The Path of Champions is the latest update for Legends of Runeterra, so we’re gonna look at some Jayce decks you can make through these cards. It’s a brief update, only adding fifteen cards to the game total, so this won’t be a huge blog post. I wanted to see what decks Legends of Runeterra can offer thanks to the Path of Champions update focused on Jayce. That’s why this blog is all about Jayce – he’s the only new champion! All of the cards in this expansion are also Piltover & Zaun cards, so that is where the focus is going to be. Jayce is one of my favorite champions in League of Legends, lorewise and gameplay.

His focus on 6+ spells is really interesting, but I’m curious to see if it in any way lights up the game. I don’t know for sure what he’s going to do the game as a whole, but we’ll see. Level Two Jayce’s ability to double-cast your first 6+ spell each round could be deadly, that’s for sure. Before we start, I want to highlight one or two of these cards. For example, the Hextech Handler, a 3/2 Quick Attack “Tech” type card. It grants all Tech allies everywhere +1/+1 once you’ve cast a 6+ cost spell this game.

You can see that being a trend for him and that’s not going away. Another solid example of working with this new meta is Albus Ferros, a new 6/5 for 7. When he’s summoned, draw Jayce. Whenever he attacks, he also deals 1 to the enemy Nexus, and for each 6+ spell you’ve cast this game, that number is increased by one. So depending on what you’ve done, this could be a serious, game-winning bomb. But what about Jayce?

Jayce is a 4-cost 4/4 that gains either Quick Attack or Challenger when played. When you’ve cast two 6+ cost spells, he levels up, and leveling up creates an Acceleration Gate in your hand. Level Two Jayce is a 5/5, and each round, the first time you cast a 6+ cost spell, cast it again on the same targets. Conveniently, Acceleration Gate is a 6 cost spell (Slow) and gives your allies +2/+0 and Quick Attack this round. If they already have it, or Double Attack, give them a random keyword instead. That’s why I love this card – the pure synergy. Suddenly your allies have +4/+0, Quick Attack, and Something Else (or two something else’s). It’s a solid way to aggro someone down. But what about Legends of Runeterra Path of Champions decks starring The Man of Tomorrow – Jayce?

Some of these involve casting lots of big spells to double-cast and decimate people. However, this one just needs one important spell. This is a creature-heavy beatdown deck with Demacian Elites, after all. So we’re going to use Back to Back to give two of our attackers a total of +6/+6 and ensure our opponent’s destruction. We pair this with Poppy’s ability to buff our allies coming in, and our spell that allows us to Rally, we’re going to hammer people into the ground like a tent spike. It’s easy to use, and it’s going to be fun.

We can also cast Assembly Line to make a wealth of 3/3 Forge Workers to become aggressive with. That gives us 4 of them if we use it as our first spell of the round. Should we need more attackers, suddenly, we have them. Shock Blast is another excellent spell to double-cast. It deals 3 damage to an enemy or the enemy Nexus, and then 3 to another. So we hammer down on the Enemy Nexus for 6, and then another of their creatures, spelling disaster in all likelihood. Though, to be honest, Back to Back isn’t our only option for a secure, easy victory. We run Vanguard Sergeant as a 3-cost creature.

It grants us a 6-cost For Demacia spell when he enters play. That gives all allies +3/+3 for the round (so +6/+6 if it’s our first spell). You have to be smart about what you cast when, though. You need to have cast two 6+ spells to ensure Level Two Jayce.

We’ve got ways to do that. Ferros Financier, for example, Manifests a 6+ cost spell from your regions, so we’ll be guaranteed one on turn 2, in theory. Vanguard Sergeant is another way to guarantee one, at 3 mana. We also have Cithria the Bold as a 6-cost card. She’s a 6/6, and when she attacks, give other attacking allies +1/+1 and Fearsome! Plus the aforementioned Assembly Line (two Forge Workers), Shock Blast, and Back to Back. So we’ve got the means to the end.

We want Poppy in play too, as the 4/3 that grants herself and all allies with equal or less power +1/+1. So she’s going to constantly buff, and after attacking three times she levels up. Brightsteel Protector will grant an ally Barrier for a round, so it can keep Poppy safe once. Hopefully, we can get one or two Ferros Skycruiser cards in play, a 4-cost Tech. It’s a 2/4 with Elusive, and it gains +2/+0 when you’ve cast your first 6+ spell this game! So now you have a 4/4 Elusive. Get a few of those in play, drop one of those +6/+6 buffs, and the game is over. That’s it.

