Top 6 New Decks of Day 1 of Patch 3.6

Hello there, Sorry here! Patch 3.6 is finally out and it holds a hefty number of buffs to champions along with 2 major game rule changes!

Both Mono Shurima and Yordles in Arms were hit with well-needed nerfs. The Bandle Tree received a change as well, although it’s down to 4 mana now, the landmark will now need to see you play 10 units of different regions to fulfill its win condition.

Now with the many champion buffs we received, it’s only normal for players to experiment with these changes. Eyes seem to be focused on Udyr, mostly because his initial release was underwhelming and with the newest buff he received, players are hoping it’ll finally bring the Frejlord champion into the meta.

I kept an eye on the decks being played on day 1 of the patch and picked 6 decks that are either popular right now or performed well so far, so let’s get started!

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Let’s kick it off with Taliyah Malphite, an archetype that really was only played by GrandpaRoji. It never really managed to become a staple deck in the meta, but with Malphite’s new buff which allows him to stun a unit on play, players are giving the deck another shot, and so far it is holding a positive win rate on the competitive ladder!

The landmark-oriented deck looks to level up both champions with the many landmarks it can summon, a lot of those cards do not slow your early/mid-game plan and will help keep the board under control until you set up your win condition.

Chip, Rock Hopper, and Endless Devout act as your early units that assist you in maintaining board presence while you set up for upcoming plays.

Moreover, both champions are your main win condition, Taliyah can be pesky to deal with especially when she’s attacking. If you give her the Overwhelm keyword from The Absolver she can threaten to close out the game, or at least deal a lot of damage to the opponent’s Nexus.

As for Malphite, his new buff allows you to stun a unit once played unlike before when he simply was a rock that really didn’t do much. A leveled-up Malphite though can be a nightmare during your opponent’s defensive turn. You can set up for a solid attack by stunning your opponent’s whole board with the created card Unstoppable Force.

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Ezreal Heimerdinger seems to be having insane success on the competitive ladder, holding a 63% win rate! Both Ezreal and Heimerdinger were pretty much buffed with the new cast/play rule as it allows for their effects to go off immediately after the fast/slow speed spells are declared.

The archetype relies on Heimerdinger for pure value every time a spell is played, you won’t be running out of units and eventually, you will burn out your opponent’s cards as they try to keep up with you.

The deck can be aggressive as well, with Zaunite Urchin discarding a Flame Chomper, you’ll be able to go pretty wide on the board and squeeze early damage until Heimerdinger carries the mid/late game.

As your opponent tries to deal with your pesky Turrets you’ll be working on leveling up Ezreal, spells like Pokey Stick, Mystic Shot, and Static Shock not only provide more Turrets to play on the board but also work on leveling up Ezreal.

Once Ezreal levels up he’ll turn into burn potential damage, if you haven’t closed out the game yet with wide board units, Ezreal will make sure to burn down your opponent’s Nexus and end the game. Burn cards like Mystic Shot, Electro Harpoon, and Get Excited work perfectly with Ezreal to set up a lethal play.

The archetype is currently doing well on the ladder even though its play rate is still a bit on the low side, but it seems to be gaining more attraction as I am writing this article! The list might be revamped later on to one that suits the meta.

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It’s a no-shocker that I’ll include Garen Jarven Elites deck in this article, it’s one of the decks the community has its eyes on. The buff to Garen and Elites has definitely made the archetype more playable. Although I’m not sure if it’ll be able to become a staple meta deck, we’ll see what the near future entails.

NicMakesPlays took the Elites deck to the ladder and had a successful run with it, so I’ll feature his won list in today’s article.

The Elites deck wants to swarm the board with Demacia units while also using Battlesmith to empower those units with the additional +1|+1.

The archetype relies on board domination to win the game, you don’t run any burn cards which means units are your only way to destroy the opponent’s Nexus.

Since Garen Jarvan is a board-centric deck, Golden Aegis is a must in the list which allows you to push through your opponent’s defenses and strike the Nexus.

Additionally, Vanguard Bannerman, Garen, and Cithria The Bold are your board buff-up units. It’ll force your opponent into unfavorable trades if they wish to keep their Nexus standing up.

