LoR: Top 5 Most Cursed Region Combinations

If you play LoR, you've certainly matched against an opponent, looked at their deck and their region combination, and thought, "this game won't be fun".

In this article, I listed the top 5 most cursed region combinations; those that guarantee the match won't be fun at all.

Let's also remember some of the cursed lists that were in these combinations, besides discussing their mechanics.

This article was entirely based on my opinion. Comment down below your own thoughts, and your own list of the top 5 most cursed region combinations!

Bilgewater is one of the most aggressive regions in the game, and, when combined with Targon, which is one of the most defensive regions, you already know your match will be a bit weird.

This combination includes Soraka Tahm Kench lists, which years ago were a nightmare to Midrange lists. This deck has healing elements, lots of card draw, and an alternative win condition: Star Spring.

Hate it or love it, we have to agree that, when we match against this type of strategy, we probably won't have any fun.

Another iconic list that had this region combination was Aphelios Twisted Fate, or Aphelios Tahm Kench. Previously, Crescendum would summon a 2-cost unit straight from your deck, and, as we'd only take Boxtopus as a 2-cost unit in our deck, it was summoned without activating its Play effect, and therefore would go on the board with 4 health points. It wasn't at all fun for those who played against it.

This list created too much value compared to the other decks at its time because of how The Veiled Temple would also refill your mana. This, added to the VFX whenever we Evoked a celestial, which took too long to end, was the perfect formula to make anyone upset when they saw this region combination.

The most current list that also brought these two regions is Fizz Siren Song, the most played archetype in the Heart of the Huntress expansion. This list focused on Siren Song's effect, which grants +1/+1 globally to all 1-cost units. Furthermore, this list also healed its Nexus during the match, and removed enemy units.

This deck was so consistent that it could even Silence other cards with the Targonian Tellstones, and would Nab your opponent's cards with Swindle.

At the time, this list was in almost all competitive lineups at the Runeterra Open, and was also the most played deck in the ranked queue. As a result, many players, when they see Bilgewater and Targon together, have war flashbacks.

One of Bandle City's identities is disrupting the opponent's game plan, be it by increasing the cost of cards in their hand, or even by discarding them. This, added to the consistency that Predict gives to Shurima players, allows this region combination to always give their players the perfect cards to not let you play against it at all.

This combination is perfect for combo decks, and, with a few cards like Curious Shellfolk, some infinite combos only exist because of this combination.

Akshan's infinite combo with Curious Shellfolk was built to make their opponent's angry.

This list can push you against the wall if you can't answer Curious Shellfolk in time. The issue with that is that it is relatively easy to protect this card because of Rite of Negation and Scrying Sands.

When you pass priority to your opponent, they, with 0 mana, can play a combination of Feral Prescience + Scrying Sands to create countless copies of 0-cost Bursting Backpacks in their hand, debuffing your units and shuffling several Puffcaps in your deck.

This means your opponent will play 50 cards for 0 mana during their turn, and, after they combo for 15 minutes, when it's finally your turn, you'll draw 100 Puffcaps and lose the match. Not fun at all.

Another list that is worth mentioning and also brings this region combination is the Time Bomb Printer, which isn't as toxic as the combo above, but also promotes a strategy in which your opponent will play several cards during their turn and won't let you play the game itself in return.

The actions this strategy plays during their match are slow actions because they need to summon Zilean's landmark to combo, which will pass priority to you. This means the game will become a giant "press the pass button" simulator for those who play against this deck.

These two regions, together, mean your opponent's Nexus won't reach 0 any time soon because they'll be full of healing cards, your units will be Stunned all the time, and everything you play will be answered by some spell.

The old Karma Zoe list was one of the first decks in Runeterra in which the main win condition wasn't in the list itself when the game started. This archetype focused on answering everything the opponent played until it summoned a mighty Celestial to finally end the game.

This would make matches extremely long, and, speaking from experience (as I played Karma Zoe), most times I wouldn't even deal damage to my opponent's Nexus, and they'd just give up before I even actually won the match. It is not at all fun for those who play against it.

As the game evolved and new cards were released, this archetype evolved and became Karma Sett Targon.

With Coin and Cosmic Youngling, this list soon became the most popular list among Control players who were tired of playing the Piltover & Zaun version.

At the time Coin was burst-speed, this deck could turn the game around drastically at turn 10 with a level 2 Karma, healing your Nexus at burst speed with Guiding Touch and Silencing enemy units with Hush.

Silences were a powerful weapon when players played a mirror match with this deck because they would just Silence the enemy Karma at burst speed, and the advantage would be all theirs.