This deck has a few ways to Rally to get extra rounds of combat, too. Golden Aegis grants an ally Barrier, and then Rallies, and Relentless Pursuit Rallies for you too as well as grants an ally +1/+1. I like to do it on a turn where I have already attacked, so I can keep my major buffs, and attack again. We can buff Poppy or someone else with Sharpsight (+2/+2 and can block Elusives this round). So as you can see, this is a deck that rolls people over with a tempo of useful allies. Then past turn 6, we start ramping up, buff everyone to extreme levels, and swing lethal. Very easy to pilot.

Decklist

Champions:

Jayce (4) x3

Poppy (4) x3

 

Followers:

Fleetfeather Tracker (1) x3

Brightsteel Protector (2) x3

Ferros Financier (2) x3

Laurent Protege (3) x3

Vanguard Sergeant (3) x3

Ferros Skycruiser (4) x3

Cithria the Bold (6) x1

 

Spells:

Thermogenic Beam (0) x2

Ranger’s Resolve (1) x2

Sharpsight (2) x3

Golden Aegis (4) x2

Relentless Pursuit (4) x1

Assembly Line (6) x2

Back to Back (6) x1

Shock Blast (6) x2

Deck Code

CECAIAIAAYEQWHIDAUCBMGA4AEBQADQBAUFCSBABAECBWAICAADQCBAAAIBAKBA2DMAQGAIACUUTG

I already loved Poppy, and I like Jayce as a card. I could see this becoming really frustrating. You just build up a wall of creatures, and at the perfect time, you deliver a horrifying, unstoppable killing blow. With enough mana, you could buff, and attack twice in one turn, ensuring a complete annihilation of the other player. Sure, there are other champions that work great with Jayce, but Poppy might be my favorite right now.

Now that I’ve seen some of ARCANE: League of Legends, this deck just feels right to talk about. Turns out, Jayce and Heimerdinger work fantastic together. It’s not really a spell deck despite running 19 of them. That’s because we want that sweet 6-drop Heimerdinger mecha – MK6: FLOOR-B-GONE. A 6/1 Elusive, that we can double-dip on thanks to Level 2 Jayce? Oh yes, that’s going to be frustrating. If we pair this with Shock Blast, we can deal 18 damage in one turn. It does require It’s 20 damage if we have both Level 2 Heimerdinger also. So in theory, this is an OTK deck!

We just have to get there, and everything has to be perfect. Even if we don’t do that, we can just play 6-cost spells, double-dip on 6/1 Elusives, and just pound someone until we win. We’re going to want lots of Spell Mana for this deck too – fortunately, we’ve got a few ways to refill it without waiting. The Forge of Tomorrow is a fun new Landmark. When it’s summoned, create a Forge Worker – a 3/3 follower. When you cast a 6+ cost spell, destroy this and refill your mana.

The Forge Chief is a 2/1 for 1 that on Strike, refills a point of spell mana too. An incredible turn-1 if you’re on the attack and your foe has no move to make. We can also make some potentially powerful and frustrating tech, thanks to the Adaptatron 3000. Another 1-drop, this ⅓ has you share keywords with it anytime we play a tech card. So anytime we play a Heimerdinger mech, it gets the same keywords.

Ultimately, we want to play two or more 6+ spells to get Level 2 Jayce. Ferros Financier as we’ve said before helps. It Manifests one from our regions, which could be anything. As a 2-drop card, it’s a great way to slow the game down while also getting a benefit and a defender/attacker. We can also run the Hextech Handler for a Quick Attack 3/2 that buffs all Tech allies everywhere by +1/+1 once we cast a 6+ spell while it’s out.

If we do this a few times, our Mechs always come in bigger and better. That’s why we want the turn-5 Heimerdinger so bad. Whenever we cast a spell, we get a Fleeting turret in hand, with an equal cost, and we cast it for 0 mana. It means we always have threats. He’s a 2/4 for 5 and has to summon 12+ Power of Turrets to hit level 2. So even if he’s not level 2 quickly, Level 2 Jayce will get us there.