Your strongest play is For Demacia! or Might of The Vanguard which turns your board units into a deadly threat that will be difficult for your opponent to deal with.

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I was torn on which Udyr deck to feature in this article, he’s being run in Shurima, Noxus, Demacia, and even Shadow Isles. So I reached out to Sirturmund who tested out Udyr in different archetypes on the first day of the patch and they recommended the Noxus version with Leblanc.

The midrange deck runs a lot of 5+ power units like Trifarian Gloryseeker, Enraged Yeti (created by Avarosan Trapper), Leblanc, and Reckless Trifarrian. Those units are essential for the deck to operate as they assist in leveling up Leblanc, can be a target for Mirror Image or Bloody Business, and give additional draws when Trifarian Assessor drops on the board.

The list runs a lot of Stance Swap generation that helps level up your Udyr, once leveled your Udyr will gain additional stats making it difficult to kill. Additionally, Hyara Allseer can be a mana saver as it allows you to play one 0-cost Stance Swap each round.

Moreover, the Stance Swaps you’re creating allow you to empower your board, making your decision on what’s best to pick depending on the scenario. Wildclaw Stance acts as your winning card by granting one of your big units the Overwhelm keyword.

If you’re still unable to close out the game fast enough Incisive Tactician is ready to give you another swing, this time make sure the Nexus is down!

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Braum Garen Scargrounds is another deck that performed well on the first day of the patch. Although not popular, SparklingIceT managed to win 12 out of 13 games in their run with this list!

The midrange deck relies on board domination to win the game and with both champions having the regeneration keyword, it will be a challenge for the opponent to take them out.

On top of that, Scargrounds increases the power of your units along with granting them the tough keyword. Your board will get a lot scarier and tougher to remove. Cards like Ember Maiden, Ice Shard, and Tarakaz The Tribeless will trigger Scarground’s effect setting up for a stronger attack swing.

The neat thing about running the Freljord region with Demacia is the combat tricks that keep key units alive, cards like Troll Chant and Three Sisters can be extremely strong when played at the right time.

Although your main win condition is to dominate the board and start slamming the opponent’s Nexus, Scarmother Vrynna provides a secondary win condition with sheer overwhelm damage.

One more thing before we hop to the next deck, Vulpine Wanderer creates a Stance Swap which can be used to grant one of your high Power units the Overwhelm keyword, forcing your opponent to find an answer to your game-ending unit.

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Ezreal Swain made a comeback on the first day of the patch! The archetype isn’t new at all, in fact, it resembles the popular Caitlyn Ezreal but with Swain and Leviathan as additional win conditions. Ezreal Swain was specifically popular in the Brazilian scene back in the days, the players would favor it over the good old Draven Ezreal.

Now with the cast/play rule changed, which is basically an indirect buff to Ezreal, you’re capable of stunning the opponent’s units as you declare combat if you have both champions leveled up and on the board. The declared spells will activate Ezreal’s effect immediately, damaging the Nexus and triggering Swain’s stun effect.

The archetype runs a lot of damage/removal spells like Ravenous Flock, Death’s Hand, and Scorched Earth that allow you to maintain control of the board while working on leveling up both champions.

The list runs a lot of 3 cost cards that stack up your Tri-beam Improbulator – one of your strongest cards in the deck – that basically swings the board presence to your advantage.

Both champions act as win conditions, Swain can stun-lock your opponent’s board with the help of Leviathan which sets up for a solid attack. Whereas Ezreal acts as your burn potential, the fact that the deck runs a lot of spells means you’ll be able to burn down your opponent’s Nexus with ease!

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Closing Words

The new patch seems to have brought back a lot of the old archetypes into the game as well as many Ezreal Caitlyn decks roaming around thanks to the new cast/play rule.

Keep in mind that we’re still in the experimental phase, decks that seem to not be working out or are not popular can later be tuned to fit into a meta and made more consistent.

Similarly, decks that might seem to be performing well on the first day could potentially fall off when new decks surface. It’ll be fun watching how the meta shifts especially with the nerf Mono Shurima received which allows for the existence of new archetypes.

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