Runeterra Royale Week Recap - Standard Format (July 17th-20th)

Runeterra Royale community tournaments are growing exponentially. With that, the idea of bringing competitive players closer to our tournaments, and recapping Royale tournaments, week by week, came to be. We'll bring all the data, and explain how each day in Royale's week went, for you. Maybe you'll end up hyping yourself up to play in one of them if you see what happens on them?

Remember, Runeterra Royale happens from Monday to Friday, has no entry free or rank restriction. You can access the tournament tab through this link.

On Fridays, Cards Realm holds an Eternal format tournament, and, as this patch's competitive focus is the Standard format, for now, we won't discuss Friday tournaments.

We'll be discussing the Standard format tournaments from July 17th to 20th. This week was defined as the big Patch week, and the week when all the long-awaited changes would be arriving. The meta before was basically Siren Song lists only, until Tuesday, the 18th, but on Wednesday we had the arrival of all the changes to the game's client, and we were finally able to see up close the new meta in the competitive scene.

Monday's big champion was NNT Flay*, who brought a very standard lineup regarding the Siren Song meta.

On Monday, the Patch wasn't out yet, so we still weren't sure about the changes that were to come to the game. That pushed players to remain faithful to Siren Song lists, and many brought the 3 Song decks lineup combo. Remember, before this week of Runeterra Royale tournaments, we had the Runeterra Open, and the winning lineup brought 3 Song decks. The 3 decks used by NNT Flay* were:

These were the 5 most popular lists on Monday:

We had many players bringing Teemo Elusive lists. This archetype got some traction a few days before the Patch as a very safe alternative against Song lists, and also because more than one content creator posted deck guide videos about this deck.

This list was sold as the best option to deal with Evelynn lists, and it really did perform well. At the Open weekend, this deck was already being played, but it wasn't this popular, as it was only played by a few Brazilian players and otherwise some very well-informed American players. Though this list performed quite well in grassroot tournaments, it didn't perform as well in the Open.

These were the most used cards on Monday:

There's nothing new here, as all these cards are part of the Siren Song package of cards. The only notable change is that Eye of Nagakabouros returned as the second most played option in those decks. That happened because this card is very valuable in Lucian Illaoi Song lists, in which the tentacles are very relevant to control the enemy board.

The big winner on Tuesday was FNX bywhitte, who is a player who so far was exploring different ways to answer the meta thoroughly by using aggressive lists. Tuesday was the day the Patch Notes were revealed, and that meant the tournament began with all players being aware of what would be changed in the next day.

So, this day in our tournament circuit was defined by a mix of boredom due to the repeated decks, and anxiety as everyone wanted to play new things. The three lists used by FNX bywhitte were:

These were the 5 most used lists on Tuesday:

Though once again Siren Song Fizz was the most used deck, many players tested out new things, and this tournament was defined by lineups with unexpected decks. We had Akshan Samira decks, Aurelion Sol lists, and other crazy stuff. None of these lists performed well at the end of the tournament, but it was interesting to see one last time players trying to solve the meta.

These were the most used cards on Tuesday:

On this day, players opted to explore Targon Fizz decks much more, as, on Monday, the Demacia Song list turned out to be extremely inconsistent. Though the Demacia version was responsible for bringing many players to the Runeterra Open Top Cut, and it was used by the big winner on that weekend, the deck isn't that strong, and was heavily overestimated during the Open.

Many players ended up banning this list as they were afraid of getting combo'd with Champions' Strength, but little did they know that the deck is incredibly inconsistent and full of limitations.

The greatest champion on the first day of Patch 4.7.0 was NNT Kel. Siren Song now costs 6 mana, and the meta has changed completely. Right out of the bat, it was to be expected that players would acquire new lists and forget once and for all the Fizz decks, and that really happened.

However, there were still many questions regarding what really worked now that the game is fresh, and many bet on trying out slower strategies with 3 Control decks in their lineups. NNT Kel's 3 lists were:

These were the most used lists on Wednesday:

Illaoi Swain was the most used archetype by players, as before the Patch arrived, this list was also one of the strongest. This deck answered relatively well Song decks, and other meta lists, and that's why the assumption was that, once Karma Sett was also nerfed in the Patch, the next most consistent list would be Illaoi Swain.

And it really was: this deck managed to get a 57% win rate and is stronger than ever. Another great factor which helps this list consolidate itself in the meta a lot is that older competitive players are very faithful to this type of Noxus Control archetype, and, as a result, it is likely that this list will be present in their hands for a while now.

These were the most used cards on Wednesday:

Here is where we can observe new trends. Eye of Nagakabouros returned as the most used card in the tournament, but now it is part of the Scouts archetype, and Swain lists.

In second place, we have Forsaken Baccai, which is quite surprising, as Shurima wasn't one of the most used regions in the tournament, but all Shurima decks brought 3 copies of this card, reassuring that it truly is the best card in the region. To finish, we have Mystic Shot in third place, as it is the most flexible card in the entire game, the best removal for small units, and the best card in Piltover&Zaun.

Our warrior NNT Kel was champion again, comboing as two-time champion in the same week in great style. The lineup they brought on Wednesday was different from Thursday's lineup, but with the same logic: 3 Control lists, which will probably be the focus of all players' lineups from now on. The 3 decks used by NNT Kel were:

These were the most used lists on Thursday:

We can already observe a great change in players' preferences. Jax Ornn becomes a very popular deck among competitors, and the lists which answer this deck well come close behind it to complete the podium of most used decks.

Jax Ornn was already a strong list before Patch 4.7.0, and, after the buffs to Neeko's archetype, this deck got a few stray buffs itself, as Glacial Saurian became an S-Tier card overnight, though it was already a unit that was part of Jax's lists.

This way, it is possible to predict Jax Ornn will probably return as the most consistent deck competitively, but it is still a list that suffers a lot against Control decks, and that's why the next meta will be slow and filled with Control decks dominating the scene.

These were the most used cards on Thursday:

In the Top 3 cards most used, we have two consistent cards in Jax's archetype, completing with Avenging Vastaya, which is possibly one of the best cards in the game currently. The problem with Vastaya is that Shurima as a region, and the decks which play in this region, are not that great, as much as this card is incredible. And, besides that, it alone can't carry on its back any of the Shurima Control archetypes, and, therefore, this card's win rate will probably not reflect how good it is in the next few days of tournaments.

From July 17th to 20th, we had a meta divided by the arrival of Patch 4.7.0. On the first few days, we were still playing Song lists, and in the last two days we were already testing out the new meta. Grassroots tournaments are the best thermometer to indicate how much a meta is polarized, as players express their frustrations with the meta in their lineups, and, certainly, everyone was already done with Siren Song.

Now, with the meta progressing again towards a slower cycle, it is likely that Control players return to playing grassroot tournaments more frequently, and have more expressive results too.

This week's ranking was:

1st Place - NNT Kel - 24 points total - 3.200 coins total.

2nd Place - xHeroBeast - 21 points total - 2.400 coins total.

3rd Place - NNT Flay - 12 points total - 1.600 coins total. (90% win rate).

4th Place - FNX bywhitte - 12 points total - 1.600 coins total. (80% win rate).

Runeterra Royale Tournaments award in-game coins as prizes:

1st Place - 1.600 coins

2nd Place - 1.200 coins

3rd Place - 1.000* coins

4th Place - 800 coins

If you've read this far, now you've seen the full recap of the Cards Realm's Legends of Runeterra Tournament Week from July 17th to 20th.

So? Do you want to play competitively? If you're Brazilian, you can sign up and see all tournaments here.

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