
Poppy Lux Shellfolk – Hidden Gem of this Meta?











- Origins
Hello there! In today’s article, I’ll feature Lux Poppy Shelfolk, a Demacia Bandle City deck several win conditions.
The archetype existed since the Lux received a buff. Currently, she’s mostly played in the new Jayce Lux deck, but it is Poppy Lux Shellfolk that has made use of her as the main win condition, bringing our Demacian champion into play with a completely different playstyle than that of Jayce Lux.
In eMOEtional’s Power Rankings he published on Monday, Poppy Lux Shelfolk made 5th place on his list, he talked about the archetype’s potential especially with Draven Sion falling off on the ladder.
So I’ll be taking the list for a spin and talking more about it today!
- Gameplan
Early game, you’ll be stalling out the game with your cheap units. Cards like Otterpus, Loping Telescope, and Vanguard Sergeant offer good blockers and can trade with your opponent’s units.
Poppy is a champion that empowers your board presence. The ability to buff up all your units allows you to put early pressure on the opponent.
You’re not really expecting to level up Poppy in this deck, she’s more of an early pressure card that forces your opponent to commit resources to deal with her and prevent her from running away with the game.
Your main win conditions are both Lux and Curious Shellfolk. Lux acts as a removal engine with the Final Spark spell she creates. Having her on the board assists you in taking control of the board while slowly chipping on your opponent’s Nexus health.
By turn 6, you’re looking to play out Curious Shellfolk, which will act as your value engine. She synergizes with Prank and allows you to create a cheaper copy of a Pranked card from your opponent’s hand.
Otterpus and Trinket Trade are your Prank generation cards. Usually, you should hold onto the Prank cards in your hand until you play Curious Shellfolk on the board in order to get full value out of them.
You’re usually looking to Prank spells from your opponent’s hand, making it harder for them to play those spells while you can use those spells to generate more Final Sparks from Lux, maximizing the value of those spells.
Keep in mind that Curious Shellfolk doesn’t only synergize with Prank. While the unit is on the board,
- Verdict:
Is Poppy Lux a solid choice to play on the ladder?
Well, it’s a fun deck to play in Ranked right now, especially since Draven Sion isn’t currently popular. But beware that the archetype does struggle against Poppy Zed, a deck that right is being played a lot.
The archetype does run the Bandle City package, which makes its early game smoother against aggressive decks in the current meta. It also provides a late-game win condition with Lux + Curious Shellfolk that gives an edge against midrange decks.
With Sion Draven’s decrease in play rate, Poppy Lux can get a breather, not having to deal with Fearsome units smacking their Nexus.
I’ve taken this exact list to Gauntlet as well, it performed great, not dropping a single game and managing to get all 5 wins on my run. Akshan Sivir and Gangplank Sejuani are two decks that complement Poppy Lux, making a solid line-up for a Gauntlet run.