LoR Meta Report – Patch 4.2 Week 1 – Best Ladder Decks
Hello everyone! The first Variety Patch is here, which includes a batch of new cards and balance adjustments to shake up the meta.
Many decks have been rising in popularity since Patch 4.2 went live. Decks like Jayce Lux and Garen Jarvan IV have been quite popular on the ranked ladder.
Let’s take a look at all the meta developments in Patch 4.2.
Sources: The 251K matches of data from March 1 to March 6 are from Runeterra.AR and LLor.
Most Successful Archetypes
Tier 1 (Jayce Lux, Garen Jarvan IV, Jax Ornn, Heimerdinger Jayce (SI), Ziggs Taliyah, Annie Jhin)
Jayce Lux and Garen Jarvan IV make it into the top tier. The meta seems to be favoring Jax Ornn, and although it still holds a low play rate compared to the other decks, it’s maintaining the highest win rate among the top 21 decks.
Tier 2 (Evelynn Kai’Sa, Ryze IO. Kayle Leona, Lucian Evelynn, Azir Irelia, Evelynn Viego, Kalista Nocturne, Gwen Quinn, Miss Fortune Twisted Fate, Twisted Fate Illaoi, Norra Swain, Gnar Tristana, Seraphine Twisted Fate Viktor, Norra Veigar, Norra Gnar NX, Annie Ezreal NX, Tristana Gnar NX, Gwen Katarina, Trundle Tryndamere (SI), Ekko Jinx (SH), Gangplank Sejuani, Nasus Kindred, Akshan Varus, Twisted Fate Swain, Pyke Rek’Sai, Gwen Sejuani, Heimerdinger Norra, Twisted Fate Annie, Rumble Vayne, Zed Hecarim, Azir Xerath)
The old Azir Irelia deck makes its comeback after the Domination buff. Similarly, many different Evelynn decks are holding up well on the ranked ladder, taking advantage of Steem and Domination buffs.
Meme Tier
This Zoe Aphelios Bandle City deck tries to take advantage of the new Generous Gemcrafter and Banana Blaster cards. It wants to create buffy units with the help of the many cheap spells that the deck runs and creates.
Additionally, the list runs Curious Shelfolk as a value generator, making sure you don’t run out of cards in the late game and start outvaluing your opponent.
So far, the deck hasn’t been performing well on the ranked ladder, holding a 32.87% win rate.
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: Jayce Lux. The archetype added the new Formula card to its arsenal, giving it a boost in performance and quickly rising to the top of the play rate with a solid win rate.
Overplayed: Twisted Fate Mischievous Marai. The deck is in the top 15 most-played decks, but with a low win rate of 42.3%. It’s not a wise choice to take this to the ranked ladder if your goal is a serious climb.
Underplayed: Jax Ornn. Its win rate has been on the rise since Patch 4.2 went live. Jax Ornn used to be the most played deck before it started falling out of favor. It currently has the highest win rate of the top 21 decks and will probably see more play in the upcoming days.
Hidden Gems:
It seems that the Zoe Aphelios Freljord version is holding up better than the Bandle City version.
This deck uses both Starlit Seer and Generous Gemcrafter to buff up your units, especially your elusive units like Zoe, Esmus, Breath of the World, Lunari Shadestalker, and Sparklefly. Those units will become a threat, setting up powerful attacks directed toward the Nexus.
Aphelios’ Moon Weapons can be important value to generate more buffs and keep up with the opponent’s board. Additionally, Infernum and Stance Swap’s Overwhelm keyword let you turn a buffed-up non-elusive unit into a win condition.
I’m glad that Gwen Quinn has been seeing more play on the ranked ladder. I posted about the archetype on Twitter two weeks ago when I found only one player testing the archetype in high Master.
Since then, the deck has slowly risen in popularity and still maintains a solid win rate on the ranked ladder.
Gwen Quinn uses the hallowed keywords to set up powerful attacks with Gwen and Valor. With Cataclysm and Relentless Pursuit, you’ll find yourself consistently leveling up Gwen. Once she’s leveled up, she’ll start burning down the opponent’s Nexus with her Drain ability, potentially destroying the Nexus if you manage to attack twice with her on the same turn.
Balance Watch:
It’s a little too early to call out for nerfs. Jayce Lux and Garen Jarvan IV seem to be the community’s main concerns so far.
Most Popular Archetypes
Jayce Lux is the most-played deck on the ranked ladder with a 56.27% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Garen Jarvan IV, Ryze IO, and Heimerdinger Jayce.
Bad Matchups: Jax Ornn and Quinn Gwen
The new Blocking Badgerbear was the card Elites needed to take over the meta. The archetype quickly rose to second place in terms of play rate, and it is closely followed by a different version that runs Kayle and Xolaani the Bloodweaver in the list.
Both versions are performing well, holding around a 56%-57% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Ryze IO, Kayle Leona, and Evelynn Kai’Sa.
Bad Matchups: Jayce Lux and Heimerdinger Jayce.
Heimerdinger Jayce is in third place in popularity. The deck was doing well in the previous patch, and it continues its solid performance in Patch 4.2. The archetype has a 55.07% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Garen Jarvan IV, Lucian Evelynn, and Ryze IO.
