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The open beta of Legends of Runeterra has only been available since January 24, but a few decks are already starting to make a lot of noise on the ladder. If your ultimate goal is to reach the Master rank, then you'll need to obtain some cards to construct the best possible deck.
You'll find below the list of each deck, including the champions it used, the code to import it directly in the game, as well as the number of shards required to craft it.
Keep in mind that these decks are highly optimized lists. It's quite possible, especially in this early stage of open beta, that you don't have the necessary shards to obtain the full decks. Replace cards if necessary, or reduce the number of copies of the champions if you don't have them all yet.
These are the current top decks as curated by resident Mobalytics expert EGSwim and other sources.
S Tier
Elise Hecarim - Midrange
Concept of the deck: you can either be very aggressive thanks to Elise, or you can make the game last and beat slower decks thanks to Commander Ledros or Rhasa the Sunderer who will clean the opposite boards. Heal, removal, aggression and control: this deck is capable of anything.
Elusive Aggro
Code: CEBAKAIAAMFR2HZJAUAQEBQ2FAYTSAQBAEBCYAYBAAIR4JIBAIAQEJRU
Required champions: none
Regions: Demacia, Ionia
Shards: 10,700
Concept of the deck: This low-cost deck has another strength; it's actually very easy to play. Put your threats on curve, hit as hard as you can and watch your opponent lose health points without being able to do much. The enemy has Elusive creatures as well? Win battles with Riposte or Back-to-back. Is he attempting an AoE? Counter all this with Deny and race to victory.
Elise, Dawnspeakers and spiders
Concept of the deck: another aggressive deck of which Elise is one of the key pieces. If you don't win the game in the first rounds, your Dawnspeakers will allow you to buff your board after sacrificing insignificant spiders with Glimpse Beyond or Vile Feast. This will make Thresh stronger since he synergizes very well with Onslaught of Shadows.
A Tier
Darius Elise - Aggro
Code:
CEBAGAIDB4MTOBIBAUTSQKZVHABAEAIFEIRQGAIDAQESMAQCAECSCMIEAEBQWDATCY
Required champions: Elise, Darius
Regions: Shadow Isles, Noxus
Shards: 23,400
Concept of the deck: if you are used to Hearthstone terms, you can compare this deck to the Zoo archetype. The goal is simple: generate as many creatures as possible, buff them and go straight into the opponent Nexus.
Fiora Karma - Control
Code:
CEBAGAIAAMIS2BQBAIBCKKBLGE4QEAIBAIGAIAIAA4ERUJICAEAQALACAEBAIKI
Required champions: Fiora, Karma
Regions: Ionia, Demacia
Shards: 20,800
Concept of the deck: as in every deck relying on Fiora, the basic idea is to succeed in killing the opponent thanks to her ability. To do this, all the tools are gathered in this deck: protection and buff spells but also draw cards (Shadow Assassin, Rivershaper). Finally, Judgement will often allow you to finalize Fiora's pre-requisites when she is blocked. Karma, on the other hand, is there to bring value in mid/endgame.
Heimerdinger - Control
Concept of the deck: far away from the aggressive decks where you find Elise, Darius, and others, Heimerdinger just tries to make life impossible for his opponent. The answers are legion in the deck for almost every situation. And each of these tools will allow you to generate Turrets, which will make the other player's life quite hard. It's hard to talk about a real game plan here, since it's essentially about reducing the opponent's game plan to nothing and taking advantage of the breaches.
Braum Zed - Elusive V2
Code:
CEBAIAIBAQERMLQHAEBAEBQJDIUDCOICAEAQCKICAEBCYNABAEAQEHQ
Required champions: Braum, Zed
Regions: Freljord, Ionia
Shards: 26,500
Concept of the deck: a slightly reworked version of the elusive deck seen above. This time, Braum is there to tank the earlygame, and the Avarosan Hearthguard as well as the Omen Hawk are there to buff the creatures that will then tickle the opposing Nexus. In addition to this, there is Deny and Will of Ionia for a little management, and Zed to put some earlygame pressure — especially if you manage to buff him.
B Tier
Jinx Draven - Aggro discard
Concept of the Deck: This deck relies almost exclusively on its ability to generate brutal damage on the opponent Nexus, while discarding your cards to upgrade Jinx. She and Draven are very complementary and will control the board quite easily in the early game because of their respective statistics. The rest of the cards on the deck are full of direct damage or synergistic discards.
Ezreal - Control
Concept of the deck: the goal here is very clear: to make Ezreal evolve. Almost any card on the deck can help him do this, even cards with in-game finish effect such as the Icevale Archer or the Avarosan Marksman. Once you reach level 2, treat yourself and rain Mystic Shot and Poisonous Mushrooms on your opponent and watch them die. Of course, in order to hold on until this point in the game, you'll need your Freljord cards like Flash Freeze, Harsh Winds or Icevale Archer for example.
The first patch of Legends of Runterra open beta doesn't bring that much to the game — except three new guardians and the schedule for the following update cycles.