Legends of Runeterra Gangplank-Sejuani deck guide: The Pirate and the Queen

Legends of Runeterra's Gangplank Sejuani is a highly flexible midrange deck that first popped up around mid-July of 2021. It came into the limelight mainly as a counter to Sivir decks, dominating masters back then. Despite the time, patches, and one major expansion, the Gangplank Sejuani deck is still going strong.

The foundation of this deck was more than a year old when the cards first appeared.

It wasn't as popular after its origin in Legends of Runeterra but soon gained traction, especially with pro players picking it up.

With buffs down the line, the deck became much more potent and dominated ladders in ranked mode.

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It is one of the Legends of Runeterra's best midrange decks

Deck composition

The plunder deck consists solely of Bilgewater cards for followers. It is a Legends of Runeterra deck which plays around its champion cards. The deck is a midrange one and highly flexible in gameplay.

Composition of the deck based on variant created by Swim (Images via Mobalytics/Swimstrim)

The deck features six champions, 24 followers, and 10 spell cards. Out of 40, there are only three Freljord cards in the form of three Sejuanis. With one out of 40 cards costing four or more, it is primarily a midrange deck, but its meta gameplay strategy is pretty straightforward.

Objectives and focus of Gangplank-Sejuani deck

The focus of the Gangplank Sejuani deck is simple – attack from turn one if possible. The deck has a lot of one and two-cost units that serve this purpose.

In Legends of Runeterra, suitable cheap units can win a game on their own. Many of the cards also have "Nab and Plunder," adding more significant tactical advantages to the player.

The primary focus is to bring the two champions leveled up at play. Both cards have extremely potent level-ups. Getting the level-ups done straight at the summons swings the game in favor of the player.

Leveled up Gangplank (Images via Riot Games)

Leveled up Sejuani (Images via Riot Games)

While Gangplank keeps pinging the opponent units and nexus every round, Sejuani frostbites opponents. Both champions are extremely formidable when leveled up in Legends of Runeterra.

Early-game

Legends of Runeterra's Gangplank Sejuani deck has multiple options to get the board ready for the two champions to dominate mid and late-game.

Crackshot Corsair and Jagged Butcher give effective one-cost attacking options. Spells like Warning Shot and Make It Rain are useful for damaging the nexus and pinging opponents at negligible costs.

Crackshot Corsair does damage even if only allies attack (Images via Riot Games)

Warning Shot is excellent when combined with Plunder (Images via Riot Games)

Make it rain is great at pinging opponents (Images via Riot Games)

Mid-game

While the cards mentioned above keep doing damage, these cards act as a great way to draw cards. Black Market Merchant, Fortune Croaker, and Yordle Grifter all keep the cards flowing.

Black Market Merchant and Yordle Grifter add more utility as they nab, which keeps drawing the opponent's cards. This keeps making the opponent's deck thin and reduces the options available. In Legends of Runeterra, running out of deck means forfeiting.

Black Market Merchant keeps drawing cards (Images via Riot Games)

In this deck, allegiance is almost guaranteed (Images via Riot Games)

Followers and spells of the Gangplank Sejuani deck set up the board in a highly disruptive manner. The constant damage to the opponent's nexus and stealing their cards can give headaches to even the most experienced players.

Monster Harpoon is a six-cost spell card that does five damage to any unit. It is a fast spell, but it should be played on the curve. If the nexus is damaged, the card costs only three, which makes it very value-cost effective. It can be used to finish off a unit or reduce the health of a tall unit to an extent where it can be disposed of.

Monster harpoon works excellent on the curve (Images via Riot Games)

Late-game

In Legends of Runeterra, both champions enter the play when set up correctly, having leveled up already. Then there's The Dreadway which is an eight-cost follower. It is fearsome and doubles the damage dealt by anything.

Fearsome indeed! (Images via Riot Games)

The deck's weakness

Legends of Runeterra is a very well-balanced game. But all decks have their weaknesses.

The weakness of the Gangplank Sejuani deck in Legends of Runeterra is pretty apparent. If the opponents can save their nexus, Gangplank and Sejuani will not be leveled up. This can disrupt the primary strategy, especially if the opponent removes either or both the champions. The quick removal of Black Market Merchant and Yordle Grifter will be another headache.

Conclusion

There is a valid reason for the Gangplank Sejuani deck to still be a Tier 1 deck in Legends of Runeterra. It has stayed viable and is still used in masters. For many, Gangplank Sejuani is a more flexible option than Sivir. The deck is well balanced, fun to play with, and time tested.

Although the deck caters more towards seasoned players, beginners who invest in this deck will have a viable one in the long run in Legends of Runeterra. At the moment, the deck enjoys over 54% win rate, which is spectacular.