LoR: 20 Most Relevant Non-Champion Cards that are Rotating to Eternal in 2024!

This is the second article of a series of three articles: in each of them, I'll review a part of Legends of Runeterra's 2024 rotation with you all!

As there are a lot of cards, and a lot of information, I decided to split these articles into three. In this second article, we'll analyze the top 20 most relevant non-champion cards that will rotate out of Standard. These cards are not listed in any specific order. They are just the ones that are more relevant to Standard, in my opinion.

In my first article covering LoR's 2024 rotation, we reviewed each champion rotating in and out of Standard. If you want to check it out, click here.

This content was entirely based on my 4-year experience playing and casting LoR professionally.

Tell us in our comment section which cards you'll miss the most in Standard this year!

Group Shot

This is one of the most versatile spells in Bandle City. It was popular in several decks, both control decks and aggressive decks, as a cheap tool you could use to control the enemy board.

Bandle City had the best "ping" options in 2023, and this card was definitely one of them. We'll still have great "Ping" cards in Bandle City, but, without Group Shot, this region definitely lost a bit of its "control" potential for the next expansion.

Crimson Pigeon

Crimson Pigeon is almost a "staple" in aggressive Noxus decks, and was one of 2023's most relevant cards for decks that rely on this type of strategy.

This card is extremely versatile - to the point it was popular even in lists with Warden of the Tribes and Jhin Annie decks. Not to mention, Overwhelm decks like Gnar Darius also played this card considerably, even though it doesn't have Overwhelm.

It will definitely leave a gap in Noxus this year, and, considering this region is in dire need of good cards, losing this specific follower might make matters even worse for anyone who wants to play Noxus decks.

Zaunite Urchin

Ever since this card was released, back in beta with the Foundations set, it has always been popular in aggressive strategies that use Piltover & Zaun as a support region. It was popular even in lists that aren't discard lists, but need lots of card draw, like the Janna Nilah archetype, a popular archetype at the last Runeterra Open.

Zaunite Urchin has definitely been one of the most popular cards of all time, as nearly every single deck she was used in was extremely popular.

I can list, just from the top of my head: Jinx Draven Discard, almost all Jinx Kennen decks, Janna Nilah, Big Discard Sion, and Seraphine Samira with Plaza Guardian.

Considering Jinx is still in Standard, discard archetypes will likely still be viable in this format as well. However, they'll be considerably weaker because they won't have Zaunite Urchin, which will be sorely missed.

Petricite Broadwing

Petricite Broadwing was once the best card in the entire game.

This follower has an incredibly rich history: it was in almost all relevant meta decks that played Demacia. It was also one of the most versatile cards in the entire game and the star of many Runeterra Opens, Seasonal Tournaments, and World Championships.

Its retirement from Standard will definitely bring a lot of sorrow to the hearts of Demacia players, who'll certainly miss this incredible unit quite a lot.

Greenglade Duo

This unit, released in the Foundations set back in 2020, has been, for four years, available to play in Legends of Runeterra's main format.

It has seen so many metas, and been popular in so many decks, that it is incredibly difficult to try to list them all in this article. The most memorable, to me, were: Azir Irelia, Ahri Kennen, and Elusives Teemo.

Whether you like Ionia's Elusive archetypes or not, we must all agree that everyone who really enjoyed these archetypes will miss this card. It has always been the card that best complemented this game style (playing lots of small Elusive units on the board). Now that it is no longer available in Standard, Elusive archetypes are considerably weaker.

Brothers' Bond

This card is in this list basically because of what it represented in LoR's grassroot and official tournaments.

Those of you who have watched/read my content before know that I have cast several official LoR events and other Riot Games events professionally, and have always been an LoR caster. So, throughout the years, I started to realize that any time anyone brought this card in a competitive deck, that was a sign that they knew what they were doing and were a good player.

It has always been incredibly challenging to play around this spell, and, as a result, it has always been a really surprising tech card in a competitive setting. I'll miss this card quite a lot.

High Note

Riot somewhat gutted spellslinger strategies in this rotation. This means any champion that wants you to play lots of cheap spells was impacted.

