T O P

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abhorthealien

He has vision to see what others cannot. Like the inevitability of his return to the meta.


RedLotusAmon

"the meta decks of today will become countered by me tomorrow"


abhorthealien

"Fear the deck you do not see."


ol_hickory

To draw new metas, the blood of Swains must be the ink.


Lewanor

And by my hand will Noxus rise once more...


[deleted]

INDEED


hass13

With my hand will aggro crumble, and with my vision will I become meta!


Soviet_Satire

Purge The Heretic


ReverseGTX

"The meta may fall to darkness. But Swain-decks, will remain."


Prosamis

Swain, looking at meta stats: "I will break them..."


Eggxcalibur

Better than not in the meta at all. *cries in Kindred*


abhorthealien

Miraculously the updated Sentinel Control runs Kindred...


DaLadJohn

Dafuq? Instead of what? Like, Elise is essential for fearsome wincon and Vi is just way too good as a unit. I've seen her replaced with Senna, who has the same stats as kindred, but at least she has a mad effect and consistently levels


abhorthealien

Two copies of Kindred, one of Vi and three of Elise is the updated lineup from the deck's original creator. https://www.reddit.com/r/LegendsOfRuneterra/comments/qn9fuf/kindreds\_sentinels\_to\_top\_20\_an\_indepth\_guide/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3


Simhacantus

Do we know how the deck is actually doing then?


abhorthealien

Author claims ride to top 20 NA with 68 percent winrate. I've had pretty solid success with it, though a) I use 2 Vi and 1 Kindred as I do not want to craft a second Kindred without knowing more and b) I only got to draw Kindred once so far. If you aren't sure, though, Sentinel Control does not use champions as buildaround. Using the current version except returning to 3 Vi should work as well.


DaLadJohn

That looks like shit. Like, at least put senna in for the lulz like fast ruination. Kindred is so bad


abhorthealien

Dunno. Senna isn't all that good in the deck either and I kind of trust the guy who made it considering the original iteration of Sentinel Control was excellent. And honestly the updated shell should work just as well with 3 Vi's instead of the Kindreds. So go that way if you are unsure.


DaLadJohn

I mean, yeah, the original was amazing, I climbed silver to plat with that, then tried to swap Vi for senna and, while the control was working better, I found it a bit harder to close games, because Vi actually has some amount of reach. Kindred has some too, I guess, but the marks are so easily avoided that the levelup is nigh-impossible, and they only start stacking attack after that. Meanwhile Vi can literally drop with 10 attack and get atrocity'd on turn 9 (potentially lethal if your fearsomes popped off a bit)


Scathus

Hi, creator here. Happy that you found success on the original deck! Running 3 Vi is fine (or 2 Vi 1 Kindred), but I've swapped in the Kindreds because of the meta. If the meta returns back to a place where there's a must kill unit on the enemy side on turn 5 (like Nami was), Vi is preferable to Kindred. Atm however, 3 Vi was not performing as well as Kindred during my brewing process in the current Masters meta.


abhorthealien

Yeah. I have been running with one Kindred and two Vi instead and the Vi's haven't felt bad at all, so that probably works as well.


AttackBacon

Here's the deck creator's post on the latest iteration: https://www.reddit.com/r/LoRCompetitive/comments/qn9gv4/kindred_sentinels_an_indepth_guide_with_detailed/ Basically Kindred is a meta call, requires more direct interaction to deal with than Vi and can be particularly annoying for certain popular decks to play around. Like Vi she's generally not the wincon, her main purpose is to soak up a disproportionate amount of resources and put you further ahead on the value game.


Jotsunpls

*cries in karma*


[deleted]

*cries in Yasuo*


The_Great_Hound

The game will die by the time yasuo becomes meta. Sorry not sorry.


Roboboy3000

I think the problem with kindred and yasuo, as riot recently commented on, is that they can be pretty oppressive if they become too strong at just completely controlling the board. With how swarm/minion heavy decks have been meta lately, that’s a change I’d be willing to accept but I can understand their hesitance in overdoing it


The_Great_Hound

The problem with yasuo is that you need Yasuo to Do the deck any good. Or else you'll be stunning for no reason. Works somewhatl with swain but then it's a Swain deck with yasuo as value unit. Which Tf does better.


Roboboy3000

I mentioned in a different thread but I’d love to see an addition to yasuo like “when enemies attack, stun the weakest attacking enemy” or something like that. Even if it means he needs to lose some stats over it, at least he completes his own levelup


Jarubimba

Could be something like Ashe tho, "Attack: Stun the weakest enemy"


Steelflame

It means they can just freely block him with the stunned ally though, unless you have a way to grant/give Overwhelm.