Being able to duplicate our first 6+ spell each turn means we get two minimum 6/1 Elusives. They could come out even stronger. Level 2 Heimerdinger gives them +1/+1 for example, then there’s the Hextech Handler. Our 6-cost spells are Assembly Line for more units, Minimorph to completely weaken a threat, and Shock Blast for 3 damage to the enemy Nexus or unit, and then another 3 to a different target. That’s the strategy!

We have plenty of lower-cost minions to hold the board and maybe sneak some pressure/damage out while we wait on the final blow. We want Level 2 Jayce and hopefully Level 2 Heimerdinger out at once. That means we can get two 6/1s (minimum stats) each turn we cast a 6+ cost spell. If our opponent has no Elusives/no way to block them, we’re just going to mash someone down in one attack. We can also use Flash of Brilliance to create a 6+ cost spell in hand, and refill our Spell Mana, for 3 mana. Other than that, we hold people off with lower spells.

Mystic Shot for 2 damage, Pokey Stick for 1 damage, 1 draw, Thermogenic Beam where we dump all of our mana for that much damage to one unit, and Production Surge to spend all of our mana, and also summon random Turrets whose total cost equals that mana spent. We can use this with Heimerdinger to help him level up also. From here, you just hit those huge Elusives and win in one or two rounds.

Decklist

Champions:

Jayce (4) x3

Heimerdinger (5) x3

 

Landmarks:

The Forge of Tomorrow (3) x3

 

Followers:

Adaptatron 3000 (1) x1

Forge Chief (1) x2

Conchologist (2) x3

Ferros Financier (2) x3

Hextech Handler (3) x3

 

Spells:

Production Surge (0) x2

Thermogenic Beam (0) x2

Mystic Shot (2) x3

Pokey Stick (2) x2

Flash of Brilliance (3) x3

Assembly Line (6) x3

Minimorph (6) x2

Shock Blast (6) x2

Deck Code

CEBQCBIKGECQKBAVCYMBUHIDAECBANBYAQAQIBAOAEAQIGYCAUCBSGYCAUFADJQBAEAQIBAP

In a perfect world, we can win around Round 8 or so I think if we want a one-turn kill? Still doing the math on that. Less, depending on how our opponent and spell mana shake out. If we can cast the 6-cost spells early on turns we’re doing nothing, we can just drop a turn 5 or so Level 2 Jayce. I’ve always been bad at math, but I like the idea. We’ve got just enough cards to hold people off until we’re ready to just mow someone down in one turn. Huge fan of this as a potential bit of silly frustration.

Ezreal and Jayce are the Heroes of Piltover, in their own ways. Jayce is responsible for helping bring Hextech to life, and through that, Ezreal got his rad gauntlet to zap dorks with. Usually me, in bot lane. Not that I’m bitter. Legends of Runeterra sees a really exciting combo among these decks, pairing Ezreal and Jayce. Whenever we cast spells, we get extra damage thanks to Ezreal, Jayce duplicates our first big spell each round. We can also double-cast other spells thanks to Mirror Mage and Station Archivist. There are a wealth of frustrating cards in this deck, and I’m totally here for it. It’s not exactly aggro, but it can pile on damage pretty fast.

I’m a pretty big fan of Jayce, and there are a lot of different ways to utilize him. We can pair him with Zedd for a sudden overflow of ridiculous damage, but this one is probably going to go just a tiny bit slower. But thanks to our wealth of spells targeting enemies, we can drop Level 2 Ezreal easily, and if Jayce comes late, he may show up as Level 2 Jayce as well. Ez is still amazing though, and we’re going to want to drop him early and just start blasting enemies with him.

When he hits an enemy Nexus, he creates a Fleeting Mystic Shot (2-cost spell, Fast, deal 2 to anything) in your hand. As a ⅓ Elusive, when we’ve targeted enemies 6+ times, he levels up. Now he becomes a 2/4, still Elusive, he still creates that Fleeting Mystic Shot. Now, when you cast a spell, deal 1 to the enemy Nexus. But if you targeted an enemy unit, deal 2 to the enemy Nexus instead.

