6 Decks to Counter Sivir Archetypes

Hey, Sorry here! For today’s article, I’m going to feature a collection of decks that can all hold their ground against the various popular Sivir lists incredibly well.

In recent weeks, the Sivir archetypes – Zed and Akshan pairings in particular – have proven to be top tier in the current meta and are dominating the competitive ladder.

I’ve chosen 6 decks that are favored into this matchup and can be a good choice if you’re facing a lot of Sivir in your Ranked sessions. I’ll explain the general gameplay of each deck while also providing tips useful when facing against Sivir decks. Let’s get started!

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• Why it’s a good: Early aggression, level 2 Sejuani freezing opponent’s board.

Gangplank Sejuani is living up to its reputation as a ‘Sivir Killer’. The deck can swarm early units that push damage onto the opponent’s Nexus while working on leveling up both Gangplank and Sejuani.

You’ll need to save cards like Make it Rain or Warning Shot for your defensive turn to trigger the Nexus damage.

Monkey Idol summoning Powder Monkey each turn helps you work towards leveling up your champions while also providing a blocker to slow down your opponent’s aggression.

Monster Harpoon acts as an incredibly efficient removal in this deck – although it costs 6 mana initially, activating Plunder and dropping the cost of the spell to 3 mana isn’t a hard task.

Black Market Merchant and Yordle Grifter can Nab game-winning cards from your opponent – in particular, spells like Twin Disciplines and Spirit’s Refuge will be awesome pick-ups. Both cards allow you to keep a unit alive or threaten to remove one of their champions.

Hired Gun is usually played to grant some enemy champion the Vulnerable keyword and pick it off.

Sejuani’s level-up is a big condition for you in the matchup. She could potentially remove some unit off the board, but her main role is to Freeze the opponent’s board constantly, ignoring any Spellshields. This is crucial as she shuts down your opponent’s attempts to combo-finish the game.

Both Gangplank and Sejuani are your win conditions, but another one is The Dreadway – when it hits the board, it will be extremely hard for your opponent to survive the incoming damage from your spells and Overwhelm champions.

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• Why it’s good: Aggression, Elusive units.

Fizz Draven is an underplayed archetype currently but it has proven to be effective against Sivir decks.

The deck runs cheap Elusive units that’ll chip away the opponent’s Nexus. Cards like Elixir of Wrath, Brothers’ Bond, and Thorned Blade relatively safely push an additional amount of damage when played on Elusive units.

Your opponent can try and heal with Spirit’s Refuge – this is where Noxian Fervor will come in handy. Blocking the unit with Spirit’s Refuge then playing the Noxian Fervor will deny the Lifesteal completely. However, be wary that this will not work if the unit has the Overwhelm keyword – Ruin Runner for example.

The advantage of having a lot of Elusive units is you will shut down any attempt by of their common combo play on level 2 Sivir (Ghost + Flurry of Fists). Still, your opponent can still find a lethal combo using Ruin Runner.

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• Why it’s good: Removal spells for champions, stuns.

If you’re a veteran player then you’ve probably heard of TF Swain, an old deck that rose from the ashes after the buff to Make it Rain, and Targon’s decrease in play rate. Equinox is no longer a big part of the meta, and The Leviathan is certainly happy about that.

TF Swain falls into the midrange/control category. Your goal early is to contest the board and chip in damage with your cheap units, such as Crusty Codger, House Spider, and Dreadway Deckhand.

Make it Rain, Death’s Hand, Monster Harpoon, and Ravenous Flock all act as essential removal cards while also advancing the level-up requirement of Swain, who is a key champion and your win condition.

Against Sivir decks you’re usually focusing on removing your opponent’s champions.

Dreadway Deckhand’s Powder Keg acts as an important damage buff to your removal cards, especially Make it Rain and Twisted Fate’s Red Card. Your opponent cannot remove the Powder Keg once a spell is committed, their only method of completely stopping the incoming damage is to cast a Deny spell.