Bad Matchups: Jayce Lux, Taliyah Ziggs, and Evelynn Kai’Sa.
Champions (3)
Ryze IO has lost some of its popularity, dropping from first place to fourth in terms of play rate. The deck has a 47.77% win rate across all ranks and a 48% win rate in the Master rank.
With the top 3 decks capable of beating Ryze IO, it makes sense that the archetype will lose a lot of the popularity it had in the previous patch.
Good Matchups: Jax Ornn, Trundle Tryndamere, and Evelynn Viego.
Bad Matchups: Jayce Lux, Garen Jarvan IV, Heimerdinger Jayce
Leona Kayle received nerfs to Wandering Shepherd and Rahvun, the Daylight’s Spear. The archetype has dropped in play rate, but it’s still holding up well, with a 54.76% win rate across all ranks and a 53.6% win rate in the Master rank.
Good Matchups: Ryze IO, Evelynn Kai’Sa, Pyke Rek’Sai.
Bad Matchups: Jayce Lux, Garen Jarvan IV,Heimerdinger Jayce.
Evelynn Kai’Sa is the most popular Evelynn version in the first week of Patch 4.2. The buffs to both Domination and Steem brought different Evelynn decks into the meta.
The archetype has a 51.43% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Ryze IO, Heimerdinger Jayce, and Taliyah Ziggs.
Bad Matchups: Garen Jarvan IV, Kayle Leona, Lucian Evelynn.
Ziggs Taliyah has had a solid performance as an anti-meta deck. The archetype has a 55.57% win rate across all ranks. It has a good matchup against the top 3 decks, making it a great choice for the ranked ladder.
Good Matchups: Jayce Lux, Garen Jarvan IV, Heimerdinger Jayce.
Bad Matchups: Evelynn Kai’Sa, Jax Ornn, Leona Kayle.
Lucian Evelynn has the highest win rate compared to other Evelynn archetypes. The deck has a 54.36% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Garen Jarvan IV, Ryze IO, Evelynn Kai’Sa.
Bad Matchups: Jayce Lux, Heimerdinger Jayce, Jax Ornn.
Pyke Rek’Sa breaks the 50% win rate in Patch 4.2. The Lurk deck has been taking advantage of Evelynn’s popularity, giving it a boost in performance. Lurk has a 54.23% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Evelynn Kai’Sa, Ryze IO, and Lucian Evelynn.
Bad Matchups: Jayce Lux and Heimerdinger Jayce.
Azir Irelia is back! The Domination buff has put the deck in the top 21 most-played decks. The archetype has a 53.2% win rate across all ranks and a 54% win rate in the Master rank.
Good Matchups: Ryze IO and Evelynn Kai’Sa.
Bad Matchups: Garen Jarvan IV, Leona Kayle, Lucian Evelynn.
Jax Ornn’s play rate has plummeted, but it now has the highest win rate across the 21 most-played decks. The archetype has a 57.39% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Jayce Lux, Garen Jarvan IV, Evelynn Kai’Sa.
Bad Matchups: Ryze IO, Azir Irelia, and Kalisa Nocturne.
Champions (3)
Twisted Fate Mischivious Marai which operates on the Powder Kegs + Warning Shot win condition, has not been holding up well on the ranked ladder. It has a 42.3% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Teemo Caitlyn and Annie Ezreal Katarina.
Bad Matchups: Jayce Lux, Garen Jarvan IV, and Ryze IO.
(The list isn’t showing on the site, but you can still code the deck code)
Seraphine Twisted Fate Viktor has a 47.83% win rate across all ranks and a 42.9% win rate in the Master rank.
Good Matchups: Kalista Nocturne, Heimerdinger Jayce, and Norra Veigar.
Bad Matchups: Jayce Lux, Ryze IO, Garen Jarvan IV.
Annie Jhin has a 55.11% win rate across all ranks and a 56.3% win rate in the Master rank.
Good Matchups: Jayce Lux, Ryze IO, Evelynn Kai’Sa, and Taliyah Ziggs.
Bad Matchups: Garen Jarvan IV and Heimerdinger Jayce.
Teemo Caitlyn continues to underperform on the ranked ladder. It has a 46.58% win rate across all ranks.
Good Matchups: Ryze IO and Maokai Nautilus.
Bad Matchups: Garen Jarvan IV, Jayce Lux, and Evelynn Kai’Sa
Akshan Varus has a 54.47% win rate across all ranks and a 53.8% win rate in the Master rank.
Good Matchups: Garen Jarvan IV and Evelynn Kai’Sa.
Bad Matchups: Lucian Kai’Sa and Taliyah Ziggs.
Kalista Nocturne has a 54.53% win rate across all ranks but drops to a 51.2% win rate in the Master rank.
Good Matchups: Ryze IO, Heimerdinger Jayce, and Lucian Evelynn.
Bad Matchups: Garen Jarven IV, Seraphine TF Viktor, and Ziggs Taliyah.
Closing Words
The meta is still in an experimental phase, but a lot of archetypes have already established their place in it. Both Garen Jarvan IV and Jayce Lux are in the top tier, and now it’s a matter of time until the meta adapts to counter them.
This is it for this week’s Meta Report; I’ll see you at the next one!
Sorry
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