Riftbound: Deck Tech - Ivern Plaza

Today, we'll explore Ivern Plaza, a list that "cheats" its way into victory with scoring effects. It can also win the game out of nowhere with The Grand Plaza's unusual effect and plays a pretty strong holding kit, so it could be a great option for you if you want to steal a few wins 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:

CMAAAAAAAEAQAABKAAAAAAIBAAANMAIDAQAAAKZNGTKQCAIDACPQCBIEAAQSYOB4UAAQEAYAAAYEEUIBAMACQAYBAAAKKAQDAMACXVQB3QAQEBAAWEA4GAIAAMBAAACA2EAQCAYAEAAQIAFPAEAACBAAWEAQ

Deck Link

The main idea behind this list is to score points in unconventional ways with your chosen champion, Ivern Friend to All, or Ahri Alluring and get back into the match after a slow start.

At the same time, this deck centers around holding a battlefield after you turn it into a Brush battlefield token. You'll play lots of units there to stop your opponent from attacking it.

Your units will be relatively fragile, but they'll have Shield or Tank and will get stats when they defend the Brush token battlefield. So, they'll end up too big for your opponent.

You'll also start out at a disadvantage, but with Ahri Alluring and Ivern Friend to All, you'll be able to even out the game quite fast and maybe even surpass your opponent quite easily.

Not to mention that, if your opponent ignores your battlefield in game 1, you might end up winning because of Grand Plaza's effect (and your deck can easily put in play 7 units or more).

This legend is a great way to disrupt your opponent and destroy their strategy because it lets you replace their battlefield with a Brush token.

His colors are also quite strong together. You'll end up with a control list that centers around holding battlefields and plays lots of direct removals.

Nonetheless, you'll struggle with drawing cards because, unlike Vex, Ivern's main rival, this deck can't create an unstoppable snowball that gives you value turn after turn.

The snowball this list creates is a bit smaller and centers around stacking stats on a single battlefield instead of preventing the opponent from playing like Vex does.

Another weakness is that, though you'll be able to play lots of units and make them gigantic, your cards will still be quite vulnerable to enemy attacks. Like so, you'll have to rely on Hidden Blade or Cull the Weak against some opponents.

Even though this list plays some counterspells and many units with Deflect, it is still vulnerable to removals, particularly "AoE" removals like Ruination and Unchecked Power.

Ivern Friend to All is key. He'll enter play at the right time and score two points for you at once. You'll often win the game this way.

Keep in mind that, if you have 6 points and score 2 points by conquering a battlefield with Ivern Friend to All, the game ends on the spot.

The secret behind this list is to always choose Dog for Ivern because this list only plays one other Dog. You'll rarely need to play him as something else. But, if you're absolutely sure your Trusty Ramhound will remain alive for a long time, you can do this.

The Grand Plaza is your main battlefield, and, as incredible as this sounds, this is one of the few decks that can actively try to win with its effect. That's because it plays cards like Flurry of Feathers, which summons 4 Bird tokens at once, Ultrasoft Poro, which summons 2 Bird tokens, and Frisky Hunter, which summons 1 Bird token. If your opponent ignores this battlefield, you might just win the match with it out of nowhere.

Power Nexus - This battlefield "cheats its way into a win", just like your Ahri and your Ivern. But it is extremely expensive, so you must only use it at the end of the match and to try to win.

Treasure Hoard is a solid battlefield that will help you pay for your spells. You'll usually only play it in game 3.

Vilemaw is the strongest card in Set 3, and, as a result, it is the strongest card in this list. So, play around it and try to save some runes to play it on curve or at specific times to save your units.

This deck performs better if you pass your turn with lots of runes available, so you should give up one battlefield to your opponent and focus solely on the other (preferably yours) for the rest of the game. Like so, you won't have to worry about pressure and will be able to pass your turns with runes available.

You'll only win if you manage to conquer a battlefield before your opponent or if you keep your Ahri or Ivern alive. You can also hold Grand Place with 7 units or more. Other than that, you'll hardly be able to win.

Meditation and Vilemaw are your only ways to draw cards. You can use Hidden Blade to draw cards, but keep in mind it is essential in a few matchups to remove threatening enemy units.

Bad matchups:

The worst matchups for this list right now are orange or yellow lists - yes, we mean all of them, including LeBlanc, Sett, Master Yi, Poppy, Kha'Zix, Viktor, Fiora, and Rengar.

These decks can both remove your units with Cull the Weak or attack you with Punch First, the strongest card against your strategy. Your list can only counter this spell with Flurry of Feathers, the spell you use to try to win the game.

LeBlanc lists can also play Unchecked Power or Ruination in the sideboard.

Good matchups:

Any deck that can't deal directly with your battlefield or that struggles to remain in the match after they remove your board. This includes Pyke, Kai'sa, and Diana.

These three lists center around removing units with spells. But, because of how many units you'll play and the units with Deflect you'll create, they will struggle to save runes. They'll try to stop you and end up exhausting all of their resources.

Diana lists are even worse because they can't remove your units. They can only nerf your cards to try to beat you in combat. And you can easily counter this with Hidden Blade and Thwonk.

Mirror match:

These games are usually quite fast. Whoever plays their Ahri first wins.

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!