Glorious Shellfolk by Eniamor – A Competitively Viable Daring Poro OTK!

Do you dream of OTK-ing people with Daring Poros? If so, Random7HS is here with the newest Glorious Shellfolk list - a top ladder and tournament deck by Eniamor.
  • Origins

Hi Random7HS here with a Deck of the Day article on Glorious Shellfolk.

This is a deck originally created by Eniamor at the end of last season as an improvement on Shellfolk Ezreal. Eniamor felt that Glorious Evolution and Poro Cannon served as a significantly better win condition than Ezreal.

Last weekend, MisterBear and I entered this deck in RuneterraLife‘s 2v2 tournament and finished in the top 8. The eventual winners, Aikado and Cameron Hanzo also included this deck in their lineup.

After the tournament, Cameron Hanzo proceeded to climb to the top 4 of the Masters rank with the deck, taking out Ambush for Sumpworks Map and 1 Hidden Pathways for the third Poro Cannon.

  • Gameplan

The gameplan for this deck is very similar to other late-game combo decks like Karma Ezreal and Shellfolk Ezreal.

You want to stall until turn 6 when you can play Curious Shellfolk and turn 7 when you can play Glorious Evolution.

To do so, the deck runs chump blockers (Otterpus, Loping Telescope, and Conchologist), removal spells (Pokey Sticks, Mystic Shot, and Sump Fumes), Stress Defense, and Vi.

In a pinch, you can also use Poro Cannon and Trinket Trade to generate chump blockers. Keep in mind though that Poro Cannon is the best card to combo with Glorious Evolution and Trincket Trade is the best card to combo with Curious Shellfolk.

Once you hit turn 6 and can safely summon Curious Shellfolk, you can refill your hand with the help of Pranks, Trinket Trades, and Time Tricks. Note that unlike Shellfolk Ezreal, you do not actually need Curious Shellfolk to win. The real win condition of the deck, Glorious Evolution, comes down a turn later.

Once you resolve Glorious Revolution, every single unit in your deck becomes a threat your opponent has to answer. From now on, every one of your cards counts as a created card. Because Glorious Evolution gives all your units Augment, one Poro Cannon can often lead to 20 Power worth of damage turn 7.

Note that although it’s often tempting to play Curious Shellfolk turn 6 and immediately follow it up with Pranks like Shellfolk Ezreal would do, keeping up 3 banked spell mana for turn 7 is still crucial. Sometimes, if you were not able to keep up 3 spell mana going into turn 6, it is often better not to play Curious Shellfolk, so you can play Glorious Evolution the next turn.

You generally only want to tap below 3 mana turn 6 if you don’t have Glorious Evolution in your hand, you need to contest the board, you do not have enough cards to end the game without Curious Shellfolk, or you desperately need to attempt and steal a particular card from your opponent’s hand (e.g., Scorched Earth from Bandle Tree or Deny from Lee Sin).

  • Verdict

I personally think that Glorious Shellfolk is one of the best decks in the game right now, especially in tournaments.

I think a lot of people are overlooking the deck because, at first glance, it looks like a deck filled with meme cards. Additionally, the deck is not the easiest to play; oftentimes a misplay in the first few turns can lead to a loss ten turns later.

If anyone is looking for a deck with plenty of options that is not Darkness, or a top-tier deck that is not Sion, I would highly recommend trying out Glorious Shellfolk.

Like always, thanks for reading, and good luck in your games!