How to Play Elites
Hey everyone NicMakesPlays here.
I just went 5-0 with my updated Elite is that I want to share with you.
Elites just got two powerful cards this expansion that gives the Archetype new life.
To see more LoR decks created by the community, check out our Deck Library.
Deck Code: CECAQAIAAECAMDBCEQTTGAQEAADQ6AIGAAVQCBIACUBACAQAA4AQMABJAA
[See NicMakesPlays Elites deck details]
Goal of Deck and Mulligans
The goal of this deck is to put a wide board out fast with tons of stats. You can easily do this due to all your 1 drops, Battlesmith, Bannerman, and Garen. The expected turn to win the game is turn 7-8 with Cithria The Bold or Champion’s Strength.
In this deck, you want to mulligan for a strong early game. This will consist of 1 drops such as Trusty Ramhound, Cithria of Cloudfield, and Penitent Squire. Other good cards to open with are Battlesmith to buff all your Elites and Vanguard Squire to begin discounting its cost to help swarm.
Trusty Ramhound | Penitent Squire
Trusty Ramhound and Penitent Squire are your 1 drops of the deck. Trusty Ramhound is a new 1 drop Elite that can easily get huge for its cost. Since your deck is filled with Elites, it’s regularly a 3|3 but it also has other perks.
Since it’s an Elite it can be buffed by Battlesmith to a 4|4, and it also helps discount Vanguard Squire to fill the board. Penitent Squire gives you a spell that grants Challenger if you behold an Elite.
This allows you to turn your units into removal and control the board as you please.
Battlesmith | Vanguard Squire
Battlesmith and Vanguard are two of the key cards in this deck. Battlesmith buffs all your Elites +1|+1 when they are summoned, which your whole deck is composed of. If he is not removed immediately he can continue to sit in the backline and give you free value.
You can swarm the board with cards like Silverwing Vanguard and Vanguard Squire for quick buffs. Speaking of Vanguard Squire, this card is one of the main ways you apply early-game pressure. You can easily get this card to cost 0 and then summon it to add extra pressure on the board. This card can also get buffed by Battlesmith to become a 0 mana 4|4.
Garen | Cithria the Bold
Garen is your Champion of the deck and Cithria the Bold is your honorary 2nd Champion. Garen is an Elite that does two things this deck wants, buffing wide boards and allowing you to attack more often.
After you swarm the board with Elites you can use Garen on turn 5 to buff your whole board, and when he levels you can swing with your wide board again. Cithria also is an Elite that buffs your board, but she gives the unique keyword of Fearsomes to your units.
With a wide board of Fearsomes, your opponent can’t block them all and you can easily swing for game.
Silverwing Vanguard | Vanguard Bannerman
Silverwing Vanguard allows your deck to go wide while also removing enemy units. Summoning two Challengers can help pave the way for the rest of your units to get favorable trades or good damage in.
If you have Battlesmith in play then Silverwing Vanguard’s both get buffed and can put huge pressure on the opponent. Speaking of buffs, Vanguard Bannerman is one of the main ways to buff your units.
Vanguard Bannerman buffs all your units +1|+1 and is an Elite himself so he gets buffed by Battlesmith. This deck is also all Demacia cards so your odds of hitting Allegiance are 100%.
Ranger’s Resolve | Champions’ Strength
Rangers Resolve is a cheap spell in the deck that can keep your wide boards alive.Rangers Resolve only costs 1 mana so you can easily bank that at any point in the game.
Giving your entire board Tough helps at ensuring they live through removal spells or multiple combat trades. Champions Strength is one of the new powerhouse spells of the expansion.
Buffing your entire board +4|4 while enabling them to attack twice is perfect for a deck that plays so many units, and can trigger effects like Cithria the Bold multiple times.
Good Matchups
This deck does great against any slow control decks like Ryze. You can summon Battlesmith to start beefing up all your units and then they have to use extra spells to remove each.
You can also easily make a wide board and apply huge pressure while they try to set up. They can’t set up and deal with your units while you continue to play more and finish the game shortly after.
Bad Matchups
This deck struggles against decks that have tons of removal for Battlesmith. Against these matchups you can keep Rangers Resolve in your mulligan to protect your Battlesmith and keep him alive to buff your units.
Even if you can keep him alive for a turn or two it creates enough pressure to where they have to use extra removal for all your units, and then you can buff them again with Vanguard Bannerman or Garen.
Tech Choices
This deck can cut copies of Swifting Flight, Penitent Squire, and Might of the Vanguard.
For the Fallen – This card is extremely easy to discount and lets you replenish your whole board against removal based decks.
Golden Aegis – This card lets you Rally to swing again with a wide board to win before your opponent can stabilize.
Deny – This card allows you to deal with your opponent’s strategies or stop their answers to yours.
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