Unleashed City Challenge Week 2 Results: First Refined Builds Emerges!

Compared to the first week of City Challenges, the metagame has progressed quite a bit. Indeed, the Body domain, which dominated early on due to a knack for proactive synergies, racking 7 wins out of 10 tournaments, only collected 4 this week.

Taking the lead is the Chaos domain, with 6 wins out of this week's 10 city challenges, mostly thanks to Diana and Irelia, taking down two tournaments each. As for the domain struggling the most, it seems that Fury is a bit slow off the gate in Unleashed, with only 2 wins last week and 1 this time around. That domain can thanks Annie, who managed to win a city challenge in both weeks.

Speaking of legends, let's have a look at some interesting stats:

  • Annie, Origins Yi, Sett and Sivir are the only four legends with a win during both weeks. All four are old legends with a proactive mindset, which makes sense as the new ones are still being refined, while reactive strategies have yet to adapt to this new metagame.
  • LeBlanc is the best performer among new releases across both weeks, and the overall leader for Top 8 appearances over the 20 City Challenges held so far. However, Diana improved a lot this week, racking up two wins and becoming the only one with multiple city challenge crowns among Unleashed legends.
  • Irelia and Lillia are very consistent performers across both weeks, ranking in the top 5 performers each time.

Overall, the metagame is still forming at the moment, with only proactive strategies, or legends with a clear purpose feeling like sort of polished products. Already, the gear oriented strategy have started to fall, with Aurora or Baited Hook both performing worse in the second week of City Challenges.

Next week, the rest of the world will also get to play, and start prepping for Sidney in mid-May. This big tournament quite close to the release will force the metagame to quite fast, and I'll make sure to report everything about it !

LegendPerformance in 10 City Challenges
Origins Yi2 Win / 8 Top 8
LeBlanc1 Win / 8 Top 8
Diana2 Win / 5 Top 8
Irelia2 Win / 5 Top 8
Lillia0 Win / 7 Top 8
Kai'sa0 Win / 7 Top 8
Draven0 Win / 6 Top 8
Fiora0 Win / 5 Top 8
Sett1 Win / 2 Top 8
Sivir1 Win / 2 Top 8
Annie1 Win / 1 Top 8
Rengar0 Win / 3 Top 8
Azir0 Win / 3 Top 8
Vex0 Win / 2 Top 8
Unleashed Yi0 Win / 2 Top 8
Kha'Zix0 Win / 2 Top 8
Ornn0 Win / 1 Top 8
Viktor0 Win / 1 Top 8
Jax0 Win / 1 Top 8
Pyke0 Win / 1 Top 8
Miss Fortune0 Win / 1 Top 8

Origins Master Yi

It has been a fantastic week for the old Master Yi in China, who seems to slowly progress towards a refined build. Indeed, even if there are glaring differences between the two lists taking down a City Challenge, we can also spot a lot of similarities, even among new cards.

Among them, the three copies of UNL-053 or UNL-120 anchor the deck's early and mid-game while the later stage features more diversity.

LeBlanc

She didn't record as many Top 8 appearances, but snatched her first win in the Unleashed metagame instead. LeBlanc is so far the best performing legend among the Unleashed arrivals.

To explain that success, we can look at two criterias:

  • The synergy almost builds itself, with UNL-172 and OGN-236 at the thelm of a Deathknell heavy deck. Changes will inevitably be made, but LeBlanc is already playing close to a refined deck.
  • Her unique synergy makes LeBlanc difficult to adapt against. Indeed, the Deathkneel keyword was very rare up until this point, while no other legend builds around it, limiting the appeal of running counter cards.

The situation is ideal for LeBlanc early in Unleashed, so expect the Deceiver to be a force when important tournaments kick off.

Diana

Diana added two wins to last week's performance, and still doesn't seem to have settled on a specific list. In both winning decks, we can spot some strong standalone cards, but there are a lot of differences in terms of progression.

The winner in Wuhan was playing a much more tempo oriented build, with only two copies of OGN-116 atop the curve. On the other hand, Nanning's winner took a slower approach, with OGN-192 also in the mix, and UNL-147 in the side.

Irelia

There are a few differences if you look at both decks with a City Challenge wins this week. Yet, Irelia is not trying to be original in this new set, instead building around what she already did extremely well during Spiritforged.

Lillia

Lillia recorded the same amount of Top 8 as she did last week, but failed to turn one into a win this time around. Overall, this might point to a legend with a reliable synergy, able to post a consistent win rate. However, it could also equal a lack of raw power once the field narrows down to the best competitors only.

There isn't a ton of flexibility within the Temporary synergy, so it will be interesting to see if Lillia can find ways to edge against the other top performing legends.

Kai'sa

With very little additions from the Unleased set, Kai'sa keeps finding ways to be in the top performing legends conversation. Last week, it seemed like the Daughter of the Void had lost a step, recording only 2 Top 8s across 10 tournaments. Yet, with 6 appearances this time around, it seems like those on a budget might be able to keep playing Kai'sa for another set.

Draven

Just like Kai'sa above, Draven is adding little cards from the Unleashed set, with just UNL-022 and UNL-141 joining the midrange list. The 2-cost makes a lot of sense, as she can force a showdown to draw with our legend's ability. As for the 4-cost, many believe it will become a staple in Fury decks for this set, and a new mid-game anchor alongside OGN-039.

