10 Classic Decks For The Rising Tides Timewinder Gauntlet

Hey there, Raphterra here again! The Foundations Timewinder Gauntlet will be closing in a few days, and we will soon be able to play in another era from the past. Taking a short break from my usual deck guides, I’m going to be featuring 10 Classic Decks that you can include in your lineup for The Rising Tides Timewinder Gauntlet. This gauntlet is set to open on December 22, making now the perfect time to start preparing your decks.

Let’s start right away!

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Anivia Tryndamere Warmother’s Control

The first three decks that I’ll feature were also present in my article for decks to play in the Foundations Timewinder Gauntlet, with some of them getting minor upgrades from the Rising Tides set. Anivia control should still be a strong option for the Rising Tides Gauntlet since it’s one of the direct counters to aggressive strategies. I didn’t make any change from Foundations version of Anivia control because the archetype didn’t get any significant support cards from Rising Tides. Aggressive decks like Jinx Discard and Miss Fortune Pirates are poised to be prevalent in the gauntlet, and Anivia control is the perfect counter for those strategies.

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Ashe Sejuani Frostbite

Ashe Frostbite should be another solid pick for your lineup, but you may need to go for an aggro-ban strategy in that case. Sejuani came out in Rising Tides, and she’s a great fit to fill out this archetype’s late-game curve. Drawing multiple copies of Katarina can be very awkward, so it’s great to have more options for our champion slots. Ashe Frostbite should be one of your go-to decks if you’re looking to counter midrange Demacia decks like Miss Fortune Scouts.

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Jinx Draven Discard Aggro

As she was in the Foundations gauntlet, buffed Jinx will still be a menace in the Rising Tides gauntlet. This Jinx Draven list remained mostly the same with it’s counterpart for the Foundations gauntlet since the archetype doesn’t benefit from any of the cards in Rising Tides. Keep in mind that banning Shadow Isles / Freljord control decks should be your priority if you’re going to go for an aggressive lineup.

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Miss Fortune Quinn Scouts

Next, we’re going with a timeless classic from Rising Tides: Miss Fortune Quinn Scouts! I’m going to recommend the Demacia Allegiance version since we don’t have incentives to run other cards from Bilgewater. Ranger’s Resolve is a crucial addition from the Rising Tides expansion. This card single-handedly blows out early board wipes like Avalanche or Withering Wail. Something to keep in mind is that nerfed Relentless Pursuit is this deck’s only way to Rally. This may significantly affect the deck’s ability to close out games.

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Nautilus Maokai Deep

Following Miss Fortune Scouts is a classic, but not-so-timeless, fan-favorite deck: Nautilus Maokai Deep. While Deep doesn’t see any competitive play in today’s game, the deck shined in the slower meta of Rising Tides. Maokai Nautilus can run several control tools which make it a great deck to pair up with Anivia Control. If you’re building a lineup to counter aggressive decks, you should highly consider playing Deep!

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Karma Ezreal Control

Karma Ezreal was the infamous controversial combo deck of LOR’s early expansions. Back then, P&Z + Ionia‘s control tools were more than enough deal with the aggression from other meta decks. Win conditions just weren’t as fast and explosive compared to how they are now. This allowed Karma Ezreal to stall until Turn 10 where the deck’s Level 2 champions can start dominating.

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Pirate Burn Aggro

The Pirate Aggro is another timeless archetype that came out with the release of Rising Tides. The expansion came with several burn/aggro cards that we still see in today’s meta. This included champions like Miss Fortune and Gangplank and support cards like Noxian Fervor and Zap Sprayfin. The classic Pirate Aggro deck should be an obvious pick for aggressive players, alongside Draven Jinx Discard.

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Sejuani Gangplank Plunder

Gangplank Sejuani is another archetype from Rising Tides that still sees play in today’s meta. Nab was a very controversial mechanic during Rising Tides, due to the frustration of having your own cards played against you. This is the second Allegiance deck in this list, and will be a good option for midrange players. Sejuani can cripple Demacia decks, so you can probably form an anti-Demacia lineup with Plunder and Ashe Frostbite (you will need to go with the 3x Katarina version of Frostbite).

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Twisted Fate Swain

Can the Rising Tides decks handle Level 2 Swain with Overwhelm? The classic Twisted Fate Swain is looking to be a very scary deck in the upcoming gauntlet. This archetype will enjoy both Overwhelm Swain and The Leviathan at 7-cost, which might prove to be too strong in the Rising Tides meta. Twisted Fate Swain would be my prediction for the strongest deck in the Rising Tides Timewinder Gauntlet. This is a very flexible deck that can fit into a lot of lineups; I would highly recommend building your lineup around it!

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They Who Endure Tempo

The final deck in this list is Tempo Kalista Sejuani They Who Endure. This was the first deck that utilized the Shadow Isles aggro opener of Barkbeast, Cursed Keeper, and Blighted Caretaker. After inflicting significant Nexus damage in the early game, the archetype closed games out with the classic combination of They Who Endure and Atrocity. Neverglade Collector and Sejuani are other alternative options for inflicting more Nexus damage in the late game.

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Closing Words

I found writing this article to be a lot easier compared to when I wrote my suggested decks for the Foundations gauntlet. Rising Tides brought a lot of new archetypes and decks, some of which we still play in today’s metagame. Which deck are you looking forward to including in your gauntlet lineup?

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on YouTube, Discord, or Twitter!