
LoR Meta Report – Patch 3.17 Week 2 – Best Ladder Decks – Seraphine Out of Control
It’s time for Patch 3.17 week 2 Meta Report! The Darkin Saga: Domination brought three new champions (Seraphine, Vayne, and Varus) who all found success in different archetypes. However, some might have seen too much success.
Unlike last week, we now have a lot of Master data to look at and get a grasp of how the meta shaped up, which decks are the best, and the new anti-meta decks that are on the rise.
Sources: The 440k matches of data from October 18 to October 24 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 Successful Archetypes

Tier 1 (Ezreal Seraphine (NX), Pantheon Vayne, Viktor Seraphine (SI), Viktor Seraphine (IO), Zed Vayne, Annie Jhin)
We see a clear dominance in Tier 1 by Seraphine decks. The three top Seraphine archetypes have proved to be on a different level compared to other decks in the meta. Pantheon Vayne is one of the few decks on the ladder that can deal with Seraphine Ezreal (NX), landing it a spot in Tier 1.
Tier 2 (Rumble Vayne, Zed Hecarim, Twisted Fate Swain, Akshan Varus, Pirate Aggro, Akshan Lee Sin, Vayne Jax, Vayne Gwen, Vayne Kayn, Pyke Rek’Sai, Katarina Gwen, Fiora Vayne (PZ), Ashe Leblanc)
There are a lot of different Vayne decks in Tier 2, some of which are capable of pushing to Tier 1 if Seraphine wasn’t dominating the scene. Ashe Leblanc makes it back to tier 2 as the Demacia bully.
Meme Tier Kindred Nasus. The archetype saw an increase in play rate in the platinum and diamond ranks. However, the deck can barely hold a 44% win rate, and it feels too weak to deal with the top-tier decks.
Balance Watch Seraphine and Fanclub President. Both cards have been problematic on the ranked ladder. The manifested cards from Fanclub President could be limited to the deck’s regions, restricting the cards she can pull. As for Seraphine, she’s providing too much value early on in the game, making it difficult for many different archetypes to keep up with her. We could see a slower level-up condition or a nerf to her health.
Underplayed and Overplayed Archetypes
In the chart below, I’ve plotted win rates versus play rates of 22 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: Seraphine Ezreal (NX) and Seraphine Viktor Karma. Both decks have been pretty popular on the ranked ladder. Seraphine Ezreal (NX) is currently the more popular version, dominating the scene and forcing the meta to adapt to it. As for Seraphine Viktor Karma, the archetype seems to be favored by Master players and holds a higher win rate than Seraphine Ezreal (NX) in Master.
Overplayed: Ashe Leblanc. Although Ashe Leblanc has a great matchup against Vayne decks, the archetype struggles against Seraphine decks. As a ladder deck, Ashe Leblanc is not the best choice out there. However, in a tournament lineup, Ashe Leblanc can thrive when you ban Seraphine decks and focus on beating Demacia decks.
Underplayed: Miss Fortune Swain. The deck adopts a more aggressive plan than Twisted Fate Swain, giving it a better shot at beating Seraphine decks.
Hidden Gems:











Nami is not completely dead? The new Nami Seraphine brings back the elusive gameplay but with a slightly different play style. The deck wants to set up an elusive board, and with the help of Nami and Fleet Admiral Shelly, you’re able to turn those units into a threat.
Acorn, the Hextechnician can chip in early damage while making spells cheaper for future plays. Later on in the game, the elusive keyword synergizes perfectly with the buffs the deck is capable of providing.
As for Seraphine, she acts as your value generation and can speed up the buffs from Nami and Fleet Admiral Shelly.
Most Popular Archetypes












- Ezreal Seraphine is at the top! The deck has an insanely high play rate of 14% in Platinum+ while holding a 53.2% win rate in Platinum+ and 54.42% in Master.
- Once both leveled champions hit the board, it’s extremely difficult for most decks to deal with the burn the archetype can deal.











- Rumble Vayne is the second most played deck. The deck holds a 53.1% win rate in the Platinum+ rank. In Master rank, however, it is struggling; its win rate has dropped to 49.52%. It seems as if players got used to Rumble’s play pattern, and it’s become easier to shut down their combo play.











- Zed Vayne sees an increase in play rate, landing it in the top 3 most-played decks. The archetype has a 53.1% win rate in the Platinum+ rank. It has a good matchup table, beating a lot of the popular decks on the ranked ladder, and only has a bad matchup against Seraphine Ezreal, Twisted Fate Swain, and Fiora Vayne (PZ).











