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Nami Twisted Fate: The Hottest New Tier 1 Deck

Nami is back into Tier 1 - and we have Drisoth, the NA Masters grinder and deckbuilder, to thank for it!
  • Origins

In the past, Nami Zoe and Fizz Twisted Fate were both insanely powerful decks that needed to be hit by nerfs in order for the game to remain healthy.

Curious Shellfolk has been considered strong for a while now. Somehow, no one really managed to pull off the idea of combining all those into one deck. No one until now, as TF Fizz’s biggest fan, Drisoth, has brought this masterpiece onto Runeterra.

With the multiple nerfs to the most powerful meta decks, we were all able to play around with new tools, but also bring back some of the old ones. This list is an ode to versatility and diverse win conditions, as it includes Elusives, Nami, Twisted Fate, AND Curious Shellfolk on top of all that.

  • Gameplan

This incredibly difficult strategy is hard to define. I would call it midrange, but then… I am inclined to call every deck I see midrange. It just speaks volumes about the deck’s versatility!

Twisted Fate and Nami are both win conditions in their own right. With the multitude of spells in the deck, Nami is capable of growing some of your units to ridiculous sizes – Bandle Commando and Wiggly Burblefish can be low-mana lethal threats thanks to her.

Twisted Fate, on the other hand, provides his usual utility, but is also able to level up due to a large number of draw cards, but also because Nami can buff him out of removal range.

The early game is a phase where you just want to survive. Here is when you want to charge up the majority of Nami’s level-up condition through passing or playing cards like the Otterpus. The big upside of this deck is that you do not HAVE to level up Nami, unlike in other Nami versions, so you get to be more versatile against aggro, being able to use Double Trouble on turn 2 without feeling too awkward about it.

The midgame is where this deck begins to shine. Twisted Fate can come down to stall the game at this stage and become a threat on his own, while Fleet Admiral Shelly can help you build up a bigger board if you had a strong start. Finally, Nami should be leveling around this time, making your board even more difficult to deal with.

The real strength of the deck comes from the fact that even if your opponent managed to deal with all those threats in the midgame, right as we approach turn 7 and further, there’s another potentially game-ending threat coming down in the form of Curious Shellfolk. Shellfolk in this list does its usual thing – create tons upon tons of value.

But not only do you have many ways of progressing your own gameplan – the list also lets you disrupt that of your opponent. Pranks are extremely powerful at letting you delay some of the threatening spells and units, revealing the opponent’s hand, and they have ridiculous synergy with Curious Shellfolk on top of all this. The regions give you access to Minimorph and Monster Harpoon as well, so there is seldom a threat you are unable to answer.

Finally, if you have somehow not won with all the tools I mentioned before, there is one more way to turn your Wiggly Burblefish into lethal seafood – Mind Meld. Between the cheap spells in your deck, Trinket Trades as well as Pranks, your Mind Meld is bound to be huge.

In general, this strategy is full of win conditions that – while different and versatile – complement each other so well, they create a deadly combination every deck has to fear.

  • Verdict

While it is early in this archetype’s life, it feels like it is yet another Nami deck – and yet another Twisted Fate deck – that will take the ladder by storm and not let go for a while.

What has to be said this time, however, is that the list is not as overtuned as some in the past – so its level of difficulty should keep most players away from absolutely dominating with it and the deck itself wreaking havoc on the ladder.

That said, I believe the deck will at least be meta for the foreseeable future – it has the tools to deal with every type of deck and is versatile enough to give a skilled player an edge over their opponent.

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Mezume
Mezume

Mezume is a competitive Legends of Runeterra player with an unexplained love for midrange decks. He believes the important thing is not the end result of the game, but the choices made within it. Loves learning more about the game and sharing that knowledge with others!

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