Legends of Runeterra deck guide: Lurk deck and the first entrant of masters in patch 2.18.0

Legends of Runeterra's new ranked season, Between Worlds, began with the implementation of patch 2.18.0, and it has thrown up a few surprises at the very start.

An all-new live balance system has been incorporated into Legends of Runeterra by Riot Games. The sole target of this new system is to buff and nerf the required cards regularly.

The expectation is that these changes will help keep the meta flexible and ensure that the game does not become stale.

Lurk has been part of Legends of Runeterra since the Rise of the Underworlds expansion. However, Lurk decks never really dominated the game as such until patch 2.18.0.

The Lurk deck is the first to enter the master tier in North America, used by Zult. It has become a topic for debate if the Lurk deck is indeed the most meta deck right now.

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Legends of Runeterra's Rek'sai Pyke Lurk deck

Deck composition

The new meta deck revolves around Pyke and Rek'sai. It is not an aggressive deck, and the primary focus is to activate the lurk as many times as possible.

Lurk helps buff up all the lurk units and allows players to dominate and win the game.

Composition of the Lurk deck (Image via Mobalytics)

Link to the deck: CEBAKBAGAEBQKBYPBACAOAITCY3ECRCKKAAACAIEAYCA

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Win conditions/main objectives

The primary condition is to preserve the lurk units and trigger the lurk ability as many times as possible. The lack of early damage is bypassed by the heavier units of the deck, which overwhelm and damage the nexus even if blocked and help finish the game.

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Mulligan

The Lurk deck is an evenly cost deck in Legends of Runeterra, so it's preferable to keep low-cost cards at the beginning.

Sharkling and Xer'sai Hatchling both can be kept and are good options in the opening draw.

Snapjaw Swarm is a great trigger for lurk on defensive turns (Image via Riot Games)

Snapjaw Swarm allows gamers the chance to trigger a lurk in the defensive turn, and Blood Bait can be a good alternative in case Snapjaw Swarm doesn't become available in the opening hand.

Keep: Sharkling, Xer'sai Hatchling, Snapjaw Swarm

Remove: Any card that costs more than 3

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Synergy and gameplay

Lurk deck is all about synergy. The lurk ability in itself affects all the cards (at play, in hand, and on deck) whenever triggered. Call the Pack is a great card that can be used when users have Pyke or Rek'sai in hand.

It creates more lurk cards and provides a guaranteed condition for the lurk to trigger.

When leveled up, Pyke becomes dangerous in Legends of Runeterra and can clear the board independently. His Damage from Below can level up Pyke, which sets up a chain of opponent unit removals with the help of Bone Skewer.

Pyke is extremely dangerous when he levels up (Image via Riot Games)

Apart from Pyke, Rek'sai gives extra buff to all lurker allies everywhere when she attacks. The champion keeps creating and adding lurk units with her level-up state and Call the Pack.

While Pyke focuses on damage and clearing the board, Rek'sai concentrates on bringing more lurkers into play by creating additional lurk units.

The deck also has heavy damage dealers like Xerxa'reth and Dunebreaker. Both units make maximum use of Overwhelm keyword in Legends of Runeterra.

With lurk, they can win the game in one attack in the late game. The Lurk deck is excellent for players who love to play long and patient matches to set up their cards with extensive damages.

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Threats

The Lurk deck is a pretty solid choice at the moment in Legends of Runeterra, but it can face problems against Aggro burn decks. Lurk decks take some time to be set up, but Aggro decks usually do not allow that.

In Legends of Runeterra, Aggro decks like Bandle Burn decks have a lot of cheap units used to flood the board and attack from turn one. This forces users to either block and sacrifice the lurk units or let the opponent attack unchallenged.

Both situations are highly detrimental to gamers and can cause them to lose the match.

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Overall verdict

The Lurk deck is back in the meta after a long time in Legends of Runeterra ranked mode. The main units that have been buffed by patch 2.18.0 are dragons.

The Lurk deck is doing exceedingly well against dragons at the moment. Interestingly, it is also doing well against decks that directly counter dragons at the moment.

Although Riot Games has promised monthly update patches in Legends of Runeterra, they have their hands full with November and December expansions coming soon. Lurk has not been buffed, but its rise in the meta is more like a counter to the decks that have been buffed.

Fans don't expect the Lurk deck to get nerfed anytime soon, and it has great potential to be the Tier 1 deck for Legends of Runeterra's Between Worlds ranked season.