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LoR Competitive Week in Review for 5/31 - 6/6

It’s a brand new week of a brand new expansion, and with this one being more tournament heavy than the last we’re starting to get a better idea of what was just a fad and what’s here to stay.

Fight Night Legends: BR

1st HDR Dudu De Nunu - Fizz/Riven / Rubin Pile / Bard/Galio

2nd Honest - Bandle Conservatory / Lurk / Illaoi/Jarvan/TF

Fight Night Legends: EU

1st Jinden - Bard/Zed / Thralls / Draven/Sion/Vi

2nd Sokoï - Sivir/Akshan / Scouts / Pantheon/Yuumi

Mastering Runeterra x GGToor Cup #7

1st Sorry - Pantheon/Yuumi / Viego SH / Ziggs/Taliyah

2nd OTK Camilari - Pantheon/YuumiDeserter Viego / Bard/Zed

Top 4 Sudrakon - Feel The Rush / Thralls / Bard/Udyr

Top 4 Talpinator - Viktor/Ez/Vi Shellfolk / Scouts / Reputation

Top 8 Lunahri - Draven/Sion/Vi / Pantheon/Yuumi / Heimer/Jayce

Top 8 FriendOfZoe - Rubin Pile / Thresh/Asol / Heimer/Jayce

Top 8 SonikHolik - Afaelios / Thralls / Viego SH

Top 8 ABG Rogio - Annie/Jhin / Deserter Viego / Azir/Irelia

Online League Series #45

1st GnomuVerde - Sun Disc / Bard/Galio / Deserter Viego

2nd HDR Dudu De Nunu - Sun Disc / Bard/Galio / Fizz/Riven

Top 4 SPARTANENZO - Illaoi/TF/Jarvan IV / Deserter Viego / Annie/Ezreal

Top 4 WW Trivo - Bandle Conservatory / Tri-Beam Control / Rubin Pile

Top 8 NNT Eluwardhayk - Trundle Timelines / Jayve/Heimerdinger / Tri-Beam Control

Top 8 WW Yangzera - Thralls / Afaelios / Bandle Conservatory

Top 8 ABG Dresbo - Viktor Ionia / Aphelios/Lux/Asol / Kindred/Viego IO

Top 8 Tomatemistico - Lux/Jayce / Thralls / Deserter Viego

The field remains very open in terms of deck diversity, but there are a few star players standing out. One of them is Bard/Galio, the latest in Bard Demacia technology that won Fight Night Legends: BR and took the top 2 spots at the Online League Series. It shares a similar playstyle to many Demacia decks in the past: go wide, stay wide, survive until you can play your super special card that impacts the board and makes being wide worth it. In this case that card is Galio, and since you’re usually wide with more challengers than an average Demacia deck you’ll likely be able to connect to the enemy nexus with the petricite gargoyle. What makes this deck appealing as a Bard option is how much extra trading a challenger can get with just a single chime, and how well Silverwing Vanguard synergizes with hand buffs. It does it so well in fact that the deck not only main decks it, but plays copies of Swiftwing Flight to make more Silverwing Vanguards. The most exciting part for sure, however, is that we finally have a real Galio deck.

Another breakout deck is Deserter Viego, which I mentioned at the end of last week's article as a deck that was sure to pop up this time around. The deck didn’t gain traction in time for tournaments last weekend but came out strong with an OLS victory this time around. The deck is one of the heaviest hitting ones we’ve had in a while, with Legion Deserter growing large very quickly thanks to Encroaching Mists giving him +2/+2 on summon since he gets a buff for both Viego and other Mists. With Viego, Deserter, and Hydravine all being significant threats, it can be hard for most decks to answer one of them each turn, and any one of them slipping through the cracks can spell doom. With the deck surging in popularity throughout the week, however, people were ready for it, and that's likely one of the reasons it didn’t have a higher top 8 presence. Runeterra evolves quickly these days, and you need to stay one step ahead at all times. Cool new powerhouse decks are getting countered in their tournament debut more often than ever before, but they usually still pick up the win despite it.

But despite these new powerhouses winning the OLS, Sorry used a very traditional lineup to win the Mastering Runeterra x GGToor Cup. Pantheon, Ziggs/Taliyah, and Shurima Viego are all decks some players were hoping we left behind with A Curious Journey, but there was no real reason to expect them to just disappear. Pantheon is the king of the mountain for the moment, and while we can all try to forget that, sometimes players like Sorry who want to win a tournament are going to keep reminding us. I’m sure some people are disappointed it wasn’t the newer versions of the decks like Thralls and Deserter Viego, but having diversity in how we play our powerful champions gives a breath of fresh air to those who grind week in and week out. 

Of course, there are plenty of breaths of fresh air to go around, as we saw interesting (likely flash in the pan) archetypes top as well, such as Bard/Udyr and Reputation. Combine those with Bard/Galio and Deserter Viego that's quite a few new decks having a strong opening weekend, with two of them very likely to return next week as well. When we take a step back and look at the meta as a whole, however, what are we looking at? What's going to be the breakout deck next weekend? Because of the 3 deck meta it always feels like there’s multiple things going on at a time, with one of them currently being “do I ban Pantheon or come to beat it” with most people picking the former. Once you’re on the ban Pantheon train, you need something to deal with what you’re seeing out of the other decks. For the moment it feels like we’ve got a lot of Noxus control decks thanks to Disintegrate. These decks are characteristic of cheap, powerful removal that can be a little ineffective on the card count. Sure, Disintegrate and a Blade’s Edge can take out any unit, but it’s still -1 in terms of card advantage. And things like that add up over time and over the course of your other combos, and things can snowball if you’re using these removal tools on a unit that already made a card when it was summoned. As such we’ve got decks looking to out late-game the Noxus control decks, and we’ve also got decks looking to out-aggro them. The general field tends to lean more toward out late gaming, as more and more decks are simply organically packing more 1 drop units and pushing aggro down. 

But that's a wrap on Worldwalker week 2! We’ve still got a lot of time between now and the Seasonal tournament, a balance patch coming in the next few weeks, and a light tournament week ahead of us. We’ll still be able to scrounge together some data and keep you on the right track as we gear up for our balance patch, and then it’s all hands on deck and full steam ahead. So now’s the time to get a little crazy and be the person who brings something like Bard/Udyr to a tournament, or even be the one to innovate the next big Katarina deck (or play the current one).

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