Riftbound: Deck Tech - Voltron Irelia

Today, we'll show you how to play Voltron Irelia with Irelia Blade Dancer.

This deck is quite competitive, as well as one of the few in the game nowadays that focuses on investing resources on a single unit (that's why it's called a Voltron list). It is one of the most popular ways to play Irelia, and quite promising for the set 2 tournaments that are soon to come.

Before we begin, however, let me introduce myself. My name is Total, and I used to cast Legends of Runeterra tournaments professionally. I covered all the official tournaments, including Worlds, and I am known for creating deck guides for LoR as well. Now, I am a part of the Riftbound community!

The main idea behind this deck is to conquer and hold your battlefields with your main champion, Irelia Fervent. You'll set up a series of defensive spells in your hand to protect her before you even put her in play. Once you have enough resources to protect her, your opponents will most likely not have enough stats to deal with her. Eventually, you'll win by exhausting your opponent's resources or through pressure, by attacking them several times in a row.

This list might, theoretically, be able to deal with anything your opponent throws at you to remove your units, but you'll only play one unit nonetheless, which is often a gigantic disadvantage. So, you'll have to be patient and set up a strong hand before you even try to hold or conquer a battlefield.

Irelia Blade Dancer has a very particular effect that is actually extremely powerful if you build a deck that can take advantage of it. In other lists that have more units and different win conditions, this effect might seem a bit expensive, but, in this Voltron-style list, it is actually part of your win condition.

With this list, you'll play explosive turns and uneventful turns, one after another. In some turns, you won't do much, and, in others, you'll do several things in a row.

In those explosive turns, you'll often use your Legend's effect to conquer more than once and interact with your Irelia - Fervent.

Please note that this deck plays lots of cards that cost Power, including Irelia Blade Dancer's effect, which costs 1 Power. This means you'll always have "less resources" than your opponent in comparison. So, once again, you need to set up your explosive turns really well before you spend any resource.

Besides your main champion, Irelia Fervent is your main win condition and the heart of this deck.

What makes this champion so strong is that you play her directly from your champion zone. If it weren't for her, this deck probably wouldn't exist.

Furthermore, her Deflect effect is quite powerful nowadays, considering purple is still a very dominant color in the meta. In most matches, your opponent will be forced to recycle runes to deal with your Irelia. In other cases, they'll be forced to either match or overcome her stats in combat.

Overcoming her in combat is extremely difficult because she gets +1 Might whenever you choose her, and, because this list is also green, nearly all cards in it target allied units.

Ravenbloom Conservatory is your main battlefield, particularly because this list centers around defense. You'll certainly be able to use this battlefield's effect to draw cards several times throughout the game because the list only plays 5 units out of 39 cards.

The Dreaming Tree is also a very powerful meta battlefield that makes a lot of sense in this list.

Forgotten Monument is an interesting idea that has been gaining force in this archetype lately. As this list starts off relatively slow, Forgotten Monument is uninteresting for your opponent if they're playing a faster list. So, you'll nearly "force" them to play with only 1 battlefield until turn 3, and that battlefield will be theirs.

This means, you'll eventually fight for your opponent's battlefield while your own battlefield is just a vanilla card on the board. Because of how this deck plays, you'll certainly win showdowns on enemy battlefields and disrupt their strategy considerably.

Early Game

Early on, the idea is drawing as many cards as possible with Stacked Deck and put a few important Gears in your base.

Mask of Foresight doesn't activate Irelia - Fervent's effect because it doesn't choose her. However, it is still a Gear and has a passive effect that will always be active precisely because this list only plays one unit. This card is incredibly strong and will be quite useful to conquer and defend battlefields.

Heart of Dark Ice is a similar Gear, but you can only use it on your turn, and it is not a reaction nor an action. So, try to use it when you attack a battlefield. It will be quite useful to win showdowns when you're attacking your opponent. However, later on, you'll see it is always the first card you'll remove to improve a certain matchup with your sideboard.

Leaving a Zhonya's Hourglass in your base on the first few turns is always a good idea.

Stellacorn Herder comes in on turn 2 and draws more cards for you. Later on, it can also be quite helpful to conquer your second battlefield if you're quite ahead.

Mid-Game

After you play your Gears or fill your hand, it's time to play Irelia - Fervent. Against opponents that can't interact with your base, you may play Irelia - Fervent on curve (turn 3 or turn 2, if you're second to play). However, against red, yellow, or blue decks, you should wait until turn 4 so that you can get enough runes to defend your Irelia from any direct removals.

This is also when you'll equip your Irelia with Guardian Angel and use Defiant Dance, En Garde, and Discipline to defend, attack, and hold battlefields.

End Game

Boots of Swiftness is a sort of finisher. With it, you'll conquer both battlefields at the same time and get your 8th point.

Ride the Wind is also perfect on your last turn, when you want to get your 8th point as fast as possible. It's just like Tideturner, which you can use defensively to protect Irelia or as part of your last combo, when you need to get your 8th point.

Draven - Audacious comes into play when you lose your Irelia. If you "misplay" or your opponent manages to destroy your champion, Draven will be your last resource. You can also use him as an aggressive option to get your 8th point while your Irelia is still in play.

Draven has Deflect as well, but he can't grow as much as Irelia. In exchange, he'll give you more points if he wins a combat, which can be essential in difficult matches when you need to get your 8th point.

This deck can't deal with Aurora, even though some cards in its sideboard can deal with this archetype.

You'll have an advantage against practically all purple decks, particularly against Ezreal, which won't be able to remove your Irelia, not with spells, not with stats. The same applies to Annie, which has a bit more stats to try to deal with your board, but can't "remove" your Irelia without spending nearly all its resources.

Kai'Sa can deal with your Irelia when she is in your base, which is a bit annoying. As a result, this matchup is average to difficult, even if you have all the resources to deal with everything Kai'Sa does. The problem is that Kai'Sa puts a lot of pressure on you when you return your Irelia to your base. You'll have to play slower and always keep a few runes ready to answer your opponent, even when you normally wouldn't do that.

The Draven matchup is a bit more balanced, and both of you can win. The problem is that Draven is faster than you and well-prepared to win showdowns, maybe just as much as you. This means you'll often run out of resources, while Draven will draw a lot of cards, play big units, and set up attacks with multiple of them. Furthermore, Draven can play on both battlefields, which you can't.

You have an advantage against Master Yi, but be very careful with their Punch First. Make sure you have enough stats to deal with this card before you get into a combat. (Tip: play with a calculator if possible).

This sideboard will either remove Gears or improve a few matchups.

Rebuke and Disarming Rake will deal with Aurora lists.

The third copy of Draven and Charm are great against fast lists, particularly Draven.

Hard Bargain works really well against red and green decks, as it lets you fight against enemy spells.

Mystic Reversal is a great way to counter Kai'Sa and other blue decks. You can use it to take control of a Time Warp, Icathian Rain, or Singularity. It's great against Viktor as well.

If you read this far, thank you! I hope you had fun reading this article.

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See you next time!