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There has been a rather dramatic change in the best Legends of Runeterra decks since the latest patch. Piltover & Zahn decks have shot up in popularity, though many decks do still include Shadow Isles cards that have seen constant play since the first public showing of the game. We’ve updated our Runeterra deck lists to reflect what people are currently playing.
Our Legends of Runeterra best decks guide will give you the full deck lists, along with the deck codes to help you construct them with ease, and instructions for how to use them.
We’ve changed swapped some of the decks, as it now includes updates such as the popular Ezreal Elnuks and S/D Rally Mistwraiths. There’s also the immensely powerful Karma control and Heimerdinger control decks for those who want a longer game. Finally, we also have a potential counter to Fearsome decks in the form of the Ashe Tempo deck.
Piltover & Zahun and Shadow Isles are by far the most common regions used right now by players, while key cards from Ionia see a lot of play. Find out more about them in our Runeterra vault guide.
Best Runeterra decks
Budget Runeterra decks
Importing Runeterra decks
Ezreal Elnuks deck code
CEBAKAIEDMPSINB2AYAQCAYLCENR4KQCAEAQCJACAECCOMIBAEAQIAI
This first deck that has been created by YouTube user and Twitch streamer “Swimstrim” is an incredibly popular Piltover & Zahn/Freljord deck. The aim is to control the board state long enough to bring out a whole herd of Elnuks to stomp on everything in front of them.
| Piltover & Zahn | Freljord |
|---|---|
| Ezreal x3 | Avarosan Sentry x2 |
| Chump Whump x3 | Icevale Archer x3 |
| Thermogenic Beam x3 | Avarosan Marksman x2 |
| Rummage x1 | Bull Elnuk x3 |
| Mystic Shot x3 | Troop of Elnuks x3 |
| Get Excited! x2 | Brittle Steel x3 |
| Statikk Shock x3 | Harsh Winds x3 |
| Progress Day! x2 |
How to play the Ezreal Elnuks deck
You’ll want to put a stop to aggro decks quickly here, with tactical use of your spells and abilities. Frostbite can neuter foes with high attack power but low defence, in order to protect your blockers. Avarosan Sentry is there to be sacrificed for card draw, while Avarosan Marksman and cheap spells like Mystic Shot are there to pick off enemies. Targeting enemies helps with Ezreal’s level up ability, and since he has the Elusive keyword, he will likely get to level up. Early Nexus damage is a key part of this deck’s strategy so take advantage of this when you can.
Once you get to around five mana, you’ll want to flood the board with woolly Elnuks to create an imposing stomping wall to crush the enemy Nexus. Your late game spells like Harsh Winds and Progress Day! can help with larger champions and followers that your opponents might play to stop your Elnuk rampage. Combine the Elnuk assault with your levelled up Ezreal’s constant pressure on the enemy Nexus, and your opponents will succumb to the potential pressure of this cost efficient deck.
How to stop the Ezreal Elnuks deck
This deck doesn’t have a good way of dealing with mass removal, so some control decks that run them might have a better time. Early game followers have higher power and very low defence, so cards like Avalanche, Chempunk Shredder, and especially Withering Wail can keep their side of the board free in the early game.
Mirror matches can prove to be a tough match-up, but it could also be vulnerable to the Frostbite/Rimefang Wolf combo in the later game. Decks with Ashe could be this deck’s undoing. Ezreal will be hard to deal with, but some well-timed removal spells can make all the difference.
S/D Rally Mistwraiths deck code
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Some decks have some really silly names, but simple and effective strategies. A deck from Twitch user “Navi00t“, it uses mostly Shadow Isles cards to flood the board with Fearsome enemies, while the occasional Demacia card adds that extra bit of burst damage this deck requires to get over the enemy lines and shatter the enemy Nexus.
| Shadow Isles | Demacia |
|---|---|
| Elise x3 | Vanguard Redeemer x2 |
| Hecarim x3 | Relentless Pursuit x2 |
| Arachnoid Horror x3 | |
| Mistwraith x3 | |
| Frenzied Skitterer x3 | |
| Chronicler of Ruin x1 | |
| Wraithcaller x3 | |
| The Rekindler x2 | |
| Rhasa the Sunderer x3 | |
| Mark of the Isles x3 | |
| Black Spear x3 | |
| Glimpse Beyond x3 | |
| Vile Feast x3 |
How to play the S/D Rally Mistwraiths deck
The aim of this deck is surprisingly simple: flood the board with Fearsome followers. It wants to hit hard and fast. Elise is a great early game champion as she can make your spiders even more dangerous once she levels up, a feat that’s surprisingly easy to achieve. Your late game cards are there to perform weird tricks to further heal your damaged allies or take advantage of Play triggers.
