LoR Meta Report – Patch 3.14 Week 1

Hello friends, with the addition of Equipment in Patch 3.14 Darkin Saga: Awakening Expansion, we now have a new way to play Runeterra. A lot of new archetypes were tested in the first week of the expansion. Some saw huge success, while other decks might have been a bit underwhelming.

This week’s LoR Meta will be showing the stats of the experimental phase of the expansion. We’ll take a look at how the new champions are performing in the current meta and how the old decks are holding up.

Before I start, it’s important to note that since it’s the first week of the new season, a lot of the stats in Master rank are inflated due to the low number of players.

Sources: The 140k matches of data from August 31 to September 5 are from LoR Meta. The data is based on Platinum, Diamond, and Master rank matches. I also used Runeterra.AR for more Master rank stats on low play rate decks.

Most Popular Archetypes

• Miss Fortune Twisted Fate (Pirate Aggro) dominates the competitive ranked mode. The archetype holds the highest play rate and its win rate is above 56%. It is currently one of the best decks for a serious ladder climb.
• Trundle Timelines comes in second after Pirate Aggro in terms of play rate in Platinum+ ranks. The archetype got a boost after the addition of Improvise units, giving more value to Concurrent Timelines. Initially, Trundle was paired with the new champion, Ornn, but players are slowly dropping Ornn from the list, deciding he’s not offering enough to justify keeping him.
• Nasus is back as one of the top-tier decks in the meta! However, players are favoring Kindred as Nasus’ companion instead of Thresh. Nasus Kindred is holding a 53.3% win rate in Platinum+ ranks.
• Vi Jax is another version of the Concurrent Timelines deck. Vi Jax doesn’t seem capable of keeping up with the success the Trundle Frejlord version has had so far. The deck barely holds a 50% win rate in Platinum and above ranks.
• Katarina Gwen had already established itself as one of the top-tier decks at the end of the previous season. The archetype continues its solid performance, holding a 55.8% win rate.
• Akshan Kayn and Zoe Kayn don’t seem to be quite there yet. Both decks have high play rates, but their win rates are still below 50%.
• Viego Evelynn is still performing well this patch, with a 56.3% win rate in Platinum+ and 62.7% in Master rank.
• Ezreal Kennen‘s win rate skyrockets compared to the previous patch! Platinum+ has a 58.6% win rate, while Master has a 64.8% win rate.
• Lee Akshan emerges from the shadows. The archetype isn’t new at all but has been out of the meta for quite a while. The addition of new cards and Equipment brought the deck back and it’s keeping a 52% win rate in all ranks so far.
• Twisted Fate Nami Ionia is the most popular version! The archetype takes advantage of new cards like Vastayan Disciple and Wuju Style. It’s performing astoundingly well, with a 55.5% win rate in Platinum+ and 58.4% in Masters! As for the Shadow Isles version, it has a lower play rate than the Ionia version, but it’s also performing well, 54.4% win rate in Platinum+ and 57.1% in Masters.
• Lurk is lurking around. The deck holds a 51.8% win rate in Platinum+ ranks.
• Norra decks aren’t performing too well. All versions have a pretty low win rate, except for the Nami Norra version. It’s hovering around a 52% win rate in Platinum+ and a whopping 64.1% in Masters! The extremely high win rate in Master rank could be correlated to the deck’s low play rate and lack of enough stats.
• Kai’Sa Demacia’s play rate plummets. The archetype is no longer in the top 5 most played decks due to the nerfs it received. However, Kai’Sa DE still holds a positive win rate even after getting hit with the nerf hammer on a couple of its key cards.
• Viego Shurima and Senna Veigar are performing alright, staying above a 50% win rate.

Most Successful Archetypes

Tier 1 (Pirate Aggro, Trundle Timelines, Nasus Kindred, Katarina Gwen, Viego Evelynn, Ezreal Kennen, Twisted Fate Nami IO) New decks join the top-tier meta! We’re still early in the season, so some new decks might make a push to tier 1. The new champions still didn’t make tier 1, you could argue that Ornn Trundle is up there, but that might not stay for too long if players decide that cutting Ornn entirely is better.

Tier 2 (Vi Jax, Akshan Kayn, Zoe Kayn, Lee Sin Akshan, Twisted Fate SI, Veigar Senna, Kai’Sa DE, Viego SH) This is the first time we see Kai’Sa DE fall from tier 1. It’s still a bit early to have a complete grasp of tier 1 and 2 decks, but so far we can conclude that this is a healthy diverse meta.

Meme Tier Master Yi decks failed to break through 50%. Different versions are being tested, like Zoe Master Yi, Lee Sin Master Yi, and Viktor Master Yi but unfortunately, all of them are struggling to perform well.

Balance Watch Concurrent Timelines and Improvise units. Their synergy seems to be too strong, having Concurrent Timelines early on in the game means you’ll be able to dominate the board with buffy units where a lot of decks will struggle to keep up.

Underplayed and Overplayed Archetypes

In the chart below, I’ve plotted win rates versus play rates of 19 decks to demonstrate which archetypes can be seen as the ‘kings’ in the current meta, and which decks can be labeled as ‘overplayed’ or ‘underplayed’.

The Y-Axis represents the win rate whereas the X-Axis represents the play rate.

Meta Kings: Miss Fortune Twisted Fate. The aggressive deck is currently dominating the meta, especially with players adopting Ionian Hookmaster to the list. A lot of players used Miss Fortune Twisted Fate to rush their climb up to Master rank.

Overplayed: Akshan Kayn and Zoe Kayn. Both decks have a high play rate but are unfortunately not performing as well as expected. Their win rates are hovering around 47% to 50%.

Underplayed: Twisted Fate Nami Ionia. The deck started recently gaining attention, and it’s been performing consistently well, holding better stats than the Shadow Isles version.

Hidden Gems: Nami Norra Shellfolk. As absurd as at it may seem, players might have cracked the code with Nami Norra Shellfolk. The numbers are showing that the archetype is performing well unlike the different Norra versions. What’s left is to keep an eye on the stats to find out if the deck continues its strong performance.

Closing Words

The new season means we have limited stats in the Master rank, but we’re still able to get an idea of the decks that are performing well in the current meta.

Keep in mind that this is still the first week of the expansion. We’ll see a lot of changes in the upcoming weeks as players figure out more optimal builds for the new champions.

This is it for this week’s Meta Report. I’ll see you in the next one!