Lucian Azir Deck Guide

Hello there, Sorry here! I’m a competitive Legends of Runeterra player, Master rank since Beta, and participate in tournaments regularly. Today I’m going to share a Lucian Azir guide, an aggressive deck that uses Sand Soldiers and Rally effects to its advantage.

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Lucian Azir aims to push damage by swarming the board with Sand Soldiers, using the synergies of Rally effects, Scout keyword, and Sand Soldiers to push damage onto the opponent’s Nexus.

When Azir or Emperor’s Dais is on the board, your Scout attack with either Valor spawned from Blinding Assault or Grizzled Ranger will summon a Sand Soldier, you’ll then summon another Sand Soldier when you use your attack token afterwards.

This will speed up the process of leveling both of your champions. Azir will level up after you’ve summoned 10 units, and he does not have to be on board for his level-up condition to progress. As for Lucian, if he sees 4 units die he’ll level up, Sand Soldiers with the Ephemeral keyword synergize with his quest very well.

• Cithria the Bold, Inspiring Marshal

Two key units that’ll buff up your Sand Soldiers when attacking, which will represent extra damage to your opponent’s Nexus or force them to take blocks that favor you.

• Blinding Assault, Grizzled Ranger

Both units have the Scout keyword, this allows you to summon Sand Soldiers twice, first on your Scout attack and then followed with your second attack.

• Emperor’s Dais

Probably the most important card in the deck. Summoning a Sand Soldier off Emperor’s Dais is accomplishing three things. Firstly it increases the number of units you’re swinging with, secondly, it helps to level up your Azir faster, thirdly if you have a Lucian on board it’ll contribute to his level up.

• Remembrance

When you attack with your units and summon Sand Soldiers, those Ephemeral units will die after they attack. This will lower the cost of your Remembrance, especially if your opponent trades with anything other than the Sand Soldiers. In some cases, we could get Remembrance down to 1 or 0 mana cost. Greathorn Companion is usually the best drop you can get since it has the Scout keyword.

Keep in mind if you’re playing against an aggro deck, swing first to make sure a unit dies before playing your Remembrance as you could potentially summon a Radiant Guardian with Lifesteal that’ll swing the game to your favor.

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General Mulligan Tips: Lucian, Ancient Preparations, Azir, Emperor’s Dais, and Blinding Assault are cards you’re usually looking for in your opening hand.

You’ll prioritize Lucian and Ancient Preparations over the rest, mainly because Lucian’s level-up will give you a massive advantage over your opponent. Ancient Preparations allows you to Predict and could find a suitable card to draw on the next turn depending on the situation. If you don’t have Azir in your hand you most likely will look for him.

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Mulligan for: Lucian, Azir, Ranger’s Resolve, Ancient Preparations, Remembrance.

• The most important cards to watch out for in this matchup are Avalanche, Blighted Ravine, Ice Shard, and Withering Wail. All removals that can deal with your wide board can shut down your attack.
• When on defense do not commit low health units to the board if your opponent is holding up 4 mana, they could potentially be setting up for a Blighted Ravine to wipe out your board.
• Cards like Ranger’s Resolve, Sharpsight, and Shaped Stone are essential to keep important units alive. Keeping Lucian on board when your opponent goes for removal will threaten a level-up or force your opponent to commit more removal.
• Relentless Pursuit can catch your opponent off guard, even if they wiped out most of your low health units. Having at least Azir and Emperor’s Dais on the board will allow you to push extra damage and potentially end the game.

Mulligan for: Lucian, Azir, Ancient Preparations, Sharpsight.

• In this matchup, you’re looking to end the game before Lee Sin one-shots your Nexus. You’ll be putting a lot of pressure on your opponent early on. This will make it hard for them to drop Lee Sin on turn 5.
• Lucian is an important win condition. Outside of Lee Sin, Sonic Wave, and Invokes, your opponent cannot remove your Lucian.
• In some cases, you might need to opt-out from attacking with Lucian if your opponent is holding Hush mana, since you value the Rally effect from Lucian if you manage to level him up.
• Sharpsight is an important card in this matchup as well, you could either remove Zoe which if she hits your Nexus she’ll generate a Supercool Starchart that’ll give your opponent either an extra blocker or a stall tool such as Crescent Strike. You could also remove Sparklefly, which is an important sustain unit for your opponent, especially if it’s buffed by Mentor of the Stones.
• If you’re looking to play Remembrance, make sure not to lower its cost below 4 mana to play around Nopeify!.

