Mono Viego Shurima Deck Guide

Hey there, Sorry here! Today’s guide will feature the Ruined King, Viego paired with the Shurima region.

The Viego Shurima deck relies heavily on the champion to set up its game plan, Rite of Arcane ensures that you will find Viego later on in the game.

In the mulligan phase, you’re mostly looking for Viego along with an early unit like Treasure Seeker and Camavoran Soldier.

Early game you want to avoid trading your units if possible, having Viego on the board when those units die will accelerate his level up condition. Camavoran Soldier bumps the stats of Viego before you have to play him, which makes it more difficult for your opponent to deal with.

Once Viego hits the board you want to make sure you have enough mana to protect him. Both Ancient Hourglass and Rite of Negation should be saved to protect your champion as he acts as your main win condition.

Now it’s time to start buffing Viego up! Ideally, you want to have at least one unit die per turn to proc Viego’s effect. Eventually, you’ll threaten to level him up and from there Viego will dominate the board if not answered.

Encroaching Mists will become big enough that your opponent will be forced to chomp block them, slowly running your opponent out of units.

Additionally, the Fearsome keyword on both Viego and Invasive Hydravine can allow you to slam the opponent’s Nexus if they’ve lost their Fearsome blockers. You’ll threaten to end the game by board domination or with an Atrocity played on Viego.

The deck does run tools to help prolong the game or kill key units on your opponent’s side. Vengence and Quicksand are crucial cards in the current meta to keep your opponent’s board in check.

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Techs and Options

• Kindred
  A companion for Viego isn’t out of question, it grants you an alternative win condition instead of relying on Viego. You can cut Rite of Calling for Kindred.

• Fading Icon
  An early unit that gives a sacrifice target you can use either for card draw or as Viego’s trigger effect. Cut Aspiring Chronomancer and you might want to add Spirit Leech to the deck.

• Spirit Leech
  Allows for more card draw while also a slay mechanic to trigger Viego’s effect. Don’t need to run more than two, you can cut a Rite of Calling for it.

• Black Spear
  With the many slay effect cards and Ephemeral units, it’s easy to activate Black Spear which acts as a cheap removal card.

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General Tips

• Value Viego the most.
  He acts as your main win condition, protection tools like Ancient Hourglass and Rite of Negation should be held to keep him safe. You can gain an additional stat on Viego by killing a unit with Glimpse Beyond to keep him alive from a damage spell.

• Sacrifice your units to level him up.
  Walking Sands created by Treasure Seeker can boost up the completion of Viego’s level-up condition. Rite of Calling and Glimpse Beyond doesn’t exist in the deck solely for the card draw but also to assist in leveling up Viego. In some cases, you might have to sacrifice your Invasive Hydravine if it ensures Viego levels up!

• Using Viego’s ability for defensive purposes.
  You’re able to create an Encroaching Mist off of Viego at the start of your defense turn. This works by summoning an Ephemeral unit on your attacking turn and making sure nothing dies on that specific turn. Once the round ends, the Ephemeral unit will die, triggering Viego’s effect and summoning an Encroaching Mist as a defensive blocker. This comes in handy if you’re expecting an open attack from your opponent.
  Walking Sands, Camavoran Soldier, and Invasive Hydravine can all provide the Ephemeral unit you’ll need.
• Ancient Hourglass on Camavoran Soldier and Invasive Hydravine.
  Playing Ancient Hourglass on those two units will still activate their effect on the upcoming turn summoning an Encroaching Mist that buffs up your Viego.

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Matchups

Mulligan for: Viego, Camavoran Soldier, Rite of Negation, Rite of Calling, Invasive Hydravine.

• Your opponent will focus on ramping early on to set up a Trundle, Tryndamere, and Feel The Rush as early as possible. You’re able to kill Faces of the Old Ones with either Merciless Hunter or Baccai Sandspinner which slows your opponent’s game plan.
• Keep Viego safe from cards like Vengence, Ruination, or Buried in Ice + It That Stares. Ancient Hourglass and Rite of Negation come in handy in those scenarios. It’s better to play Ancient Hourglass over Rite of Negation to keep an answer for Feel The Rush.
• Once Viego gets big enough it’ll be difficult for your opponent to push Overwhelm damage against the Encroaching Mists with massive stats.
• Eventually, you’ll be able to push Nexus damage with your units, watch out for Atrocity you can bait it out by saving a Quicksand in your hand in order to lower the incoming damage.
• Quicksand can be useful early on to stop the Overwhelm damage and keep your Nexus’ health safe.
• Be careful of Flash Freeze when you commit your Atrocity, it’s better to play it on an Encoraching Mist instead of Viego.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Aspiring Chronomancer, Camavoran Soldier, Vile Feast.

