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Legends of Runeterra is one of the newer competitive digital CCGs in the market that has made a name for itself already. But what are the efforts needed to become a true champion in the game?
Mastering Legends of Runeterra can be a daunting task, but thanks to its community led by streamers, the tough task becomes easy. Snnuy is a professional content creator, Twitch partner, and a competitive Legends of Runeterra player. He discusses the scope of a content creator for the game, his favorite decks and expansions, and valuable tips for new players in an exclusive with Arka Sarkar of Sportskeeda Esports.
Additionally, Snnuy discusses a possible reason why Legends of Runeterra is some way from having the largest player base and his expectations for the game shortly.
"I believe that Legends of Runeterra is the best card game available right now": Snnuy
Q. Tell us about your Legends of Runeterra journey. How have things changed over the period since you started the game?
Snnuy: I started playing in the Legends of Runeterra beta but got hooked on the game when Bilgewater was released. Since then, things have only gotten better. More interesting cards, better animations, and more diversity in decks.
I truly enjoy Legends of Runeterra because of the number of options to build decks in interesting ways. So many new cards enable entirely new archetypes by themselves, and over the last year, more of these types of cards have been added, which is always a dream coming true for a deck builder like myself.
Q. Which video games did you have your first memories with? What other activities did you engage in as a child, and what were your growing years used to be like?
Snnuy: My first memories were when I was six years old, and I got a Nintendo 64 for my birthday. After that, games like Super Mario 64 and Mario Party left a lasting impression on me. To this day, I'm still a loyal Nintendo fanboy. My first competitive endeavor was with Mario Kart Wii.
I played the game for almost five years in a small community where we'd play five vs. five matches in a game with no balance updates or new content being added. After that, I found a little game called League of Legends, and at this point, that's a game I have played for over ten years.
Q. We know you have a lot of love for any game based on cards. How did that happen?
Snnuy: Hearthstone and all the new possibilities a virtual game gives to players made me fall in love with games based around cards. The simplicity, the clean UI, the visual effects when you play a legendary card or do a cool combo, it was a magical feeling that I had never felt before.
Q. Before DCCGs, there were big names like Pokemon TCG and Yu-gi-Oh. Have you ever tried those?
Snnuy: I played Yu-gi-Oh when I was younger and at a time where my English was pretty lacking. I had a group of friends I used to play Yu-gi-Oh with, but none of us knew the proper rules, so we just made up our own rules that we played by.
When I got older, I got into Pokemon TCG too but only played for a year because it was simply too expensive for a poor student like me to keep up with the cost of building decks.
Q. Tell us about your growth as a streamer, particularly from the perspective of Legends of Runeterra. How has the journey and the growth been like so far?
Snnuy: My growth is probably different than most of the bigger Legends of Runeterra content creators because I started from scratch. I had no subs on YouTube and no followers on twitch. I never intended to grow and make this my job, and I did it because I truly enjoyed Legends of Runeterra and showing the community some of the fun stuff I came up with.
Eventually, that caught on; In May 2021, I gained more than 5000 subs in a single month because of my "Turbo Sun Disc" video where I played mono Shurima with Azir and tried to ascend the champion to level 3 as fast as possible. I loved the comments and interaction with the Legends of Runeterra community even more than before. This motivated me to keep going and make better videos every single upload.
Q. Legends of Runeterra has a very versatile meta. Which decks from the current meta are your favorite ones?
Snnuy: It's very hard to choose a favorite because the Legends of Runeterra meta is so versatile! Almost every Legends of Runeterra deck is playable if you know what you're doing. If I had to pick a single deck, it would still be lurk decks.
This might seem like a boring answer, but I'm a huge Pyke fan, and I can't get enough of seeing him wipe an entire board in Legends of Runeterra matches with his awesome level-up animation.
Q. What are your opinions on introducing the new Live balance system that has been introduced in Legends of Runeterra by Riot?