This is an amazing deck for Forge Chief. Her ability to refill 1 spell mana when she strikes is wonderful. You can use a spell, kill an enemy follower, attack with this, refill 1 spell mana, and use another spell. Or we can just use her once, defeat someone, and get the mana to cast another spell. The new Station Archivist really helps this deck too. When she’s put into play, pick a spell from your top 5 cards, and create an exact Fleeting copy of it in hand. So does this when you’ve got spare mana.

Of course, Albus Ferros is here to help us deal more damage each time it attacks, and also draws us a Jayce. If things really go on long, Mirror Mage is going to seal the deal. Sure it’s an 8-cost, but it’s a 4/7 and duplicates everything we do. Whenever we play a created follower, summon an exact copy. We aren’t going to use that much. Whenever we play a created spell, cast it again on the same targets.

Suddenly, Ezreal is very terrifying. Create a Mystic Shot, hit the enemy Nexus with it, deal an extra 2 damage to it, plus the extra damage Level 2 Ezreal does! This isn’t a must for the deck, but it’s sure nice. The idea is that we’re going to blow away the enemy front line to level up Ezreal. Thermogenic Beam, Mystic Shot, Pokey Stick, these are all back again. Flash of Brilliance is here too to get another 6+ cost spell. But what about more damage to targets?

Aftershock costs 4 and deals 3 to anything, or destroy a landmark. Statikk Shock drops for 4 as well (Fast instead of Slow), and deals 1 to an enemy or the enemy Nexus, and 1 to another – and also draws a card. If we’ve created two+ cards this game, we can play Hidden Pathways for 3 instead of 5, and it has us Draw 2. Shock Blast is back again for 3 to an enemy or the enemy Nexus, and 3 to another – and is one of our 6+ spells.

Trueshot Barrage is a 7-cost, so it also fits that bill. It deals 3 to an enemy or the enemy Nexus, 2 to another, and 1 to another. So we’re going to really want to duplicate that for Jayce. Finally, for a late-game bomb for Ezreal (that has happened to me many times), Progress Day! It’s an 8-cost that has us Draw 3, and reduce those cards’ costs by 1. We’re going to spend the early game hammering down the enemy units while conserving some spells for Level 2 Ez. When the time comes to drop those 6+ spells, (hopefully via Spell Mana), we can have Level 2 Jayce, and start dropping serious numbers.

Say we have Level 2 of both champs. We cast Trueshot Barrage, which deals a total of 6 damage to the enemy Nexus, 4 to a unit, and 2 to a unit, and it deals an extra 2 damage to the Nexus, thanks to Ezreal. Then we hit with Ezreal, to create a Mystic Shot. We cast it, hitting for 2, and an additional 1. If we have Mirror Mage, we do that 3 damage yet again. That’s nearly an OTK, again. This is a little bit aggro, a little bit control.

Decklist

Champions:

Ezreal (3) x3

Jayce (4) x3

 

Followers:

Fallen Feline (1) x2

Forge Chief (1) x3

Ferros Financier (2) x3

Station Archivist (3) x3

Albus Ferros (7) x1

Mirror Mage (8) x1

 

Spells:

Thermogenic Beam (0) x2

Mystic Shot (2) x3

Pokey Stick (2) x3

Flash of Brilliance (3) x2

Aftershock (4) x1

Statikk Shock (4) x2

Hidden Pathways (5) x1

Minimorph (x1

Shock Blast (6) x3

Trueshot Barrage (7) x1

Progress Day! (8) x1

Deck Code

CEBQKBIEBQLBQGI3AMAQIEBEGQAQKCVGAEBAEAIEDMPQCBAEAICACAYEBMBQKCQBDKLQCAIFAQPQEAIEAQYQ

One of my least favorite ways to lose is via Ezreal. I’ll be doing great, get them down to single digits. Then out of nowhere, they barrel down, drop four or five spells in one turn and I lose. When you combine that with Jayce’s duplication of a 6+ spell and using Mirror Mage for maximum suffering. You could easily win with just Ezreal, thanks to how strong he is. Though I do have to say, I enjoy Jayce and feel like he fits in with Ez perfectly.

Of course, these two find themselves together in a deck! And why not? They both have a serious love. Not of justice, or progress, but 6+ spells! That’s right! We’re going to want to keep the enemy board clear of threats and push the enemy around with Lux’s Final Spark. Since it deals 4 damage to the Nexus if the enemy board has no units on it, we’re going to bully them as hard as we possibly can. I like the idea of this one, but I don’t know that it’s going to be a major threat. It may not be Tier 1, but I like the idea.

