Beginner’s Guide to Scout: How It Works and Using it Effectively

Introduction & Cards

Scout is one of the new keywords that has been introduced in the latest LoR expansion, The Rising Tides. In this guide, we will go over how the mechanic works and how to use it effectively both in Constructed as well as in Expeditions! Scout is featured only in a handful of new cards below – 5 Demacia units including the new Champion Quinn, and 3 Bilgewater cards.

The keyword’s description in-game is:

Scout: The first time only Scout units attack each round, ready your attack.

You can learn about how the mechanic works in the tutorial mission Scouting Ahead and obtain 100 XP in the process. It can be found in the ‘Challenges’ section of the Play menu:

How to Scout

Whenever you attack using ONLY your Scout units, you will immmediately get your Attack Token back. You will then be able to attack a second time in that round. Note the animation that appears over your Attack Token to visually represent that you’re about to trigger the Scout mechanic:

Interaction with Rally

Remember that Scout ability can be triggered only once in a single round. This remains true even when you use Rally effects (Relentless Pursuit, Tianna Crownguard, etc.) to replenish your Attack Token. In those cases, Rally would ready your attack, but you wouldn’t be able to Scout for the second time.

So, if you intend to use Rally & Scout during the same attacking round, you can go about it in two ways: 1) Attack with Scouts-Attack with Everyone-Rally-Attack with Everyone; 2) Attack with Everyone – Rally – Attack with Scouts – Attack with Everyone. Both sequences can be effective in the right circumtances.

Also note that Rally effects can enable Scout mechanic on the turns when you’re the defending player. After Rally gives you the Attack Token back, you’re free to use your Scout units to reset the token once again.

Powerful Synergies

Combat keywords and value-generating abilities

Scouts that can attack twice in one round, so they want some help from other combat keywords to help them survive the first attack. Challenger, Last Breath, Barrier & other keywords all can enable Scouts quite well:

Attack-triggered abilities:

Some units & champions have special abilities that trigger when their allies attack (Crackshot Corsair, Miss Fortune). With Scout followers in your deck, you’re effectively able to trigger those abilities twice in a round:

Combat tricks & buffs:

Combat tricks (Back to Back) and AOE buffs generated by other allies (Cithria the Bold) remain until the end of a round, so Scout get twice as much value from those effects:

Champion level-ups

Miss Fortune and Quinn level up from seeing their allies attack 4 times over the course of the game. Scout mechanic is the main way to speed up the clock on those powerful quests.

Weaknesses & How to Beat Scouts

Combat-tricks & debuffs

Playing against Scouts, look to shutdown their creatures the same way they wood look to shutdown yours. Frostbites, Stuns and Recalls are all effective ways to de-value their scouting completely.

Regroup after Scouts’ open attack

After your opponent’s Scout units complete their first attack, the action comes back to you. Board wipes, like The Ruination, Avalanche and The Reckoning can be a great way to punish them for greedier lines. It is also your chance to develop a big threat to keep them from attacking for the second time in a round.

Scout in Constructed

In the first weeks of the Rising Tides expansion, we saw the rise of an efficient Demacia/Bilgewater Scout aggro list, featuring Miss Fortune and Quinn. According to Mobalytics data, the list below has been performing outstandingly with 67,9% winrate over 1361 recorded games that took place in between April 27 – May 4.

DECK CODE: CEBQGAQGCELDUAYCAABQMCIGAEAACCI5E4VTGAIBAEABUAQBAIAAOAIBAAJA

This is a fairly straightforward aggro/midrange deck, very well suited for beginners. Look for a strong curve-out, Fleet Feather into War Chefs or Brightsteel Protector are almost always trading up in value on early boards. Grizzled Ranger is a broken 4 drop, you can often keep it in your opening hand for how pivotal it is to the deck. Curving 1-2-3 drops into Rangers puts a ton of pressure on your opponent and you can often close out the game soon enough with the help from Cithria.

Scout in Expeditions

In Expeditions, you get draft choices based on the ‘archetypes’ or ‘seeding packs’ predetermined by the mode. Currently there are 32 such archetypes in the LoR limited format. One of them is called ‘Scout it Out’ – it consists of Bilgewater and Demacia cards. Drafting that archetype, you’re aiming to precisely take advantage of the Scout synergies of The Rising Tides set.

Champions to Draft: Miss Fortune, Quinn.

Card Pool:

• Bilgewater: Crackshot Corsair, Ye Been Warned, Hired Gun, Golden Narwhal, Pocket Aces, Hunting Fleet, Double Trouble, Island Navigator, Razorscale Hunter, Citrus Courier, Double Up, Sheriff Lariette Rose, The Syren;
• Demacia: Fleetfeather Tracker, War Chefs, Greenfang Warden, Loyal Badgerbear, Greathorn Companion, Concerted Strike, Ranger’s Resolve, Blinding Assault, Vanguard Sergeant, Grizzled Ranger, Riposte, Back to Back, Cithria the Bold, Genevieve Elmheart.

Archetypes to Best Combine with: Demacian Steel, Relentless.

Best Commons/Rares: Grizzled Ranger, Citrus Courier, Back to Back, Concerted Strike, Loyal Badgerbear. Best Epics: Sheriff Lariette Rose, Cithria the Bold.

Cards to Avoid/Trade Away: Golden Narwhal, Double Trouble, Blinding Assault.

Just like its constructed prototype, this one is also a straightforward curve-out aggro/midrange deck. Mulligan for a strong opening (ex. Fleetfeather Tracker into War Chefs into Loyal Badgerbear), then take advantage of your units’ superior stats and Scout mechanic. Lean into Demacia as heavily as possible, borrowing from Bilgewater only a few pieces of interaction. Grizzled Ranger, Loyal Badgerbear and the likes are all messed up cards and you have the ability to back it all up with efficient combat tricks. Miss Fortune and Quinn don’t require a level up to put in a great performance. Concerted Strike is the only removal spell this archetype has. There’s also no card draw. Value-oriented control decks will out-grind you, so ideally you have to put a pressure on them from the very first turn.

Conclusion

Scout is a powerful mechanic that rewards aggressive strategies. Even though it is currently featured only on Demacia and Bilgewater cards, the keyword can find the support for itself in synergies from across practically every other region. Scout-based decks are a menace in both Runeterra premier formats – Constructed & Limited – so you better be prepared to face them!