Zap Sprayfin is a solid card in this matchup, not only because she draws you a removal card, but also because it acts as a blocker for Young Witch. Although you might opt not to block Young Witch if you aren’t sure you can keep Zap alive. Zap’s mere existence on the board makes it difficult for your opponent to pull off their Sivir combo (Ghost + Flurry of Fists + buff) that in most cases can end the game.

TF Swain can aggro down a Sivir deck by swarming the board with cheap units and removing potential blockers with Make it Rain or Twisted Fate’s Red Card. But your main win condition is sticking both The Leviathan and Swain onto the board.

It is extremely hard for Sivir decks to deal with The Leviathan once it hits the board. Your ability to stun-lock 3 of their strongest units at the start of each turn will completely shut the opponent down.

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• Why it’s good: Aggressive gameplan.

Miss Fortune Gangplank, also known as Pirates Aggro deck has a very aggressive playstyle. The deck focuses on pushing early damage with cheap units and then closing out the game with burn spells.

Swarm the board with early cheap units and push as much damage as you can. Miss Fortune makes it difficult for the opponent to take value trades since their early units only have 1 hp.

Gangplank adds a lot of pressure on the opponent thanks to the Overwhelm keyword, and leveling him up will turn Gangplank into a win condition that needs to be answered immediately.

Zap Sprayfin will draw you either Make it Rain or Noxian Fervor. She is an Elusive unit, so she can stop Sivir combo Ghost + Flurry of Fists play.

Your opponent does not run cards that can interrupt a Noxian Fervor except for Deny, but you usually should hold on to the spell card until your opponent attempts to heal their Nexus with a Spirit’s Refuge. Noxian Fervor can deny the healing unless Spirit’s Refuge is played on an attacking Overwhelm unit.

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• Why it’s good: Barriers, Challenger units.

Demacia Ionia midrange deck relies on taking value trades and dominating on the board.

Shen Jarvan runs a lot of Challenger units that can remove your opponent’s champions. The ability to provide a Barrier to your Challenger units through Shen, Brightsteel Protector, Riposte, or Spirit’s Refuge will allow you to value trade or force a lot of resources out of your opponent.

Shaprsight is usually saved in case your opponent attempts to combo Ghost + Flurry of Fists on Sivir.

When Jarvan IV joins the battle at Burst speed with a Barrier, he will threaten to remove the opponent’s strongest unit, ideally Sivir or Ruin Runner.

Jarvan’s level up will allow you to take out your opponent’s units with the Cataclysm he will generate every turn. Outside of Deny and Concussive Palm, your opponent cannot stop or kill an attacking Jarvan with a Barrier.

Keep in mind if you play Cataclysm on a unit with Spellshield, Jarvan’s attack will go through but he will not challenge the unit you’ve targeted. Instead, your opponent has full control over which unit they’d want to use as a blocker.

Deny is never a keep in the opening hand, you’ll only find Deny useful when attempting to stop your opponent’s Concussive Palm or Deny their own Deny.

Golden Aegis provides a Barrier to one of your units and gives you Rally, this is an important win condition for your deck as it allows you to take favorable trades and push extra damage onto your opponent’s Nexus.

RuneterraCCG recently released an in-depth guide for the Jarvan Shen deck by Agigas, read it here.

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Why it’s good: Early aggression, Elusive units.

Discard Aggro is one of the popular decks on the ladder right now, it’s really good in the current meta.

Draven Jinx can swarm the board very easily against Sivir decks, pushing a lot of damage early on while also making it hard for your opponent to set up their combo play.

Your opponent can only remove Jinx by playing Merciless Hunter. If you manage to keep her on board, Jinx can burn down their Nexus with the Super Mega Death Rocket! she generates.

Poro Cannon is an important card in this matchup, the Daring Poros it creates can pretty much shut down your opponent’s plans to finish the game using Ghost + Flurry of Fists on Sivir.

Keep in mind that your opponent runs Twin Disciplines and Spirit’s Refuge, so be wary when deciding to attack with your Jinx.

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Closing Words

It’s true that Sivir decks are currently running rampant on ladder and feel very solid to climb with.

However, they aren’t unstoppable and you can take advantage of the champion’s popularity by playing decks that are favored against it.

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