LoR: 5 Ways to Play Viktor - The Most Versatile Champion in the Meta!

Apart from Vex, Viktor is the most versatile champion in this meta.

If you can't play with him, or against him, you might feel a bit lost right now.

So, I decided to bring you 5 different ways to play Viktor on the ranked queue.

Let's dive right in!

Lee Sin now plays with Piltover & Zaun in Standard, and is no longer your only win condition. Unlike other Lee lists, this deck also uses Viktor as a win condition.

In this list, in particular, you also can't actually grant Overwhelm to Lee Sin directly. You can only do that by Improvising the Overwhelm equipment with Piltovan Castaway. This means you have to rely on both champions as win conditions.

Ionia is one of the best regions in the meta to support Viktor right now, as he interacts really well with the cards the followers and spells in this list create. I'm talking about Portal Pioneer's Explorer spells, Coins, and Resonating Strike from Lee Sin's Sonic Wave.

The spiciest thing in this list is its one copy of Glorious Evolution, which, when played right, can end the game on its own, in just the first few turns.

This list also has Sunken Temple, which has finally returned. If you protect it well, with Deny and Nopeify!, your opponent simply won't be able to destroy it with one of their explorers.

It also includes the best control kit in the entire game, full of Recalls, card draw, and great heals. They all make this list one of the best lists in the game.

This is the classic version of the Viktor Aphelios archetype, already quite popular and well-explored. This list is just the version with the cards available with Standard.

Viktor Aphelios has been, a few times, at different points of the meta, the best deck in the game. It even included the "immortality" combo with Sump Monument and Starlit Epiphany.

However, the current version doesn't hold any secret strategies like those. Instead, it works similarly to its "burn" Eternal version, but without a few cards. I'll highlight Black Shield, which is essential.

This spell is perfect for this meta because it completely disables any control Shadow Isles or Ionia play, for just 2 mana. Cursing your own champions is no issue, as Shackles will just be another created card for you, and thus will level up your Viktor and activate Aphelios' Nightfall effect.

Viktor has always played well with Targon, as this region creates many cards, and this deck is definitely no exception. One of the main win conditions in this list are the Celestials you'll get from Celestial Trifecta, which are extremely strong in this meta. The reason behind this is that Obliterate is a very "premium" effect right now, and so units with Spellshield, like The Great Beyond, are broken.

The Bomb Printer archetype is quite familiar to many players, as well as loved and hated by many others. It is now rearing its ugly head once again in the ranked queue competitive scene.

This list performs well in the current meta because it has cards like Quicksand, and Rocket Barrage, which deal, very easily, with Vex decks and aggressive archetypes with Fearsome units.

Not to mention, Zilean's own Time Bombs are great to clear your opponent's board, and, as the main mechanic in this list is to keep summoning this landmark multiple times, you'll deal a lot of damage throughout the match.

The only problem this deck has is that you need to draw Zilean on curve and draw your Time Bombs right afterward, on the following turn. As much as it is full of card draw and Predicts, in some games, you might brick considerably, which may cost you the match.

Viktor works as a sort of filler unit in this list, as he's just the best Piltover & Zaun unit in the entire game. He only interacts with the Time Bombs and level 2 Zilean, but that's already enough for you to grow his attack quite a lot, all while also stacking keywords on him.

Imagine that Viktor is like a unit that, if not removed, will eventually get strong enough to win the game. And he's a big enough threat to pull your opponent's attention away from the Time Bomb + level 2 Zilean combo you're trying to set up on the board.

Yes, we have an Elusives deck in this meta, even though it is dominated by Ionia control and cards like Empire Reconstructor.

This version has performed really well in the meta because it is incredibly fast, and has lots of card draw, which is just enough to make its combo quite consistent.

Sumpworks Map is an incredibly strong spell that literally ends the game on its own, depending on how you use it. You can, for instance, set up your entire combo around it, and, only at the very end, play Sumpworks Map and attack. This will prevent your opponent from reacting to your combo with either slow or fast spells.

This deck also uses Viktor as a sort of "strong 4-mana unit that needs to be removed, or he'll win the game on his own". The difference is that this deck relies a bit more on him, as he has good defensive stats and can create defensive keywords. That's what makes him the only decent blocker in this deck.

You can block with Pocket Picker or Veteran Investigator as well, but, usually, you need to use these units to attack. That's because, if you don't use them to deal damage, you often can't win the game with only your Elusive units alone.

This list also has an incredibly short expiration date throughout the match, so it either "wins fast, or loses fast". Considering you don't have many defensive options, you'll take a lot of damage early on, but also deal a lot of damage. As a result, the game becomes a race: whoever deals more damage first wins.

Typically, "All In" strategies like this one are very interesting if you want to climb ranks without many issues, with very fast games. So, I highly recommend you play this list if you enjoy playing Legends of Runeterra while doing something else, like watching a TV Show or YouTube video, for instance.

This deck is really similar to Nasus archetypes. You'll remove literally everything your opponent plays on the board, and, at the end of the game, you'll play a gigantic unit to end the match.

In this case, that unit is either Viktor or Taarosh. You can't really protect Viktor besides giving him Deathless, with either Legion of the Severed or Hex Core Upgrade, randomly. So, the secret behind this list is to know when to play your Viktor. You don't need to play him on curve, unlike the other lists in this article.

This list also requires a little bit of a "set up" if you want to use your champions. You'll also need to be experienced with playing long turns in control decks.

A great example is waiting for your opponent to play a unit or champion, so you can then play yours in response. This way, they'll have to choose between removing that champion or protecting their own. Very few decks can defend themselves and remove something at the same time, so, if you know how to time these plays perfectly, you'll be ahead. Mostly because Viktor becomes a snowball very quickly.

If all goes wrong, you still have Taarosh, which revives the biggest units you removed throughout the match when you attack with it. Depending on the deck you're playing against, one Taarosh attack is enough to end the game.

This list doesn't beat any Ionia deck, however. As this is the most popular region in the meta, this Viktor Shadow Isles version isn't that strong. Still, it is very powerful against any other list.

Which of these decks is your favorite? Tell us all your thoughts in our comment section below!

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See you next time!