziggs doesn't seem able to decide which build should it go for – and this week, both versions (one with Hexplosive Minefield and Waste Walker, the other preferring Ancient Preparations, Rockbear Shepherd and and Safety Inspector) compete neck-to-neck with very similar performance.
If you're fond of Stuns: link to full deck [HERE]
If you prefer Rockbears: link to full deck [HERE]
Other Strong Options
If none of the above fit your playstyle, other Heavyweights with win rate above (and sometimes well above) 52% are:
Gwen Quinn, which is looking like one of the best decks (56% win rate) among those that see less, but still quite a bit, of play,
Garen Kayle – there doesn't seem to be much reason to play this version over the Lone Demacia, but it's definitely a solid deck for ladder (by the way: if you are a Kayle fan, do notice that, as we'll see next, Kayle Leona is enjoying a bit of a comeback!),
Akshan Varus, still very much alive!
Evelynn Kai'Sa or Eve Viego – very playable, both at 52% win rate, although not the strongest decks you'll find today. But if the Lady of Pain is your jam, you can go torment folks with these!
Kayle Leona, enjoying quite the comeback,
Heimerdinger Jayce, also looking very good this week,
Kindred Nasus Senna, although pilots beware here – MaRu data shows this deck as performing below 50%, but Legna's data puts it above 52% in 1,000+ games.
Your Mileage May Vary – Fringe LoR Decks
Legends of Runeterra decks a few games played in the last three days – these may range from total flukes… to the next big thing.
Braum Fiora seems to have been a fluke (worked great last week, but not so much today), but Braum Norra, which emerged last patch, shows quite a bit of promise: 53%+ WR across more than 500 games,
Miss Fortune is having a jolly good time – either with Twisted Fate in a Pirate-y, all-out aggro-and-burn build, or with Swain in a more control-y, Flocks'n'Leviathans version,
Kalista Nocturne has lost a lot of popularity but, with a 54% win rate, still looks like a very good deck to take to ladder.
Wrapping Up
Yet again returned from the fringes, Annie Jhin is giving everybody a run for their shards – goes to show you don't need new cards to turn the meta upside down.
Hope you have enjoyed today's findings, and good luck out there!