 As with all decks focused around 6+ spells, they aren’t especially fast. It does have an early game, and a solid one too. Forge Chief makes another appearance, shock of shocks. They’re a solid early-game card and give us Spell Mana. Ferros Financier is here to grant us a 6+ spell and to also have an early-game 2/2 on board. The Forge of Tomorrow will grant us a 3/3 Forge Worker, and once we’ve cast that first 6+ spell, we refill our spell mana! It will reward us for doing it earlier it feels, and I’m done with that.

On top of that, we’re going to bring back the Vanguard Sergeant. A 3-drop, he grants us a 6-cost For Demacia card, and we’re definitely going to want to use these as often as possible. We can use it early to clear the board, and we can hold onto one for Level 2 Jayce, since getting +6/+6 for all party members is terrifying. It’s a great way to win the game.

We’ve already talked plenty about Jayce. Level 2 Jayce doubling the first 6+ spell each round is incredible and filled with value. How does Lux fit into this whole concept? She’s a ⅗ for 5 with Barrier, so she’s already decent. But when she’s seen you cast 6+ mana of spells, she levels up. When she does, create a Final Spark in hand.

Final Spark is a great spell, a 0-cost spell that deals 4 damage to an enemy. But if there are no enemies it hits the Nexus instead. Now that you have Level 2 Lux, she’s a 4/6 and when you cast 6+ mana of spells, create a Final Spark! This makes her incredibly useful, to be honest. She can bombard people with Final Sparks, depending on how you cast your spells.

We don’t have to just cast 6+ spells for her, either. It just tracks up to 6 and then resets for the next Final Spark. We aren’t running a ton of spells though. Remembrance, where we want to cast it as a 6 cost and not less. It costs 1 less for each ally that died this round and summons a random 5-cost Demacian. It’s an excellent way to get two 5-cost followers through Jayce.

We also have Assembly Line to again, create 3/3 Forge Workers. They’re handy and great if we can keep them around for the double-up For Demacia. Having 9/9s is nothing to sneeze at. We also use lower-cost spells for the early game, like Mystic Shot, which we used in the previous deck. Again, Thermogenic Beam is back, too. It uses all of your mana to deal that much damage to an enemy target.

In the late game, if we have spell mana, Radiant Guardian is going to be horrifying. It’s a ⅘ for 5, and when summoned, they gain Lifesteal and Tough if an ally died this round. We drop this after combat, so we have a Lifesteal/Tough ally. That stat line is great, but it could be game over for your foe, if we drop it, and next turn also dropping For Demacia! Suddenly, we’ve got a lot of damage. This isn’t a fast deck, though. We can start whittling away at people sort of early, and if we can keep the board clear of opponents, we can just push people over. Then, the blasts of Final Spark go raining down.

Decklist

Champions:

Jayce (4) x3

Lux (5) x3

 

Landmarks:

The Forge of Tomorrow (3) x3

 

Followers:

Forge Chief (1) x3

Brightsteel Protector (2) x3

Ferros Financier (2) x3

Vanguard Sergeant (3) x3

Aloof Travelers (4) x3

Radiant Guardian (5) x3

Albus Ferros (7) x2

 

Spells:

Thermogenic Beam (0) x2

Mystic Shot (2) x3

Assembly Line (6) x3

Remembrance (6) x3

Deck Code

CECACAIEGQAQKCUYAECQKBAVCYMBSGQFAEAAMCIPEEVAEAIBAQNQCBIED4AA

If nothing else, this is a really interesting deck. I feel like we can do more with it though. Maybe more spells, fewer allies? I’m not sure though. I like this deck concept immensely for casual play though. I wouldn’t necessarily drop into ranked with it, but at the very least, I like the deck idea. You can definitely surprise people and demolish people out of nowhere. It’s very satisfying to suddenly take your decent followers and turn them into beaters to win the game with. I’m very happy with the concept at least. It’s got possibility, and I’m happy with it.

