Ezreal Kennen – Taking New Patch by Storm

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Kennen Ezreal created by Mezume • last updated 2 years ago

Regions

3

37

Types

6

9

22

3

0

Rarities

6

3

17

14

Mana Cost

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7+

Champions (6)

1

Kennen

3

3

Ezreal

3

landmarks (3)

3

God-Willow Seedling

3

followers (9)

2

Eye of the Dragon

3

3

Shadow Assassin

3

4

Kinkou Wayfinder

3

Spells (22)

1

Recall

3

2

Retreat

3

2

Sonic Wave

3

2

Twin Disciplines

3

4

Concussive Palm

3

4

Deny

2

4

Homecoming

2

5

Deep Meditation

3

• Origin

The new expansion came in full swing and the biggest star of the first night (as well as the biggest controversy on Twitter) was Kennen Ezreal. The deck seemed like a fun thing to try at first, but the more cards were shown, the better it got. Finally, we got to play with it and it outperformed all expectations.

Kennen and Ezreal have lots of natural synergies, so this idea came pretty naturally from multiple sources at the same time! The build did not take too long to become seemingly rather polished, so that’s what we are featuring here!

Keep in mind that this is STILL a day 1 list, so take much of the verdict and the list itself with a grain of salt. While it is a great starting point and – as much as I said it was rather polished – it will still take multiple revisions for it to be completely refined.

• Gameplan

Ezreal Kennen is a combo deck that relies on the synergy between the two champions – as well as the sustain gained through Eye of the Dragon – to rapidly take the opponent’s Nexus down to 0 health. Much of the strength comes from the diversification of win conditions: you do not have to win in a 1-turn combo, or even through levelling the two champions.

Both of the champions are absolutely essential for the deck’s success – Ezreal’s level up will often help you push a lot of damage, while Kennen is able to create ridiculous amounts of spells for Ezreal to trigger off of. It is quite simple to level them in this strategy, as the list packs a lot of Recall cards for Kennen and Ezreal just levels off of Kennen’s Mark of the Storm.

In the early game, we are looking for Eye of the Dragon in order to stabilize against more aggressive strategies. Like in many other slower Ionia decks, that card is crucial in staving off aggression. It is also one of the best ways to level Kennen, as the Dragonlings will all count for the level up. Kennen himself, as well as Shadow Assassins can be useful in the early stages as well, as they provide bodies for defence while progressing your gameplan through their effects.

The moment you enter the midgame is when it gets more exciting. Kinkou Wayfinder gets you not one, but two Kennens, which both create Marks of the Storm for you to instantly use. This is also when you can start using God-Willow Seedling – which has some great targets such as Shadow Assassin, Kennen or even a Dragonling. Most of your stall tools are also midgame plays – Concussive Palm and Homecoming can stop beefy units from threatening your life total at this stage.

You will want to end the game with Ezreal in most cases, which usually will also require a levelled Kennen on the board. Having both is quite easy to achieve in this list, as they are cheap units and the list has a lot of protection for them. Each Recall card – Recall, Retreat and Homecoming – as well as Twin Disciplines can act as a protective tool for your Kennens and Ezreals. If you are able to stick them on the board for even one attacking turn, it is unlikely that you will lose.

• Verdict

It is so early in the expansion that it is impossible to tell whether this will be a top tier deck, but the strategy shows an incredible amount of promise. In fact, I would be surprised if it wasn’t at least good enough to appear on meta tier lists throughout the expansions.

As for the gameplay, I have seen a lot of complaints, but personally I find it to be a lot of fun to play. It is not too simple, but it also has a skill floor that allows many players to pick it up, even if they aren’t invested enough to learn all the ins and outs!

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