Like so, Seraphine was rotated to Eternal, just like her signature spell. High Note will leave a gap in Standard because it always promoted a game style that focused on "prep". You needed to prepare yourself to play this card if you wanted to take full advantage of its effect. And this type of mechanic is quite fun (for control players).

This spell was also one of the best cheap removals in the game, and one of the most versatile cards in Piltover & Zaun in 2023.

Drop the Bomb

Bandle City eventually became a control region because of how efficiently it could remove units with cheap spells. Drop the Bomb was certainly one of the main cards that made this a reality.

For instance, Elder Dragon Norra decks were one of the archetypes that most abused this card in the last few months. Furthermore, we can't forget about Bandle City Swain control lists, which practically mulligan'd after this spell at the start of the game.

It seems like Bandle City is losing some of its control tools - Riot probably wants something different for this region this year.

Iron Ballista

This card is extremely iconic. Iron Ballista was in almost every aggressive Noxus deck, and was one of the best Overwhelm cards simply because it was far too cheap.

Its stats are one of the main reasons why it was so popular with aggro players in the last few seasons.

Riot doesn't want to promote this type of card in Standard anymore - the type of card that is too impactful early game. Apparently, the main idea in the next expansion will be to play slower, more ambitious strategies, which are extremely vulnerable to Iron Ballista. So, it makes sense to rotate it to Eternal.

Mageseeker Junior

This is another controversial card that will rotate to Eternal - it might even be the most controversial card in this list.

If you're a control player, like me, you won't miss this follower. But if you're #teamanti-Seraphine, you're not very pleased to see Mageseeker Junior going away.

In any case, it will be missed because it was so iconic. It is a bit ironic, however, that this card will rotate to Eternal precisely when spellslinger strategies in general are being taxed in Standard. In theory, it would make sense to leave it in Standard, considering Riot doesn't want too many decks that focus on playing lots of cheap spells in Standard.

The truth is that Mageseeker Junior was rotated by "Boulevard", a professional caster and control player, who was awarded the power to rotate any card he wanted as his prize for winning the Runeterra Invitational.

Rockbear Shepherd

This card went unnoticed when it was first released, but it was very popular throughout 2023 in extremely popular decks.

The first of them is the Nasus Vaults of Helia archetype, which is to this day one of my most popular deck guides. This was certainly one of the most creative decks in 2023.

This unit was also incredibly popular in Mono Shurima decks, and was used in this archetype as a tool to speed up Buried Sun Disc's countdown.

Even though Rockbear Shepherd was a straightforward follower, it was in builds that were extremely smart and creative, and the fact it is rotating to the Eternal format will be sad news for many players.

Aftershock

Alongside this card, the Piltovan Tellstones will also rotate out of Standard, so we won't be able to use Aftershock in any way in this format.

This card is the best landmark removal in the entire game (apart from Scorched Earth), and, additionally, it is also one of the best unit removals in the game.

Piltover & Zaun has just lost one of its most versatile cards - which doesn't really match the main idea Riot seems to have prepared for Piltover & Zaun in 2024 (to be, once again, a region with versatile cards that are more generic).

I say this because Vi will return to Standard, and this is the most versatile card in Piltover & Zaun, apart from Mystic Shot.

Maybe Riot doesn't want too many landmark removals in Standard next season, considering a few of the first cards that have been revealed from the next expansion are landmarks.

Disintegrate

Noxus Control is my favorite archetype; Disintegrate practically revived this game style when it was released back in Worldwalker.

Noxus Control was really unpopular at the time, and very few decks with this strategy managed to stand out in the meta. With Disintegrate, this style of deck survived until today, and eventually even became Swain lists in Standard.

This card, once again, represents an entire game style that may be lost with this rotation, and as Noxus not doing that great as a region, it is quite worrying to see that it will lose another of its key pieces. All that's left for us is to wait and see what the future holds for Noxus, but, for now, its future doesn't seem very promising.

Ranger-Knight Defector

This unit was the most important card in Vayne Aatrox lists, one of the most popular lists among competitive players.

