Riftbound: Deck Tech - Draven Ram Rhasa Combo

Today, we'll show you how to play Draven Ram Rhasa Combo with Draven Glorious Executioner.

Currently, this list is defining the meta and is considered the best competitive deck in the game. This particular version won the Winter League Bologna in the hands of Gianluca Di Clemente.

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 strategy is to set up an explosive turn with Called Shot + Ezreal - Prodigy + Seal of Discord. You'll draw lots of cards, which will discount the cost of your Battering Ram. You also discount the cost of your Rhasa the Sunderer because you'll put lots of spells and units in your trash.

If you play your combos right, you'll end up with a board full of units you played for practically no cost at all. Meanwhile, your opponent will have to figure out a way to win with their mid-game cards.

This deck will also keep putting pressure on the enemy board with strong units even if you don't play the main combo because these units are ready to win showdowns. That means this list is strong at all points of the game, beginning, middle, and end. You might even start off a bit slow as you set up your hand to play your combo, but you'll gain a lot of traction quite soon.

Draven Glorious Executioner is considered the best Legend in Spiritforged both because of his colors and because of his effect.

In set 1, purple/red Annie decks were extremely dominant. This Draven list features many ideas that are originally from this archetype, but it is a bit more aggressive and easier to understand: draw cards, discount the cost of your units, and win showdowns. That's how you'll win with it.

His passive effect is extremely powerful and a classic example of how early game purple units work, as they center around winning showdowns. Fight or Flight and even Overzealous Fan win showdowns very easily when you pair them with another card in play, even if you can't match or overcome the stats on enemy units.

The cool thing about this list is that, even when it comes to stats, you'll end up beating your opponent with Vi - Destructive, your main champion Draven - Vanquisher, and, finally, the combo that names the deck: Battering Ram and Rhasa the Sunderer. All of these cards already have or gain enough stats to compete with any unit in the meta.

This unit kickstarts this list into a snowball.

The secret behind this unit, and the entire deck in fact, is that you must wait for your opponent to conquer a battlefield first, then you go and fight for their battlefield. So, ideally, you should play him in your base and attack enemy units.

You can play him as an aggressive unit and conquer an open battlefield early on. However, he'll be more vulnerable to removals this way, and you'll also not draw cards with your Legend's effect. So, I recommend you try to get into showdowns with enemy units.

Zaun Warrens is this list's main battlefield. Some players even call it Warrens Draven because of it. The reason this battlefield is great in this strategy is quite obvious: you'll draw lots of cards, fill your trash, and discount the cost of Rhasa the Sunderer with it. Tip: you can lose by deckout with this list, particularly in mirror matches or against other purple/red decks. So, keep an eye out when you conquer this battlefield in the late game so you don't go overboard.

Targon's Peak is useful against decks that can remove your units. With it, you'll set up your runes so that you can play Hard Bargain as an answer to their removals. Usually, you'll save this board for your third match in case your opponent isn't playing this type of deck.

Minefield is a chaotic version of Zauns Warrens. You'll speed up Rhasa the Sunderer considerably with it, but you might discard your important cards as well. You'll often save this battlefield for game 2, yet some pessimistic players like to open with this battlefield. It's up to you whether you prefer to start ahead or start with the "nerfed"/chaotic version of your main battlefield.

Early Game

The main idea early on is to draw cards, set up your board for your combo and conquer a few points as well.

That's why this list plays Seal of Discord, which is just one among the many cards the community considers "bait" cards. Seal of Discord is a bit more specific in this list. You don't really have a way to get all the Power you need to play your cards during the Called Shot combo. So, Seal of Discord is essential because it gives you the Power you need to use Called Shot and draw cards.

Ezreal - Prodigy is also essential. Without him, you can't pay for your Called Shots without compromising your resources.

Treasure Hunter, which goes into play as soon as turn 2, is a way to pay for all of these costs as well.

With any energies you still have left, you must play Stacked Deck so that you can draw your Battering Ram or Rhasa the Sunderer.

You can also play the Traveling Merchant + Scrap Heap combo in the early game, or Scrap Heap + Zaun Warrens. Vi - Destructive and Draven - Vanquisher might also appear early on in your base, as you wait for your opponent to conquer a battlefield so that you can attack with them.

Mid Game

Bushwack is essential, particularly before you play your combo. This card practically wins the game on its own and makes your explosive turns even more lethal because, with it, all your units (which will go into play practically for free) will be ready as soon as they hit the board.

At this time, Rhasa and Battering Ram must go into play so that you can bury your opponents with all their stats.

Use Overzealous Fan to protect your units. You should play him on a battlefield you've already conquered so that you can disable an enemy attack completely and prevent your Ram or Rhasa from taking any damage.

End Game

If you didn't end the game by this point, you can play Last Rites to return to the board all the units you've lost. Try to bring Rhasa back with it whenever possible.

Use Rebuke to deal with your opponent's finishers, like Thousand-Tailed Watcher and Fizz - Trickster to return useful key spells, like Rebuke itself or Falling Star.

This deck is dominating the meta nowadays, and is the list to be beaten. It has an advantage against nearly everything.

Against Kai'Sa, Annie, and Rek'Sai, you might struggle because they're all equally aggressive. They're built to win combats, just like this list. So, these matchups are pretty intense, and both sides can win. Your deck could mow these lists down during the combo. However, if you can't play the combo right or get unlucky when you discard cards with Minefield, you might give them a huge advantage. They'll conquer battlefields and build a strong board before you can.

Viktor is an annoying matchup and harder than it seems. You can deal with all their Tokens, but Viktor can deal with your board. The secret to this matchup is to try to play more than one Rhasa or Ram on the board at once. Like so, you'll lock down Viktor, and they'll have to deal with your cards on different turns. Don't play unit per unit against them, or you'll end up losing. Play all of them at once.

This sideboard either removes Gears or improves a few matchups.

Hard Bargain is great against Kai'Sa, Annie, and any green deck.

Switcheroo is strong against Watcher and other orange lists that play Punch First (so, all of them).

Falling Star and Brynhir Thundersong are great in mirror matches. Brynhir is great against Viktor and Ezreal as well.

Thermo Beam will make sure you have an answer against Aurora lists.

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

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Thank you for reading, and see you next time!