Hello everyone! Patch 3.21 introduces a new set of cards in the World Ender expansion. Three new champions have joined the game, Aatrox, Ryze, and Kayle.
Aatrox has found success early on in the new season, unlike Kayle and Ryze, who still struggle to maintain a positive win rate on the ranked ladder.
Keep in mind that a new season just started, which means we don’t have a lot of stats on the Master rank. This means Master stats this week might be inflated due to the low number of players.
Sources: The 183K matches of data from December 6 to December 12 are from LlorStat and Runeterra.AR.
Most Successful Archetypes
Tier 1 (Ziggs Acolyte, Kayn Aatrox, Jinx (DE), Teemo Norra (DE) Annie Jhin, Katarina Gwen, Draven Jinx, Vayne Aatrox, Teemo Zoe (BC)) The meta is still all over the place as players try to adapt to the new decks on the ranked ladder. So far, Ziggs Acolyte and Tailyah Ziggs Acolyte seem to be the best performers, closely followed by Aatrox Kayn.
The increase in Acolyte decks pushed Jinx Lulu, Draven Jinx, and Annie Jhin into Tier 1 due to their solid performance against the archetype. All three decks have a 55+ win rate.
Tier 2 (Aatrox Vayne, Akshan Aatrox, Gangplank Sejuani, Ezreal Seraphine (BC), Twisted Fate Annie, Trundle Tryndamere (SI), Heimerdinger Jayce (SI), Viktor Seraphine (SI), Trundle Timelines, Rumble Vayne, Zed Hecarim, Leona Diana (SI), Ekko Jinx (SH), Heimerdinger Norra (SI), Elise Norra, Akshan Varus, Pyke Rek’Sai, Azir Xerath)
A variety of different archetypes are present in tier 2. We have new decks joining the field and we’ll see how the meta shapes up next week.
The Acolyte and Champions’ Strength are currently swarming the ladder, which will eventually force players to adapt to them.
Meme Tier
Ryze is one of the three new champions in the World Ender expansion. The champion has failed to hold a 40% win rate after a week of release. All different versions of Ionia, Shadow Isles, Bilgewater, and Piltover & Zaun are hovering around a 35% win rate.
The champion has a unique playstyle and win condition, and it can take a while to set up the win condition. Most decks in the current meta can close out the game before Ryze decks set up all 5 World Runes.
Underplayed and Overplayed Archetypes
In the chart below, I’ve plotted win rates versus play rates for 21 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: Ziggs Acolyte. The archetype has dominated the first week of Patch 3.21. It quickly gained popularity and now has a win rate of 56.03% across all ranks.
Overplayed: Azir Xerath. Mono Shurima is in the top 10 most-played decks this past week but has a negative win rate. It’s not the best archetype for a serious ladder climb.
Underplayed: Draven Jinx. The discard deck is still one of the best choices in the current meta, especially to combat the increase of Acolyte decks.
Hidden Gems:
Illaoi Vayne. The deck has new tools in its arsenal and has a 56.14% win rate on the ranked ladder. Both Eye of God and Champions’ Strength gave a boost to the deck’s performance.
I took the archetype for a test run on the ranked ladder and managed to win all five games. Although it’s a small sample size, it shows that the deck has potential.
Balance Watch: Champions’ Strength and Acolyte’s Reliquary. Both cards seem overpowered in the meta, and players have quickly started to take advantage of them.
Most Popular Archetypes
Champions (6)
equipments (9)
Kayn Aatrox has the highest play rate in the first week of the expansion. It has an 8.29% play rate across all ranks and a 56.75% win rate.
The deck has a solid performance against most of the meta decks, and with Aatrox’s ability to heal your Nexus, you’re able to hold up against aggressive decks.
Champions (3)
landmarks (8)
Ziggs Acolyte has been gaining insane popularity in the last couple of days. It currently has a 5.98% play rate and has been favored in Master rank over Kayn Aatrox. It has a 56.03% win rate in all ranks and 54.5% in the Master rank.
The addition of Acolyte’s Reliquary took the Ruinous Acolytes game plan to another level! If you draw the landmark early on in the game, you’re able to outvalue your opponent the longer the game stretches out with your buffed-up Acolytes.
Champions (3)
Jinx (DE) dominated the ranked ladder in the first few days of the expansion thanks to its swarm ability and use of Champions’ Strength.
The deck still maintains a high play rate and is in the top 5 most-played decks. As for its win rate, in all ranks, it has a 56.1% win rate. That win rate plummets in Master rank, dropping down to 45.4%. Keep in mind that we don’t have a lot of data on Master rank, so the low win rate isn’t indicative of the decks’ success.
Katarina Gwen managed to dodge any nerfs since it dominated the ranked ladder and tournament scene last season. The deck carries its solid performance into the new season, even being part of the World Champion’s lineup.
The deck has a 2.2% play rate in all ranks and a 54.46% win rate. However, in Master rank, that win rate drops significantly, barely holding a 50% win rate.
Although we have limited data in the Master rank, I took a look at the decks’ performance in the Diamond rank. It seems to struggle against popular matchups like Ziggs Acolytes, Aatrox Kayn, and Jinx (DE).
Bard Kayle has a 42.58% win rate in all ranks. Its play rate this week lands it in the top 8 most played decks. But the deck has seen no play in Master rank, which makes sense as it’s not a good choice if you’re looking to climb up the ranked ladder.
All Ryze decks have underperformed since the expansion went live. The champion has no play in Master rank, and for the rest of the ladder, Ryze decks have a win rate hovering around 30%-35%.
Annie Jhin holds a 55.2% win rate across all ranks with a 1.43% play rate. Taking a look at the Master rank, that win rate drops to 46.78%. We only have 542 Annie Jhin games played in Master rank, so it’s difficult to assess the deck’s success in the meta just yet.
Jinx Lulu has the highest win rate across all ranks! It has a 57.42% win rate overall and a 59.7% win rate in Master.
Its ability to destroy Acolyte decks has propelled it up the ranked ladder as a counter deck. However, the deck has a bad matchup against Aatrox decks.
The Elusive Teemo Zoe (BC) has kept up a good performance even after the nerf to The Sudden Surge. It has a 54.6% win rate across all ranks and a 55.8% win rate in Master. The deck’s play rate dropped significantly; it now has a 0.79% play rate, putting it at the 19th spot in most played decks.
Spells (23)
Ezreal Seraphine Bandle City is the most-played Seraphine deck with a 0.77% play rate across all ranks. It has an overall 48.83% win rate and a 58.10% win rate in Master rank.
Draven Jinx’s play rate dropped a lot compared to Patch 3.2. It has an overall 0.77% play rate. However, Master players seem to still acknowledge the strength of Draven Jinx, as the archetype has a 2.2% play rate.
The deck’s overall win rate is 55.92%, and in Master rank, it has a 58.8%.
Teemo Norra (DE) is another version of the Champions’ Strength deck. There are different versions on the ranked ladder. For example, one version favors Poppy instead of Teemo in the list.
Teemo Norra has an overall 55.47% win rate.
Gangplank Sejuani continues an outstanding performance on the ranked ladder. It has a low play rate of 0.9% but an overall win rate of 54.83%.
It has an advantage over Jinx (DE) and Ziggs Acolyte, but falls short against Aatrox Kayn.
Closing Words
A lot of new decks have joined the meta, pushing their way into Tier 1 and Tier 2. The first week of a new expansion is usually all over the place. Next week, we’ll have a clearer picture of the consistent top performers and how the meta field ends up.
This is it for this week’s Meta Report. I’ll see you at the next one!
