LoR Meta Report – Patch 3.18 Week 1 – Best Ladder Decks – Counter Seraphine Meta

Meta Report Patch 3.18 Week 1 is here! Patch 3.18 held bug fixes, meaning there weren’t any card changes to shift the current meta. However, there have been developments in the meta; new decks have been showing up on the ladder.

The meta is heavily dominated by Seraphine and Vayne decks, forcing players to explore and find the best archetypes that can deal with those popular decks in an attempt to gain an advantage. Let’s take a look at how the meta has shaped up so far.

Sources: The 333K matches of data from October 25 to October 31 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.

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Most Popular Archetypes

• Ezreal Seraphine (NX) continues its splendid performance on the ranked ladder. The archetype has been facing a lot of decks trying to counter it but still maintains a positive win rate, and has the highest play rate across Platinum, Diamond, and Master ranks. The deck has a 52.7% win rate in Platinum+.

• Zed Hecarim is the second most played deck, with a 5.37% play rate in Platinum+. Although the archetype has a high play rate, its win rate isn’t holding up too well. In Platinum+ ranks, Zed Hecarim is barely maintaining a 50% win rate. But when we take a look at the Master rank, that win rate drops down to 47.73%.

• The majority of the community seems to agree that Seraphine Ionia is the best performing Seraphine deck out there. The third most played deck, Seraphine Viktor Karma, has a 52.9% win rate in Platinum+ ranks and a 54.34% win rate in Master rank.

In an attempt to combat the Demacia and Seraphine decks, Annie Jhin has seen an increase in play rates. The archetype has a 54.4% win rate in Platinum+ and 51.81% in Master rank.

The combo-oriented deck is making a comeback in terms of play rate. When Rumble Vayne was holding the highest play rate, its win rate started to slowly decline. Now that the meta shifted to countering Seraphine, Vayne Rumble’s win rate went up to 54.4% in Platinum+ and 52.52% in Master rank.

Zed Vayne is the best performing Vayne deck at the moment. The archetype has a 55.1% win rate in the Platinum+ ranks. It also has a 55.3% win rate in the Master rank, the highest win rate in Masters!

When comparing both MF Swain and TF Swain, the Miss Fortune version is the clear winner. The archetype has a higher play rate and win rate than the old Twisted Fate archetype. MF Swain has a 56.7% win rate in Platinum+ ranks and a 55.02% win rate in Master rank.

The aggressive style of MF Swain seems to favor the archetype in the current meta. Closing out games before the opponent can set up their game plan.

Jax Vayne is one of the best decks to counter Seraphine archetypes, an important factor that makes Jax Vayne one of the most played decks on the ranked ladder. Additionally, the archetype puts up a fight against aggressive archetypes trying to counter the meta.

Jax Vayne has around 54% win rate in both Platinum+ and Master ranks.

• Vayne Gwen’s win rate continues to hover around 50%. The archetype’s win rate drops to 49.5% in Master rank.

Pantheon Vayne seems to be performing better than the Varus version. Varus Pantheon has a 52.5% win rate in Platinum+ and a 50.66% win rate in Master rank. As for Pantheon Vayne, the deck has a 54.7% win rate in Platinum+ and a 53.8% win rate in Master rank.

The Vayne Demacia version does better against Seraphine decks, which explains the higher win rate across all ranks.

• Seraphine Targon was one of the earliest Seraphine versions that existed on Seraphine’s release. The deck performed mediocrity in the meta, and it slowly was pushed out by the other Seraphine version.
• Players are now giving the archetype a second shot, and it is performing decently so far. Zoe Seraphine Aphelios barely holds a 50% win rate in Platinum+. However, that win rate goes up to 53.49% in Master rank.

• Leona Diana (SI) had an increase in play rate after showing potential last week. The archetype has a 54.2% win rate in Platinum+ and a 52.51% win rate in Master rank.

Akshan Sivir (DE) saw increase in play rate, making it into the top 20 most-played decks. It has around a 51% win rate across Platinum, Diamond, and Master ranks.

Vayne Kayn is putting up a fight and has a 53% win rate in Platinum+ and a 54.11% win rate in Master rank.

Elise Nocturne Fearsome’s play rate saw an increase this past week. It currently has a 55% win rate in Platinum+.

Another version that replaces Nocturne with Gwen is gaining popularity. The archetype relies more on burn cards like Noxian Fervour and Decimate to close out the game.

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Closing Words

It’s interesting to see new archetypes make it into the top 20 most-played decks. A lot of those decks have good matchup experience against multiple meta-dominant decks, making them a good choice for a ladder climb.

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