Introduction

At first glance, it might seem like the Cosmic Creation expansion to Legends of Runeterra has done very little to change the meta. In a sense, this is a fair assessment, as self-contained deck archetypes like Bilgewater/Shadow Isles Go Hard, Fiora Shen, and Pirate Aggro are still relatively dominant while not running any of the newest cards. However, to say that this expansion did nothing to change the meta would be incorrect, and this overview will strive to examine how new cards from Cosmic Creation have managed to compound and build upon existing archetypes in interesting ways as well as creating new decks.

Plaza Scouts

Images courtesy of Mobalytics.gg

On one hand, Scouts have been a part of the meta ever since Miss Fortune and Quinn were released. Between Miss Fortune’s synergy with rallying and the raw power that attacking more than once per turn produces, it makes sense that this deck has been one of the most powerful midrange options for several months. On the other, the introduction of the Demacian Landmark – The Grand Plaza – has changed how this archetype can be played in an interesting way. While nothing changes for the first couple of turns, having two three-mana value generators in the forms of Miss Fortune and this landmark means that this deck’s third turn always gives it an immense jumpstart. With both the +1|+1 and Challenger bonuses in effect, this deck’s four-mana cards hit the board running.

Both the Grizzled Ranger and Island Navigator can make high-value trades just when this deck needs to make them, and since both of them are Scout units this means that they can potentially make room for a Nexus hit on the second attack. Quinn is awarded more safety as a result of this too, since other units can challenge enemies to clear a path for her to attack freely. Cithria the Bold proves to be a strong finisher after The Grand Plaza grants her Challenger, as she can pull units who could potentially block her Fearsome allies and allow a wide board to strike hard on turn six. The Grand Plaza, in short, allows this deck to always make high-value trades in the midgame and increases the survivability of its units, ultimately facilitating its ability to close out games.

Lee Sin and Zoe

Ever since he was reworked, Lee Sin has stayed prominent in the meta in some way. Being imbued with Zoe proves to be a natural fit for Lee Sin, as Zoe is able to generate more low-cost spells which both enable him and level him up. Furthermore, Zoe also benefits from being paired with a champion like Lee Sin who revolves around having many spells in a deck. Since Lee Sin’s passive just requires having a spell be cast, this deck can feature a wide variety of spells all with differing quantities, allowing Zoe to level up as well. Ranging from the draw power of Deep Meditation to the defensive utility of Hush and Sunblessed Vigor, these spells allow this deck to have an answer to pretty much anything. The combination of regions is also noteworthy, as Ionia provides decent protection for Zoe with Nopeify and Deny.

This allows Zoe to become relatively more consistent, especially when taking into account Targon’s already powerful Spellshields. Targon also provides access to both Guiding Touch and Pale Cascade, two of the best cards in the game at the moment. Both of these cards also synergize with Lee Sin, looping right back around to why this deck is so strong in the first place. While the spells are the stars of this deck, the champions are what really make it powerful. With Zoe’s levelled-up passive, Lee Sin can gain easy access to both Elusive and Lifesteal through Sparklefly, amplifying his already potent ability to close out games effectively. Featuring draw power, offensive and defensive options, and a range of spells which can answer pretty much any threat, this deck perfectly combines new cards with the existing meta.

Zoe Fiora Combo

If the last deck seemed to be heavily reliant on spells, this deck is even more so. Akin to how the last deck relied on spells in order to level-up Lee Sin and generate value off of his passive, this deck uses spells in order to aid Fiora in levelling up and achieving her alternate win condition. Like similar single-unit decks of the past, the goal is to save mana in order to apply as many buffs as possible to a single unit while also keeping them alive so that they can either kill units or the enemy Nexus. When combined, Demacia and Targon facilitate this as well as (if not better than) Ionia did in the past. Between Radiant Strike, Sharpsight, Stand Alone, and Blessing of Targon, Fiora will end the game significantly stronger than she was when first played.

Adding Targon’s Bastion into the mix, which allows Fiora to negate the effects of one enemy spell, means that she can survive the out-of-combat just as easily as when she is in-combat. Chain Vest, Guiding Touch, Hush, and Riposte all allow you to defend Fiora in other ways, bringing her to the verge of unkillability. Given the numerous amount of spells that have been rhymed off, it makes sense that Zoe would be a natural fit in this deck, as the wide variety of spells makes levelling her up relatively easy. Once levelled up, she can allow Sparklefly to pass both Elusive and Lifesteal off to Fiora or Mentor of the Stones, granting them the ability to play for either of this deck’s win conditions. While this deck’s employment of Zoe is really the only thing making it new, how it utilizes Zoe in order to facilitate building a deck around spells and Fiora offers insight into how new champions can create new opportunities.

