LoR: How to Beat Azirelia in 2025 - Make the Emperor Cry!

Currently, Azir Irelia is the most popular deck on the Eternal ranked queue - it represents 8% of the meta, which is a relatively high play rate. This list is also extremely problematic and oppressive, so anyone who is returning to LoR or has just started playing has probably already stumbled upon this deck's unstoppable force.

So, I decided to bring you a few lists to beat Azir Irelia once and for all. If you have just started playing or returned to the game, and don't want to get frustrated with all the Azirelia decks floating around, take a look at the decks below!

This classic Dragon archetype is one of the strongest strategies to deal with Azir Irelia. Units with Fury are great against Irelia's Blades because they get +1/+1 when they block them and survive.

This keyword will force the Azir Irelia player to slow down early on. They'll only be able to attack if they buff their units with landmarks (Emperor's Dais) or level 2 Azir. This will buy you enough time to play cards like Shyvana and build a board strong enough to deal with your opponent's aggression.

Furthermore, Morgana will heal your Nexus, and Scholarly Pioneer will destroy your opponent's landmarks. Overall, all cards in this list are great to face Azir Irelia players head on.

This list also includes a few cards that weren't part of the original archetype, but make this matchup even better: Ranger's Resolve and Durand Protege. These two cards grant your units Tough, another keyword that deals with Azir Irelia's aggression really well.

One of the best strategies to beat Azir Irelia is being faster than they are.

Ziggs Poppy is one of the few lists that is faster than Azir Irelia since very early on. This list constantly puts strong units on the board with great stats, so the Azir Irelia player will have to play defensively. Eventually, they'll have to block your attacks, and maybe even lose key units like Irelia or Azir.

Azir Irelia is also very vulnerable to burn, and Poppy Ziggs is full of it. You'll often be able to deal burn damage to your opponent because they usually don't have any answers.

Annie Jhin and Azir Irelia are very similar. They both set up extremely strong turns and try to end the game with them. The difference is Azir Irelia sets up moderately strong attacks and needs several turns to end the game, one after another. As for Annie Jhin, it sets up a lethal attack and tries to end the game on a single turn. This difference is the big reason why Annie has the advantage in this matchup.

Azir Irelia also can't deal with direct burn, and Annie Jhin plays many units that deal damage to the enemy Nexus directly with abilities. They can't answer constant attacks either. This way, you'll always be ahead on tempo and trade better in combat, even though you, in theory, also can't answer Azir Irelia's attacks.

Your units have a lot of life, so they'll be able to handle enemy damage early on as well.

To finish the game, you just need to deal damage to the Nexus directly with Decimate or a precise attack, and there's nothing Azir Irelia can do to answer that.

Bandle City Seraphine has the best early game removals in the entire game. Pings are excellent to destroy Azir Irelia attackers, as they nearly always have 1 life and will always be vulnerable to your spells.

Seraphine decks are difficult to pilot, though, and you might lose because of your own misplays in most games. As a result, you'll need to invest some time to learn how to play this matchup, particularly if you're not familiar with archetypes that create random cards in your hand.

You'll win this matchup by exhausting your opponent's resources. Eventually, they won't be able to attack anymore, and you'll win because your units and your Sunken Temple will create a lot of value on your board.

You don't need Ezreal early on; play him already leveled in the late game to finish the match.

This version plays Purrsuit of Perfection as an alternative win condition, but you don't need this spell in this matchup. You can swap it for any other card you prefer.

This new trendy list is an alternative version of Twisted Fate Nilah with Ibaaros as the main finisher instead of Ruined Rex.

This version is a bit faster, and focuses on drawing cards nonstop.

It also plays many cards that can remove small units, which means it is great against Azir Irelia. However, the greatest weapon (figuratively and literally) this list has in this matchup is Nilah if you equip her with The Darkin Harpoon. This weapon basically makes her unblockable. With it, she will have 4 attack and draw a lot of cards for you when you attack with her.

Twisted Fate is not that important in this matchup unless he's leveled. So, don't focus on levelling him up - you might just lose too much time trying.

Azir Irelia can't deal with landmarks, so you can play your Sunken Temple whenever you want. However, it is a bit expensive, and might be a dangerous investment. Depending on your early game, playing Sunken Temple on curve won't be the best move because you might just lose the game in the process.

To make sure that doesn't happen, you should mulligan aggressively after Nilah and your 2-cost units.

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!