LoR: Bandle City is Too Strong - 5 Bandle City Decks for the Ranked Queue!

The ranked queue meta is once again changing, and now Bandle City is returning to the spotlight because of its versatility.

So, we decided to bring you 5 Bandle City lists to test out in the ranked queue. These decks' win rates have been extremely high, and, in general, they're great if you want to climb ranks right now.

Neeko has seen play in practically every region, but now she has finally reached her true potential, with Bandle City. This list has, currently (September 5th), the highest win rate in the ranked queue, and is one of the best archetypes out there if you want to climb ranks.

That is because Buster Shot is extremely powerful; it is one of the few direct removals in Standard right now. It also costs 2 mana less if you summon units from 4 different regions or more, and that is incredibly easy to do if you're playing this Neeko list.

Unlike other archetypes with this champion, this list explores her package of cards with value in mind. Instead of leaning on a heavier mana curve with cards like Enraged Firespitter or Warden of the Tribes, this deck plays cheaper units, like Arachnoid Sentry and Loping Telescope, and even Swiftwing Flight. These units, besides cheaper, are not finishers. Instead, they'll give you value throughout the match.

So, even though this is a Bandle City list, which is an aggressive region, it plays more like a slow midrange. It focuses on answering the enemy board with removals and Stuns while setting up their own strong board with big units.

Unlike other Neeko decks, this list constantly interacts with the enemy board.

It is also a variant of the classic Neeko Bandle City list that plays more like an aggro deck and ignores the opponent.

However, the classic version doesn't have this great of a win rate, and is relatively worse than other Neeko decks with regions like Noxus or Freljord, or even the slower Bandle City version.

For a long time now, this list has been one of the best lists in the entire game.

This deck's greatest strength is its speed, besides how it easily summons, on the board, cheap units with lots of attack that are not easily removed. Not to mention, this archetype is one of the best in Standard when the matter is dealing damage to the enemy Nexus directly.

This list also includes Buster Shot (you may have noticed a pattern), but, unlike the Neeko deck, it leans on heavier cards, like Enraged Firespitter.

Actually, this Dragon is the main finisher in this deck, and you should play it with Might to deal lots of damage to your opponent with Overwhelm.

The most significant difference from this list to the other Neeko decks we've shown you is that this version plays Noxus, which gives it a bit more reach. For instance, you'll be able to use cards like Noxian Fervor to either remove units or deal damage to the enemy Nexus, and thus catch your opponent off-guard.

Otherwise, these lists play similarly, and are the two lists I most recommend if you want to climb ranks.

Still on aggressive decks, we have this Standard "discard" version with Jinx and Lulu.

Jinx didn't lose any relevant cards in this rotation, and is one of the few champions in the game whose package is almost entirely available in Standard.

This archetype is extremely famous and has been explored well by the most veteran players. As a result, this version is, undoubtedly, the most played and tested deck in this entire list.

The most radical change in this list in the last month was Spirit Portal, which has a long history of coming in and out of this deck. However, as time went on, players reached a consensus and decided this card should stay in the deck.

Even though it's a relatively situational spell, it is valuable in a few matchups, and, depending on your early game, can win you matches really early on.

Spirit Portal also helps you remove enemy blockers if you grant more stats to your Flame Chompers! with it.

Another key change is the return of Augmented Experimenter, which was a bit forgotten last season. However, it has since returned, and is great to refill your hand at critical points in the match.

Other than these changes, the deck plays just like the other versions we're all familiar with. It is a relatively difficult archetype to play, full of many nuances and tricks that you should learn before playing the list.

If you like playing discard aggro archetypes, comment down below! We'll bring you a proper, more in-depth guide for this list.

Now let's move on from aggressive decks and go over a control list with Bandle City, as well as perhaps the best deck to play against all the other aggro decks in the game.

This list combines Vex's Bandle City control kit with the best Targon cards in Standard in terms of control. So, this is list combines the best removals against low-health units with many cards that stop enemy attackers with Curses, like Morgana, Dark Binding, and Mihira, Aspect Ascendant.

It is practically impossible to build a strong board early on against this archetype. All units will get hit with Gloom, direct removals, or Curses.

This deck's main win condition, besides exhausting your opponent's resources, is level 2 Morgana. She levels up quite fast, as practically everything you play targets something on the board.

Mihira is also a finisher, but she is a bit slower and stronger against midrange lists in particular.

This deck also includes many Silences, which are great against Spirit archetypes (that are quite popular nowadays), but they're also great to deal with Overwhelm units.

Vex works like a secondary unit, and is only in this deck because she's the best 4-cost unit in the entire game.

This is an extremely new list that recently showed up on the ranked queue as a different version of the Transform archetype.

It works around The Wingsgiving, which Transforms the units on your board into more expensive units. If you Transform your Weaponmasters, they keep their equipment, so, you might end up with gigantic units on the board equipped with a Quick Attack or Scout weapon, for instance.

Its strength comes from how you adapt your board to your opponent's deck with your Transformations. You can, out of nowhere, have a unit with Spellshield, Elusive, or Challenger. It all depends on what you Manifest, and also on which cards you pick to Transform.

If you're used to playing Transform decks since the Timelines meta, then you won't have many issues playing this list. However, it is extremely difficult to pilot, and I don't recommend it for new players.

We wanted to include this deck to show you how versatile Bandle City is, and stress how strong it is when the matter is building all types of decks.

Vex Jax is extremely fun, so if you have already reached Masters and want to test out something different, this might be the deck for you!

Which of these decks was your favorite? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section.

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

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See you next time!