Riftbound: Deck Tech - Deathknell LeBlanc

Today, let's explore Deathknell LeBlanc, which will probably be the best deck next season.

Before we begin, however, let me introduce myself. My name is Total, and I used to cast Legends of Runeterra tournaments professionally. I covered all the official tournaments, including Worlds, and I am known for creating deck guides for LoR as well. Now, I am a part of the Riftbound community!

- Deck Code:

CMAAAAAAAEAQAAGWAEAAAAABAEAAAWIDAQAAAYGRAHMAD3ABAMBQBGYBUMA2KAIDAQAEHLIBZAAQEAIAADKQCAIEACSQCAQDAAAHJXABVEBAOBAATAA2YANMAGXQDRYB2EA5EAIAAEBAAAD34AAQEAIAADOACAYEABNKYANPAEAQIAFMAE

- Deck Link

The main idea behind this list is to take advantage of your legend's effect to copy your deathknell cards. These copies will then die at the beginning of your turn because they're temporary and activate your deathknell effects. You'll draw cards, channel your runes, or deal damage to the opponent this way.

Because of the many cards and runes you'll draw, you'll virtually always have enough resources to remove enemy units with Cull the Weak or Hidden Blade. You'll also be able to play units in those same turns and keep progressing your game plan.

As your copies enter play "ready", you'll be able to create unusual situations. For instance, you can take advantage of Windswept Hillock to gank your opponent or simply score 2 points very easily and quickly.

This deck is great against removal lists because your units need to die to give you value. So, whenever your opponent removes something you control (except for Karthus), you'll always end up drawing a card or a rune.

Deathknell LeBlanc is a bit difficult to pilot at first, but it often "plays by itself" and doesn't punish you for making small mistakes. It also performs well against many decks and plays a removal kit that can deal with any unit in the game. All of this will make it the best deck next season.

The secret behind this legend is knowing which cards you can discard to create copies without losing too much value in your hand. Here are the cards you should discard first:

Sacrifice - This is always the first card you should discard. It is a situational spell that enables combos in the late game, so it takes a long time to become useful. You're better off discarding it early on to create copies.

Facebreaker - This is another situational spell that will help you score your last points in the last turns. Nonetheless, you're also better off discarding it early. Don't wait for the right time to play it at the end of the match because you'll certainly regret it.

Black Rose Dignitary - This card is useful, but it is a bit too slow. That's why there is only one copy of it in this list. You can discard it whenever necessary.

Honest Broker and Soaring Scout can be discarded if you already have a lot of runes.

Here's what you can't discard:

Watchful Sentry - This card will draw cards for you, so you can't discard it ever.

Karthus, Glasc Mixologist, Ruined Rex, and Mirror Mage are your main win conditions, so do not discard them.

The rest of the cards in this list can be discarded, but only after you discard the other cards we mentioned above.

This card will speed up your game plan. With it and Karthus in play, you'll draw 4 cards if it dies on your turn, which is absurd.

This is also the main card you should target with your legend's ability, so, preferably, you should play it early.

Furthermore, LeBlanc Fragmented is a strong attacker. It has 4 might, which means it can win showdowns against most cheap, early game cards in the game.

Windswept Hillock - This battlefield turned this already strong list into a broken list. That's because one of its main issues was that it didn't play enough effects that "readied" cards or units with accelerate to score 2 points in a single turn. With this battlefield, you can do this very easily and not lose any value in the meantime, considering you'll "gank" your opponent with a reflection token.

Dusk Rose Lab - This battlefield is also broken in this list. It lets you kill your reflection tokens at the beginning of your turn before they die naturally because of temporary and allows you to draw cards. With Karthus in your base, one of LeBlanc Fragmented's reflection tokens draws 5 cards for you with this battlefield's effect.

Forbidding Waste - This is your game 3 battlefield. It will improve LeBlanc Fragmented's showdowns against decks that put units with 4 might or more in play early on, like Master Yi and Vex. Furthermore, this battlefield is great in this list because your units are discardable.

This list draws a lot of cards and runes, but you'll need to do more than that to win. Your units are fragile and will struggle to get into combat later on.

So, you must save your removals for important enemy cards. For instance, you can save Cull the Weak for a Baron or a Hidden Blade for any aggressive unit with a lot of might.

You must have realized that Karthus got a lot more expensive lately. That's because it is critical in this list. After all, it doubles all deathknell effects.

So, Ruined Rex, for instance, will deal 8 damage to a unit (or 4 damage to two different units) if Karthus is in your base.

Only use Glasc Mixologist to return Karthus to your base from your trash pile.

Mirror Image is usually a great way to copy enemy units. As these copies will get to your base "ready", use them to attack enemy battlefields or score two points in a single turn.

Your Mirror Image copy can be more powerful depending on the matchup. Against decks that play lots of cards with assault, like Rengar lists, your reflection token is more valuable.

Bad matchups:

Next season, your worst matchups will be Lillia and Viktor. Pyke can also be complicated.

Lillia and Viktor play extremely discardable units that aren't great targets for your removals. Lillia's units, particularly, are bigger than yours, and they'll always win combats. Because it is a more "all-in" version of LeBlanc, it performs really well against it. As for Viktor, it can create infinite value with recruits, and eventually you won't be able to remove them all.

As for Pyke, it is a complicated opponent because it can leave you without any options. If both you and the opponent are great players, both of you have a chance to win - around 50% for each. If the Pyke player gets Bewitching Spirit early on, it can all be different. If they can't, the match will probably be easy until Baron comes along. At this point, you'll need a Cull the Weak to resolve it, or you'll lose.

Good matchups:

The rest of the meta, practically. We'll still have to wait to see how this list performs against set 1 and set 2 legends, as right now we don't have much data on these matchups. Nonetheless, this deck will probably only lose to Draven or some green holding list that plays lots of units, like Ahri.

Mirror match:

These matchups will be common quite soon. Whoever gets more "tempo" will win, that is, whoever scores points faster. You'll both end the game with Thousand Tailed Watcher.

Please note that none of you will be able to remove each other's Karthus if you don't have a Cull the Weak and if you don't play it at the right time. So, you must keep several units at your disposal so that you can kill them later.

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!