Riftbound: Deck Tech - Holding Leona

Leona Radiant Dawn became a lot more popular lately, particularly in the Bologna and Las Vegas Regional tournaments. This card was severely judged when she came out in set 1, but she finally found her way with set 2 and is seeing play at a competitive level. Let's see how she works!

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:

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The main idea behind this list is to hold battlefields and make your opponent frustrated by preventing all their attacks from dealing damage with all your Stun effects.

This list plays lots of counters and protection spells so that you can keep your units alive.

It also has answers for virtually any sort of enemy pressure. But it struggles with card draw, often gives you heavy opening hands, and usually runs out of gas from the mid to late game.

Nonetheless, if you play it well and have a little bit of luck with the first cards you draw, this deck can compete with any aggressive opponent in the meta head-on.

Leona Radiant Dawn struggled a lot when she first came out in set 1. Set 2 gave us great support cards for her game style, though.

Unlike Azir decks, Leona plays finishers and relies on a much simpler game plan. So, she is a bit more popular with Western players.

Yellow/green is one of the best color combinations when the matter is playing reactively and controlling the enemy board. However, as we mentioned, card draw is not its strongest suit. And one of the reasons why this isn't one of the best cards in the meta is that she struggles to compete with the value purple decks create. They constantly draw cards, and she simply can't keep up with them.

This is the most important card in this list. That's why it plays 3 copies of it.

It is a simple early game unit that should allow you to control the board early on. Its effect is great to fight for a battlefield your opponent is controlling, and you'll nearly always win showdowns in the first few turns because of it.

Furthermore, right after you dominate a battlefield, this unit can defend it with Shield. It will have 5 Might for just 4 energy and 1 power, so it's a premium unit in terms of stats and effects.

Grove of The God-Willow will be your main battlefield. It is one of the best battlefields for holding decks in the game nowadays. Its effect is essential for this list because it addresses one of its main issues: card draw.

Obelisk of Power is a great way to pay every expensive thing this deck does. This strategy often runs out of runes after one or two intense battles, and Obelisk of Power mitigates this issue in the mid game.

The Dreaming Tree is the weakest battlefield out of these three for two reasons. The first is that your opponent can benefit from its effect during the match, and the second is that you can only get 100% out of its effect in certain matchups.

Against aggressive decks centered around combat, like orange Lucian, Sett, and Fiora lists, this battlefield is great. You'll use your combat tricks on your own units and get a lot from it.

Early Game

The main idea early on is to conquer a battlefield as soon as possible and protect your units. Always save a few runes for your reactions.

Mulligan after Lonely Poro, Stellacorn Herder, and Sona - Harmonious.

These three units and your main champion will be essential early on because they'll kickstart your strategy.

Always try to attack with Leona - Determined so that you can control each battlefield, and build up your defenses with the other units we mentioned.

Mid Game

At this time, you must be reactive and focus on answering your opponent's plays.

The secret is knowing when to retreat your units and when to keep them in your battlefields.

Playing Emperor's Divide hidden will be extremely important. If you do this, you'll be able to save your units from massive enemy attacks, particularly if the opponent is playing a Miracle deck.

The most important card at this time is Zenith Blade. With it, you'll catch your opponent off-guard and prevent them from conquering an open battlefield. Use this spell to put pressure on both battlefields and prevent decks like Irelia and Lucian from ignoring your game plan.

Blitzcrank - Impassive also prevents the opponent from controlling battlefields. It brings an enemy unit to a battlefield you're controlling and automatically starts a showdown.

This card is pretty situational. However, you can use it as a surprise finisher to destroy key enemy cards before the opponent can react.

End Game

Leona - Zealot is a finisher in this list. She'll prevent the opponent from winning any sort of showdown if you have any Stun spells in your hand.

She is also a comeback unit. After all, she enters play ready if the opponent has 5 points or more.

She is versatile and powerful, particularly in this list. So, save your resources to put her in play at the right time.

This deck struggles against Ezreal and blue decks in general.

Ezreal increases the cost of your spells during showdowns with Vex. As for Thousand-Tailed Watcher, it will simply destroy all the defenses you build on battlefields.

Kai'Sa plays lots of direct removals, which are hard for you to deal with early on. At some point, you'll run out of resources to counter spells and protect your units. You'll lose runes.

Against orange decks, in general, you'll have an advantage. Stun completely disables their attacks, and, as these lists focus on attacking, you'll always have good answers for them.

Irelia and Lucian are complex opponents. They'll force you to dominate both battlefields. Zenith Blade and Blitzcrank - Impassive are essential in these matchups. Without them, you'll hardly win.

Azir and Viktor matchups are quite balanced. If you draw Guardian Angel, Zhonya's Hourglass, or counter spells at the right time, you'll be okay. In best-of-3 matches, you'll be at a disadvantage if you don't play Grove of the God-Willow.

Salvage is great against Azir, Aurora lists, and orange lists in general.

Charm works really well against other holding lists, like Ornn, Jax, and Ahri.

Honest Broker is a useful unit, particularly early on against very aggressive decks, like purple lists and lists that put lots of units in play early, like Sett lists.

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!