Best Ornn Decks – LoR The Darkin Saga: Awakening Expansion

Hello everyone, and welcome to this article for the best performing Ornn decks in the days following the expansion. The first chapter of the Darkin Saga brought us 5 new champions, all of them seeing experimentation as everyone is scrambling to figure out how to break them. Here, I’m going to go over 4 decks that are doing decently well with Ornn, and really help you Forge a path forward.

While Ornn is a pretty solid champion, finding good homes for him has been a bit difficult. There is still some experimentation going on with Ornn, but in terms of power, only a few archetypes for Ornn are really standing out and performing.

So, I’ve divided the list into more competitive decks, and the decks that are fun and/or have a strong concept, but aren’t performing as well.

Competitive

So, let’s start with Ornn’s most competitive decks! Ornn has already started making an impact, and found solid footing in a few archetypes. Let’s start exploring them here.

Ornn Trundle Timelines

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Ornn Trundle Timelines created by Dragonguy • last updated 2 years ago

Regions

22

18

Types

6

20

14

0

0

Rarities

6

5

6

23

Mana Cost

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7+

Champions (6)

5

Trundle

3

7

Ornn

3

followers (20)

1

Zaunite Urchin

3

2

Ferros Financier

3

2

Vulpine Wanderer

3

3

Piltovan Castaway

3

4

Aloof Travelers

3

4

Combat Cook

3

8

It That Stares

2

Spells (14)

0

Thermogenic Beam

2

1

Concurrent Timelines

3

1

Three Sisters

2

2

Mystic Shot

3

3

Aftershock

2

9

Buried in Ice

2

We start off with Ornn Trundle Timelines, an archetype that has been enjoying the massive buffs from the Weaponmasters. They have a ton of synergy with Concurrent Timelines, as the transformed unit will retain the equipment when it transforms. These give us additional power early game, and have synergy with Ornn as he can copy their equipment.

The stronger early game applies pressure early, sometimes enough to win games outright. When it’s not enough, however, we still have our late game value plays. Revna, the Lorekeeper and Ice Pillar become strong tempo plays, and many decks struggle to beat the Buried in Ice + It That Stares combo.

Ornn’s addition to the deck provides a secondary win condition. The deck didn’t have a strong 7 mana play before, which Ornn neatly slots into. He is a must answer threat, and while we often don’t forge weapons big enough to level him in one hit, he applies a lot of pressure.

While some versions of Timelines are on 3 Ornn, this is likely because people are trying him out as a new champion. As the patch goes on, this number will likely decrease to add in other champions like Vi or Caitlyn. Still, Ornn seems like a solid champion for the deck, and at least some copies of him will remain in the archetype.

For now though, the triple Ornn version is doing well and is his best archetype right now.

Ornn Pantheon

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Ornn Pantheon created by Dragonguy • last updated 2 years ago

Regions

18

22

Types

6

16

14

2

2

Rarities

6

2

11

21

Mana Cost

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7+

Champions (6)

4

Pantheon

3

7

Ornn

3

landmarks (2)

3

Ornn’s Forge

2

equipments (2)

2

The Darkin Lodestone

2

followers (16)

1

Saga Seeker

3

2

Mountain Goat

3

2

Vulpine Wanderer

2

3

Wandering Shepherd

3

3

Wounded Whiteflame

3

4

Combat Cook

2

Spells (14)

1

Three Sisters

3

2

Inner Beast

3

2

Pale Cascade

3

2

Troll Chant

3

4

Bastion

2

Ornn Pantheon seeks to combine Fated units with the power of the Forge. Specifically, Ornn’s Forge. Ornn’s Forge gives us easy access to Fated procs with Time and Dedication. It will also grow the weapons attached to the unit, meaning even if our fated units die we are able to transfer their buffs onto our other units.

The deck has a bit of a slow early game, as we’re looking for time to play out our fated units and grow them up. Weaponmasters give us access to overwhelm and scout weapons, which can quickly turn our units into lethal threats. We’re also running Stance Swap cards for their flexibility between giving access to overwhelm or other benefits.

The deck is a bit slow early on, which makes is susceptible to faster strategies. If you are able to weather the early storm, the deck can outscale and can be hard to shut down. Both Pantheon and Ornn can quickly end the game once they level. With the ability to pump up units stats high with Fated and Forge, you can even make your non-champion units into lethal must-answer threats.

