LoR: July Rotation - 5 Lists to Test Out in the First Few Days

This month's rotation is here, and, as usual, I brought you some lists to test out in the first week of the new patch.

These decks should stand out this season, either because they've just returned to Standard from Eternal, or because they're just promising lists that will most likely become incredibly strong.

This archetype is known as one of the strongest archetypes in Eternal since they brought rotation to Legends of Runeterra and launched the Eternal ranked queue.

It is always one of the most popular lists in Eternal seasons, as well as one of the best choices to climb ranks fast. And that should happen in Standard too.

Now that there are fewer cards in Standard, its power level tends to lower a bit. Then, as a result, it's very likely that this will be the strongest list on the ranked queue, at least in the first few days. Even more so considering we don't have many Standard decks that can compete with the sheer power of Ziggs Poppy.

This list is basically exactly the same as its Eternal version, so, if you're used to playing this archetype in that format, you won't have any issues with it in this format.

LeBlanc returned to Standard, and now we can finally play the classic Ashe LeBlanc Frostbite Reputation list in this format.

This is one of the most solid midrange decks in the history of LoR, and is also one of the best midrange decks to play against other midrange decks. This means, if the meta is really favorable to this game style, Ashe LeBlanc will most likely take over and be the last midrange deck standing.

Let's see how this deck performs in the upcoming days, as it isn't that popular among players (maybe we're all just a bit tired of playing it since 2021) and as we also don't have many other midrange options in Standard. That's because most known midrange decks rotated out, and now we'll have to reinvent these archetypes with the cards we have left.

In any case, any midrange deck that comes up this season should fear Ashe LeBlanc.

Soraka Tahm Kench is a problematic deck for Standard right now. Besides the fact it is one of the few healing archetypes in the game, it also has an alternative win condition. This forces the majority of other meta decks to bring landmark removal, or any other direct counter for this deck, like Fearsome units.

Unfortunately, if you don't have any answers for Soraka Tahm Kench, you won't have an equal match because this archetype heavily punishes unprepared opponents. It dominates the mid-game quite severely, and locks down strategies simply by removing their opponent's key cards, or neutralizing all the damage dealt to their Nexus with healing.

Furthermore, it also has great card draw tools, and keeps putting pressure on you as a result.

This is one of the most difficult archetypes to pilot of all time, and is definitely the most complex archetype that returned to Standard in this rotation.

Maybe it is no longer "the most difficult deck to pilot" nowadays, as we have way more complex lists than this one currently, but it is still a complicated deck. The secret is that you have to give up a little bit of Nexus health in critical turns to develop an essential card, or just save mana for the next turn.

The order in which you play your cards also determines how much damage you can deal on a single turn with this list, particularly when you have both champions leveled on the board.

The list I brought is the classic version of this archetype, but you can also play Vex instead of Diana. The difference is that Vex makes this list a bit more combo-centric with its Fearsome units, whereas Diana is similar to Samira in the sense that they both control the board.

Diana can also be a finisher, not because she'll deal lots of damage to the enemy Nexus, but because she will pull away blockers to clear the way for your other units to deal lethal damage to your opponent. This is also how you'll protect your allied cards from dying in battle. Occasionally, it is best to use Diana to pull that unit with a lot of health to make your opponent's blocks worse against your Overwhelm units.

Anivia returned to Standard, but what made her stupidly strong in the game were a few Shadow Isles cards that were not in her original package and also didn't return to Standard with her. She is considerably less powerful without these cards, and won't see play with her original list and game style in this format anymore.

However, we can play Anivia with Volibear and the Elemental package. Bilgewater feels off in this deck, but it is the best region for this archetype because of Wizened Helmsman and Deluge.

Not to mention, Marai Warden is great to summon more blockers early on, and Ebb both heals your Nexus and can deal damage to enemy units and the enemy Nexus.

All of that, with Anivia's AoE and the fact she recycles herself, makes this list one of the best in the game to destroy full boards. It also has Frostbite, which is always useful.

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

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See you next time!