• Try and keep up with your opponent’s board, Vile Feast can be the perfect answer for Legion Saboteur or Marai Warden.
• Hold onto Camavoran Soldier until defensive turns, the Enroaching Mist can shut down your opponent’s attack.
• Your opponent will switch to the burn plan mid to late game, making them lose on board presence. Rite of Negation is the perfect answer for a Decimate.
• Quicksand can stop Zap Sprayfin in its tracks. But in a lot of cases, you might have to play Quicksand to preserve your health even if you’re not planning on blocking the unit.

Mulligan for: Camavoran Soldier, Merciless Hunter, Baccai Sandspinner, Viego

• Board presence is the only way your opponent wins the game, if you’re able to level up Viego and keep him safe with Quicksand, you should dominate the board mid to late game.
• Miss Fortune is the biggest threat, don’t hesitate to Vengence her when possible even at the expense of your Nexus health.
• Outside of unit damage, your opponent cannot close out the game as they don’t run any burn cards. Dropping low on health is fine as long as you take over the board.
• Merciless Hunter and Baccai Reaper are solid answers for either Miss Fortune or Quinn.
• Keep Rite of Negation for either For Demacia! or Golden Aegis.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Camavoran Soldier, Viego, Ancient Hourglass

• It’s important you level up Viego before your opponent ascends their champions.
• You’re not playing against an aggressive deck, so don’t feel pressured to block Endless Devout, you’d rather avoid giving them the landmark.
• Attack Token is important in this match when both sides have their champions leveled. Having the attack token means the round start effects will trigger first.

For example, it’s your attack turn, your opponent has an ascended Xerath on the board, if you Ancient Hourglass Viego (assuming he’s the only unit on your side of the board) on the upcoming turn, Xerath will deal the 5 damage directly onto your Nexus instead of hitting and possibly killing Viego. Viego’s effect will still go through as well!

• You don’t run any answers to the Sundisk, the main goal is to win the board with Viego and set up an Atrocity lethal if possible.
• If Azir or Xerath are played before leveling up, try and kill them before your opponent gets the chance to level them up. Xerath is more problematic than Azir, so ideally, you want to save Vengence for him.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Camavoran Soldier, Merciless Hunter, Viego

• Keep up with the early pressure your opponent can impose, preserving your health can be important in the late stages of the game.
• Do not kill Endless Devout early on in the game as it gives the perfect landmark for either Taliyah, Desert Naturalist, or Rite of Arcane. Instead, either take the 3 damage or chump block it with an Enroaching Mist.
• Save Quicksand to protect Viego or to shut down an attacking Taliyah with the Overwhelm keyword. Vengeance can be a second answer for your opponent’s champions, keep in mind they can shut down your play with a Rite of Negation.

• Once Viego is leveled up you’ll be able to take over the game, killing their champions as they act as win conditions for your opponent. Their last shot of winning the game will be leveled-up Ziggs chipping down your Nexus as landmarks get destroyed.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker Camavoran Soldier, Viego, Rite of Calling

• This matchup comes down to who can keep a Viego on the board and manage to level him up faster.
• Save Rite of Negation and Ancient Hourglass to keep Viego safe from Vengence.
• The attack token determines which Viego will have his effect trigger first. You can save your Viego from getting killed by the opponent’s Viego with an Ancient Hourglass.
• Save Atrocity as the finisher play. Your opponent is running the same game plan, you can either have Rite of Negation ready to counter their Atrocity or hold onto your Atrocity until they commit theirs first.

Mulligan for: Treasure Seeker, Camavoran Soldier, Merciless Hunter, Viego, Quicksand.

• You’re up against a deck that can go wide on the board and grants Elusive keywords to key units.
• Fizz can threaten to close out the game with a Papercraft Dragon attached to him. Quicksand acts as an answer to remove the Elusive keyword but not Double Attack.
• Merciless Hunter and Baccai Sandspinner should be held to remove units that threaten to end the game.
• Vengence should be saved until your opponent commits on their key unit. Fizz is problematic as he dodges your removal spells.
• Quicksand does not remove the Elusive keyword from a unit with Rainbowfish attached to it.

Mulligan for: Camavoran Soldier, Merciless Hunter, Baccai Sandspinner, Viego

• Kill Caitlyn and Ezreal using your Merciless Hunter or Baccai Sandspinnder. Baccai Sandspinner on Ezreal will prevent him from creating a Mystic Shot on Nexus strike until he’s leveled up.
• Save Rite of Negation for Tri-beam Improbulator and if needed to save Viego.
• Your opponent runs a lot of tools to deal with Viego, you can try protecting him with Ancient Hourglass but that too can be Scorched Earthed.
• The last threat is Captain Farron followed by the burn potential of the deck, by that time you’ll probably be able to block Captain Farron with an Encroaching Mist.

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Closing Words

Viego Shurima has been one of the top contenders in the current meta, the lack of reliable answers to Viego like Minimorph allows the deck to really shine and dominate the meta.

Some players are trying to popularize the Kindred version of the deck but so far it seems that Viego prefers to be the lone wolf in the deck, focusing the whole gameplay around him.

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