Standard Deck Guide: Udyr Morgana - Bladebound Berserker

Every season, after I get to Masters, I come with gifts: a guide on the list I used to get there.

This time, I took a little longer to climb, a bit over a week, because I was travelling. But, as soon as I found the perfect Udyr list, in just 2 or 3 days, I managed to go from Platinum to Masters without further issues.

Let's see how this deck works, and discuss the current meta!

Udyr was quite unfairly treated last season, as he was rotated to Eternal just after we got many cards that match his game style. The meta back then was also relatively favorable to him.

Now, he has returned to Standard and became one of the most promising champions in the format. He plays incredibly well against aggro, and is in a few interesting combos that make him strong against control lists as well.

The deck itself has the standard early game Freljord package we are all too familiar with: Omen Hawk, Yadulski Snowdog, and Sky Splitter. It also has the best combat tricks in the game nowadays, Gentlemen's Duel and Single Combat.

So far, so good. What's different about this list is Bladebound Berserker, who is its main character, in fact, as she enables all the combos in this deck with her effect. With her in play, you'll double any slow spell you play targeting your allies.

As Udyr's stances and some other spells in this list are slow spells, we can set up extremely explosive combos, and practically double their value. Once Bladebound Berserker is active on your board, you'll create an unstoppable snowball for your opponent.

This list's main strategy is to play like any Freljord deck plays early on, and then, later on, play Berserker. With her, you'll double all your slow spells and create a lot of value throughout the match.

One of the best spells to start your combos is Magical Fettering, which, when doubled, creates a 4-mana Suppression in your opponent's hand. This will significantly delay their development, and they'll probably need an entire turn or more just to recover from this combo.

Once your opponent has Suppression in their hand, you're free to risk a few attacks or plays you wouldn't be able to under normal circumstances. After all, your opponent won't be able to use any combat tricks or answers with Suppression in their hand.

Berserker doubles spells that target allies, which means she also targets allies and levels up Morgana incredibly fast. Each spell you play with Berserker on the board progresses Morgana's level up by two points. This is perhaps the fastest list of all time in terms of levelling up Morgana.

Udyr also levels up extremely fast because of Berserker, and gets huge, as he gains stats any time you play a stance. Because Berserker doubles your stances, it's not unusual to have a level 2 Udyr with 10 attack on turn 6, and this board state is your main win condition.

With the buffs from your stances, any unit in your deck can also become a win condition. As a result, this list is extremely dependent on Bladebound Berserker.

Mulligan

To play this deck, you'll need to hard mulligan after your cards, that is, you'll return all your cards in your starting hand back into your deck if they're not Bladebound Berserker.

However, as this deck also includes the iconic early game Freljord kit, you don't need to be that extreme. I highly recommend you don't send cards like Omen Hawk or Yadulski Snowdog back into your deck, for instance.

Any other cards, however, you can just send back. If you return your first 4 cards, the chances of drawing Bladebound Berserker until turn 4 are close to 70%, as we discussed when we explained other decks with a similar strategy. So, she'll most likely be in your hand every game.

If you can't find a Berserker until turn 4, unfortunately, your deck will be at half its power, and it will be an extremely difficult match.

Any control Shadow Isles list, or Stun Ionia list is a problem.

However, as you have the Magical Fettering combo, sometimes you can steal a few wins from these archetypes by locking their hand, and playing more aggressively.

Any Vex, Lee Sin, or Mordekaiser list, for instance, will be a tough match for you. The advantage you have against these decks is that you'll usually develop your board first. But don't develop your units without mana and resources to protect them against removals.

The removals in these lists often check attack stats, like Soul Harvest and Quietus.

This means, you should buff your units' attack power with your stances, or with Sky Splitter, as it can buy you a lot of time early on.

You need to check-mate your enemy before they have enough mana to play a Vengeance. After that, you can no longer beat the value they'll have with their removals.

The same applies to Ionia decks, which Recall units to your hand and Stun your attackers. You need to end the game before they have enough mana to Recall your strongest unit, which is quite hard.

Any matchup against aggro decks is extremely easy.

Demacia and Freljord's biggest strength is that they easily destroy these faster strategies - you have heals, incredibly efficient combat tricks, and strong units that block more than once.

All of that is enough to beat any aggro list in Standard nowadays.

Not to mention, you can use Udyr's stances as AoE removal if you need to. You can deal up to 2 damage to all units on the board if Bladebound Berserker is in play.

Puffcap strategies also struggle a lot against this deck, as they basically want you to draw cards, and that's all you want as well. Your units are incredibly cheap, and your spells are even cheaper. Omen Hawk is also a great blocker for Teemo early on, and any defensive spell you have also completely disables a Caitlyn (if your opponent doesn't have enough mana for a Mystic Shot).

You'll hardly lose the game for burn because of Morgana's and Scholarly Pioneer's Lifesteal, which, together, are more than enough to handle the damage these decks deal to your Nexus directly.

Bladebound Berserker dies to Soul Harvest, so you need a Sky Splitter to protect her as soon as you play her.

Final Words

If you read this far, thank you! I hope you had fun reading this article.

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See you next time!