9 Off-Meta Decks Spotted In Masters Ladder | Legends of Runeterra Patch 3.18

Introduction

Hey there, Raphterra here again! At the moment, ranked ladder is mostly dominated by Seraphine and Vayne decks. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s no room for creativity and off-meta decks in the meta. In this article, I will feature 9 Off-Meta Decks Spotted in Masters Ladder. In a few days, we will see the patch notes for the next balance update in Legends of Runeterra. Until then, you might want to use the decks in this article to spice up your ladder experience.

Today’s featured lists will have a wide variety of playstyles. Whether you like playing control, aggro, midrange, combo, or even elusives, I have something for you.

Let’s start with the list!

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Fizz Lee Sin Combo (AJTehPro / yata64)

Leading this lineup of decks is Fizz Lee Sin Combo! This combo archetype has been seeing success in the hands of several master players. AJTehPro from the AM server has been using the list above and is having good results with a 75.7% winrate in 33 games. Yata64 from APAC has also showed similar results on Fizz Lee Sin, with his 71.8% winrate in 32 games.

Fizz and Lee Sin both have the innate ability to protect themselves from removal spells. When you combine their protective mechanisms with Ionia‘s defensive spells, it will be difficult for removal-based Seraphine decks to stop their combos.

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Kindred Elise Undying Control (LoRF 紅威)

The Undying is one of my favorite cards, and I’m happy to see that it still works in high ranks! LoRF 紅威 has been playing Kindred Elise Undying Control in Masters with a winrate of 64.1% in 53 games. Kindred on Turn 4 is a must-remove threat for board/unit-based decks like Vayne Demacia. If not answered, Kindred can just pick off their board one by one. The Undying and Quietus are two cards that might be putting in the work against the Seraphine matchup. Quietus is a premium removal spell against Ezreal Seraphine, and The Undying doesn’t care about their removal spells!

While Kindred is usually paired with Nasus in Shurima, this version opts to use tools from Noxus instead. House Spider and Ionian Hookmaster provide the deck more punch in the early turns, and a full set of Brutal Skirmish is likely a meta-call to counter Vayne decks.

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Ashe Pantheon (Raphterra)

This one is my personal off-meta creation! I used Ashe Pantheon to climb from 0 LP to Top 42 Masters at 70% winrate in 40 games. This is my hard counter against all Demacia decks (specifically Vayne), while still being decent against Ezreal Seraphine.

If you want to know more about this list, check out my full guide on Ashe Pantheon!

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Mono Elise Shurima Aggro (talpinator)

Spoiler alert: Elise will be a recurring presence in this article! This one is for players who enjoy playing aggressive, fast-paced games. Talpinator has a 77.78% winrate in 36 games using this Mono Elise Aggro deck list. This build is very dense on early units (22 units cost 2 or less!) and looks to go as wide as possible in the early turns.

Outside of its early units, the rest of the deck also works towards the gameplan of swarming the board and dealing Nexus damage. Doombeast, Blighted Caretaker, and Merciless Hunter all look to deal more damage and capitalize on what you can setup in the first two turns. Darkinthralls from The Darkin Bloodletters can apply a lot of pressure early, while still having the flexibility of playing Xolaani as a mid-game finisher.

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Taric Garen Jarvan (SereneDimMood)

If you’re a Rally enjoyer, you might want to check this one out. SereneDimMood has an impressive winrate of 85% in 20 games with Taric Garen Jarvan IV. Poppy is notably absent probably because her low health makes her too easy to remove for Seraphine decks. Other than that, the build is pretty much the same with the classic Taric Poppy Rally list.

Nothing else much to add here, I’m sure most of you are already familiar with the Taric Demacia playstyle.

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Ekko Zilean (Scathus)

As always, there’s always someone seeing success with Ekko Zilean! Scathus has been piloting Ekko Zilean with an impressive 72.5% winrate in 40 games. If you look only at the general stats, Ekko Zilean loses to every single meta deck outside of Annie Jhin and Miss Fortune Swain. With Scathus’ success, this is clearly a case of players just not understanding how to play the deck correctly. I personally have not played the archetype myself, but it seems that Ekko Zilean can shine in the hands of the right pilot.

This version has some notable inclusions from the new expansion: Drum Solo for card refill, and Curse of the Tomb as a combo card with The Absolver.

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Elise Gwen Aggro (Falquetto1)

Shadow Isles + Noxus featuring Elise makes its second entry in this article, this time in an aggressive aggro shell with Gwen. Falquetto1 used this aggressive burn deck with a 76% winrate in 25 games. Looking at the overall stats, it looks like other players are seeing success with this archetype too. Elise Gwen currently has an overall winrate of 55.7%, and it’s favored against multiple popular decks: Ezreal Seraphine, Annie Jhin, Miss Fortune Swain, Zed Hecarim, and Vayne Jax. That’s quite a good hitlist if you ask me!

I’m not sure if it’s fair to include Elise Gwen in this list of off-meta decks since it has been played for a significant amount of games. However, I haven’t seen the deck at all during my climb, so I figured I’d include it here for players who like playing Burn decks.

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Teemo Zoe Elusives (addicted98)

Elusive aggro makes its return! Addicted98 has been playing Teemo Zoe elusives with a very impressive winrate of 81.8% in 33 games. This latest iteration of the Elusive aggro archetype uses Esmus, Breath of the World, The Darkin Lodestone, The Sudden Surge, and Battle Bonds to create a wide board of buffed up Elusive units. Equipping Wandering Shepherd‘s Upcycled Rake to a big Elusive unit can be game-winning.

Similar to Gwen Elise, Teemo Zoe is also performing well in the general field for an off-meta deck. The archetype currently has an overall winrate of 56.1%. It’s favored against Vayne Rumble and Pantheon Vayne, but is unfavored against Ezreal Seraphine and Miss Fortune Swain.

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Twisted Fate Elise Go Hard (spiralprince)

Closing off this article on off-meta decks is yet another list with Elise! This time, we have a throwback deck with Twisted Fate Elise featuring a fan-favorite spell card: Go Hard. Spiralprince currently has a respectable winrate of 60% in 40 games using this classic archetype. Twisted Fate Go Hard is a deck that uses draw spells to cast and cycle Go Hard quickly, then use Pack Your Bags as a mid / late-game finisher. Level 2 Twisted Fate can also be a win condition against specific decks due to the deck’s plentiful supply of card draw.

Older versions of Twisted Fate Elise Go Hard usually integrated elements of aggro, midrange, and control altogether. This current version of the archetype leans more towards a control gameplan, running multiple copies of Quietus, Heavy Metal, Withering Wail, and Vengeance.

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Closing Words

For some reason, playing and winning with off-meta decks give an additional sense of accomplishment, at least for me! There’s just that sense of edgy glory when you know you’re having success while not following what everyone else is doing. Hopefully, this article helps you reach that sensation in the last few days of Patch 3.18.

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