The Shadow Isles spells are your source of removal for threats to your horrifying menagerie or give temporary buffs to hit the enemy Nexus. Several cards will kill your allies for some temporary gain, whether it’s card draw or extra power.
With the Demacia splash cards, you want to use them in specific circumstances. Vanguard Redeemer is there to replenish your hand with more potential Fearsome allies if an ally dies in the round, while Relentless Pursuit gives you an extra attacking phase to close out the game before the enemy player can react.
How to beat the S/D Rally Mistwraiths deck
If you can control the spider onslaught, you should be able to get into the late game. Mirror matches are best as Fearsome creatures are only blocked by creatures of three or more power. Quite a few removal spells can also get rid of key threats like an early game Elise, but damage-based mass removal might not work too well. Shadow Flare could work as a board wipe, but this does kill any blockers you send out too, so be sure that you can recover your board position if you go down that route.
But the most efficient way to deal with Fearsome decks like this one might be to create a counter deck, just be the one below this one.
Ashe Tempo deck code
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As a potential answer to the rather brutal Fearsome decks might be this Ashe Tempo deck from Reddit user “Massarani“. It’s specifically designed to counter the Fearsome deck, while also keeping stronger enemies in check with Frostbite. Your main aim is to get Ashe levelled up and hurling a bunch of Frostbite effects to neutralise the enemy.
| Freljord | Shadow Isles |
|---|---|
| Ashe x3 | Hecarim x3 |
| Omen Hawk x3 | Arachnoid Horror x3 |
| Icevale Archer x3 | Rhasa the Sunderer x2 |
| Avarosan Marksman x1 | Commander Ledros x1 |
| Rimefang Wolf x3 | |
| Avarosan Outriders x3 | |
| Babbling Bjerg x3 | |
| Avarosan Hearthstone x3 | |
| Brittle Steel x3 | |
| Flash Freeze x3 | |
| Harsh Winds x3 |
Variants
Some cards are rather mandatory to have in the Ashe Tempo deck, but there are plenty of others that you can tweak to your liking. I’d personally cut a Hecarim for a copy of The Rekindler so you can have a fourth Ashe.
How to play the Ashe Tempo deck
Spells like Brittle Steel, Flash Freeze and Harsh Winds seem to be there to ensure your enemy wastes spells that could potentially be disastrous to Ashe. Icevale Archer has some incredible value, not least of which, it’s a two mana follower that can block Fearsome units. Chip damage is a key factor here as a little damage here and there to the enemy Nexus makes the mid-late game a lot easier.
Ashe is your main win condition. Once you’ve levelled her up, you’ll be reducing the biggest threats to more manageable obstacles. Combine this with Rimefang Wolf and appropriate buffs to get the victory.
The rest of the deck is designed to give you value towards the late game. Avarosan Outriders pumps up the top card of the library and gives it Overwhelm, while Babbling Bjerg allows you to fish for late-game threats. Omen Hawk pumps up cards in the early game, but its main purpose is to chump block large threats that don’t have Fearsome.
How to beat the Ashe Tempo deck
While decks running optimised Fearsome decks can have difficulty against this deck, regenerating the Nexus’s health scuppers this deck’s plan considerably. Grasp of the Undying is your best counter to bigger threats like Ashe or Rimefang Wolf. Elusive decks would also run rings around it, since they don’t care too much about blockers. Frostbite will hamper their progress, but not remove the threats. An attacking Kinkou Lifeblade with some appropriately timed buffs can beat this deck with relative ease.
