Legends of Runeterra Poppy-Zed-Lulu guide: the Rally Elusives deck

Lulu-Zed-Poppy for a formidable combination. (Images via Riot Games)
Lulu-Zed-Poppy for a formidable combination. (Images via Riot Games)

The Bandlewood season of Legends of Runeterra is coming to an end, and now is a good time to prepare for the upcoming season to start in mid-October.

The Bandlewood season has helped Aggro decks shine through. With Poppy being a strong champion in the meta, decks with cheaper units have done well this season. The Rally Elusives deck plays at a similar point but in its own unique way.

In Legends of Runeterra, cards with elusive keywords can only be blocked by another elusive unit or targeted by card effects or spells. Otherwise, even a more powerful unit or champion will not be able to block an elusive unit. As a result, elusive decks are really fun to play with and use the Rally spell, and a player can attack in back-to-back turns.

The Rally elusive deck was first conceptualized by Legends of Runeterra player Swimstrim and was fun. Post the Bandlewood expansion, modifications have been made to the deck to make it viable in the meta and even better. But first, let's look at the deck composition, its win condition and ways to play it well.


Legends of Runeterra deck guide: the Rally Elusive deck

Deck Composition

Legends of Runeterra Rally Elusives deck is an aggro deck filled with low cost units and spells. With elusive units enjoying the ability to attack without being blocked, it helps flood the board with unblockable units, which will always be more than the opponent's board.

Composition of the Rally Elusives deck. (Image via Mobalytics)
Composition of the Rally Elusives deck. (Image via Mobalytics)

Deck link: CECAIAIABEFRKHIDAEBAMDBZAEBQADQBAMBAUBICAEBASEIBAIAAOAIDAIBACBAAAIAQKCRJAEAQCAQW


Win Condition

The Rally Elusives deck has one main mantra: set up the board, protect the elusive, and keep attacking. The deck is pretty straightforward at what it does, and this makes it simple yet effective for players in Legends of Runeterra.

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Mulligan

When playing Rally Elusives Deck in Legends of Runeterra, it is important to keep an opening hand that has synergy and floods the board. Most cards are useful, but some more so than others. It's advisable to keep defensive spells if you anticipate the opponent to rely on removal to protect your elusive units.

Keep: Fleetfeather Tracker, Inspiring Mentor, Young Witch, Zed.

The Inspiring Mentor should be used to boost Zed by his playability. Navori Bladescout can be kept in the place of Inspiring Mentor if Zed is not drawn.


Synergies

The Rally Elusives deck in Legends of Runeterra has several mini combos that it plays well. My personal favorites are Young Witch and Fleetfeather Tracker. The Young Witch provides her support character +1 power and quick attack. When the Fleetfeather tracker's challenger keyword is combined, it's a great way to lighten the opponent's board.

Fleetfeather Tracker becomes a great card when combined with Young Witch. (Image via Riot Games)
Fleetfeather Tracker becomes a great card when combined with Young Witch. (Image via Riot Games)

Inspiring Mentor can be played when Zed is in hand. It boosts Zed's power by one that can be used to target heavier opponents.

Inspiring Mentor boosts Zed by 1 when played (Image via Riot Games)
Inspiring Mentor boosts Zed by 1 when played (Image via Riot Games)

Lulu played the perfect support role, but Poppy does it even better. The deck has a lot of low-powered units, and Poppy buffs them 1/1 every time she attacks. These buffs are permanent and make the low-health Elusive units much stronger in both offense and defense.

Young Witch, in particular, has great synergy with almost any card in Legends of Runeterra, and the defensive spells should be preserved for her before others. Lulu and Poppy do not need protection, but preserving the duo can make the battle more favorable.

Young Witch is a great card. (Image via Riot Games)
Young Witch is a great card. (Image via Riot Games)

Game Strategy

The Rally Elusives deck in Legends of Runeterra is built for an all-attack strategy. They practically attempt to finish the game by early midgame. The player should focus on the first four rounds (including attack and defense) to set up the board to flood the opponent with unblockable attacks.

Champions should be played when defensive spells are in hand. It is also suggested that players combine the champions with Little Witch for added protection (except Zed).

Protecting Poppy with Young Witch adds a lot of value. (Image via Riot Games)
Protecting Poppy with Young Witch adds a lot of value. (Image via Riot Games)

The spells on these decks are defensive and are used to protect the units and champions. Rally can give an extra attack token. While it may seem to be used in the defense turn, it will be better to use it in the attacking turn. The temporary boosts stay until the end of the turn, and that can be maximized if the rally is used in the same attacking turn.

Sharpsight is one such defensive spell that must be kept in hand. (Image via Riot Games)
Sharpsight is one such defensive spell that must be kept in hand. (Image via Riot Games)

Potential threats

In Legends of Runeterra, the Rally Elusive deck will play well against most decks when played properly. However, it will struggle against decks that focus on removal.

One way out will be to focus on the defensive spells properly, but it will still be difficult. Against such a deck, the player should try to finish the match as quickly as possible. As mentioned before, keep a couple of defensive spells ready for contingencies which often arise in Legends of Runeterra.

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Conclusion

Legends of Runeterra is not a game where players get long win streaks, especially in the highest tiers. Losses will happen eventually, but the Rally Elusives is a fun and stable deck to use. The Bandlewood expansion has weakened some decks, but Poppy's introduction has made the Rally Elusive deck even more flexible.

The new season of Legends of Runeterra will cause some changes to the existing meta, but expectations are that the Rally Elusive deck will stay viable in the game.

The original variant that lacks Poppy still has a 56.9% win rate overall in Legends of Runeterra. It is a great deck of choice for any player, and it is believed that the deck will be a sustainable choice for the future that will propel the player to higher divisions in ranked mode of Legends of Runeterra.

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