Best Ladder Decks – Power Rankings Patch 3.14

It’s time for my favorite article, Power Rankings! Here I’ll share eight of the best decks to climb the ranked ladder with.

Right now, the meta feels diverse, a lot of different archetypes are performing well. On top of that, new archetypes are still popping up and holding a positive win rate!

The ranking is mainly based on my own experience and testing on the competitive ladder. After weeks of jamming games and figuring out the best of the best, I present to you my top eight decks for a serious climb!

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1- Ezreal Kennen

I can’t explain how frustrating it can be to play against Ezreal Kennen as the recent buff to Kennen’s Mark of The Storm quickly jumped the deck to top-tier material and now it’s crowned the winner of this week’s Power Rankings.

The deck is perfect in the current meta. Kennen allows you to kill off units and keep the board in check while you work on setting up the burn plan with Ezreal.

What makes the archetype strong is the cheap protection spells Ionia offers that keep Kennen and Ezreal alive. Most decks will run out of removal cards before they’re capable of dealing with Kennen and Ezreal.

The deck is strong against most of the popular decks but struggles against Miss Fortune Twisted Fate (Pirate Aggro). Rally decks like Scouts and Poppy Taric can be a hassle, but Kennen’s buff means you’ll be able to pick off your units one by one, leaving them with weak attacks at later stages of the game.

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2- Nami Twisted Fate IO

The community is torn between which version is better, the Ionia or the Shadow Isles.

The Ionia version seems to be pulling better numbers in terms of play rate and win rate. The deck uses Ionia tools to keep key units alive while it sets up its game plan. The longer Nami or Fleet Admiral Shelly stay alive, the more threatening your board will become.

Nami Twisted Fate Ionia is a solid choice against popular decks like Pirate Aggro and Heimerdinger Norra. It is slightly unfavored against Kennen Ezreal, and the matchup is extremely skill-intensive.

However, the deck gets stomped by Rally Demacia archetypes like Scouts and Poppy Taric.

Video Guide

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3- Miss Fortune Twisted Fate (Pirate Aggro)

It goes without a doubt that Pirates Aggro is one of the best decks in the current meta. Its match-up table is perfect for a ladder climb as it can hold its own against many of the decks we see popular on the ladder.

The addition of both Eye of Nagakabouros and Riptide Sermon made the list more powerful, capable of replenishing their hand while also putting pressure on the board.

Pirates Aggro beats Ezreal Kennen, Kindred Nasus, Trundle Timelines, and Akshan Lee Sin. It does, however, struggle against Norra Heimderdinger, Viego Evelynn, and both SI and IO Twisted Fate Nami.

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4- Norra Heimerdinger

The new rising star, Norra Heimerdinger or as my friend SparklingIceT likes to call it (Bandle Boomers), makes the Power Rankings! It’s been weeks of players experimenting trying to find the optimal Norra deck, and here it is! Norra Heimerdinger has been performing splendidly well on the ranked ladder, and let’s see why!

Norra Heimerdinger is great against matches like Pirate Aggro, Ezreal Kennen, Kindred Nasus, Evelynn Viego, Scouts, and Akshan Lee! Those are popular archetypes in the current meta that you will definitely match into during your ladder climb, making Norra Heimer one of the best choices for a serious ladder climb.

Every deck has its weaknesses, and Norra Heimerdinger is not an exception. The deck loses to Trundle Timelines, Gwen Sejuani, and Zoe Aurelion Sol (Peak).

Video Guide

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5- Poppy Taric

Poppy Taric Rally is the perfect anti-meta deck. It wants to beat down on popular Ionia decks while still holding its own against some of the popular decks out there.

Both champions can be bothersome for archetypes that lack the immediate resources to kill them. Poppy specifically can buff up the board and put more pressure on the board. If left unanswered, her level-up will empower the whole board and possibly close out the game.

Ezreal Kennen, Nami Twisted Fate IO are the main two decks you’re looking to face. You’re also able to beat Trundle Timelines, Norra Heimerdinger, and Gwen Sejuani.

However, counter meta decks usually have a lot of bad matchups that aren’t as popular as the kings of the meta. Taric Poppy is weak against Viego Evelynn, Pirates Aggro, and Kindred Nasus.

Video Guide

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6- Viego Evelynn

Viego Evelynn has been my favorite deck to make my ladder climb. You’re able to keep presenting a threat on the board, which forces your opponent to commit their resources to remove those threats.

Viego, Evelynn, Neverglade Collector, and Invasive Hydravine are all win conditions that need to be dealt with or they’ll end up winning the game.

The deck is a solid choice against Pirate Aggro, Gwen Katarina, Kindred Nasus, Poppy Taric, and Scouts. It does have a bad time against the popular Ezreal Kennen, so if your ladder experience is mostly facing off against it, it’s best to switch to something else.

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7- Miss Fortune Quinn (Scouts)

It feels like Scouts always finds its way into the Power Rankings. The counter-meta deck looks to prey on the popularity of Ionia, making sure to put enough pressure and close out the game before their game plan can kick off.

Scouts is a hyper-aggressive Demacia deck that relies on Miss Fortune’s level-up to take over the board. Even though Miss Fortune is a vital part of the deck’s game plan, it’s still capable of setting up a win condition with sheer board presence and value trades.

The fact that a lot of the meta decks do not run cards that can kill Miss Fortune allows you to comfortably level her up and, from there, dominate the game.

Scouts can beat decks like Ezreal Kennen, Nami Twisted Fate Ionia, Pirate Aggro, Gwen Katarin, and Akshan Lee Sin. It loses to Evelynn Viego, Heimerdinger Norra, and Timelines decks.

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8- Elise Gwen Katarina

Elise Gwen Katarina has continued to perform well since last season. The aggressive (combo) deck can put a lot of board pressure early on in the game before switching to the Overwhelm win condition. The deck runs The Harrowing as a final play in case things don’t go as planned, but with Ionia’s popularity increase, it’s been difficult to pull it off as Deny shuts it down.

Remarkably, the deck is capable of beating Pirate Aggro, Nasus Kindred, Trundle Timelines, Heimerdinger Norra, and Akshan Lee Sin. It has an almost even matchup against Nami Twisted Fate IO, and is slightly unfavored against Ezreal Kennen.

Video Guide

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Closing Words

I’ve been playing a lot of ranked ladder and the meta feels entertaining and versatile. Ezreal Kennen has been the annoying part of the meta for me, but other than that, the game feels quite fun to play and welcoming to different archetypes.

This is it for this week’s Power Rankings, I’ll see you in the next one!