Power Rankings Patch 4.2 – 8 Best Decks To Climb – March 2023

It’s time to start climbing; the Power Rankings are here!

Hello everyone, Sorry here! I’m a competitive Runeterra player here to share my top 8 best decks for a serious ladder climb.

The Power Rankings are mainly driven by my experience on the ranked ladder while relying a bit on stats to help provide a more accurate list.

Garen Jarvan IV and Jayce Lux have dominated the meta since Patch 4.2 went live. The two Demacia decks are putting up good numbers, forcing players to look for archetypes capable of putting up a good fight against at least one of them.

Let’s get started. Here are my eight decks for a serious ladder climb.

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1- Heimerdinger Jayce

Heimerdinger Jayce has been performing consistently well for a long time, and on this week’s Power Rankings, it claims first place.

The archetype is in the top 5 most-played decks on the ranked ladder with a solid win rate. Heimerdinger Jayce can adapt to different matchups, making it the perfect deck to take on the ranked ladder. Its ability to switch between an aggressive and a control strategy gives more room for skill impressions, allowing you to keep up with your opponent regardless of their game plan.

Heimerdinger Jayce has one of the best matchup tables; it beats popular decks like Garen Jarvan IV, Annie Jhin, Kayle Leona, Ryze IO, Evelynn Lucian, and Jax Ornn. It can deal with aggressive and midrange decks thanks to the cheap removal cards it runs and Heimerdinger’s ability to continuously create blockers—a midrange deck’s worst nightmare.

Kalista Nocturne and Taliyah Ziggs are your worst matchups. You’re slightly unfavored against Jayce Lux, but the matchup is extremely close, especially if you manage to kill their Lux as soon as possible.

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2- Vayne Rumble

Vayne Rumble is this week’s runner-up in the Power Rankings. The archetype is making its comeback as an anti-meta deck, beating all five of the most popular decks on the ranked ladder.

Rumble can be pretty bothersome with his Spell Shield and Quick Attack. He can be turned into an aggressive win condition with the use of the Overwhelm keyword from Great Hammer and multiple attacks from Cataclysm and Ruined Reckoner.

Vayne Rumble beats popular decks like Jayce Lux, Heimerdinger Jayce, Ryze IO, Evelynn Kai’Sa, and Taliyah Ziggs. It also has a slightly favored matchup against the popular Garen decks that have been all over the ranked ladder.

As for bad matchups, decks capable of going wide on the board can be problematic and difficult to keep up with. Annie Jhin, Kayle Leona, and Lucian Evelynn are decks you’d rather not match into.

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3- Annie Jhin

We haven’t seen Annie Jhin at the top of the meta for a long time. It always existed as a Tier 2 deck, but in Patch 4.2, the meta shifted in favor of Annie Jhin.

The aggressive deck is a great choice to beat some of the popular decks on the ranked ladder, closing out games before opponents manage to set up their win condition.

Annie Jhin beats popular decks like Jayce Lux, Evelynn Kai’Sa, and Ryze Ionia. It also preys on rising anti-meta decks like Taliyah Ziggs, Irelia Azir, Kalista Nocturne, and Jax Ornn.

Two popular decks you’ll struggle against are Heimerdinger Jayce and Garen Jarvan IV, so if you end up matching too many times against those two archetypes, it’s best to switch to another deck.

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4- Jax Ornn

The buffs Jax Ornn received in Patch 4.1 quickly brought the deck into the spotlight, making it the most-played deck in the early stages of the Patch 4.1 meta. Once players adapted to the deck, it slowly started losing popularity as more counter decks were on the rise.

Patch 4.2 shook up the meta, bringing new decks into the meta field, decks that Jax Ornn strives against. The fact that Ryze Ionia has dropped from rank 1 in terms of popularity has given Jax Ornn more room to shine again. The archetype has been slowly gaining its popularity back, and as of today, it’s in the top 5 most-played decks.

Jax Ornn beats popular decks like Jayce Lux, Garen Jarvan IV, Evelynn Kai’Sa, Taliyah Ziggs, and Lucian Evelynn. It gets demolished by Annie Jhin and Ryze Ionia—two decks that I haven’t matched against too much on the ranked ladder. Both Kayle Leona and Heimerdinger Jayce are slightly unfavored matchups but winnable with the right hand.

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5- Taliyah Ziggs

Taliyah Ziggs often makes it into my Power Rankings as it consistently performs well in most of the meta fields. The landmark-oriented deck is the perfect anti-meta choice to counter the top performers.

Taliyah Ziggs adopts an aggressive game plan with the early units and puts the opponent under pressure. Both Ziggs and Taliyah can push Nexus damage with their abilities, allowing you to impose a constant threat as long as they’re on the board. The Absolver sets up your powerful Overwhelm attack, which in most cases will be enough to end the game.

You’re able to beat the top performers like Jayce Lux, Heimerdinger Jayce, and Garen Jarvan IV. Three decks you’d want to avoid matching up against are Annie Jhin, Jax Ornn, and Azir Irelia.

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6- Jayce Lux

Jayce Lux is the most-played deck on the ranked ladder; for a good reason—the deck is powerful! The midrange deck generates value from Lux and Jayce, making sure you keep board pressure while also chipping away at the opponent’s Nexus.

Keep in mind that playing a popular deck means you might end up facing opponents trying to target you. However, Jayce Lux has an amazing matchup table, so you’ll most likely face mirrors or favored matchups. Jayce Lux beats decks like Garen Jarvan IV, Ryze IO, Kayle Leona, and Evelynn Viego. You have a difficult matchup against Jax Ornn, Annie Jhin, and Trundle Tryndamere.

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8- Evelynn Viego

Evelynn Viego is my favorite Evelynn version to play on the ranked ladder. The archetype is a safe choice to play; it holds up well against midrange decks, can keep up with aggressive decks, and is capable of setting up a burn plan against slow control decks.

The archetype operates on multiple win conditions. Evelynn’s Husk generation could lead to an Overwhelm or Elusive win condition; Viego can take over the board and pick off units on your opponent’s side of the board; and Neverglade Collector slowly drains the opponent’s Nexus.

Viego Evelynn beats decks like Garen Jarvan IV, Taliyah Ziggs, Kayle Leona, and Evelynn Kai’Sa. It’s slightly unfavored against Jayce Lux and struggles against Heimerdinger Jayce.

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Closing Words

The meta continues to evolve in an attempt to beat the top performers. Jax Ornn and Annie Jhin saw more play recently after players noticed their solid performance in the meta.

This is it from me; I’ll see you at the next one! If you enjoy my content, consider following me on Twitter.