LoR: Reviving Decks - Updating 2020 Lists for the 2025 Eternal Ranked Queue!

Today, let's go back in time and revisit some old decks.

Throughout the years, some of these old lists disappeared. Because of how fast the LoR community "resolves" the meta, most of them were replaced by more modern meta decks, just like that.

That means many old decks remained "untouched" by time, though, in some cases, they turned into other archetypes as the days passed - all because of the meta.

In this article, I "updated" 5 old lists with new, modern cards so you can test them out in the Eternal ranked queue.

Plunder (Gangplank Sejuani) is one of the most popular decks of all time, and, certainly, one of the most competitive lists of all time as well. It has always been a list that "beats everything", but it loses to itself if you don't draw your champions at the right time. As such, it always had a 50% win rate against every other meta deck whenever it saw play.

This updated version includes some essential tools that make it a lot more modern.

The first is Entreat, which has seen play in this list off and on throughout the years. Today, it is essential precisely because it draws your champions - your main win conditions. This deck can't work without it because effects that draw champions in particular are always incredibly strong in it. This list also plays a Babbling Bjerg, by the way.

We also found out this deck works really well as an "aggro" list that, turn after turn, slows down and finishes the game with a single strike of your level 2 champions. This style requires many low-cost cards, as you need to fill the board as soon as possible.

The issue is, there aren't that many followers in the game that deal damage to the enemy Nexus every turn, an essential mechanic in this list. There aren't that many followers that do this, but there are a few incredibly useful spells in LoR that do the same, like Warning Shot and Parrrley. With them, you'll level up your champions incredibly fast.

Finally, if everything goes wrong, this deck also plays one copy of Feel The Rush, one of the most iconic cards in this archetype, as well as quite popular competitively. This card can change the course of the game and steal a win in tough matchups.

Spooky Karma was very popular right around the time LoR was released, as well as a bit before, in the beta season. Back then, Shadow Isles was the best region in the game, and Ionia was the best support region because of Deny and bounce spells like Will of Ionia.

Some things haven't changed - Shadow Isles is still the best region in Eternal, and Ionia is still the most toxic region in the entire game.

However, Ionia got many buffs and strong cards since 2020, when this archetype was a thing. Because of how popular more efficient lists like Karma Sett became, Spooky Karma faded into the background.

If you don't know, Spooky Karma focuses on bringing back Karma with The Harrowing. After you play this card, any low-cost spell you have in your hand will be copied several times.

For this to work, you must create a few spells at random with Karma's signature spell, Karma's Insight of Ages. Besides shuffling more Karmas into your deck, which makes it bigger than your opponent's and is great for the late game because it protects you from decking out, you'll create random cards that can be useful.

Eventually, you'll exhaust your opponent's resources, and any spell Karma copies multiple times will be enough to win the match simply because of how much value you'll create.

What sets this version apart from the old versions is the Glory in Navori package, which includes cards that create Coins. Before, we had to play The Harrowing and have at least 3 mana left to cast another cheap spell. Now, with the Coins, you don't need to save as much mana because you can just refill and play whatever you have in your hand. Your Coins will create nearly infinite value.

If you play your cards right, you'll be able to play nearly infinite turns, spend 50 mana or more, fill your hand with random cards, and win in the most unexpected way possible.

Karma Lux is beloved by many, but it has always been somewhat of an underdog, both in tournaments and the ranked queue.

It was very popular right when the game was released in 2020, but it wasn't one of the best lists around - it was always missing something.

Now, after so many years, I believe we have the answer: it was missing The Heart of the Tree.

Though it had a strong late game, this list needed something for the end of its mana curve. The Heart of the Tree, as your 6-cost, goes perfectly with this deck's main game plan: zap your opponent with multiple Final Sparks.

The Heart of the Tree is a lot of help in this list because it paves the way to turn 10. It creates a snowball effect that, if not disrupted, can completely turn the game in favor of Karma Lux. Eventually, you'll simply have too many resources and win the match.

Despite everything, however, this list is still somewhat weak and has a lot of issues. Unfortunately, LoR has never had cards that go well with both Lux and Karma. With these changes, and drawing a lot more cards with Vastayan Disciple, though, this list is now as good as it's ever going to get.

The Go Hard archetype evolved a lot and eventually became the iconic Twisted Fate Nilah list we have today. It includes the Piltover & Zaun Updraft kit and the entire Nilah kit from Fate's Voyage.

Previously, Twisted Fate Go Hard was a card draw/control list that focused on pings, summoned many small units, and won through burn. Basically, it did what Twisted Fate Nilah does today, except for the control part.

This modern version includes a few essential Shadow Isles cards, like Death's Grasp and Glare. These two cards are currently staples for any Shadow Isles deck.

Nilah didn't exist in 2021, but she is perfect for this type of list. Her Slipstream is essential, as you need it to combo with Twisted Fate.

Your main win condition is still level 2 Twisted Fate and Pack Your Bags, but you'll also have Commander Ledros. That's because, currently, dealing 5 damage and clearing the enemy board is not enough to win. The burn this list plays is often not enough to win against control decks.

Any and all competitive concepts around Midrange LoR lists were forged, created, and refined with this archetype - which was typically called "foundations".

We used to say that, if you applied core concepts to your matches, there was no way you'd ever lose a game with this list.

Today, Shen Jarvan IV has evolved so much that these core concepts are no longer that essential. This deck became more "closed-off" as it now focuses on Barriers. It is no longer just a bunch of good cards from Demacia and Ionia.

It works like a combo, in fact. You'll set up a strong turn to grant Barrier to multiple allied units, level up Shen and deal a lot of damage to the enemy Nexus.

An important addition is Scholarly Pioneer, which has become one of the best cards in the entire game lately. It solves issues like landmarks and difficult keywords, and fits this archetype perfectly. It also brings back the essence of the old core concepts of the game.

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

Don't forget to share. See you next time!