Akshan Sivir Deck Guide

Hello everyone, Sorry here! I’ve got a new deck I wanted to talk in-depth about – Akshan Sivir. It has become popular in Ranked and in competitive play, and currently, it is one of my top choices to climb with.

The tempo-oriented Shurima Ionia deck built around Sivir has actually been already strong even before Akshan’s release in Patch 2.12. Zed Sivir was already an established competitive archetype in the previous meta, but after the update, many players have shifted towards Sivir paired with Akshan.

What’s the difference between Zed and Akshan? Well, Zed imposes a more aggressive presence in the early game when he summons Living Shadow on his attack, while Akshan is a cheaper champion that can be played earlier and cleanly followed up with Merciless Hunter.

I would say that Akshan overall is a more fitting champion for our curve. Also, it’s important that when played, Akshan summons Warlord’s Palace that’ll enable our Shaped Stone. The Relic of Power that the landmark creates will give us three different choices down the line, all of which can be useful depending on the situation.

I’ve managed to hit rank 7 (569 LP) on the European ladder playing mostly Akshan Sivir and I wanted to share all I’ve learned about the deck, so let’s get started!

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Gameplan & Tips

Treasure Seeker, Rock Hopper, and Merciless Hunter are essential in the early game to keep up with our opponent’s board or deal some damage to the opponent’s Nexus.

Young Witch has two main roles in the deck: firstly, she provides Quick Attack to an ally, which will then act as removal in combination with Vulnerable applied by Merciless Hunter or Rock Hopper’s Roiling Sands. Secondly, she allows us to set up our finisher. Once Young Witch grants Quick Attack to an Elusive unit or Ruin Runner, we can then cast Flurry of Fists on it to deal double the damage.

You’ll mostly be using it on Ruin Runner as the Spellshield makes it hard for your opponent to have an answer. Because it has Overwhelm, after Ruin Runner kills the unit that is blocking it during the first attack, it will then strike for the second time, damaging the Nexus directly.

It’s important to note that Flurry of Fists doesn’t grant Double Attack unless the unit already has Quick Attack. You will need to lock in your attacks with Young Witch first, wait for the opponent’s blocks second – and only after that you can go for Flurry on the unit Young Witch is supporting.

Ghost followed up with a Flurry of Fists is a very strong combo on a unit with natural Quick Attack, especially on Sivir due to her Spellshield.

You’re also very likely to level up Sivir in this deck – she’ll become a massive threat once flipped. Flurry of Fists and Ghost on Level 2 Sivir will give Double Attack and Elusive to all your other attacking units.

Positioning your attackers is important when Sivir is among them – however, there’s no rule of thumb and it’ll depend on the scenario you’re in. For example, in the simplest and the most common scenario, when your Sivir is just about to level up, it’s wise to attack with her first and achieve her quest, which will give both Spellshield and Quick Attack to your other attacking units, securing favorable trades if your opponent wishes to block them.

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Techs and Options

The archetype has many different versions of the build, and it all usually depends on the player’s preference. The deck I shared above is the one I’ve been having success with on the ladder but below I’ll list some cards to consider.

• Spirit’s Refuge: Mainly to protect your Sivir and get some health back, good into aggro matchups, in the mirror where it will enable a block on a unit with Quick Attack, and against Lurk decks.
• Preservarium: Played more in the Zed version of the deck, but Preservarium can draw help your card flow so you won’t run out of steam and find your combo cards easier, and it also activates your Shaped Stone.
• The Absolver: Buffs up your unit’s attack power and health, but we’re mainly interested in The Absolver’s Return as it provides the Overwhelm keyword, which makes it a strong piece of our combo if played on leveled Sivir.

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Matchups

Mulligan for: Akshan, Merciless Hunter, Sivir, and Rock Hopper.

