Top 6 New Decks From Day 1 of Patch 3.21 – World Ender

The World Ender expansion is finally out! Patch 3.21 introduces new cards to experiment with. Aatrox, Ryze, and Kayle join the Runeterra roster, each having unique abilities that bring about new archetypes or empower existing ones.

New cards aren’t the only thing players have been waiting for; a new season just started! This means the seasonal tournament is approaching, and players will begin working to qualify for it!

Today’s article will feature six of the top new decks that were played on the first day of the World Ender expansion.

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Kayn Aatrox

Kayn Aatrox saw the most play on the first day of the expansion. Vayne Kayn was an established deck in the meta, but this version opts to switch out Vayne for Aatrox.

The archetype runs a lot of Darkin weapons, like The Darkin Bloodletter, The Darkin Aegis, and The Darkin Harp. These weapons are part of Aatrox’s gameplan; as the more equipped units strike, the cheaper World Ender will become.

Once World Ender is cheap enough to cast, you’ll be able to level up Aatrox and activate the Assimilate keyword. Units equipped with a Darkin weapon will transform into their Darkin unit form, turning the board’s presence in your favor. Anaacka and Styraatu can carry the late game and put a lot of board pressure on the opponent.

Additionally, a leveled-up Aatrox gains the Overwhelm keyword, becoming a win condition capable of slamming the opponent’s Nexus.

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Garen Kayle

A Demacia deck that doesn’t include Vayne? Garen Kayle is here to bring you the old Demacia board dominance feel.

The deck wants to swarm the board with Demacian units like Cithria of the Cloudfield, Trusty Ramfound, Battlesmith, and Petricite Broadwing. Vanguard Bannerman, Garen, and Inspiring Light can buff up your whole board. Buffed-up units will increase Kayle’s Power, which in turn helps the champion work on her level-up.

A leveled-up Kayle becomes a win condition. The Overwhelm keyword can help you push Nexus damage, and if you manage to activate Empowered 16, you’ll gain the Double Attack keyword, allowing you to close out the game on the spot if your opponent doesn’t have an answer to deal with Kayle.

Garen isn’t in the deck to simply buff up the board, if he’s left unanswered and allowed to level up, Garen accelerates the game with his Rally. The ability to attack on your defensive turns can put more pressure on the opponent and accelerate your game plan.

Champions’ Strength sets up a powerful attack. The Scout or Rally can catch your opponent off guard and with the additional stats buff, it can prove to be too difficult to deal with.

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Ryze Shadow Isles

On the first day of the expansion, Ryze was paired with different regions to find the best version that he can find success with. Bilgewater, Noxus, Shadow Isles, and Ionia were all experimented with.

I’ll showcase the Shadow Isles version because it had the most play on the first day. This version runs a lot of removal cards that the Shadow Isles region offers. Cards like Vengeance and Ruination will make sure you can deal with your opponent’s win condition.

Whereas cheap cards like Quietus, Vile Feast, and Undergrowth will help you keep up with your opponent’s early game.

Ryze acts as your only win condition. You’ll need to start summoning the World Runes on the board. Try looking for Shard of Reverence first, as it offers 2 spell mana back; this comes in handy to set up more future plays.

Shard of Betrayal can pick off a weak unit, weakening your opponent’s board. The Rune Prison from Shard of Madness allows you to slow down your opponent until the late stage of the game.

Keep in mind that whenever you summon a World Rune, your other World Runes will reactivate their abilities.

Once three Runes are summoned, Ryze will level up, giving him a Spell Shield and allowing him to reactivate all the World Runes if he commits an attack.

Ideally, you want to keep Ryze alive until you’ve summoned all 5 Runes, which sets you up for a game-ending swing with Ryze’s ability, and the Spell Shield gives you an extra layer of protection to ensure the attack.

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Vayne Aatrox

Vayne Aatrox was the second most played deck on the ranked ladder after Kayn Aatrox. This Vayne list switches Kayn for Aatrox and adds more Darkin weapons to the list.

Your main objective is to build a board and start working on discounting World Ender’s cost. Vayne’s Tumble allows you to accelerate that game plan, along with strike cards like Fish Fight and Concerted Strike.

The list runs Darkin Weapons like Spear, Harp, Bloodletters, Aegis, Staff, Lodestone, and Halberd, which means if you manage to cast World Ender, you’ll most likely demolish your opponent.

The list runs Champions’ Strength, a powerful tool to empower your whole board and either activate Rally or gain the Scout keyword. This allows you to set up a second attack with your leveled-up Aatrox that has the Overwhelm keyword.

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Bard Kayle

Bard and Kayle join forces to create a new elusive archetype that takes advantage of the Chimes and Kayle as a late-game win condition.

The deck has the capability to buff up its units quite easily with Chimes, Purifying Flames, Celestial Blessing, and Pale Cascade.

The buffs are crucial to deal more Nexus damage and activate each unit’s Empowered keyword. Mihira Aspect of Justice becomes an Elusive unit once Empowered is activated, allowing you to start slamming the opponent’s Nexus.

Although Kayle is not an elusive win condition, she benefits from other units gaining buffs, helping her level up faster and gaining the Overwhelm keyword. The gained Power, combined with Overwhelm and Double Attack keywords, will threaten to end the game on the spot.

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Jinx Demacia

Jinx Demacia made an appearance on the first day of the expansion, and Champions’ Strength is the reason why!

This deck wants to swarm the board with cheap units that can chip down on the opponent’s Nexus. Champions’ Strength is a follow-up play later in the game to give all allies +4|+4 and the Scout keyword. This sets up for a powerful attack, and with a wide board, it can be difficult for your opponent to deal with it.

Jinx benefits from your ability to empty your hand, giving you a Super Mega Death Rocket! to burn your opponent’s Nexus down, and at the same time, the additional draw keeps the engine running for future turns.

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Closing Words

The World Ender expansion has brought new archetypes into the mix and tweaked around with old archetypes, making them stronger as competitive decks.

Champions’ Strength seems to be one of the strongest cards released in this expansion. It’ll definitely have an impact on the meta, and we’ll be seeing a lot of Demacia decks on the ladder.