Mulligan for: Lucian, Emperor’s Dais, Azir, Ancient Preparations, and Blinding Assault.

• You’re looking to swarm the board with units and push as much damage as you can.
• Try not to take a lot of damage early on as your opponent can finish the game off with a Battle Fury on one of their Overwhelm units.
• You value your Azir, Lucian, and Inspiring Marshal in this matchup. Their only method of removing those units is with an Exhaust or Ruthless Predator on their attack turn. They cannot interact with your board on their defense turn.
• Remember, your opponent does not run any removal cards, they cannot deal with your Sand Soldiers aside from blocking them with their units.
• Watch out for Troll Chant and Shaped Stone when attacking with Azir or Lucian.
• It is fine to drop low on health if you’re positive that you can end the game on the following turn, your opponent does not run any burn cards to close out the game.

Mulligan for: Lucian, Azir, Emperor Dais, Blinding Assault, and Sharpsight.

• This matchup pretty much comes down to the race – who can finish the game faster. The difference between Lucian Azir and Fizz TF is that you lack burn cards to close out the game.
• A leveled Twisted Fate will be able to remove all your Sand Soldiers with a Red Card if they’re not buffed by a Cithria or Ranger’s Resolve.
• Blinding Assault and Cataclysm are your only methods to remove Twisted Fate, expect your opponent to play him on turn 4.
• Inspiring Marshal and Cithria play a big role in winning the game.
• Inspiring Marshal will buff your Sand Soldiers enough to trade with opponent’s units or push 4 damage to the Nexus. This might force your opponent to commit burn cards to remove units rather than sending them as direct damage to your Nexus.
• Similarly, Cithria will buff your Sand Soldiers to deal 3 damage to the opponent’s Nexus, at the same time they will gain the Fearsome Keyword, which is very important in this matchup as Fizz TF doesn’t have a lot of units that can block Fearsome units.

Mulligan for: Lucian, Dunekeeper, Azir, Ancient Preparations, Remembrance.

• Dunekeeper allows you to keep your opponent in check on your opponent’s first attack turn. Azir is also capable of removing 1 health units while still remaining on the board.
• Your biggest threat is Miss Fortune early on, as your Dunekeeper, Blinding Assault, and Grizzled Ranger will not be able to trade with units due to her effect.
• You might need to use Ranger’s Resolve, Sharpsight, or Shaped Stone on defense to remove Miss Fortune.
• Your opponent has access to burn, be wary of dropping below 4 health as your opponent can end the game with a Decimate.
• Keep in mind that if they play Zap Sprayfin, they most likely drew a Noxian Fervor. Most decks run only that card as a 3 mana cost or less, some might run a 1-of Brothers’ Bond.

Mulligan for: Lucian, Emperor’s Dais, Azir, Ancient Preparations.

• It’s very difficult for you to deal with your opponent’s Challenger units like Screeching Dragon. Try to pass and hold on to units on their attack turn and wait for them to attack.
• Remember that on turn 6 your opponent might look for an open swing that’ll probably summon Jarvan IV on the board.
• The most important card to keep alive is Inspiring Marshal, her high health makes it hard for your opponent to remove her unless they commit a Concerted Strike. Inspiring Marshal will buff up your Sand Soldiers to the point where they can now potentially trade with opponent’s units.
• If you’re looking to play Remembrance, make sure not to lower its cost below 4 mana if your opponent is running a Nopeify! they’ll be able to stop it.

Mulligan for: Lucian, Azir, Dunekeeper, Emperor Dais, Remembrance.

• Most Discard Aggro decks don’t run Mystic Shot, so their best method to remove your Lucian is with a Get Excited!. Working on leveling him is very important in this matchup as it’ll give you an advantage in the race thanks to Rally.
• You need to play aggressively early on, try to push for damage even if the trade isn’t favored. Your goal is to force your opponent to trade their units off the board and deny them a big Crowd Favorite on turn 4.
• You do not have a reliable method to remove Jinx – hence you have to try and end the game as soon as possible before they level her up and start generating a Super Mega Death Rocket!.

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Conclusion

The deck can stomp if you draw your early curve! Ultraman, a high-ranked Legends of Runeterra player, managed to reach rank 3 EU playing Lucian Azir.

It does lack in card advantage so the longer the game takes the less likely you’ll be able to finish your opponent off. I found the deck pretty fun on the ladder especially when I’m able to sneak in a 0 mana Remembrance and get a Greathorn Companion.

Hopefully, you’ve found this guide helpful. If you’d like to keep up with my content you can follow me on Twitter.