Draven Sion – How Good Is It After the Nerfs?

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Draven Sion created by Sorry • last updated 2 years ago

Regions

19

21

Types

6

20

14

0

0

Rarities

6

4

7

23

Mana Cost

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7+

Champions (6)

3

Draven

3

7

Sion

3

followers (20)

1

Zaunite Urchin

3

2

Boom Baboon

3

2

Fallen Rider

3

2

Grave Physician

2

3

Arachnoid Sentry

2

3

Sump Dredger

3

8

Captain Farron

1

8

Lost Soul

3

Spells (14)

1

Poro Cannon

2

1

Ravenous Flock

2

2

Mystic Shot

3

2

Rummage

2

3

Get Excited!

3

5

Survival Skills

2

• Origins

Today we’re featuring Draven Sion – the king of the previous meta!

In the Beyond the Bandlewood season, Draven Sion was considered a top-tier deck, dominating the competitive ladder and tournament scene. It was the aggressive deck that also did not lose value war due to Lost Soul being almost unstoppable.

In Patch 2.18, the deck received two nerfs: Draven lost 1 health, becoming now a 3|2, whereas Twinblade Revenant‘s Challenger keyword was changed to Fearsome. Additionally, Aloof Travelers was also nerfed to a 2|3, and it was a card that some lists used to run in the deck.

Although the nerfs made the archetype weaker, Draven Sion remains a solid pick and a top-tier deck in the current meta. I even brought Draven Sion recently into a tournament, and the deck performed great!

It dropped only one game while managing to win four different matchups. It did not feel like a weak link in the lineup – in fact, it performed better than I expected.

• Gameplan

Draven Sion is a Discard-oriented aggressive deck, it relies on early cheap units to push in damage onto the Nexus. Cards like Draven and Fallen Rider can be troublesome for your opponent to deal with early game.

The deck’s ability to draw a lot of cards while still building a board allows for an aggressive plan that also never runs out of gas.

The loss of Twinblade Revenant‘s Challenger keyword makes it harder for you to remove the key opposing units, changing the dynamic of some matchups. The opponent will now play out some of their key units without worrying about you picking them off.

Although the old version of Lost Soul massively helped Draven Sion dominate board presence, the Fearsome keyword does still play an effective role in the deck.

At the end of the day, Draven Sion remains an aggressive deck whose main purpose is to push damage towards the Nexus. A unit with an evasive ability that can be replayed every time it dies to threaten the opposing life total serves that role fairly well.

As a matter of fact, your opponent cannot simply “ignore” Twinblade Revenant and expect to win the game, they will have to commit resources to stop the Fearsome unit from constantly pushing in damage on your attack turn.

Sion is your strong play on turns 7-8, the 10|6 Overwhelm unit will be devastating for the opponent if left unanswered. If he dies? Well, that’s another 10|4 unit that gives Rally, ready to go for another swing!

The deck also runs burn cards like Get Excited! and Mystic Shot that can either be used to remove pesky units that play an important role in closing out the game.

Some lists choose to run Ravenous Flock. Although it’s normally used as a removal tool for your opponent’s units, Ravenous Flock in Draven Sion deck can act as a tool to kill off your own Sion if it’s damaged. This will allow you to summon a Sion Returned, activate Rally, and go for a second attack.

• Verdict

So, is the deck still competitively viable?

Yes, Draven Sion is still alive and kicking! The fact that Zoe Nami, one of Drave Sion’s biggest counters is now completely out of the meta (after the nerfs to Nami and Sparklefly) gives Draven Sion a breathing room. The deck also performs well into 2 of the popular decks on the ladder right now, Shyvana Aurelion Sol and Rek’Sai Pyke.

On top of that, the Fearsome keyword on Twinblade Revenant actually makes some matchups better for Draven Sion. For example, Fizz Poppy Bandle Tree deck struggles to deal with Fearsome units, something now you can take advantage of with Twinblade Revenant.

The deck is still unfavored against Veigar Senna and Zoe Lee Sin, and the loss of the Challenger keyword on Twinblade Revenant made it much harder to remove key units from the board – such as Veigar and Senna in Darkness deck and Eye of the Dragon in Zoe Lee Sin.