Fearsome Midrange deck code
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This deck comes from a few sources, but the example above came from Runeterra Twitch streamer and YouTube user “Swimstrim“. Fearsome Midrange probably the most expensive deck to make out of the full list as there are six champions, but it is one of the most efficient decks in the meta right now. It’s a surprisingly aggressive deck for the early game as it has Fearsome followers to break through enemy defences. Removal, card draw, and some fantastic finisher units like Commander Ledros and Hecarim allow you to slow down the enemy player’s progress.
| Shadow Isles | Ionia |
|---|---|
| Elise x3 | Shadow Assassin x2 |
| Hecarim x3 | Deny x3 |
| Arachnid Horror x3 | |
| Mistwraith x3 | |
| Frenzied Skitterer x3 | |
| Wraithcaller x3 | |
| Rhasa the Sunderer x2 | |
| Commander Ledros x1 | |
| Mark of the Isles x2 | |
| Black Spear x2 | |
| Glimpse Beyond x3 | |
| Vile Feast x3 | |
| Withering Wail x3 | |
| Vengeance x1 |
How to play the Fearsome Midrange deck
Your opening hand should include cards such as Elise, Black Spear, Mark of the Isles, and Vile Feast. These cards enable you to deal with early-game threats while setting up the board for a potential Frenzied Skitterer/Wraithcaller on turns three or four. These two followers help stall the game with defensive walls as you wait to play the bigger threats, like Hecarim or Rhasa the Sunderer.
Cards like Vile Feast allow you to deal with smaller followers, while at the same time creating Spiders to level up Elise. They’re also good fodder for Glimpse Beyond’s card draw, which is valuable towards the late game. You should always keep a Deny in hand to help with board wipes and other mass damaging spells.
How to beat the Fearsome Midrange deck
Aggro decks will struggle against this deck as Fearsome makes followers too big to deal with, but Control decks have a far better time overall. My advice for you here is to time your mass removal for when your opponent over-commits to playing their bigger cards. As Deny is such an ever-present threat, you need to think very carefully about certain cards that are more unorthodox. I personally like giving enemy attackers Ephemeral with Shadow Flare, then chump blocking to reset the board.
But the most efficient way to deal with Fearsome Midrange might be to create a counter deck, just be the one below this one.
Karma control deck code
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This deck comes from Twitch streamer “FiVE” and aims to control the board early on with removal spells. It uses some rather unorthodox removal spells like Death Mark that simultaneously makes certain followers more of a threat and removes key enemies. Karma is key to making this deck work.
| Ionia | Shadow Isles |
|---|---|
| Karma x3 | Darkwater Scourge x3 |
| Emerald Awakener x3 | Frenzied Skitterer x3 |
| Shadow Assassin x3 | Soulgorger x2 |
| Insight of Ages x3 | Mark of the Isles x3 |
| Deathmark x2 | Grasp of the Undying x3 |
| Deny x3 | Withering Wail x3 |
| Vengeance x2 | |
| The Ruination x3 | |
| The Harrowing x2 |
How to play the Karma control deck
Early on, you’ll be getting rid of key threats with clever use of removal spells. Don’t play Darkwater Scourge unless you can also cast Death Mark the same turn. This will remove an enemy while giving you a powerful 5/5 Lifestealing follower. Frenzied Skitterer is there to weaken aggro decks for a turn. You want the game to go on for as long as possible to trigger the Enlightened keyword at 10 base mana. Once you’re Enlightened, Karma and some of your spells and followers suddenly become more powerful.
Late game spells like The Ruination can eliminate decks that flood the board with many enemies, while spells and followers frequently heal your Nexus. Once the opponent runs low on cards, it’s only a matter of time before the enemy succumbs to your power. The Harrowing is a fantastic end-game bomb spell to cast to close out the match.
How to beat the Karma control deck
End the game quickly by using aggro strategies. It has little in the way of early game removal outside of Withering Wail and stall tactics like Frenzied Skitterer. While Elusive decks have fallen out of favour in general, they can be quite good at dealing with the tricks that Karma control uses. Barrier Fiora decks can achieve their win condition relatively unhindered, though they will need to time spells very carefully.