Seraqueen fans should hide now; we'll discuss Catastrophe in this paragraph.

These two regions, together, created one of the most insane lists in the entire game because the combo possibilities with them are literally infinite. As they are the two regions that most create cards from other regions in the game, it is undeniable that RNG plays an essential role in Bandle City Piltover & Zaun decks.

The Janna Seraphine list is the closest we have in LoR to a Singleton or Highlander list. We need to admire the work of all players who built and refined this type of list because they thought of absolutely everything - this deck was built to bring a bit of everything to your strategy and adapt to any situation. The downside is that it is impossible to play around the random cards created by Seraphine, Back Alley Bar and Sputtering Songspinner.

It seems like your opponent is actually just cheating when they create that perfect card that counters your entire deck in a very specific way.

Not to mention, this is another archetype in which the main win condition isn't in the deck when the game starts, and you need to create it - we're talking about Catastrophe! This means matches will stretch considerably until the Seraphine Janna player finds the perfect time to play their Purrsuit of Perfection.

Another list that has a strict "no fun allowed" policy is Teemo Yuumi Elusives. This deck doesn't seem that insufferable, until they play a Skip, "King of the Reef" that Captures your win condition, or your answer against Elusives.

This card alone is probably responsible for the fastest "esc + concede" plays in the entire game because, depending on the card it Captures, the game can end on the spot.

Against a Demacia list, for instance, Capturing a Blocking Badgerbear, their only answer against Elusives, is one of the worst things that can happen to a LoR player. Or Capturing a Hate Spike from a Shadow Isles players who only had that card to answer their Elusive units.

We need to discuss one of the most unfair lists of all times: champless Timelines.

This deck Transforms Bandle City units with strong effects into followers with strong stats - that means your opponent will never lose value on the board, even when they're playing a "weak" unit with a strong effect.

Rissu, the Silent Storm, for instance, is a 5-cost, 1/3 card that summons a 7/3 follower with Impact 3. Through Concurrent Timelines' effect, you can summon Rissu into a Tarkaz the Tribeless, a 5/8 follower, and also summon a 7/3 on the board.

We also have the interaction with Improvise in units like Piltovan Castaway, which, when Transformed, retains their equipment on the unit it is Transformed into, which means you can summon a Solitary Monk with Scout and 4 attack power on turn 3.

But my favorite interaction is with Banana Blaster, which deals damage equal to the attack power of the unit it Transforms into, and can deal up to 7 damage to an enemy unit on turn 4 if it is Transformed into an Ancient Crocolith.

This region combination is at the top of this list because of a single reason: They are the two regions that have cards that "negate" others directly.

Rite of Negation, Avenging Vastaya, Deny, and Nopeify! are "autoinclude" cards in every list that bring these two regions, which means all enemy spells will be answered eventually.

Not to mention, we also have a "no fun allowed" deck that brings this region combination but isn't necessarily known for denying spells. We're talking about Azir Irelia.

This is probably the most hated list of all time, and one of the main reasons why Ionia + Shurima is so cursed.

This deck was the reason why many players abandoned LoR simply because it was an incredibly strong list with interactions that were no fun at all, and a toxic game style.

Azir Irelia was a deck that could attack multiple times during the enemy turn with several units, always keeping pressure on the board, and preventing the opponent from having time to develop their own strategy. When you finally had something to answer the board, you were answered by one of the spells listed above.

Not to mention, level 2 Irelia could swap places with allied units to dodge removals, which means this was the perfect "anti-fun" recipe.

To give Azir Irelia a friend at our top 1 pick, we also have Master Yi Akshan, formerly known as Lee Sin Akshan.

This archetype just got buffed, in patch 5.1, and it can become incredibly strong in Standard until the new set comes along.

This list basically has an answer to any type of play, be it a strong attacker, direct removal spells, Burn, and much more. Master Yi became one of the best bench units in the entire game because he allows strategies that focus on playing several spells to return to the meta due to how he discounts the cost of spells in your hand.

This also helps Akshan significantly, considering he'll always be protected on the board and will become a constant threat in your match.

It is extremely frustrating to play against this type of strategy because it seems like everything you try to play against it is useless, as they always have an answer. Therefore, it is an archetype that should be in this list because it helps crown Ionia & Shurima as the most cursed region combination in the game.

If you read this far, thank you! Recently, we had sad news for LoR and its community, and we're all going through a tough time. It has been difficult to write about the game itself as a result. But it is my duty as one of the game's content creators to keep giving you my best every day, and always try to be hopeful and create a pleasant environment.

So, I thank everyone who is still interested in Runeterra. These hard times will pass.

Don't forget to share this article on social media. See you next time!