Veteran players will remember decks that were called "principle-based" decks by Brazilian players. These decks were Demacia decks that would win games if their pilot really understood how to apply the basic concepts of a card game, such as attacking at the right times, abusing card advantage, and always playing on "tempo".

Vayne Aatrox was one of these decks, and, as a result, usually only the players who really valued the core mechanics of the game enjoyed playing this type of list.

This card will leave a giant gap in the game because it represented this game style in LoR, even though it slowly disappeared as new metas and expansions came along. The "principles" themselves are, apparently, slowly disappearing.

Concussive Palm

This might be the most popular Ionia card of all time. It is the most versatile card in all of Ionia, and was in almost all meta decks that played this region, besides all decks that played this region, regardless whether they were meta or not.

This card represents what Ionia is, all in one card - it answers enemies, deals with the board, adds a blocker to your board, and can even be used aggressively. It is basically everything all Ionia decks want to do.

Unfortunately, this incredible control tool will be out of Standard this year. As we can see from the cards that will rotate into Standard, such as Lulu, Ionia will probably be more aggressive as a region in 2024.

This isn't a bad thing, but it certainly brings sadness to all players that were emotionally attached to this card.

Lord Broadmane

At this point of the article, you've probably realized I'm a control player.

Unfortunately, this unit was one of the most impactful units in Noxus' control archetypes. I agree it is a bit frustrating to play against him, particularly in Elder Dragon decks, but it was, indeed, a crucial card in several LoR metas.

This unit stopped Midrange decks from taking over the game, and, without it, they might dominate LoR again. Let's all be patient and wait to see which strategies Riot will bring to the game to stop it from becoming Legends of Midrange again next expansion.

The Rekindler

The Rekindler is another card from the Foundations set that, for 4 years, was an extremely impactful card for Shadow Isles.

Unfortunately, Shadow Isles wasn't a powerful region during the beginning and the middle of 2023, and was only played again at the end of the year when Mordekaiser came along.

But, other than that, The Rekindler was popular in almost all metas that were dominated by Shadow Isles. This card has always been one of the most fun cards to play in all of LoR, and will be sorely missed in Standard.

Forsaken Baccai

This might have been the best card in the game, besides the most popular card in Standard, ever since it was released. It is almost impossible to list every deck this follower was included in.

I can list some important decks, like Ekko Jinx, all Akshan archetypes, Kayn Aatrox, Azir Irelia, practically any deck with Shurima, Neeko and Warden of the Tribes decks, but there were so many others.

This is certainly the most versatile card in Standard in 2023, and it will be missed by most players, who'll now have to find another card for the millions of decks it played in.

This card is a fan favorite. Many players have become emotionally attached to Forsaken Baccai because it is always the best card in your mulligan - this means, you want it in your starting hand every game.

This might be the only card in this list that most players will agree: it was quite a loss.

Incisive Tactician

Noxus is still losing its most important cards, as you can see. Incisive Tactician is another card that will create a giant gap in this region.

It has always been the best "finisher" option for Noxus decks, but as the metas evolved, it went from being a finisher in Ashe Leblanc decks to being a finisher in practically every Noxus archetype at the end of 2023.

We're talking about Overwhelm decks, Plunder decks, and even some versions of Pirate decks. Not to mention, it is one of the most important cards in Elder Dragon lists, and this might be the main reason why it was rotated.

It is not at all surprising to see Elder Dragon being one of the best cards in the game because of its origin, and making it a little bit weaker makes sense if Riot wants other strategies to survive in the ranked queue on the first day of the new expansion.

Battle Fury

This spell is one of the most iconic Freljord spells, and it was, on its own, responsible for carrying the aggressive Overwhelm decks that, in turn, carried the entire region.

Battle Fury has been popular in several decks throughout 2023 that made it all the way to the topcuts of Runeterra Opens and Seasonal Tournaments, which shows it has always been a great competitive option.

For players that like aggressive decks, this card is one of the most critical losses from this rotation, and it was incredibly sad to see the Overwhelm community mourning the loss of Battle Fury on social media (RIP Rickorex).

I don't know what Riot has in store for the Overwhelm archetype next expansion, but, so far, these decks will be a bit weaker without Battle Fury in Standard.

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

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See you next time!