Heimerdinger control deck code
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This deck recommendation from Twitch streamer “Gaara” uses a lot of spells to control the board. Stall your opponent’s aggression before ending games with either the combination of Hecarim and Rekindler, or masses of turret fire if Heimerdinger survives long enough.
| Piltover & Zahn | Shadow Isles |
|---|---|
| Heimerdinger x3 | Hecarim x3 |
| Chempunk Pickpocket x3 | The Rekindler x2 |
| Plaza Guardian x2 | Glimpse Beyond x3 |
| Thermogenic Beam x3 | Vile Feast x3 |
| Mystic Shot x3 | Grasp of the Undying x3 |
| Flash of Brilliance x3 | Vengeance x2 |
| Get Excited! x3 | The Ruination x1 |
| Statikk Shock x1 | |
| Progress Day! x2 |
How to play the Heimerdinger control deck
Your early game plan is to use your spells to stall the opposing player. Heimerdinger is a key way of doing this, and throwing spells at your opponents allows you to have free turrets to populate your side of the board. Plaza Guardian also becomes cheaper with every spell cast, so there is no downside to just throwing spells at every threat. Towards the late game, Hecarim can be paired with The Rekindler to speed up the enemy player’s demise, thanks to the Ephemeral followers Hecarim can summon.
How to stop the Heimerdinger control deck
This deck is a little more vulnerable to specific units being targeted by your spells. It only runs a few units, but a lot of spells. Heimerdinger is a key early game threat as if it levels up, it can flood the board with lots of turrets. The turrets do get progressively stronger, so try to get rid of Heimerdinger as soon as possible. Evasive decks like Fearsome can help get around the turrets, overwhelming the enemy Nexus before the turrets become too powerful.
Hecarim/Zed Farm deck code
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This deck that has been made by Twitch user “IceRitz” uses a fair few spells and sacrificial early-game units to try and stall the enemy past the early game. Eventually, it’ll begin to get momentum with big Ephemeral followers and a levelled up Hecarim to end games quickly. Zed’s Living Shadows also aim to bolster Hecarim quickly.
| Shadow Isles | Ionia |
|---|---|
| Hecarim x3 | Zed x3 |
| Hapless Aristocrat x3 | Shadow Assassin x3 |
| Soul Shepherd x3 | Deny x3 |
| Shark Chariot x3 | |
| Rhasa the Sunderer x2 | |
| Scuttlegeist x3 | |
| Black Spear x3 | |
| Glimpse Beyond x3 | |
| Grasp of the Undying x3 | |
| Vengeance x3 | |
| The Ruination x1 | |
| The Harrowing x1 |
How to play the Hecarim/Zed Farm deck
Your main aim in the early game with cards like Shark Chariot and Zed acting as sacrificial lambs. The deck has access to decent removal as well, including Grasp of the Undying, Vengeance, and the counter-spell Deny. Hapless Aristocrats can be fed to Glimpse Beyond to grab some more cards, and even combined with Black Spear for some extra removal.
In the mid-late game, Scuttlegeist will be cheap enough to cast for a ludicrously low amount of mana, while big spells such as The Harrowing can put a lot of Ephemeral units onto the board at once. Hecarim and the Ephemeral death triggers are vital to making the deck work. The deck also features a hard-counter to any Tryndamere effects, as Rhasa The Sunderer is a perfect counter to a Tryndamere who has just experienced a board wipe effect like The Ruination.
How to stop the Hecarim/Zed Farm deck
If you can take out Hecarim and don’t fall for the Rhasa The Sunderer trap, this deck runs out of power very quickly. Always keep some mana back for disrupting the enemy plans when you can. Aggro decks might have a better time against this deck, but do expect some resistance as you try to get your footing.
Fiora deck code
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I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant to put in a Fiora deck since the combo required to trigger the win condition is reliant on one main source. The general idea is to protect Fiora at all costs while building up a wall of blockers. There are a lot of Challenger followers in the deck, tons of Barrier effects, and enough spells to save your units. However, this deck seems to be the most consistent version of the deck thanks to a few things.
| Demacia | Ionia |
|---|---|
| Fiora x3 | Shen x3 |
| Fleetfeather Tracker x3 | Greenglade Caretaker x3 |
| Brightsteel Protector x3 | Rivershaper x3 |
| Laurent Chevalier x3 | Yusari x3 |
| Single Combat x3 | Ki Guardian x3 |
| Prismatic Barrier x3 | Spirit’s Refuge x3 |
| Riposte x3 | |
| Judgment x1 |
Variants
- Remove: Ki Guardian x3
- Add: Deny x3
How to play the Fiora deck
Your opening hand should consist of a copy of Fiora, at least one spell to protect her from early threats, and a follower with the Barrier granting abilities or the Challenger ability. You don’t want to be striking the Nexus with Fiora. Instead, you want to use Fiora’s Challenger ability to kill weak enemy units. She needs to kill four in total to win the game, which is not all that hard to do.