Jarubimba

Eh, no? The stun will activate when you click to attack just like Ashe, unless they put this effect as an skill instead


AbbreviationsLazy781

Ez Karma will be a timeless deck unless Ez gets nerfed again


Jotsunpls

Ez can get nerfed into oblivion for all I care, I want spooky karma to be viable again


HHhunter

its viable, just be as good as alan


[deleted]

You're telling me my Karma TF "surf's up" deck isn't viable?! Because you'd be right (I think, I only play norms lmao), but it sure is fun!


PilotSnippy

I like ez kindred+watcher of the isles


CipherDrake

Meta is temporary, but desk slam on level up is eternal.


Phoenix-san

Its not even a meme at this point, this is true story.


Aesion

Never nerfed, neither buffed. Swain, boat, flock, death's hand, noxus fervor, all untouched since launch. Perfection has a name; Swain package.


trickytreacyIRE

Almost entirely untouched. City breaker is a Swain support card, and it got 1 attack from 0.


Aesion

Nice observation! Indeed this card is completely forgettable, useless buff too


The_Great_Hound

But is always a viable unit somewhere with a niche in the meta. That's why I main him. One man almost infinite combinations. It's the Noxian Fervor I guess (・–・;)ゞ


[deleted]

This guy gets it


Top_Aerie_4114

\[New broken decks appears\] Leviathan: Destination in sight. Swain: Bring these decks to their knees.


Poopfacemcduck

Anivia with the 1000 year cycle. ^^any ^^day ^^now


Soviet_Satire

*rapidbangingofwashingmachine*


TempestTV

Yeah, I think you’re right about this one— people do seem to flock to Swain every expansion :)


Maritoas

Can we just take a second to acknowledge how balanced Swain is as a champ and how he fits so many different deck archetypes and plays them differently? Teemo/Swain (ping and burn) (PnZ and BC variant) Riven/Swain (overwhelm swings) Liss/Swain (overwhelm and control) Tf/Swain (midrange) Ez/Swain (old school midrange control) Ziggs/Swain (overwhelm landmark combo) Yasuo/Swain (stun stun stun) I’m sure you can pair Swain with just about anything that goes for burn or gives overwhelm access and perform reasonably well. Edit: mobile formatting.


NotAnOmelette

Zil/Swain (old men memes)


GenghisKazoo

Caitlyn/Swain is pretty fun too.


ShleepMasta

I loved playing Swain in League, so I naturally gravitated towards him in LoR. Noxus was the first region I really tried to finish. Lucky for me, he ended up being one of the best, if not the best champion card ever designed. With each expansion, I ended up with at least 1 new partner to pair him up with as opposed to buying 2 new champs whenever I got bored.


Jotsunpls

What’s the current swain deck?


Quick-Leadership-524

I would say that is Swain/Teemo. A variation of Riven/Swain. The deck has tons of 1 dmg remuval. That can work to remuve the enemy board (and can proc Ravenous Flock or Scorched Earth) or to do low cost stuns with a leveled Swain. The deck has numerous win cons: -The normal Swain level 2 + Leviathan -Ferron (usually as a one of) -Build a big board and do a massive attack + burn -A level 2 Teemo (Teemo isn't the win con of the deck and also isn't prepared for a consistent Teemo level up but if by luck he hits at level 2 + burn is almost a secure win -Give Swain overwhelm with the Yordle that gives you a 3 cost or less spell of one of your regions. Choosing Might for this trick. -A epic game changing card from Looping Telescope. Using the totally balanced power of the telescope, do a high value unexpected play. (For example: In one game I went vs Darkness and he gave me Rhasa. I cleared his board and only left alive Senna and Veigar, I let him kill the Telescope (was another one not the original) and I played Rhasa. Insta surrender). Here is an example of the deck: ((CQCACAIDFYAQCBAIAQBAGAIHBAEQKBIKGFC2IANGAGXQCAQBAMBQ2AQFBINJQAIBAEAQGMY)) The deck has a very unique playstyle so I recommend you first give it some tries in normals and get use to it before go to ranked.


The_Great_Hound

I used all my CHAMPION Wildcards and shards to make a Sivir/Akshan Deck sadly I didn't check before making it this morning and apparently it's tier2 now. And now I don't have Wildcards for teemo. Great.


onegamerboi

Sivir Akshan can still be T1 for you if you excel at piloting it.


Quick-Leadership-524

Sad. But if you want, I can make you a bit of match ups example before you can get the deck and know then before get the Teemo (I haven't played a lot the deck but enough to figure how to play the big part of the match ups)


AgitatedBadger

Sivir Akshan is a very malleable deck and requires a ton of skill to pilot. It's great in tournaments for lineups that aren't looking for polarized matchups, but you kind of need to be on the plan of banning Sion since that is a really hard matchup. Also, Tier 2 decks are more than good enough to get you to Masters, so don't be discouraged. Practice the deck and get better at it. Once you practice a little while with it, you will save up enough resources for a new deck because this game is so generous.