Champions (6)


landmarks (2)

equipments (2)

Vayne Gwen’s play rate and win rate have dropped since last week. It was the most-played deck early on in Patch 3.17, but with the popularity of Seraphine decks, the archetype was pushed back and dropped down to the top 5. In terms of win rate, the deck has a 51.3% win rate in Platinum+ but a 47.27% win rate in Master.
It makes sense that Gwen Vayne lost its popularity. A quick look at the matchup table shows an awful matchup experience against most of the meta decks. Only has an even matchup with Seraphine Ezreal (NX).











Spells (25)







































Seraphine Viktor has been quite popular in different regions. The most popular ones are the Ionia and Shadow Isles versions. Both versions have been competing to prove which one is the best. The Shadow Isles version has an edge over the Ionia one against Ezreal Seraphine (NX) thanks to Quietus.
Moreover, players have started favoring the addition of Karma to the list. She proved to give the deck a better late game, even pumping the win rate of the deck up to 58% in Master rank!
The Bandle City version comes in as the third most-played version. It doesn’t quite have as high of a play rate as the other two versions, but it does hold a 54.46% win rate in Master rank. It focuses more on value generation with the help of Curious Shellfolk and sets up an elusive win condition with the buffs from Glorious Evolution.











Pantheon Vayne has been performing well on the ranked ladder as it does well against Seraphine Ezreal (NX) and other Demacia decks. It’s currently hovering around 53%-54% in Platinum+ and Master ranks.
The archetype struggles against aggressive decks and is slightly unfavored against the new Zed Hecarim that recently howed up on the ranked ladder.











- The new rising deck, Zed Hecarim! The archetype has shown up on the ladder recently, taking advantage of the new Opulent Foyer to set up an Ephemeral attack and gain Hallowed stats.
- Zed Hecarim has a 50.6% win rate in the Platinum+ rank. However, in the Master rank, that win rate drops down to 49.72.











- Varus Pantheon is remarkably holding a positive win rate even though it has an unfavored matchup against a lot of the decks in the meta. The archetype beats down on Demacia, which is probably why the deck is holding a 53% win rate in Platinum+ rank. It does though struggle against Ashe Leblanc and Seraphine Ezreal (NX).











- Jax Vayne has around a 54% win rate in both the Platinum+ and Master ranks. The deck has proven to perform well against all Seraphine decks, making it the best choice for an anti-meta deck.




























- Both Miss Fortune Twisted Fate and Annie Jhin have been doing outstandingly well in Platinum+, holding 55.7% and 54.60% win rates, respectively.
- The decks look to prey on Demacia archetypes before they’re able to set up a solid board. At the same time, the nature of aggressive decks allows them to sneak wins against Ezreal Seraphine (NX).






















- Twisted Fate Swain is struggling on the ranked ladder. The deck was once the most played on the ranked ladder but now has dropped to a 45.75% win rate in Master.
- Miss Fortune Swain has been gaining popularity. This version focuses more on early aggression, which makes it harder for Seraphine decks to keep up. The archetype has a 58% win rate in Platinum+ and 56.43% in Master rank.











Ashe Leblanc returns, but with some changes to its list. The new Ashe Leblanc uses Equipment units to its advantage, along with Brutal Skirmish to strike down units. Unfortunately, Ashe Leblanc still can’t hold a win rate above 50% on the ranked ladder.
However, the archetype shines in the tournament scene. The ability to ban a Seraphine deck lets Ashe Leblanc focus on beating down the favored matchups.











Katarina Gwen continues to perform decently on the ranked ladder. Its win rate hovers around 51% in both Platinum+ and Master ranks.











Spells (21)


















The combo deck Akshan Seraphine barely holds a 50% win rate. The deck adopts a completely different play style than the popular Seraphine decks. Focusing more on synergizing Seraphine with Walord’s Hoard, which can take a while to set up.











Ezreal Seraphine (SI) is the newest version of a burn Seraphine deck. The archetype has an edge against Seraphine Ezreal (NX) due to Quietus’ capability to kill champions.
The archetype has a below 50% win rate in Platinum+ rank. However, at Master rank, that win rate goes up to 54%.
Closing Words
The meta feels dominated by both Vayne and Seraphine. Seraphine decks specifically have been out of control with the value generation. However, a nerf to Seraphine decks will most likely mean that Vayne decks will take over the ranked ladder. We will probably see a plan to tone down both champions in the upcoming patch.
This is it for this week’s Meta Report. I’ll see you at the next one!