The hard bit is to keep her alive, as everyone will be targeting Fiora with their removal spells. Luckily, when it comes to any combat-based trickery, you have plenty of Barrier granting spells at Burst speed that will protect you from a large number of cards. If Fiora does perish in combat, you can use the rest of your cards to build up a defensive wall against enemy units. Laurent Chevalier is a great target for Barrier effects as his strike ability gives you more Challenger followers.
If the game lasts long enough for you to get 10 base mana, it’s likely that you’ll need a spell to give you that final push to victory. Judgment is a fantastic late-game bomb as you can just have Fiora hit the entire board. Since the enemy player will have likely flooded the board. You only get one shot at this though and if it is countered by Deny, you’ll have to win the hard way.
How to stop the Fiora deck
Control decks will have a better time against Fiora, as Aggro decks might not have the power to overcome her damage output and Barrier based defences. The aim is to kill Fiora by any means possible. Frostbite cards from the Freljord region really badly hurts Fiora’s potential as her attack power goes to zero.
Damage spells and instant kill spells also put on the brakes for the Fiora deck, meaning that the opponent needs to use the rest of the cards in their deck to stall you out. Spells like Deny also ensure certain tricks like the Judgment/Fiora combo won’t work, though these spells could potentially be countered too.
Garen/Tryndamere budget deck code
CEBACAIAAYCACAIDA4IRWAQEAEAAWEQ5FECQCAIUCYNB4JACAIAQCJZJAUAQABYMB4MRU
This budget deck comes from Twitch user “Swimstrim” and is designed to be a budget deck that uses a lot of cards that you may already have from both Demacia and Freljord regions. It aims to control the board long enough to reach the end game, where lots of big beasts and heavy hitting people enter the battlefield to overwhelm your opponent. It also has some half-decent removal.
| Demacia | Freljord |
|---|---|
| Garen x1 | Tryndamere x1 |
| Fleetfeather Tracker x2 | Omen Hawk x2 |
| Vanguard Sergeant x3 | Avarosan Sentry x3 |
| Laurent Protege x2 | Avarosan Marksman x2 |
| Radiant Guardian x1 | Bull Elnuk x3 |
| Radiant Strike x2 | Babbling Bjerg x3 |
| Single Combat x1 | Troop of Elnuks x3 |
| Detain x1 | Avarosan Hearthguard x1 |
| Back to Back x2 | Alpha Wildclaw x2 |
| Judgment x1 | Brittle Steel x2 |
| Avalanche x2 |
How to play the Garen/Tryndamere budget deck
In the early game, you want to build a wall full of defensive units. Early on, you can use the likes of Fleetfeather Tracker and Laurent Protege to have challenger units to pick off enemies. Omen Hawk can also buff your units a little bit. Babbling Bjerg is a great mid-game option as he can draw out any one of the 5+ power cards such as Radiant Guardian, Avarosan Hearthguard, and Alpha Wildclaw. Troop of Elnuks will flood the board with woolly beasts that can prove to be a nuisance to get rid of. Tryndamere and Garen are your win conditions.
How to stop the Garen/Tryndamere budget deck
This deck is designed to go toe-to-toe with aggro decks, but has few defences against control decks. Should they flood the board with too much to handle, kill spells like The Ruination can prove to be rather disruptive when used mid-game. The spells of this deck are a combination of removal and buff spells, so you can use cards like Deny to counter them, or by casting damaging spells to kill that unit in response to their buff spells.