• Merciless Hunter is usually played to remove either Eye of the Dragon or Akshan. Eye of the Dragon will buy your opponent a lot of time with the Dragonlings she summons until they can set up for the Lee Sin play.
• If your opponent chooses to block a Quick Attack unit with Lee Sin and protect him with Barrier, you can go through it and kill Lee Sin if you play Flurry of Fists on the attacking unit.
• Your priority is not on killing Lee Sin though, you’re aiming to push as much damage as you can onto the Nexus. Concussive Palm and Deny can delay the one-kick combo and grant you another turn.
• Akshan Lee Sin does not run any burn cards, so once you’ve survived an attack, you’re safe until your opponent’s next attack turn.
• The Shurima version of Lee Sin does have an access to Hush, so answering a unit with Spellshield can be impossible for your opponent. This is where both Sivir and Ruin Runner shine. Managing to pull off your combo play on either one of them could be the game-winning play.

Mulligan for: Sivir, Ruin Runner, Flurry of Fists, Merciless Hunter.

• Watch out for AOE removals like Avalanche and Blighted Ravine, your opponent might try to bait you into playing more units with low health.
• Thralls deck does run freeze spells – when committing your combo play, make sure it’s on a unit with Spellshield.
• You can put a lot of pressure on your opponent making it hard for them to find a safe spot to play their Draklorn Inquisitor.
• Your opponent cannot block Elusive units, meaning Ghost is a tremendously strong spell if you’re looking to hit the Nexus.
• Concussive Palm is usually saved for the opponent’s Thralls to deny the Overwhelm damage, but in some scenarios, you might have to choose to hold onto the Concussive Palm until your attack turn.
• When attacking with a Ruin Runner, you can Concussive Palm one of the Thralls that is blocking your Ruin Runner, allowing you to hit the Nexus thanks to the Overwhelm keyword.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Akshan, Rock Hopper.

• Your opponent runs a lot of cheap Lurk units, your goal is to try and trade with those early units and preserve your health. Treasure Seeker, Rock Hopper, and Merciless Hunter are good to keep up with your opponent’s aggression.
• Waking Sands off of Treasure Seeker could be played defensively.
• Always try to keep Deny mana open if your opponent is above 4 mana. It’s important to stop Death from Below as it’s a massive tempo swing if they manage to pull it off.
• Hold onto Concussive Palm until Rek’Sai is played – it will halt her from attacking and leveling up, which means she’ll go back to the opponent’s deck.
• Lurk decks only have access to Bone Skewer and Death from Below as Fast-speed removal cards, so when you’re setting up for your combo one-shot attack with Flurry of Fists, it’s wise to play it on a unit with Spell Shield. Ruin Runner or Sivir are your best choices.
• Turn 8 is when your opponent will probably play Jaull-fish, it could wipe out your key units if they have enough Lurkers on the board.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Akshan, Rock Hopper, Sivir, Merciless Hunter.

• You’re looking to preserve your Nexus’ health early game and keep it out of Viego or Nasus + Atrocity play.
• Sivir and Ruin Runner are valuable units, watch out for Merciless Hunter if you’re playing your units on your defense turn.
• It’s hard for your opponent to answer your Sivir two-hit combo with Flurry of Fists, so once you see a chance of going for it with Ghost, you should take it.
• Viego’s level-up can shut down your Sivir or Ruin Runner. If he’s about to level up, refrain from playing your win condition units (Sivir or Ruin Runner) and wait until the start of your attack turn.
• To deny the Viego level-up, you’re fine with taking some damage to your Nexus instead of blocking. Be wary of Atrocity though, don’t drop too low in health.

Mulligan for: Akshan, Merciless Hunter, Sivir, Young Witch.