Garen, Aurelion Sol, and The Grand Plaza

At first glance, Garen and Aurelion Sol don’t look like they could easily cohabitate within the same deck; Garen is often featured in scrappy, midrange decks and Aurelion Sol tends to find his home in either control decks or ramp decks. However, The Grand Plaza provides midrange decks with the opportunity to control the board long enough for Aurelion Sol to be played and levelled-up. In fact, transitioning from the typical midrange deck into Aurelion Sol has one major benefit: it makes Aurelion Sol’s level-up condition considerably easier to meet than in other control-oriented decks. In the midgame, this deck relies on Solari Sunforger, Grizzled Ranger, and Garen to take favourable trades and stabilize the board for a smooth transition into the lategame.

From there, Starshaping and Eclipse Dragon allow for bigger units to face off against threats that the midrange units cannot, biding time for Aurelion Sol to take the field and win the game. The Grand Plaza facilitates all of this, granting the midrange units the ability to trade favourably and make room for the bigger units to enter the field. Beyond that, Solari Sunforger and Starshaping provide the healing necessary to turn games against aggro decks around before their wide-boards and high damage can close out the game quickly. As might be expected, this deck features the iconic trio of Hush, Pale Cascade, and Guiding Touch, all of which facilitate favourable combat trades and two of which grant this deck the drawing power that it is sorely lacking. In the end, The Grand Plaza is what allows this fusion of lategame and midrange decks to meet success in the current meta.

Plaza Invoke

Being centred around both Zoe and The Grand Plaza, this is the first deck from this list to combine these two new and popular cards. However, just because this deck features The Grand Plaza does mean that it really has anything to do with Demacia; in fact, The Grand Plaza is the only Demacian card that is typically featured in this deck. It is instead focused on utilizing two mechanics to their fullest extent: Daybreak and Invoke. By relying on Targon’s Daybreak units, this archetype can play on-curve very effectively, having a good play each early/midgame turn which facilitates Leona eventually levelling up.

The inclusion of Zoe and Invoke in this deck allows it to increase both its offensive and defensive options, giving it a chance to randomly generate control and removal cards as well as high-power units through Starshaping. Invoke also naturally synergizes with Zoe, allowing for her to level up more consistently. Since the Daybreak units include Solari Priestess, a follower who Invokes upon activating Daybreak, the combination of these mechanics occurs almost naturally. Once levelled-up, Zoe can also spread Solari Sunforger’s Lifesteal to all allied units on the board, allowing for this deck to play a scrappy midgame and finish with a board of strong units. The Grand Plaza fuels all of this to an even greater extent, allowing these units to maximize their value by always taking favourable trades with their temporary Daybreak bonuses. As with many other decks which feature Targon, this deck also runs Hush, Guiding Touch, and Pale Cascade in order to alter the outcome of combat and generate draws. While this deck is centred around two mechanics that existed before Cosmic Creation, its employment of new cards makes it an interesting example of how expansions can breathe life into previous mechanics to produce new archetypes.

Midrange Frostbite

Rounding out this list is a deck that features Riven and her Noxian buffing spells rather than either Zoe or The Grand Plaza. Riven finds her way into this meta by fusing with an existing archetype that has had much success in previous metas: Midrange Frostbite with Noxus and Freljord. As per usual, this deck relies on having many high-power units who can allow the Trifarian Assessor’s passive to draw several cards, ultimately giving this deck a game-winning advantage. What Riven brings to the table is her ability to permanently buff allies via the Reforge mechanic, levelling herself up in the process. Between herself and Runeweaver, they are able to infuse this deck with some new characteristics which make its ability to draw plenty of cards and close out the game more reliable.

Buffing allies also means that The Reckoning more-often-than-not only targets enemies, leaving a wide-open board where these high-power units can wipe out the enemy Nexus in only one or two turns. As per usual, this deck features Frostbite as a tool to not only allow its powerful units to take favourable trades but also to let a levelled-up Ashe be another win condition. Since this deck is able to take out high-priority targets with Trifarian Gloryseeker, draw its strongest units reliably with Babbling Bjerg, and end games simply with Captain Farron, its units need to be considered for both their power and their effects. While this deck is one that has been around for a long time and has had several iterations, Riven’s inclusion proves to be an interesting and meaningful expansion of the archetype.

Conclusion

From these examples, it should be clear that while other expansions have perhaps altered and defined the meta more than Cosmic Creation, its cards have managed to sneak their way into several existing archetypes and provide them with new tools. It is noteworthy that while the cards from this expansion didn’t create as many new archetypes as cards like Tahm Kench, Soraka, and Trundle did, they did expand archetypes that have been foundational across the many metas that Legends of Runeterra has had in its currently-short lifespan.

While it is easy to only look at the archetypes in the meta and think that this expansion didn’t change much outside of somehow managing to place Garen and Aurelion Sol in the same deck, this overview has hopefully revealed that these cards change the game in small-but-impactful ways. If there is one key takeaway from this guide, it should be to always watch out for how small changes like this can alter the power of existing decks. Knowing that a Scouts deck could play The Grand Plaza on turn three instead of Miss Fortune or that a Zoe-centric deck is going to use Solari Sunforger to give all of its units Lifesteal can be the difference between winning and losing a game. Thus, remember to always keep pace with the ever-changing meta as expansions impact and alter Legends of Runeterra.