Elise/Darius budget spiders deck code
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Another budget deck comes from Twitch user “Swimstrim“, this time based around the spiders from both Noxus and the Shadow Isles. The main aim is to get Elise to turn into a spider as quickly as possible, while buffing the other spider cards to steamroll over the enemy’s defences. It also wants to play certain Shadow Isles card combinations, such as Ravenous Butcher and Cursed Keeper to flood the board with hard-to-kill abominations.
| Noxus | Shadow Isles |
|---|---|
| Darius x2 | Elise x2 |
| Legion Rearguard x2 | Ravenous Butcher x2 |
| Precious Pet x2 | Hapless Aristocrat x2 |
| House Spider x2 | Cursed Keeper x3 |
| Arachnoid Sentry x2 | Frenzied Skitterer 1 |
| Crowd Favorite x3 | Chronicler of Ruin x3 |
| Arachnoid Host x2 | Crawling Sensation x2 |
| Captain Farron x1 | Black Spear x1 |
| Glimpse Beyond x2 | |
| Vile Feast x3 | |
| Grasp of the Undying x1 | |
| Withering Wail x2 |
How to play the Elise/Darius budget spiders deck
Your first objective with the Elise/Darius budget spiders deck is to get Elise onto the table with three other spiders. This will flip her to her enhanced version, which gives Fearsome and Challenger to your spiders, two abilities that you can use to control the board. From this point onwards, you should focus on eliminating threats and punching the enemy Nexus long enough for Darius or Captain Farron to finish them off.
If you find spiders hard to come by, you can apply early pressure with the Cursed Keeper/Ravenous Butcher combo that puts two hefty followers onto the battlefield for a small mana cost.
How to stop the Elise/Darius budget spiders deck
If you stop Elise from flipping early on, then you should overtake this deck. It also features a lot of weaker creatures, so spells that deal damage to lots of creatures at once are great shouts. If you’re running Shadow Isles, then The Ruination hurts this deck badly.
Jinx/Darius budget aggro deck code
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Twitch user “Swimstrim” has a talent for making some decent budget decks and this one is a fascinating combination of using mostly cards you already have from Piltover & Zahn and Noxus. It’s a incredibly aggressive deck early on that aims to get as much damage in before it uses Jinx or Darius to end the game.
| Piltover & Zahn | Noxus |
|---|---|
| Jinx x2 | Darius x2 |
| Astute Academic x3 | Legion Rearguard x3 |
| Zaunite Urchin x2 | Precious Pet x2 |
| Academy Prodigy x2 | House Spider x2 |
| Boomcrew Rookie x3 | Crowd Favorite x1 |
| Flame Chompers! x3 | Might x2 |
| Sump Dredger x3 | |
| Augmented Experimenter x1 | |
| Thermogenic Beam x2 | |
| Jury-Rig x3 | |
| Mystic Shot x2 | |
| Get Excited! x2 |
How to play the Jinx/Darius budget aggro deck
This deck aims to go aggressive immediately with the likes of Legion Rearguard and Sump Dredger for cheap early pressure. By emptying your hand, Jinx will level up and get some rather nasty single-use spells that you can fling at your opponent. There is a little bit of card draw in there just in case you run out of ammunition, with Zaunite Urchin being a good chump blocker. Your spells are to deal with enemy threats, as well as putting more scrap in the way. Darius is a good game-ender once the enemy is below 10 health.
How to stop the Jinx/Darius budget aggro deck
Build a wall of defensive units and weather the storm that’s coming. Brand is this deck’s worst enemy and can wall the enemy. He’s especially good if you can ensure damaging spells can keep him alive. Any spells that restore Nexus health can disrupt this deck’s endgame plans, so Grasp of the Undying and Withering Wail can be a problem. Some decks also run stun, which can also ensure they don’t hit your Nexus.
