How to Play Iceborn Spiders
With Iceborn Legacy’s speed buff, Poros have Burst onto the scene as a legitimate contender.
However, an even stronger deck has flown under the radar: Iceborn Spiders.
Iceborn Spiders can produce more raw stats earlier in the game than any deck in Runeterra’s history.
To complement the explosive turn 4-6 plays, a healthy interaction package keeps opponents in check until Atrocity finishes the job.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to play Iceborn Spiders, so stick around!
Deck Code: CEBQOAIFAESCQKZRGI2QEAIBAMDACAYBAYBACAYBAIBQCBITDEOQEAIEAEFACAIFEE
[See Iceborn Spiders deck details]
General Strategy
The plan with this deck is quite simplistic and doesn’t vary much from game to game or matchup to matchup.
The goal is to find Iceborn and run away with the win using the comical amount of stats you’re able to put on board.
Failing that, playing reactively with your removal and becoming an SI/FR control deck is a perfectly acceptable strategy.
Mulligan
The most important card is Iceborn Legacy by a huge margin, so it’s important to mulligan with that in mind.
I hard-mull for Iceborn in every matchup except for hard aggro, with the sole exception of keeping Elise on evens.
Even if I’m slotting in specific tech cards for a matchup, they’re still usually getting mulled away for Iceborn.
Like most SI/FR decks with a robust removal package, if you know which decks you’ll be facing you can flip specific losing matchups into winning ones or solidify your existing matchup table all by flexing your removal ratios.
As such, the deck lives and breathes with the meta and needs to continually react to new developments to stay relevant – whether that be responding to what people are playing on ladder or fitting into a specific tournament ban strategy.
Here are some of the removal options you might want to against a sampling of decks in the current meta:
For Poros
Anything that deals a flat number of damage to units such as Withering Wail isn’t really what you want. If both players pass the Iceborn check, the matchup usually comes down to a simple race.
Troll Chant is surprisingly good since the Spiders and Poros are often the same sizes and you can swing the game in combat.
Other than that, Ruination and Kindred for hard removal are much appreciated for this matchup.
For Ahri/Kennen
The Box and Withering Wail are classical Kinkou Wayfinder counters, and they work their magic even more effectively when your strategy doesn’t allow them time to chill out and wait until they can Wayfinder with Deny up on 5.
The matchup is decidedly unfavorable in the late game, but sheer aggression blended with efficient AOE removal can make things difficult for them.
For Draven/Rumble
Vengeance, Three Sisters, and healing are what you want if you’re seeing a lot of Rumble. The deck as it stands is quite strong in the matchup, but if you want to swing it further then you could try some Withering Mists or a Flash Freeze.
For Pantheon
Since giant fated units are larger than your spiders, having hard removal is super key in this matchup. It’s so important that I’ll even keep Vengeance and Ruination against them. It’s another deck that almost completely ignores damage-based removal, so Three Sisters, Vengeance, and Ruination are great to slot in if you’re seeing tons of Pantheon.
The Other Spiders (SI/NX)
You don’t play Fearsome units by default, so finding Iceborn is supremely important here. The matchup is about even, but Icevale Archer is a potent bit of technology if you truly want to show your opponent what the superior spider deck is.
As it happens, removal isn’t the only flexible part of the deck! In true SI/FR fashion, the wincons can also be swapped around to fit the meta.
ARAM, Catalogue, and Ledros/Atro are all seeing serious play at present.
The best combination of removal and wincon is still being worked out, which is exciting!
That said, here’s the core of cards I would never cut:
Conclusion
Iceborn Spiders is a serious ladder deck and an even more serious tournament deck. Being able to adapt removal to your specific needs is nothing new in SI/FR, but the speed and ferocity with which this deck plays is a new frontier.
While the deck runs 3 Vengeance, it doesn’t feel like a control deck because in most games you’re overrunning the board with enormous spiderlings by turn 5. Give the deck a try and you won’t be disappointed.
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