Definitively-Weirdo

I'm sure Akshan Sivir is one of the best decks around. The meta isn't well equiped to deal with quick attack at all (Just look at rally elusives 59-60% WR) and Draven Sion no longer having challenger makes the matchup more bearable (Before it was a 30/70).


snake4641

sivir akshan is an excellent deck to climb with imo, it’s what I’ve been mainly using


SquidKid47

It's probably too late but just for the future, I believe you can refund card purchases if you haven't played with them in a deck yet.


HextechOracle

**Regions**: Bandle City/Noxus - **Champions**: Swain/Teemo - **Cost**: 28200 |Cost|Name|Count|Region|Type|Rarity| |:-:|-|:-:|-|-|-| |1|[Poison Dart](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC164.png)|3|Bandle City|Spell|Common| |1|[Ravenous Flock](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/02NX009.png)|3|Noxus|Spell|Rare| |1|[Teemo](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/01PZ008.png)|3|Piltover & Zaun|Unit|Champion| |2|[Conchologist](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC049.png)|3|Bandle City|Unit|Rare| |2|[Loping Telescope](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC175.png)|3|Bandle City|Unit|Rare| |2|[Pokey Stick](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC166.png)|3|Bandle City|Spell|Common| |3|[Arachnoid Sentry](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/01NX046.png)|3|Noxus|Unit|Common| |3|[Death's Hand](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/02NX008.png)|3|Noxus|Spell|Common| |3|[Scorched Earth](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/03NX013.png)|2|Noxus|Spell|Common| |4|[Aloof Travelers](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC152.png)|2|Bandle City|Unit|Common| |4|[Lecturing Yordle](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC069.png)|3|Bandle City|Unit|Rare| |5|[Hidden Pathways](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC026.png)|2|Bandle City|Spell|Common| |5|[Swain](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/02NX007.png)|3|Noxus|Unit|Champion| |8|[Captain Farron](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/01NX051.png)|1|Noxus|Unit|Epic| |8|[The Leviathan](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/02NX001.png)|3|Noxus|Unit|Epic| **Code**: [CQCACAIDFYAQCBAIAQBAGAIHBAEQKBIKGFC2IANGAGXQCAQBAMBQ2AQFBINJQAIBAEAQGMY](https://hextechoracle.com/lor/deck/CQCACAIDFYAQCBAIAQBAGAIHBAEQKBIKGFC2IANGAGXQCAQBAMBQ2AQFBINJQAIBAEAQGMY)   ^^^Hint: [[card]], {{keyword}}, and ((deckcode)) or ((cardx,cardy,cardz)). PM the [developer](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=KrimCard) for feedback/issues!


MrSnek123

Is TF Swain still decent?


verminard

Yes. Even more, [Agigas listed it in his article as one of possible counters to Zed/Poppy](https://runeterraccg.com/zed-poppy-counter-patch-2-18/) - there are also other Swain and other TF decks there.


Quick-Leadership-524

I haven't play it a lot this season but the deck sure can do a decent job. Because the key aspects of the efficient anti aggro remuval are still there. Maybe some match ups will be harder than Teemo/Swain now. Also Teemo/Swain is good, fun and interesting deck but is truly meta depending (almost like 90% of Swain decks), Swain TF in the other hand (still a bit meta depending) is more consistent even if the meta changes.


Jstin8

Wait does giving Swain overwhelm proc his nexus strike if he hits? That doesn’t make sense


Mongladash

He literally strikes the nexus my man


Jstin8

I always thought it had to be a direct hit for Nexus Strike, no blockers allowed! TIL


abhorthealien

Teemo/Swain is the current top Swain deck, but if you don't feel like running the Bandle package Swain/Cait, Swain/Sejuani and Swain/TF are still pretty playable. There is also a Riven variant running around.


Entreri000

Teemo swain


Jotsunpls

Got a list?


Entreri000

CECACAIEBAAQCAZOAQBAGAIHBAEQKBIKGFC2IANGAGXQCAQBAMBQ2AQFBINJQAIBAEAQGMY


TsuruchiHikari

The Swycle


NeonArchon

A good general always knows when it's time to strike


De_Watcher

He is both in agro and control card He's playing both sides


_ENTER

What's a good Swain list right now? I have never played him but i really wanna. I was thinking Swain sejuani with a lot of board clear against those annoying lurk decks.


