Introduction
This season has barely started, but 5 players have already climbed to Masters!
Today, let's explore how each of them got there, understand their strategies, see which decks they used, and, who knows, get inspired by them and climb too.
AThirstyOrange
This American player got to Masters with Lillia Kayle. They played around 62 matches with this deck, and won 69% of them.
This strategy isn't new, but it was a bit unpopular in the past. Very few players used it in the last Standard season, and only a few used in grassroot tournaments in 2024.
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It is a new version of the Xolaani the Bloodweaver archetype, which was very popular when Evelynn was released. Now, this deck no longer plays 1-cost units; instead, it uses Lillia's kit, which buffs units with Spirit by Sleeping them - and it is a lot of fun.
This version controls the board because it plays Ionia, and has endgame resources that create a lot of value for you, like The Heart of the Tree to help you finish matches.
Xolaani is the main finisher, and you'll usually Transform her as soon as you play her. As Spritelings have 0 attack but also have Spirit, they enter the board buffed as 1/1s, and, as such, if they die, they'll always buff Xolaani and help her Transform.
Zalgo
Zalgo got to Masters by playing Heimerdinger Viktor. They played around 50 matches and won 74% of them.
This version seems to be the new trendy deck right now. It has been really popular with players who are well-positioned in the ranked queue and already got to Diamond.
It is really similar to Lee Sin Viktor, which was popular in tournaments in the last Standard season, and was one of the most popular decks of 2024. This version is a bit more realistic and more responsive, so it doesn't focus completely on its main combo.
This is a slow/control deck that wants to exhaust your opponent's resources, and slowly as well as constantly create value with Viktor in play, besides Heimerdinger's robots.
It also plays The Heart of the Tree as a secondary finisher. This card can definitely steal a few games for you.
Zalgo also played a few matches of Mordekaiser Kindred. They played around 20 matches with it and won 68% of them.
This was one of the most powerful lists last season, and is still incredibly strong, which just shows how powerful control strategies are this season. It is excellent against other control decks, and has become the most popular pick in tournaments.
It also usually stays at the top of the ranks for a long time because most players are familiar with it, and it is very consistent.
Ronnie
Ronnie, from Canada, got to Masters by playing Norra Mordekaiser. They played around 32 matches and won 78% of them.
This is a new version of the Tristana Mordekaiser archetype, but without Tristana so it's valid in Standard.
It is basically the same deck but without Tristana; it also plays 2 copies of Rissu. This version is also very similar to the Kindred deck we've just seen.
This might be the strongest version of this archetype right now, considering it has the biggest win rate among control lists. That's because it isn't really a control deck. In fact, it plays more like an extremely slow Midrange.
You'll attack your opponent with big units, remove their board, and create value with Mordekaiser in play, all at the same time. This is already a very popular and well-known strategy. It was only refined and upgraded for this season.
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Babahbel
Babahbel got to Masters with Heimerdinger Viktor. They played around 90 matches and won 71% of them.
This is the exact same list we saw above.
Some players have already complained this deck is too dominant in the ranked queue, and I can say, for sure, that it is a bit annoying.
For now, the meta is being defined by this list, so the best strategy for anyone queuing up right now is to beat it or play it. We still don't have enough data to say precisely which decks are better against this list, but, as soon as we have, we'll show you here, at Cards Realm!
Luffy69
Luffy69, a very well-known player in the community, got to Masters by playing Draven Rumble, a classic. They played 151 matches and won 60% of them.
This was one of the best lists in the last ranked Standard season too (you've probably realized that these players follow a certain pattern, right?), and was very popular in tournaments at the time (once again another pattern).
Draven Rumble was seen as an anti-meta deck, or a Rogue deck, in competitive settings because it doesn't have any bad matches, but it is also not that powerful. Its win rate shows this pretty well, as it was considerably smaller than other decks'.
The problem with this list is that it relies too much on Rumble, and sometimes you'll either draw him on the right turn or lose. Not to mention, you'll need a lot of luck in certain plays, like getting the right Mecha Yordles.
Luffy69 kept changing how many copies of each champion they used throughout their journey, and even played Sion at one point, but, by far, the version they were most successful with was the one we showed above. The other versions had win rates below 55%, which isn't ideal if you want to climb to Masters as fast as possible.
An interesting card they added to this deck was Friendship!, which can catch many opponents off guard on the ranked queue, and certainly won a few matches for Luffy69.
Final Words
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If you read this far, thank you! I hope you had fun and enjoyed reading this article.
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See you next time!
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