Casual

The first few decks have been seeing decent success so far on ladder, but unfortunately Ornn has not been finding great results with a lot of decks. There are more people trying Ornn in other decks, but they haven’t put up the same results, and can lean into a bit of Hopium. While I would not recommend these lists for ladder, they are fun decks you can try out on your own. And if you really want to, well I can’t stop you.

Ornn Jax

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Ornn Jax created by Dragonguy • last updated 2 years ago

Regions

3

24

Types

6

18

16

0

0

Rarities

6

0

13

21

Mana Cost

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7+

Champions (6)

2

Jax

3

7

Ornn

3

followers (18)

1

Weaponsmith’s Apprentice

3

2

Ionian Hookmaster

3

3

Adept Weaponsmith

3

3

Piltovan Castaway

3

4

Combat Cook

3

5

Hearthblood Mender

3

Spells (16)

1

Catch!

2

1

Three Sisters

1

2

Entrancing Lure

3

2

Sharesies

2

2

Troll Chant

3

4

Parts Made Whole

2

6

Wildclaw’s Ferocity

3

Ornn Jax combines the powerful Weaponmasters with the Forge mechanic. With Improvise, you have reliable access to equipment early, allowing you to get more value from your Forge followers.

Early game you want to find a Weaponmaster or Jax, play it, and start forging the equipment. We run quite a few of the Forge followers, although this version is not on Ornn’s Forge, as the card is a bit too slow. Most of the weapons in the Improvise pool are solid, and all of them are great once you start Forging them.

A tech that’s emerged for the deck is to include Wildclaw’s Ferocity, transforming the understatted Improvise followers into a 7|6 Alpha Wildclaw. This powerful combo will catch your opponent off guard at Focus speed, giving them no time to respond before you attack.

Otherwise, you have Ornn as the top end, able to copy your best equipment and threaten to end the game. The deck is surprisingly potent, with enough early game to stand up to aggro, but a solid enough late game to fight slower decks. Ornn Jax is a solid off meta choice for the current meta, and might even make its way into more games with some refinement.

Ornn Scargrounds

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Ornn Scargrounds created by Dragonguy • last updated 2 years ago

Regions

14

26

Types

6

15

13

3

3

Rarities

6

3

8

23

Mana Cost

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7+

Champions (6)

4

Braum

3

7

Ornn

3

landmarks (3)

3

The Scargrounds

3

equipments (3)

2

Great Hammers

3

followers (15)

1

Crimson Bloodletter

3

2

Favored Artisan

3

2

Ionian Hookmaster

3

3

Adept Weaponsmith

3

4

Combat Cook

3

Spells (13)

1

Ravenous Flock

3

1

Three Sisters

2

2

Troll Chant

3

3

Scorched Earth

2

5

Bellows Breath

3

Finally, we’re visiting one of my first and favorite archetypes I played: The Scargrounds. The archetype got some new tools for this expansion, mainly Bellow’s Breath, Ornn’s signature spell.

The deck combines Ornn with Braum this time around, leaving Vladimir behind (one day Vlad, one day). The early turns are about setting up early blockers and finding and playing The Scargrounds. This card really turns the deck on, making your units immune to pings with tough while growing them when they survive damage. This works insanely well with Braum, as with regen and challenger he can pick off opposing units.

The new Weaponmasters provide us early value, with equipment that we can Forge and double up with Ornn. To compliment them, we’re also maindecking The Great Hammers, giving us reliable access to Overwhelm. 

Scargrounds enables some strong synergy play, especially with Bellow’s Breath, as it will pump up our team without damaging them. While the deck is fun to play, it suffers from a painful early game, as it doesn’t start coming online until turn 4. Additionally, this newer version is opting out of the Crimson units in favor of the Forge units. While the Forge units synergize well with Ornn and our Weaponmasters, they provide us less overall value from pings and Scargrounds.

Because of its poor early game and a lack of healing, the deck suffers against faster, more aggressive archetypes. Still, the deck has a strong mid game spike, and if you’re not against aggro it can perform quite well.

Closing Thoughts

Ornn is looking to be a solid champion for Freljord decks for the future. While there are only a few solid standalone equipment currently, we are going to get more in future expansions, which will make Ornn even stronger. Even with what we have at our disposal now, Ornn is already helming quite a few decks. Plus, the weaponmasters provide a consistent access to cheap weapons that are pretty powerful.

He’s a fun champion who is able to do some powerful things, and I think all of these decks offer a solid home for him. Thank you all for reading and I hope you all have a great day.