Best starter decks - Legends of Runeterra

It’s been a bit of time already since Legends of Runeterra launched in Open Beta on PC, bringing all the characters and lore of League of Legends to a digital card game. Players have been up and down and all around putting the best decks together with the collections of champions, regions, spells, and allies, and that probably makes getting started a little daunting to new players. Where do you begin? Well, what we’re here to help with that. We’ve taken the liberty of scouring for some good, cheap decks to start you off on the right foot as you get going in Legends of Runeterra. With these decks and their various playstyles, you’ll have what you need to level up and gain access to even more complex deck building.

Last updated on May 14, 2020 at 8:00PM PT.

Best Legends of Runeterra Starter Decks

Each of the decks below comes at a relatively low cost, but assumes you've at least gone through the tutorial levels to collect the rewards associated with them. Regardless, these decks also suggest which region you should level to collect any missing cards, as well as the codes you can use to import the decks into your available collection.

Be sure you know how to import deck codes to easily access all of the decks in this guide!

Noxian Shadow Isle Spider Swarm Deck

Deck Code: CEAAECABAMGA6EYXEYVS4NYIAECQCGY5FAVTCMRVAICACAYCBELDKBABAURCMKJW

This deck is the easiest of all decks to put together because you literally should have it as one of your three starting decks after you complete tutorials and get on your way. So, what puts this up over other premade starter decks in the game? Well, it’s got great options for both early and late game. With Elise and a mix of low cost Noxian and Shadow Isles spiders and spells to damage opponent minions or your own, you should have resources to build her up into her Spider Queen form quickly, sacrifice some minions to summon Vilemaw, buff a myriad of spider minions to make them overwhelming and Fearsome, and more. Meanwhile, Crowd Favorite and Darius should give you some cushion in the late game to finish off the enemy Nexus if things drag on.

Zed Katarina Rally Recall Deck

Deck Code: CEBAGAICBELDCBQBAMGBAGRFFAVAEAQBAMBBGAYBAIDBUOIBAMAQGBAZG4

This is a relatively easy-to-build aggro Noxus Ionia deck from player F2K Control. The tough part will be getting multiple Katarinas, but you start with two Zeds from your starter decks, so as long as you level up the Noxian region on your games, you could build the resources through level-ups or luck out and draw a Kata or two on your way through the weekly Vault Chests. Now the primary goal of this particular deck is to find Katarina early, power her up into her leveled-up form, and utilize her Recall and Rally capabilities as much as possible.

Every time Katarina strikes, you can her back into your deck. If you summon her again, Rally means you get an attack token and can strike your opponent again with her and other units on the board. Pair this with Elusive units that can only be countered via spells or other Elusive units and you’ll be troublesome early, but Deny should help mitigate threats as well. Zed and the other allies are here as well to stack damage and make sure you’re hitting your opponent hard and fast multiple times per turn, but Katarina is the star of the show.

Garen Demacian Elites Deck

Deck Code: CEAQQAIAAECAMFBCEQTTMAQCAEBBUMIFAEAAGCYSDUXQCAQBAADQY

Courtesy of the popular decks on RankedBoost, the Demacian Elite cards in Legends of Runeterra feature a number of unique properties that will benefit each if you put them together the right way, and this deck relies entirely on them to route your foes from beginning to end with their synergies. Battlesmiths, Laurent Blademasters, and Vanguard Bannermen will give your summoned units extra attack and defense. Vanguard Squires and Dauntless Vanguards can be played on the cheap. Finally, Garen and Judgement will allow you to use one attacker to blow away multiple foes.

It’s a straightforward deck to be sure, but with so many easy synergies at hand, it can also be quite reliable throughout the game. This is also a deck that you can collect the cards for extremely quickly with very few resources. Just play through Demacia’s region unlocks, pick up your chests, and you’ll probably have what you need for this deck without much issue in no time.

Freljord Ionian Elusive Buffs Deck

Deck Code: CEBAIAIBAQERMKIHAEBAEBQ2FAWDCOICAEAQECICAEAQOMIBAEAQEHQ

This is another deck that you should have most of the tools for right from the beginning. Getting three Braums together might be slightly troublesome, but otherwise this deck from JonesAF can be played in a hurry. The goal with this deck is to lean hard into Elusives and also power the heck out of them with the likes of the Averosan Hearthguard, the Inspiring Mentor, the Omen Hawk, and Elixir of Iron. What’s more, use of Braum and Stalking Wolf, with their Challenger abilities to pull would-be defenders, Deny to block spells, and Will of Ionia to pull your best cards out of harm’s way will keep your opponent solidly under control from attempts to thwart your Elusive aggression. Go between leveling Freljord and Ionia to pick up the few cards you need to collect for this deck fairly quickly, but likely focus Freljord for Braum.

And that’s it for now. Each of these decks can be built with relatively little time in the game, so just play through to get the one you want put together and work your way over to other more opportunistic or experimental decks when you feel like it! Be sure to check back for further updates or check out our other Legends of Runeterra guides to help you along your way through other aspects of the game.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.