Fiora

After a dominant start, racking up three wins during the first wave of City Challenges, Fiora was reminded gear removal always ends up coming back. With this new set, UNL-070 allows Mind legends to join in on the fun of bullying gear decks.

This downfall was to be expected, as Fiora didn't feel different enough in this new set to have become the juggernaut of the metagame. Instead, she benefited from many legends testing stuff in week 1, and is facing reality now that decks are getting a bit more refined. With that said, 5 Top 8 appearances is nothing to be ashamed of.

Sett

UNL-173 remains the most important card of the set for The Boss, but more additions are making their way into the build. UNL-106 is another fantastic card we can expect to see multiple copies of, bringing some friction with opposing spells while UNL-112 interact with their units.

Fiora got the better start to the Unleashed expansion, but Sett managed to win in both weeks, while its deck looks much more resilient to counter cards.

Sivir

With UNL-118 representing a new win condition for OGN-160, the goal now is to find the right balance for that archetype. For yet another week, Sivir is the best legend for that gameplay, although I'm sure you can expect most Body legends without a strong synergy to copy the Battle Mistress.

Annie

With three different cards joining the main deck, Annie is following in Draven's footsteps when it comes to staying true to what worked during Spiritforged. Just like in other Fury legends, UNL-022 joined OGN-039 in the 4-cost slot, while the other Unleashed cards are mostly support tools.

Rengar

The Pridestalker lost a step compared to last week. Not only are the results worse, Rengar also had to rely on OGN-160 for its best performance this week. Volibear and Lucian failed to record a single top 8, meaning Rengar is the best Fury - Chaos by default at the moment. Yet, it isn't auspicious to see the new legend already default to the synergy you typically use when you are unable to push your own agenda.

Azir

UNL-060 is the intriguing new addition in Azir this week, the 8-cost helping with late-game draw, a key component of an attrition based gameplan. Alongside UNL-165, this should guarantee the Emperor of the Sands finds SFD-198 in time, or won't run out of gas against another with a slow agenda.

Vex

Vex is struggling with consistency so far in Unleashed, following in the footsteps of Ahri and other Hold oriented legends not named Master Yi. Except for OGN-073, it is unclear which units represent the win condition of a Vex deck at the moment. Indeed, the late game features various abilities, something you typically do when you have a ton of draw available to dig through your deck.

The Chaos-Calm tandem will provide a good amount, UNL-053 is another support in that direction, and the legend's ability also draws. Yet, I feel like focusing on one specific win condition is more suited for an early metagame.

A couple of top 8 is promising, but this legend needs more work for sure.

Unleashed Yi

There aren't a ton of possible avenues to build around this legend. The goal is to find how to reliably drop UNL-059 as early as possible. The XP synergy got more cards than it needs to fill a deck, so it actually isn't so obvious which cards should be in the main deck.

Both the balance of gaining XP against other synergies, and the best cards to do both things is up in the air at the moment.

Kha'Zix

I'm happy to see Kha'Zix experiment with a synergy closer to its ability, even if it didn't lead to many strong performances this week. At least, we can start figuring out which cards make the most sense alongside this legend, such as OGN-164 as a buff target, or SFD-105 as a great target to move back to our base.

We can always play Aurora when it is time to battle for best-of cards. Otherwise, it is fairly expected to see Sivir remain the better Chaos-Body legend for that archetype.

Ornn

Not much has changed for Ornn so far, who is still building around the same strategy with a few standalone additions. UNL-078 is certainly a new staple with this legend, while the other new cards aren't as impactful at the moment. UNL-044 is an intriguing prospect, as the 4 birds synergize very well with the equipment cards in the deck.

Viktor

For yet another week, Viktor failed to be a dominant legend in what has been its best format over the first two expansion. The Herald of the Arcane ended Spiritforged behind Azir when it comes to token synergy. With Unleashed, it might be time to consider even best-of-one tournaments aren't one of Viktor's strong suits.

Jax

The XP synergy to leverage UNL-109 is interesting, as Jax is able to build some of the chunkiest units in Riftbound once equipped properly. It might be too slow, and possibly easily derailed with gear removal, but I like to see those experiments nonetheless.

Pyke

To be a Chaos-Fury legend has its ups and downs. The main upside is the ability to copy whatever Draven or Annie are doing and be certain you at least have a moderately competitive deck, just like Jinx did in Spiritforged.

However, it also means you will be compared to those juggernauts, and Pyke is failing that test for now. Unfortunately, the control direction means Pyke has to build its own deck, and either the right balance is still up in the air, or that avenue isn't the right fit in that domain combination.

Miss Fortune

A couple of new cards have been added to the mix, but the Bounty Hunter is still trailing Sivir when it comes to playing a OGN-160 deck.

Den
Den

Den has been in love with strategy games for as long as he can remember, starting with the Heroes of Might and Magic series as a kid. Card games came around the middle school - Yu-Gi-Oh! and then Magic: The Gathering.

Hearthstone and Legends of Runeterra has been his real breakthrough and he has been a coach, writer, and caster on the French scene for many years now. He now coaches aspiring pro players and writes various articles on these games.

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