How would you like a 17/17 Elusive for one mana?! If you’re anything like me, you love that idea. In this deck, you aren’t guaranteed to get it every time, but it’s definitely possible. I can’t think of too many cards more frustrating than dropping Zoe for 1 mana and swinging immediately for 17 damage. We can do a lot of really annoying things in this deck to deal lots of damage out of nowhere. A few Elusives are going to be on offer, like the fantastic Subpurrsible. I mean, I think it’s fantastic. This deck also uses my favorite buffing Targon spell to absolutely do someone in – Destiny’s Call.

I may enjoy this more than I do Zoe/Vi if I’m honest. Zoe is going to be incredibly easy to level up in this deck. She’s a 1/1 for 1, and creates a Supercool Starchart in hand (or reduces yours by 1) on Nexus Strike. To level up, she needs to see you play 10 cards with different names. So simple. We don’t even need her to level up, but it sure helps. Level 2 Zoe creates a 0-cost Behold the Infinite upon Nexus Strike, and when you summon an ally, she grants all current allies their keywords. So you can play a Level 2 Zoe if she dies. She grants your Nexus this ability, so you retain it.

Then you play a Zoe and grant all your allies Elusive. Now, the game is close to being over! Now this deck doesn’t have a ton of 6+ spells. We can create them though. We’ve already talked about Ferros Financier, and we’ve got 3 of them in this deck. So that can be 3 6+ cost spells to make sure Jayce shows up as level 2. Lunari Priestess and Solari Priestess can both Invoke us cards that cost 6 mana. In particular, we could get Falling Comet, a 6-cost Slow Spell that Obliterates an enemy unit or landmark.

If our enemy has cast a 6+ spell, we can take a risk with Spell Thief. It lets us pick from 3 enemy spells played in this game, and creates a copy for us. Also helps with Zoe. We also have Iterative Improvement to make a copy of our Ferros Financier, once we get one. It creates a copy of a follower and put it in our hand, granting it +1/+1.

We are using some of the fantastic Targon buff spells, like Pale Cascade, Sunblessed Vigor, and heals like Guiding Touch. We can also use Starshaping to Invoke a Celestial car that costs 7 or more, heals an ally (or our Nexus) for 4 as well. Not all of the Celestial cards are creatures! With luck, we pull Cosmic Inspiration, which is a 7-cost. If we Behold a Celestial card, grant allies everywhere +2/+2. With Level 2 Jayce, our allies gain +4/+4 permanently, everywhere.

As far as our in-board 6+ spells, we have Shock Blast and Destiny’s Call. Shock Blast is quality damage, and we can also draw into Jayce to get more of them. We have one Destiny’s Call, but it’s the big way to win, in my estimation. A Burst Spell, it grants an ally in hand +8/+8. With Jayce’s duplication, now they gain +16/+16! Do this when we have a clear attack lined up. With Zoe for example, it’s going to be rude.

She’s not our only Elusive though. We have the 5-cost Subpurrsible, which is a ⅕. It gains +4/+0 though if you’ve played at least 10 cards with different names.

Decklist

Champions:

Zoe (1) x3

Jayce (4) x3

 

Followers:

The Flight (1) x1

Ferros Financier (2) x3

Loping Telescope (2) x3

Mountain Goat (2) x1

Lunari Priestess (3) x1

Solari Priestess (3) x2

Subpurrsible (5) x2

 

Spells:

Thermogenic Beam (0) x2

Spell Thief (1) x1

Guiding Touch (2) x1

Iterative Improvement (2) x2

Mystic Shot (2) x3

Pale Cascade (2) x2

Sunblessed Vigor (2) x2

Aftershock (4) x1

Starshaping (5) x2

Shock Blast (6) x2

Destiny’s Call (8) x1

Deck Code

CECACAYJBEBAKBAWDAAQKCVPAEAQCBBUAUAQCBA3AEBQIDIEAMESGVDAMIBAKBAVDMAQEBABAMCQGCJKGNFVZVQBAEBQICYBAQEQY

Now, this deck I like. I’m a huge fan of doing ridiculous amounts of damage out of nowhere. Subpurrsible and Zoe aren’t our only ways to win either, since we have tons of possible Celestial cards to Invoke. But my preferred way is to hold Zoe until the very end, drop her as a 17/17, and swing for lethal damage. It’s incredibly satisfying, but you could get there faster, that’s for sure. Zoe’s great, and Jayce is great, and they’re great as a team together.