• Young Witch plays an important role in this matchup – she and Merciless Hunter can threaten Azir with Vulnerable, plus she can block Greenglade Duo – an Elusive unit that, if left unanswered, will solo-carry the matchup for your opponent.
• If you’re going for the Flurry of Fist finisher make sure to play it on a unit with a Spellshield, your opponent can shut down your attack with Defiant Dance or Homecoming if you don’t have Deny in your hand.
• When going for a block on a Sand Soldier to preserve your health keep in mind that your opponent runs Shaped Stone and Twin Disciplines. Shaped Stone will give +3 | +1 if your opponent has played Emperor’s Dais.
• Blocking Sand Soldiers will advance the level-up of your Sivir, this can come in handy when you need to turbo-level her and play Ghost on her on the upcoming attack turn.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Rock Hopper, Merciless Hunter, Akshan.

• Your opponent can go wide in this matchup, Treasure Seeker is your best chance of mitigating the early damage.
• Merciless Hunter is usually played to remove Jinx, although you might find yourself forced to play it on Draven and remove him with Sivir or a unit supported by Young Witch.
• Your opponent runs Poro Cannon – Daring Poros can block your combo play on Sivir if you cast Ghost on her. If you’re able to pull off the combo, make sure to play it immediately without giving your opponent the initiative to play a unit.
• It’s almost impossible for your opponent to remove Ruin Runner if you commit the combo on her, the Overwhelm keyword along with Double Attack will become a fearful sight for your opponent.
• Try to trade with your opponent’s units early game before they can play their Crowd Favorite.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Rock Hopper, Merciless Hunter, Akshan.

• Your opponent is playing an aggressive deck which will make it hard for you to set up your combo play.
• Do not value your Akshan too much in this matchup, you might have to use him as a blocker to deny some damage onto your Nexus and remove a unit.
• Deny is usually saved to stop Decimate or Noxian Fervor.
• Your opponent can’t interrupt your combo Double Attack on Sivir with Ghost, or Ruin Runner with Double Attack. If you see a chance to one-shot your opponent, you should probably go for it.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Rock Hopper, Merciless Hunter, Akshan.

• You’re pretty much on the clock, you have to close out the game before they get to stun-lock your units with Swain and The Leviathan.
• On turn 4 watch out for Twisted Fate, especially if your opponent has a Powder Keg on the board, it could threaten to remove your whole board.
• Swain TF is also capable of being aggressive, making it hard for you to set up your combo play.
• We don’t run any spells that can remove either Swain or The Leviathan, our only way of removing them is through the vulnerable effect with Merciless Hunter.
• Swain can stun our backrow units if he’s leveled on board with cards that damage our Nexus -, when we’re setting up for our attack combo you should be wary of giving your opponent initiative.
• It’s hard for Swain TF to stop your combo Flurry of Fists attack if played on a unit with Spellshield – they’ll need to commit a lot of resources to go through the Spellshield and deal enough damage to the unit to kill it.

Mulligan for: Rock Hopper, Merciless Hunter, Young Witch, Akshan, and Sivir.

• Your opponent can give Barriers to their units making it hard for you to trade or keep your units alive. Try to keep Twin Disciplines ready to save an important unit.
• Young Witch can offer value-trades in this matchup or at least allow your supported unit to hit the Nexus if left unblocked.
• Sharpsight can shut down your combo attack with Sivir + Ghost.
• On turn 6/7, expect Jarvan IV to join the battle.
• Your best win condition will be either leveling Sivir and granting the Elusive and Double Attack keywords to all your allies or by giving your Ruin Runner the Double Attack keyword to close out the game.

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Closing words

Akshan Sivir in my opinion is currently a Tier 1 deck, a great choice for ladder and tournaments.

The combo play isn’t hard to pull off and can catch your opponent off guard in many scenarios. Even against unfavored matchups, you can still sneak in a win with Ghost + Flurry of Fists either on Sivir or Akshan.

Both Akshan and Zed fill in the spot for a solid champion with Quick Attack keyword in the deck, it comes down to which champion feels more impactful to you or if you want to take the deck to a tournament and you’d rather play one of those champions in a different deck.

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