Snnuy: I'm a huge fan of their new take on live balance in Legends of Runeterra. Unfortunately, we've had some extremely boring metas with almost no changes for multiple months the past year. As a Legends of Runeterra content creator, those times are especially hard to get through because I still try to come up with creative ideas that will just get smashed by the same meta decks over and over anyway.
With new changes and more frequent updates to balance, there will be more meta shake-ups in Legends of Runeterra with new and exciting decks and cards to try out.
Q. You explained in one of your videos why Lurk is doing so well at the moment. How do you feel about the return of Lurk and the dragons in the current meta? Do you think Lurk can be a great deck in the future into the next few seasons as well?
Snnuy: Lurk is very much a meta-dependent deck in Legends of Runeterra. It's very good when it can counter the decks with a high play rate like Dragons, but it loses to aggressive decks. With Poppy/Ziggs nerfed and burn decks not seeing any play, Lurk rose to tier 1 status.
For this reason, it's very hard to predict if Lurk will be any good in the next few seasons of Legends of Runeterra. It's a deck that will always exist, but the playability will fully depend on the other popular decks in the meta and how Pyke and Rek'Sai match up to them.
Q. Talking of metas and decks, tell us about your all-time favorite deck and archetypes. Are there any champions you love in Runeterra?
Snnuy: My all-time favorite deck in Legends of Runeterra is Zoe & Viktor. Targon and Piltover allow you to have a different type of game every single time, depending on the kind of cards you create and how you use them.
It's an extremely high variance deck in Legends of Runeterra that lets you think on your feet and adapt to the situation at hand. Although Zoe is my absolute favorite champion in Legends of Runeterra, and Viktor is a close second, you'll always find me trying to build new decks around them.
Q. Keywords are the most important element of Legends of Runeterra. How did you analyze the keywords when you began playing? Which keyword do you reckon is the most useful in the game?
Snnuy: I analyzed the keywords in Legends of Runeterra by looking at the cards used and how they functioned in a deck. Elusives was one of the strongest and most popular decks when I started playing, so it always annoyed me seeing an army of cheap, small units run me over.
However, I think elusive is still the most useful keyword in the game because it lets you push chip damage without the opponent having a chance to block.
Q. Which has been your favorite expansion till now in the game?
Snnuy: Cosmic creations with Zoe, Viktor, and Riven. Card creation is my favorite way to play the game, and all the champions released in that expansion synergize with it in some way.
Q. Recently, you battled against Silverfuse. What was it like from a personal point of view? We will also love to hear a few words about Silverfuse from you.
Snnuy: Until that point, I hadn't had a chance to interact with Silverfuse, so it was lovely finally getting to talk to her in person. We chatted a little bit before the event, and she's a very friendly person and gave me some great tips for streaming.
I look up to her as a content creator, and we both try to be as creative as possible when we build decks, so I always look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
Q. Legends of Runeterra keep growing, and more new players join the realm every day. What will be your top 3 dos and don'ts for them?
Snnuy: My top 3 do's would be:
- Get a feel for all the regions and what their cards can do to find your favorite champion and playstyle
- Try all the different game modes. Expedition is a great way to get more cards, and labs give you fun and new ways to use your cards!
- If you're not sure what to do or how to play a deck, look up guides and streamers playing the deck! Runeterra has an amazing and warm community that will welcome anyone that reaches out.
3 Don'ts:
- Don't worry about winning every match and playing meta decks. Just have fun with the available cards and build your decks before you play refined meta decks!
- Don't tilt when you lose a match. Everything is a learning experience, and when you don't win, that means the next time you play against the same deck or region, you'll know what to expect!
- Don't blindly craft cards or decks if you're unsure if you would even like playing them. I made this mistake when I was new to Karma decks. I used many of my resources to play her and ended up hating the playstyle, so I had to wait another week for my vault to open.
Q. A lot of card game players only focus on meta decks. I saw you play off-meta decks as well. Can off-meta decks be played competitively to a certain extent, or do you think they are only for fun?
Snnuy: In Legends of Runeterra, almost every deck has a chance to be competitive if you put enough thought into them. I climbed to the Masters in multiple seasons by playing off-meta decks.
