Viego Returns? 10 Off-Meta Decks Popping Off In Masters Ladder | Legends of Runeterra Patch 4.0

Hey all, Raphterra here again! Riot recently announced that they are pushing back the end of the World Ender ranked season until next week, just in time for the next balance patch. After this announcement, I thought it would be the perfect time to feature some off-meta decks that you can play in ranked ladder while waiting for the next update.

In this article, I’ll be featuring 10 Off-Meta Decks that master players have found success with in their ladder climb. I specifically chose decks that have respectable winrates and decent sample sizes. I also included some of my personal recommendations and brews that come with written guides and video gameplay.

Let’s start right away!

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印度王子 Karma Viktor Seraphine

We’re starting off with 印度王子‘s Viktor Karma Seraphine! 印度王子 piloted this list in Masters with an impressive winrate of 70% in 41 games. Despite the nerfs to Seraphine and Back Alley Bar, decks with similar playstyles still find success in the hands of strong players. Instead of going all-in on Seraphine, this version utilizes Viktor and Karma as its main win conditions.

The rest of the build is similar to the standard Seraphine decklists. It runs lots of one-ofs to synergize with Seraphine and Back Alley Bar. A notable inclusion is the copy of Glorious Evolution instead of the third copy of Back Alley Bar.

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FakeHero Baalkux Varus Fizz

Next up is FakeHero‘s Baalkux Fizz Varus. I was really intrigued with the deck when I saw that Fakehero had an 86% winrate with it in High AM Masters. I personally used this list to climb on my smurf account from Platinum IV to Diamond III at 95% winrate (21 Wins, 1 Loss).

This is a combo deck that wins mainly through big attacks from Level 2 Varus. Fizz and The Darkin Staff‘s Baalkux can also serve as alternate win conditions in the late game. If you’re interested in learning more about this deck, I wrote an in-depth written guide about it, including a gameplay video!

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MVA IenaLaurence Ahri Zed

This one’s for Elusive connoisseurs! This Freljord / Ionia combo deck has been seeing success in the hands of MVA IenaLaurence with a winrate of 76.9% in 39 games. The classic Ionia Elusive decks used to run Freljord for Omen Hawk‘s buff effects. In addition to Omen Hawk, this version is running the newest and the most popular buff card in the game, Spirits Unleashed. Getting permanent buffs on Ahri, Zed, or any of the deck’s elusive units will start putting pressure on the opposing Nexus.

Ionia is known for its disruption tools that are useful for protecting combo pieces. This list uses Homecoming and Recall for general protection as well as for progressing Ahri‘s level up requirement. No copies of Deny is interesting; this build opts to go for a copy of Memory’s Cloak instead.

Author’s edit: IenaLaurence contacted me and gave me the updated version of this deck. Zed has been replaced with copies of Sai’nen Thousand-Tailed and Retreat, while Memory’s Cloak was replaced with Deny. See the full list below!

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4ce Jax Ornn

Following Freljord Elusives is another Freljord deck! This time it’s an equipment-focused Freljord deck with Jax and Ornn. 4ce was playing this Jax Ornn build with a winrate of 69.2% in 39 games. Jax and Ornn are two champions that haven’t had their chance to shine recently, so it’s always nice to see players having success with them. This build is also running some spicy inclusions like Wrought Colossus and Hearthblood Mender.

This archetype could be one of the buff targets in the upcoming balance patch!

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Raphterra Galio Braum

This one’s a personal brew of mine! Galio Braum Formidables was the deck that I used to climb from Diamond to Masters at 73% Winrate (19 Wins, 7 Losses). This is a well-positioned off-meta deck that hard counters Aatrox midrange, one of the most popular meta decks in this patch. Against other decks, it can also follow a solid midrange gameplan and it has a very reliable late game win condition with Galio.

The deck’s units do get removed efficiently with Quietus, but the current meta is very wide! You should still have a decent winrate with this deck as long as you play well. If you want to learn more about how to pilot Braum Galio, check out my written guide and video guide for the deck!

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爆アドリッカチャンネル Teemo Sejuani Bandle City

Now, we’re going into some spicier territories! 爆アドリッカチャンネル has been having some success with good old Teemo Sejuani with a winrate of 76% in 25 games. However, this build is quite different from the Teemo Sejuani that we usually had before. We are running Teemo in Bandle City, not in P&Z!

The deck focuses more on using Teemo‘s Puffcaps to trigger Nexus damage and activate effects from Sejuani, Teenydactyl, and Murkwolf Shaman. Bandle City‘s Poison Dart and Pokey Stick could also be used for manual triggers of these unit effects, if needed.

Rawkey Sejuani Gnar Transformers

There might be more to explore with this concept! Rawkey also found success with a different version of the Sejuani Transform archetype!

Rawkey has a respectable winrate of 60.9% in 82 games. This list goes into more of a midrange gameplan with Sejuani, Gnar, and Braum. In this version, Rawkey runs several stall/control tools like Drop the Bomb, Stress Defense, Wallop, and Harsh Winds.

Spirits Unleashed makes its second appearance in this article! Aside from its obvious utility as a global buff, Spirits Unleashed is also a great card to progress Sejuani‘s level-up requirement.

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Artur403 Teemo Sejuani P&Z

Another Teemo Sejuani deck?! Yes, but not quite! Despite having the same champion combination, this P&Z version of Teemo Sejuani plays a lot differently when compared to the Bandle City list I featured. Artur403 has a very impressive winrate of 68.2% in 107 games with this spicy list.

This build doesn’t focus on Sejuani‘s level-up or Teemo‘s Poison Puffcaps. Instead, Artur403 went for an outgrind and outvalue gameplan with Spirits Unleashed and Gift of the Hearthblood. This deck will be very hard to beat in the late game once mediocre-statted units like Babbling Bjerg suddenly turn into huge midrange threats. The list also has the threatening combo of Buried in Ice + It That Stares.

I personally gave this deck a run in my ranked games. I didn’t have the same success that Artur403 had, but I can confirm that this one is very fun to play!

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Red Viego Elise ft. Legion Deserter

Viego copium? This deck uses Viego‘s package in Noxus because his Encroaching Mists have great synergy with Legion Deserter. With each Encroaching Mist summoned, Legion Deserter gains the +1/+1 buff for Encroaching Mists everywhere, and another +1/+1 buff for Viegos everywhere. It’s common to get huge stats on Legion Deserter and Viego in the late game, which makes them great targets for finisher spells like Atrocity or Might.

I saw this Red Viego list having some significant playrates in the current meta, and I decided to give it a try! The deck worked surprisingly well for me, as I was able to climb to 500 LP Masters at 70% winrate. I created a video guide containing gameplay and mulligan tips Red Viego, so do check it out if this deck interests you!

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suisennou Garen Kayle

I’m ending this article with an Elite deck! Suisennou has a respectable 62.1% winrate in 37 games with their rendition of Garen‘s Elites. Elites are known to be very dependent on maintaining a wide board to win, but Suisennou‘s list uses Kayle and Xolaani the Bloodweaver as late-game single-unit threats. Board buffs from Battlesmith, Vanguard Bannerman, and Garen could be used to progress Kayle and Xolaani‘s level-up requirements.

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Closing Words

That’s it for now! Hopefully this list of off-meta decks will be enough to fulfill your needs for ranked games until the next balance patch drops.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on YouTube, Discord, or Twitter!