Top 6 New Decks From Week 1 of Patch 3.14

Hello everyone, a week has passed since Patch 3.14 Darkin Saga: Awakening expansion dropped, and we’ve had new and old archetypes make their way into the meta.

Today’s article will focus on showcasing six of the top new decks that are performing well on the competitive ladder.

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1- Akshan Lee Sin

Although Akshan Lee Sin isn’t exactly a new archetype, the deck has been completely out of the meta for a long time.

Akshan Lee Sin had new cards added to the list: Vastayan Disciple, Ionian Hookmaster, Momentous Choice, and Wuju Style. The revamp of the list made the archetype more consistent, providing additional cheap protection tools that help level up Lee Sin.

In the early game, you’ll focus on slowly leveling up Lee Sin by playing your cheap spells. Akshan and Eye of the Dragon help shape your early game while you set up for the late game. The Dragonlings can slow down your opponent’s aggression, giving you more time to set up your combo play.

Ionian Hookmaster’s Improvise can create FishaWhack equipment that can later be used on your Lee Sin, which sets up a combo one-kick kill. Additionally, The Absolver can also provide the Overwhelm keyword for Lee Sin, and with the additional stats, it can set up the winning play.

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2- Twisted Fate Nami Ionia

A new Twisted Fate Nami version emerged with the addition of the new cards this patch. The deck operates similarly to the Shadow Isles and PnZ versions but runs a lot of protection tools that the Ionia region offers to keep key units alive.

Your main goal is to set up an Elusive board with Wiggly Burblefish, Vastayan Disciple, and Fleet Admiral Shelly. Use either Nami or Fleet Admiral Shelly to buff up the stats of your units and start slamming down your opponent’s Nexus.

As for Twisted Fate, his destiny cards can come in useful in different scenarios, and with your deck’s card draw engine, you’re able to level him quite easily and start receiving insane value from the destiny cards.

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3- Jax Vi Timelines

The addition of Improvise units insanely bumped Concurrent Timelines‘ value. Jax Vi quickly became one of the most played decks on the competitive ladder.

In the mulligan phase, your objective is to find Concurrent Timelines; it empowers your Improvise units and puts more pressure on the board. The earlier you play Concurrent Timelines the better!

The Equipment you’ll create will help level up your Jax when those units deal damage. A leveled-up Jax can get pretty buffy and with the Overwhelm keyword, he’ll become a win condition on his own.

Speaking of win conditions, Vi is another method to close out a game! Equipping her with FishaWhack or Jax’s The Light of Icathia can set up a strong Overwhelm attack capable of ending the game on the spot.

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4- Nami Norra Shellfolk

Norra did not see much success since the expansion dropped. Most versions of her deck didn’t perform well enough against the top-tier decks. However, Nami Norra has found success so far by taking advantage of Nami’s ability to buff up the board and Curious Shellfolk’s value generation that you’ll need for the late game.

Norra can provide early units to help set up potential blockers. You’re able to level her up faster with the help of Double Trouble and the created Otterpus from Trinket Trade. Additionally, the Elsuvie keyword on her is important in the later stages of the game when you start buffing her up with Nami.

The neat thing about Nami Norra is that your win condition will be different every game. You’ll have to adapt to the scenario you’re in and figure out the best approach to close out the game.

Once Curious Shellfolk hits the board, you can use your Pranks to copy cards from your opponent’s hand while making it more difficult for them to play those cards. The cards you copy will create or advance your game plan.

Your win condition depends on the game. You can either set up strong attacks with your units to close out the game or use Curious Shellfolk to outvalue your opponent.

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5- Akshan Kayn

There are two popular Kayn versions out there, Akshan Kayn and Zoe Kayn. Akshan Kayn is currently the most played deck on the competitive ladder but still can’t get over a 50% win rate.

Akshan Kayn is a mid-range archetype that uses Kayn as its main win condition. You’ll work on leveling and transforming him into Rhaast in most cases. Rhaast is capable of picking off units, pushing overwhelm damage, and healing your Nexus, the perfect unit to take over the board. The Shadow Assasin transformation is better if you’re trying to close out the game faster and there are no elusive blockers that can shut down your attack.

Spells like Rite of Negation, Momentous of Choice, and Quick Sand help protect your Kayn from dying but in the case you end up losing him, you can still revive your champion with Headless Resurrection.

Finally, Furious Wielder is a great spell to accelerate Kayn’s level up, allowing you to kill a unit on the opponent’s side while also threatening to level your Kayn.

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6- Trundle Ornn Timelines

This is another version of Concurrent Timelines deck. The Freljord region offers Trundle to the list, the champion can turn into an overwhelm win condition, and The Pillar he creates can transform to an 8-drop for free if you’ve played Concurrent Timelines.

The Improvise units can put a lot of pressure on the board with their equipment and transformation, allowing you to take over the board and force answers out of your opponent.

Ornn can be a secondary win condition, if you manage to set the overwhelm keyword through an equipment, you’ll be able to threaten a lethal attack.

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Closing Words

The meta has started to settle down and we can get an idea of where each deck ranks up in the tier list.

Unfortunately, the new champions have yet to break into tier 1. It seems the old archetypes are continuing their domination, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that players will not find new innovations that dominate the ranked ladder.

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