The key is knowing how to play your deck into certain matchups and learning what cards you need to close out a game. If your opponent doesn't know what to expect because you are playing an off-meta deck, they might slip up and give you the upper hand.
Q. Tell us about your journey about going to the masters tier. What have been your best moments from the Beyond the Bandlewood Ranked season?
Snnuy: The best moment is always when the expansion just lands, and you get the experiment with hundreds of new cards. It is amazing to be the first person to create the new "meta-breaker" or just have fun with all the new combos introduced.
I climbed to the diamond pretty fast with a Sion + Viego deck and Taliyah + Ziggs. Then I finished the journey to the Masters by playing an established meta deck, Poppy + Ziggs, to make the climb a little bit easier for the final stretch.
Q. As a masters player yourself, how much dedication is required by players to reach the highest tiers? What will be your most fundamental tips for them?
Snnuy: Reaching the highest tiers requires you to research the different decks being played and know your deck inside and out. Knowledge of what cards are good for different matchups is always key.
For example, suppose you're playing a Fizz deck. In that case, you're going to do amazing against decks with single target removal like Darkness. But Fizz is useless against a region like Freljord because they have area removal like Avalanche and burst speed freezes to stop Fizz from attacking.
So my most fundamental tip is always: Know the deck you're playing and think about every matchup in a different way instead of being on autopilot.
Q. Legends of Runeterra just crossed 200k followers on Twitter. Are you satisfied with the game's growth, or is there scope for improvement?
Snnuy: To be honest, I believe that Legends of Runeterra is the best card game available right now. I'm satisfied with the growth, but it deserves so much more. The World Championship was amazing and the best tournament I have ever watched, so I'm extremely optimistic for the future, and I look forward to seeing the game many years from now, still going strong.
Q. Despite being more F2p friendly and generous, Legends of Runeterra has yet to have a player base as big as Hearthstone's. What are the possible reasons for that, according to you?
Snnuy: The biggest reason is that there aren't as many established "big" streamers for the game yet. Some of the biggest streamers are Grapplr, Swim, and Alan. They get between 1000 and 2000 viewers on average.
When the biggest Hearthstone streamers are online, they usually have more than 5000 viewers because they started building their communities 5+ years ago.
Another reason is the fact that Runeterra IS so F2P friendly. When I want to play a specific Hearthstone deck, I have to spend more than 50 euros. For that reason, I'd rather watch a streamer play the deck. In Runeterra, I can get all the cards and play the deck myself instead of watching a streamer.
Q. Legends of Runeterra has an intense and active competitive scene, and the game concluded the Worlds in September. What are your expectations from the competitive scene, and how do you think Runeterra's pro scene can evolve?
Snnuy: I think we should move forward with the way things have been going. Worlds were the single best event I have ever seen in my life. The meta was diverse, and the decks were played to their greatest potential.
The personalities that participated made me sit on the edge of my seat, cheering for them when they won a game. The format is good, and the only thing Runeterra should do is promote their amazing content even more - on a bigger scale.
Q. Digital CCGs are not as popular as genres like Battle Royales. What can be the possible reasons according to you?
Snnuy: One of the possible reasons is that the screen you're looking at is always the same. You have a board, a deck, and some cards in your hand in Legends of Runeterra. Battle Royales are different every time, with high highs to make your adrenaline pump even if you're watching. It's hard to get those incredibly epic moments in a card game.
While I think Legends of Runeterra can do a good job creating those moments with great level-up animations from champions, it can't live up to the constant action of a Battle Royale or MOBA.
Q. What are your expectations from Legends of Runeterra as the game moves beyond its 2nd anniversary in 2022?
Snnuy: Runeterra is putting a lot of focus on PvE content, and we're getting a huge update to the labs pretty soon, which is something I'm personally very excited about and something I expect to grow bigger and bigger in 2022.
Besides that, I expect more popular champions to be added, and we're still missing some fan-favorites like Vayne, Jhin, Akali, Kha'Zix, and Blitzcrank in Legends of Runeterra.