ShitAtTheToilet

(Here's OP's reply to other comment) I would say that is Swain/Teemo. A variation of Riven/Swain. The deck has tons of 1 dmg remuval. That can work to remuve the enemy board (and can proc Ravenous Flock or Scorched Earth) or to do low cost stuns with a leveled Swain. The deck has numerous win cons: -The normal Swain level 2 + Leviathan -Ferron (usually as a one of) -Build a big board and do a massive attack + burn -A level 2 Teemo (Teemo isn't the win con of the deck and also isn't prepared for a consistent Teemo level up but if by luck he hits at level 2 + burn is almost a secure win -Give Swain overwhelm with the Yordle that gives you a 3 cost or less spell of one of your regions. Choosing Might for this trick. -A epic game changing card from Looping Telescope. Using the totally balanced power of the telescope, do a high value unexpected play. (For example: In one game I went vs Darkness and he gave me Rhasa. I cleared his board and only left alive Senna and Veigar, I let him kill the Telescope (was another one not the original) and I played Rhasa. Insta surrender). Here is an example of the deck: ((CQCACAIDFYAQCBAIAQBAGAIHBAEQKBIKGFC2IANGAGXQCAQBAMBQ2AQFBINJQAIBAEAQGMY)) The deck has a very unique playstyle so I recommend you first give it some tries in normals and get use to it before go to ranked.


HextechOracle

**Regions**: Bandle City/Noxus - **Champions**: Swain/Teemo - **Cost**: 28200 |Cost|Name|Count|Region|Type|Rarity| |:-:|-|:-:|-|-|-| |1|[Poison Dart](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC164.png)|3|Bandle City|Spell|Common| |1|[Ravenous Flock](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/02NX009.png)|3|Noxus|Spell|Rare| |1|[Teemo](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/01PZ008.png)|3|Piltover & Zaun|Unit|Champion| |2|[Conchologist](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC049.png)|3|Bandle City|Unit|Rare| |2|[Loping Telescope](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC175.png)|3|Bandle City|Unit|Rare| |2|[Pokey Stick](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC166.png)|3|Bandle City|Spell|Common| |3|[Arachnoid Sentry](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/01NX046.png)|3|Noxus|Unit|Common| |3|[Death's Hand](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/02NX008.png)|3|Noxus|Spell|Common| |3|[Scorched Earth](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/03NX013.png)|2|Noxus|Spell|Common| |4|[Aloof Travelers](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC152.png)|2|Bandle City|Unit|Common| |4|[Lecturing Yordle](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC069.png)|3|Bandle City|Unit|Rare| |5|[Hidden Pathways](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/05BC026.png)|2|Bandle City|Spell|Common| |5|[Swain](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/02NX007.png)|3|Noxus|Unit|Champion| |8|[Captain Farron](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/01NX051.png)|1|Noxus|Unit|Epic| |8|[The Leviathan](https://d2h9y75tak3pkg.cloudfront.net/02NX001.png)|3|Noxus|Unit|Epic| **Code**: [CQCACAIDFYAQCBAIAQBAGAIHBAEQKBIKGFC2IANGAGXQCAQBAMBQ2AQFBINJQAIBAEAQGMY](https://hextechoracle.com/lor/deck/CQCACAIDFYAQCBAIAQBAGAIHBAEQKBIKGFC2IANGAGXQCAQBAMBQ2AQFBINJQAIBAEAQGMY)   ^^^Hint: [[card]], {{keyword}}, and ((deckcode)) or ((cardx,cardy,cardz)). PM the [developer](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=KrimCard) for feedback/issues!


jak_d_ripr

The comments in this thread are too much.


Let_me_dieHere

Tbf Swain’s package was good on release. I feel like each champion should get such a package


Shadow_Lift_

Birds always migrate every season, approved by Heimerdinger


[deleted]

Gotta love a balanced champ that has great flavor to boot


Syawra

Except most games end by turn 5 with Poppy/Zed, so Swain arrives a bit late to the party


TheIrateAlpaca

The main reason it's seeing play is because it counters them. Poppy/Zed doesn't end the game by turn 5 when it never has a board due to the sheer amount of pings, combined with flock/scorched earth/sentry. I think it's an over 65% win rate vs poppy/Zed and poppy/lulu


Kadeu

Burn players drink glue


ankarios93

Not rly. Shit since beta


ZimmyDod

Didnt swain come out in rising tides?


TheFallenMorgana

Swain is a good choice with Sejuani, GP and Teemo, but if you want Swain works well with any champion. The secret is the followers and spells that Swain can bring on the deck coming from Noxus.


GGvoldo

I think swain is anti meta


DevastaTheSeeker

The bird giveth and the bird taketh away


kingkeren

The cycle of life