LoR: 5 Decks to Play Singleton Tournaments

Today, we'll talk about singleton.

If you don't know anything about singleton, it is a tournament format we are now playing with all the cards in the game, so it's similar to Eternal. You can also use 3 regions in a 40-card deck, but you can't play more than one copy of each card in your list.

The Legends of Runeterra community has been, for a few weeks now, hosting singleton tournaments, so, as a result, I decided to bring you 5 incredible lists so you can see what we can do with singleton decks.

I tested and built these 5 decks myself, so feel free to add or swap any cards as much as you'd like. After all, singleton isn't exactly an ultra-competitive format, and the main idea is just to have fun with it!

If you want to play a singleton tournament, they take place every Friday. Click here to see more details.

This deck is a mix of two Elder Dragon archetypes, and only plays the best cards of each one. We're talking about the most modern Dragon list, and Akshan Elder Dragon, which focuses on targeting allies.

In singleton, you can only play one copy of each card in your list, so combos and unique strategies are quite inconsistent. However, we have many Dragons in the game, many incredible cards and effects that interact with the Elder Dragon, and Akshan's kit, which focuses on targeting allies. This means we can still build an extremely strong deck with this game style.

The main idea behind Super Dragons is to dominate the enemy board with Strike spells, Dragons with giant stats, and Dragon Boons. In this deck, you'll use cards like Forsaken Baccai, which is one of the best units in Eternal, and subsequently in singleton too. It is definitely a staple in this format.

Another great card is Captain Arrika, which is the best unit removal in the format, and gets a Dragon Boon when you play her on the board. Who knows, you might even get Tough for her and keep her on the board for longer.

Throughout the match, you'll play Dragons on the board and use your Strike spells to slay enemy units, which, in general, will be smaller than yours. Cataclysm and Vayne's Tumble are great spells to keep putting pressure on the board, and attack your opponent again and again. This will force them to defend themselves.

This list is one of the best singleton lists around when it comes to putting pressure on the board; it works like a classic Midrange deck, just like many other decks in Legends of Runeterra. So, your units are always your most valuable asset, and every attack turn you need to play and put pressure on your opponent so that they can't come back to the game.

Because singleton is a slower format, you'll always get to turns like turn 8 or 9, and that's why you always need finishers in your lists.

All of these units will be your main finishers, and though they are expensive units, their effects are strong enough that you won't lose much tempo in your matches when you play them.

The Darkin archetype is one of the most consistent archetypes in singleton. You can easily recycle your champions because of their equipment versions, and you can easily draw them automatically because of their Origins.

Because Darkin followers are either Cultists or Darkin, if we combine these cards with Freljord's modern kit (Yadulski Snowdog + Omen Hawk + Glacial Saurian), this can also be a Warden of the Tribes list.

We have all Cultist followers, all Freljord combat tricks, and all Frostbite spells in this region too. As a result, this list is extremely efficient in combat and difficult to deal with. Most times, you'll always have the advantage over your opponent because your cards are just better prepared to deal with enemy units.

This list also has a lot of synergy with equipment, namely Weaponsmith's Apprentice, Tempting Prospect, and Ornn, besides our Cultists.

Your main finishers are Aatrox and Kayn, which, as we discussed, you can easily summon and recycle with World Ender. However, you also have Volibear and Warden of the Tribes; they'll be essential for your endgame.

Lastly, I'll highlight Heedless Resurrection, as it also "recycles" your Darkin champions, and Buried in Ice, which is one of the best control cards in Eternal.

Singleton matches are always slower than other formats, so control archetypes, like Noxus Control, always perform way better than other lists.

This is a Piltover & Zaun control list with Jhin. Because of his Origin, you get to play some important cards for this archetype, like Solari Sunhawk, Grimm, and Captain Arrika, but you don't have to use their regions.

It's a regular Noxus control deck: you'll always remove any type of unit your opponent plays on the board, and also develop your own followers at the same time.

However, as you only have one copy of each card, some cards that usually don't make it to control Standard lists appear in this singleton version, like Armored Tuskrider. This "Elephant" is one of the most interesting singleton cards because it is a great blocker and attacker for these slower decks. Its effect simply states: Enemies with 4 or less Power cannot damage me.

Jhin also lets us play deny cards in this list, like Avenging Vastaya, which makes it even more competitive. This region combination also lets us play the best spells to remove landmarks: Scorched Earth, Aftershock, Armed Acquisitioner, and Piltovan Tellstones, which will give you another copy of Aftershock.

As this is an incredibly slow control list, we don't have that many finishers - your main focus is removing units. Nonetheless, you still have Captain Farron and The Leviathan as finishers. You can also use Tybaulk as a finisher, considering it is extremely easy to summon it from Ravenbloom Conservatory.

Any "Rubin's Pile" is a Piltover & Zaun list with cards that remove units, heal your Nexus, Evoke Celestials, and control the board.

Its singleton version also uses Ionia so you can play other cards that really match this game style, like Sett, Karma, Deny, and Concussive Palm.

This way, we'll combine the classic Karma Sett list with "Rubin's Pile", and make Super Rubin's Pile.

All the champions in this list are known for being control champions. In any case, I'll highlight Viktor, who you can also use as a finisher.

Your main goal is to become Enlightened with Karma, level up either Seraphine or Sett, and abuse the fact you'll copy every spell you play while your opponent will run out of gas. Eventually, your Celestials will be big enough to finish the game all on their own, and your opponent won't have any cards to deal with them.

Out of all the lists in this article, this is the hardest to play, and also to build, considering this region combination includes over 40 viable cards that work really well in this type of list. As a result, regardless of how you build your list, when you swap and exchange a few cards for others, it'll likely still work really well. It is even tough to say which is the most "efficient" or the "best" version of this "Super Rubin's Pile".

In the version I built, for instance, I didn't include Back Alley Bar, but this card would easily be useful, depending on your game style.

The archetype you least expected, actually, is maybe one of the most powerful singleton archetypes: we're talking about "Super Ephemerals".

As incredible as it sounds, this is the most consistent list in this article, even though this is a combo archetype that abuses really specific synergies.

The list above was built by my great friend, AerosMacCousland, the best Ephemerals player on the American server.

Nidalee is the newest addition to this archetype; it's extremely easy to level her up because now, with new cards like The Emperor's Army, you'll summon units on the board a lot more often.

This list also mixes cards from Azir Irelia and Hecarim archetypes. As these two lists complement each other really well, you'll most likely set up incredibly powerful attacks.

Imagine if the Standard Hecarim list played Shurima cards too! That's basically the experience this list brings to you.

Additionally, you get to be a lot more flexible and precise with your plays because this list has a gigantic variety of possible combos, even if you only play one copy of each card.

All the cards listed above couldn't find any space in Standard and were eventually rotated out, but they complement the Ephemerals archetype incredibly well, and are really powerful in this "Super Ephemerals" list.

The Black Flame, for instance, didn't see much play in Azir Irelia lists, but, because singleton is slower, it is strong and efficient. Considering your opponent will struggle to find their landmark removals, Super Ephemerals will also become quite strong. Most of the combos in this deck includes this type of card.

If you read this far, thank you! I hope you had fun, and enjoyed this article.

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See you next time!