LoR - Eternal: Five Rising Off-Meta Lists to Play Before Rotation

Today, I bring you 5 rising off-meta lists to play while we all wait for the new rotation.

We have less than a week until rotation and, until then, to make the most of your time, how about testing out some new decks with different concepts than what we see in the meta nowadays?

These decks aren't meta, and I don't consider them great options to climb ranks. They are just fun lists with different combos to test out on the ranked queue.

Let's see them.

The "Immortal Keg" archetype has existed for some time now, but it was never popular or strong enough to be considered a meta deck. Nonetheless, it still isn't meta, but it is extremely fun.

This new version doesn't use Mischievous Marai as the central piece in the combo. Instead, it uses a faster game style, and focuses on dealing constant damage to the enemy Nexus.

Monkey Idol will level up your Gangplank and also keep your own Nexus healthy, as it gives you a blocker every turn.

The main combo in this deck revolves around playing, as fast as possible, Out of The Way, and thus making any buff permanent. With this effect, you just need enough mana to play any card that creates a Keg, then play Divine Judgment on it - you'll have, as the name of this archetype implies, an "Immortal Keg"!

This means any spell and ability you use will be buffed by the Keg, but the Keg itself won't explode after you use your cards.

A secret tip for this deck is to hard mulligan (return all the cards on your starting hand to your deck) after Out of The Way, and always keep a Warning Shot in your hand to kill your opponent at burst speed at the end of the match.

This is one of the most unusual combinations nowadays.

Zilean doesn't make sense with Aatrox on paper, but, in practice, this list is surprisingly consistent, and levels Zilean up incredibly easily. This means you'll recycle or create several Darkin units, which are your main win conditions, constantly.

It is a confusing list, but, still, if you have any experience playing combo lists with Shurima, eventually you'll get the gist of it and win a few matches with this new archetype.

The idea behind this list is to be creative with your resources. This means that you won't combo the same way every match, or look for the same win conditions. Basically, the secret behind this deck is to play with your top deck every turn!

I recommend you play this archetype in the same way you play a Midrange list, but it has a lot of card draw, besides infinite value at the end of the match.

Like every Zilean list, the problem will be your first few turns. If you survive them, eventually the game will turn in your favor, as long as you're not playing against a Matron list.

Another rising off-meta list involves Lux: Illuminated, Puffcaps, and the Bandle City disruption package.

We still haven't found out how this Spirit archetype truly works, and the most accepted and consistent Spirit list still plays Vex. However, it is interesting to test new ideas and champions as partners for Lux: Illuminated.

This version has the Bandle City disruption package, which includes spells and units that discard, capture, or increase the cost of your opponent's cards. This disruption game style is perfect to break combos and deal with powerful enemy plays, all while you set up and buff your own board.

As Demacian Spirit units are cheap and incredibly strong, it makes sense to pair them with Bandle City cards: they're also cheap and go well with Lux: Illuminated buffs.

The problem is that this deck can't really create value or draw cards. This means you need to target the right enemy cards with your disruption effects and don't miss any of them - the slightest window to answer your board you give your opponents will be enough to lose you the game.

As a result, this deck is a bit polarizing. You'll either win the game right after you discard/capture a card, or you can't buff your units at all to turn them into actual issues for your opponent.

If you and your opponent have equal chances of winning, and both developed units in the same rhythm, you can also change your deck's game style into a Puffcap strategy.

Ava Achiever is an excellent card when the game takes longer than usual because your opponent has to answer her - otherwise, she'll win you the game on her own in just a few turns.

All LoR veterans remember Karma Lux, one of the most played archetypes in the Beta period.

This game style disappeared as the years went on because it wasn't the best way to play Karma; she always worked best with other regions, like Shadow Isles or Piltover & Zaun. Demacia, unfortunately, doesn't have a spell package strong enough to build a respectable control list, but Ionia does.

Now, we can build the best Karma Lux of all time, as Ionia recently got several incredibly strong spells, like Steel Gale and Nine Lives, and also one of the best units in the game: Portal Pioneer.

It is still not the best Karma deck around, nor the best Lux deck, but it certainly causes a lot of trouble for lists that can't deal with Ionia's control tools.

It is still too dependent on level 2 Lux and Radiant Guardian to work, but, as we have great card draw options and control spells to delay our opponent, eventually we do get to draw these cards.

One of this list's greatest issues right now is also the explosive meta we're playing, filled with Matron combo lists and Warden of the Tribes lists that buff their entire board at the same time. This modern Karma Lux list can't deal with giant units or Titanic units, and, as a result, isn't that great in the current meta.

However, any other meta deck that doesn't rely on this type of play will struggle to beat Karma Lux.

The Wildfire archetype was once meta and competitive for a brief period of time, until it was nerfed.

Even though this spell costs 2 mana now, it is still great to finish games if you play it right.

In this article, I showed you a few incredibly odd, different lists that are difficult to play, but this is, by far, the hardest to pilot. It doesn't look like it, as you can easily tutor Wildfire and have many spells to control your opponent as well. However, this deck simply doesn't control the enemy board, so your opponent will be free to do so without any issues. Think of it this way: you have to focus on your combo, so you won't answer their plays at all. You don't really interact with your opponent, you just heal yourself, draw Wildfires, and rush against time.

If you master how to play this list, it is extremely toxic and strong. Otherwise, you'll lose miserably every match, and it will feel as if you didn't do anything in the game.

In any case, it is incredibly fun if you like to turn your opponent's life into a living hell - they'll certainly not have any fun while they just watch you combo.

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!