Cheap Shadow Isles control deck code
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There are no champions involved involved in this budget deck. It’s a very similar to the Atrocity Control deck in many respects, but its win condition is slightly different. If you can afford a copy of Commander Ledros, a single The Ruination, and three Rhasa the Sunderers, this one shouldn’t break the bank to craft.
| Shadow Isles | Freljord |
|---|---|
| Hapless Aristocrat x3 | Avarosan Sentry x3 |
| Warden’s Prey x3 | Icevale Archer x3 |
| Scribe of Sorrows x3 | Babbling Bjerg x3 |
| Rhasa the Sunderer x3 | Avalanche x3 |
| Commander Ledros x1 | Harsh Winds x3 |
| Black Spear x3 | |
| Vile Feast x3 | |
| Glimpse Beyond x3 | |
| Grasp of the Undying x2 | |
| Vengeance x2 | |
| The Ruination x1 |
How to play the Cheap Shadow Isles control deck
In the early game, use removal like Avalanche or blockers like Hapless Aristocrat and Avarosan Sentry to help mitigate against aggro decks. They will be your main cause of concern here, so proper timing of spells can help with buff spells. Using Glimpse Beyond after blocking with a chump blocker will still prevent damage, but refill your hand a tad.
In the mid and late game, you can begin efficiently removing threats and bashing in the enemy Nexus. Commander Ledros is the late-game bomb that will come back to your hand if it dies and will always deal damage rounded up when it cuts the Nexus health in half. Rhasa the Sunderer is fantastic removal, provided you got an ally killed that turn.
How to stop the Cheap Shadow Isles control deck
There’s only so much that this deck can do against aggro decks, so hitting it hard and fast is key. Buff spells also work wonderfully against this deck as it relies on dealing a low amount of damage in the early game. Once it hits late-game, it’s likely too late to deal with this deck, so attack that Nexus while you can.
Elusive budget deck code
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The final deck we would like to showcase is a budget variant of the Elusive deck that’s dominating the current Runeterra meta, but there are no champions involved. Instead it just uses a lot of Elusive units, some ways to buff them and some ways to defend yourself.
| Ionia | Demacia |
|---|---|
| Inspiring Mentor x3 | Fleetfeather Tracker x3 |
| Navori Bladescout x3 | Dawnspeakers x2 |
| Greenglade Duo x3 | Laurent Bladekeeper x3 |
| Keeper of Masks x3 | Prismatic Barrier x3 |
| Navori Conspirator x3 | Back to Back x2 |
| Deny x3 | |
| Greenglade Elder x2 | |
| Shadow Assassin x3 | |
| Solitary Monk x1 | |
| Kinkou Lifeblade x3 |
Variants
- Remove: Solitary Monk x1, Navori Bladescout x3
- Add: Yusari x1, Ki Guardian x3
How to play the Elusive budget deck
This deck plays a lot like the other Elusive deck, but is just running at half the power. The goal is to damage the enemy Nexus with your Elusive followers until it shatters. The rest are either spells or followers that have abilities to pump your Elusive attackers. It even uses the same trick with recalling certain followers with Navori Conspirator so you can replay them for additional effects. There’s not really much else to this deck other than using followers who have lived out their usefulness to block the enemy attackers.
The original version of this deck is a bit more on the aggressive side, so if you want something with a little more of a control focus, then I recommend switching out Solitary Monk for Yusari and the Navori Bladescouts for Ki Guardian spells. This will give you a little more protection against slower decks that get scarier as the game progresses, while at the same time giving you access to more card draw effects.
How to stop the Elusive budget deck
Aside from the Deny spell, there is no way for this deck to counter any removal spells. Control decks do very well against the budget version of the Elusive deck. Lots of spells will try to pump up followers, so having Frostbite effects can keep the most dangerous enemies in check, provided you play the cards at the right point.
Finally, you may find in various articles around the internet, including this one, that there are Runeterra deck codes. In order to use them you’ll need to perform the following steps:
- Highlight the deck code and copy it to your clipboard (Ctrl + C on PC). They look like something like this – CEBAGAICEUVTCBQBAUARGKBJGE3AEAIBAI4QKAIFB4MR2IJNAEAQCBID
- Launch Legends of Runeterra and click Collection.
- Click Decks, then click “Import Deck” at the top of the screen. We’ve circled it in our image above.
- Paste the deck code (Ctrl + V on PC) and click “Import Deck”.
As for how to export deck codes into Legends of Runeterra, once you’ve finished creating them, simply click the Deck you wish to share, then click the “Share” button. This will generate the code to share your deck.
These Legends of Runeterra decks should give you a head start when the game enters its open beta. Thanks for reading and do check out our other Legends of Runeterra guides below.