4 Fun LoR Patch 2.5.0 Decks to Try Out
With the latest balance patch, there have been a lot of significant nerfs to some of the strongest meta decks such as TF/Fizz, Fiora/Shen, and Aphelios decks.
There were also a few buffs namely the Deep archetype, Dreadway, and Lulu.
In this article, we will be exploring potential archetypes that might see a bit of a revamp as well as new archetypes.
The four decks we’ll cover are:
- Updated Deep Monsters
- Lulu’s Moose
- Dreadway Ledros
- Zoe Viktor
1. Deep Monsters
The first deck we are going to take a look at is a community favorite – Deep.
Deck Code: CECQGAIFDUUC6AYCAYSS6OABAQCQ6AQCAUEAUAIDAYAQEAQCAYTTKAIBAUMQEAQBAUJS4AQCAYOR4
[See Deep Monsters deck details]
Since the release of Deep, it instantly became a favorite for a lot of players.
Although never a top-tier deck, it was considered competitive and had representation in multiple community tournaments.
Since the release of Targon, the archetype has struggled with a low win rate despite it being relatively popular.
This patch brought two big changes for the archetype.
First, Dreg Dredgers’ previous nerf to a 1|1 was reverted to its original 2|1.
This allows the card to make a lot of trades that it previously couldn’t. This boosts the early game survivability of Deep.
Sea Scarab was also given +1|+1 in stats.
Where pre-deep it was a 1|2 and it now sits as a 2|3.
This heightens its survivability and allows it to get more value in the early game to help achieve Deep earlier as well as leveling up Maokai.
Deep generally has a weaker early game presence than most decks with only a couple of options in the early game such as Dreg Dredgers and Sea Scarab.
Fading Memories is also an option against aggressive decks with low-cost creatures.
Vile Feast can also be helpful in the early game. Against control decks, you can mulligan harder for Maokai and Toss cards.
Your win condition will most likely be leveling up Maokai into milling their cards.
Fading Memories can be used on Toss units that will help speed up getting to Deep as well as it works well with Sea Scarab.
An alternate win condition can be Atrocity oftentimes on Nautilus, but other large Sea Monsters such as Shipwreck Hoarder can be a strong finisher as well.
2. Lulu’s Moose
Deck Code: CECQEAIABEOQEAICBELACAYABYBAGAQCBIBAEAAIBICQCAQAA4AQIAADAEAQEOIBAMBAGAQBAABSKAIBAQAAE
[See Lulu’s Moose deck details]
The community has been begging for Ionia buffs but more specifically a Lulu buff.
Lulu got a slight buff with an increase of one attack.
However, some other units she works with got a buff as well such as Shadow Assassin being a 2|1 rather than a 1|2 is quite significant.
Shadow Assassin can now be slotted in most Ionia decks as a 3 drop.
Another card that doesn’t see much play but benefits from the last patch is Fae Guide. It got an additional health point.
Although not a huge buff, this deck ran Fae Guide in previous iterations of it, so a buff is a buff.
Other cards that were released in the last couple of expansions have benefited this deck as well such as Sharpsight, Cataclysm, and Golden Aegis.
This deck is unique in Runeterra as it aims to cheese opponents out through Greathorn Companion otherwise known as Moose.
The idea behind this deck is to put the Elusive keyword on Moose through Ghost or Fae Guide.
If the opponent can’t deal with this then Moose will half health the opponent’s Nexus.
Cataclysm on Moose also allows for an additional rally or Aegis can be played.
This deck is hilarious when you can pull off this cheeky combo.
3. Dreadway Ledros
Deck Code: CECAGAIFDUUCWAYCAYCBUJQBAMDAQAQDAUCAMAYCAECQCMIBAICQIAQCAYBCAAIDAECRSIJV
[See Dreadway Ledros deck details]
With a Dreadway rework from 9 mana to 8 mana, this gives it more room to be played in a variety of decks.
Notably, Dreadway Ledros OTK happens one turn earlier by playing Dreadway on turn 8 and Ledros on turn 9.
This change to Dreadway was a big buff for Shadow Isles Bilgewater Keg Control.
An archetype that a lot of players have wanted to see flourish.
This list runs 3 champions, Elise, Twisted Fate, and Gangplank. It has plenty of early games with strong low-cost units as well as the powerhouse of Blighted Caretaker that can help control the board early.
With the nerf to Twisted Fate / Fizz, there are fewer Twisted Fate red cards for Blighted Caretaker to worry about than before.
This deck is often able to sustain against aggressive decks through Vile Feast and Withering Wail on top of chump blockers such as Hapless Aristocrat.
Against control decks, it has the option of Dreadway Ledros combo as well as Atrocity to finish games.
This isn’t an archetype that has been explored as much as others, so it will be interesting to see if the Dreadway change is enough to push this deck in tournament lineups.
4. Zoe Viktor
Deck Code: CECAEAIEDM2AEAYJBFLAEAYEAMCQCAQEAEBAKAYJCMRUSVC4AIAQIAJNAICAGCJTKVRNWAIBAMCA2
[See Zoe Viktor deck details]
Aphelios received a giant nerf when his weapons were nerfed to 3 mana rather than 2.
This change likely makes Zoe the Queen of Targon. Targon is still a powerful region and Zoe is still a very powerful champion.
Viktor and Zoe is an archetype that had been explored when Viktor was first released but had fallen out of favor when Viktor was weaker than anticipated.
Since then, Viktor has received some minor buffs that have improved his playability.
Now that there will be fewer Gravitums on the ladder, Viktor and Zoe will have more to show on Runeterra’s ladder.
You might have noticed that this list has a lot of 2 and 1 of as this is a Subpurrsible list that requires 10 different cards to be played before it gains an additional 4 attack.
The variety of cards also helps Zoe’s level up condition too. Some lists have opted to add Pursuit of Perfection as well which is a viable way to end games in this deck.
This lists plays as a midrange list that aims to build up Viktor through his Hex Core Upgrades.
The list is also able to cycle through cards quickly with multiple draws and discard options.
It has multiple toolbox cards to react to your opponent while building up Viktor.
Starshaping is also a huge tool for finishing games as many decks cannot deal with the large, Elusive unit that it produces.
Closing Thoughts
It is nice to revisit some previous deck types with this new patch. Hopefully, some of these decks have a bit of breathing room in the new meta.
I also hope that you give some of them a try as they are a lot of fun!
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