Power Rankings Patch 3.18 – 8 Best Decks To Climb – October 27

Hello friends, Sorry here! The Power Rankings is back, and we’ll tackle Patch 3.18 meta head-on!

If you’re new to Power Rankings, it’s an article where I rank eight of my best decks for a serious ladder climb. The ranking is mostly based on my own experience playing ladder, and I have been testing around in the Platinum, Diamond, and Master ranks.

The meta has been heavily dominated by both Seraphine and Vayne decks. Players have either picked up one of those decks for their climb or chosen to play an anti-meta archetype in an attempt to counter one of the popular decks.

https://youtu.be/tj-k4Md0OKI

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1- Miss Fortune Swain

Move aside, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune is here to take the T out of TF Swain. MF Swain is the newer version, focusing more on an aggressive playstyle than controlling the board. It runs both Legion Subetuer and Legion Rearguard, which sets up a wide board early in the game.

Although the deck adopts an aggressive game plan, it still maintains a late-game play with Swain and The Levithan setting up a stun lock.

The reason MF Swain is doing better than the old-school TF Swain is due to the aggressive nature that gives it an edge against Pantheon and Seraphine decks. It helps you deal early damage, making it difficult for your opponent to keep up and set up their own game plan. Additionally, the three Noxian Fervours add a finisher burn tool to close out the game.

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2- Seraphine Viktor Karma Ionia

Runner up is the Ionia Seraphine which has been the best performer out of the Seraphine decks. This version focuses on outvaluing the opponent while also using Viktor as a win condition. The fact that you’re running Ionia cards means you’ll have plenty of protection tools to keep Viktor alive. Players have even started favoring the addition of one Karma to the deck for additional late-game value.

The Ionia version feels more skill-intensive and also has a favored matchup against the popular Seraphine Ezreal (NX). The deck has a rough time against Rumble Vayne and Jax Vayne but is still capable of putting up a fight against them.

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3- Vayne Jax

If you’re looking to counter Seraphine decks, Jax Vayne is one of your best choices! The archetype has a favored matchup against all Seraphine decks, which landed a spot in third place in this week’s Power Rankings.

On top of that, Vayne Jax does decently against aggressive decks like Pirate Aggro and Annie Jhin with the help of units capable of surviving trades and killing pesky units with Fish Fight.

The archetype struggles against Pantheon Varus, Twisted Fate Swain, and Pantheon Vayne. Twisted Fate Swain has removal cards to deal with your win condition and can later set up a stun lock. As for both Pantheon decks, they’re capable of matching your board and even buffing them up beyond your capability of dealing with them. Once Pantheon is leveled and generates keywords, he can become too difficult to handle.

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4- Vayne Zed

Vayne Zed has been one of the best-performing Vayne decks on the ranked ladder. The archetype has a fantastic matchup table, beating other Vayne decks out there like Jax Vayne, Pantheon Vayne, and Rumble Vayne. Additionally, you’re slightly unfavored against aggressive decks, you aren’t necessarily in trouble against the likes of Annie Jhin and Pirate Aggro.

The archetype relies on Zed and Vayne’s Tumble to put pressure on the board early in the game. Vayne Zed is also capable of shifting to an elusive win condition, setting up a Greenglade Duo that benefits from Golden Aegis and Tumble for additional Nexus strikes.

Vayne Zed has good matchup experience against most of the popular meta decks we see on the ladder. The three difficult matchups you’ll want to avoid are Seraphine Ezreal (NX), Swain Twisted Fate, and Fiora Vayne (PnZ).

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5- Seraphine Ezreal (NX)

Seraphine Ezreal (NX) is currently the most-played deck on the ranked ladder, and there’s a good reason for that, the deck is pretty powerful! Although the archetype is probably the strongest in the current meta, Seraphine Ezreal (NX) didn’t make it to first place in the Power Rankings due to the increase in decks trying to counter it.

Although the ladder has a lot of counter matchups like MF Swain, Jax Vayne, and Seraphine Viktor SI, the beauty of Ezreal Seraphine (NX) is its ability to adapt to different situations and still change the course of the game in its favor.

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6- Renekton Sejuani

Renekton Sejuani is here! The archetype relies on chunky Overwhelm units to push Nexus damage and threaten to close out the game. You want to keep exerting pressure on the opponent, making it difficult for them to set up their game plan without being run over by your massive units.

The archetype isn’t the best against aggressive-type decks like Annie Jhin and Pirate Aggro. However, Renekton Sejuani performs well against the most popular Vayne decks, like Vayne Jax and Vayne Zed. On top of that, Seraphine Viktor Ionia is an awesome matchup you’ll want to face.

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7- Diana Leona SI

Diana Leona SI makes it to the Power Rankings. The archetype has a low play rate on the ranked ladder, but it seems to be performing well according to the stats. I took the deck on a test run on the ranked ladder and ended up with a pretty positive experience.

I played Diana Leona SI on both EMEA and America servers to get the feel of different server metas. On the EMEA server, I managed to win all five games. As for the America server, I won 6 out of 9 games, and the archetype felt like it had a winning chance against most of the decks I faced.

The deck wants to try and win the game either through board domination or by setting up a strong The Winding Light play that closes out the game with the Overwhelm keyword.

The deck felt strong against the aggressive archetypes trying to counter Seraphine. Decks like Annie Jhin, MF Swain, and Elise Nocturne are good matchups for Diana Leona.

Diana Leona SI also performed well against popular Vayne decks, and if you can set up a solid Winding Light play, you might be able to sneak wins against Seraphine Ezreal.

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8- Akshan Sivir

We don’t see much of Akshan Sivir anymore, but the archetype is still alive and kicking. It has been a secret weapon in the tournament scene numerous times due to its capability to beat popular meta decks.

I’ve been testing and asking around, and I believe Akshan Sivir is going to gain a bit more popularity in the upcoming days, especially in the tournament scene.

As for playing the deck on the ranked ladder, Akshan Sivir has a favorable matchup against the popular Seraphine decks and puts up a fight when matched against aggressive decks like Annie Jhin and Pirate aggro.

Varus Pantheon might be the most difficult deck to face due to the deck’s capability of shutting down your attacks with The Unforgivable Cold and their ability to protect Varus and Pantheon with The Expanse’s Protection.

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Closing Words

Although the meta started off with Seraphine domination, players quickly adapted and started figuring out new archetypes that could go head-to-head with the tier 1 decks. Elise Nocturne has been on the rise, managing to hit a 56% win rate on the ranked ladder, and acts as a solid anti-meta deck.

This is it for this week’s Power Rankings. I’ll see you later!