Project K Starter Decks - First Impressions and Review

In this article, I'll give you my first impressions of Project K's first starter decks, which were revealed and tested out at the TFT Macau Open when Riot Games first announced the game. You can test out these lists yourself on "Tabletop Simulator"; If you have Tabletop Simulator on Steam, you just need to download the "Project K" mod.

You must be wondering: "But who are you and why should I listen to you?"

If you don't know me, hi! It's a pleasure. My name is totalmaster, or total for short, and I am a professional E-sports caster. My background is in game design. I dedicated 4 years of my life to casting and analyzing LoR tournaments, and cast official Riot Games tournaments, including all World Championships and Seasonal Tournaments. I was also ranked top 16 in the Americas in April 2023, and, in the same year, I became a professional card game player.

I am currently migrating to Project K, and I intend to create content for the game. Please, enjoy!

I tested out all of these decks on Tabletop Simulator against other professional LoR players.

Jinx's deck was described as "tricky" by Riot, and, according to them, it is an Aggro deck.

The main idea is to Conquer the Battlefield early on, and get ahead in points as soon as possible. This list plays the "cheapest" units around; they also deal more damage to enemies than any other unit in the game.

It is extremely solid and complex. When played well, it can win any matchup, as it apparently doesn't struggle against the rest of the starter decks - except for Volibear lists if you're playing the 4 player format.

The main mechanic involves discarding cards to discount the cost of your units or activate effects. This is how you'll set up your Rebel Jinx and then attack with her several times during your turn.

This list draws many cards because of Loose Canon Jinx's effect (which is also a Legend). This effect will activate most turns, considering you'll always have just a few cards in hand.

Currently, this is most players' favorite deck, but it struggles to actually win matches. You'll often plateau at 7 points and struggle to finish the game, as this deck isn't the best at Holding battlefields. A player can only get their 8th point if they Hold a battlefield, or if they Conquer all battlefields on a single turn.

To win, you'll probably have to, most of the time, Conquer all Battlefields on a single turn. And, as a result, the secret behind this list is: Score 7 points as fast as possible, and then set up an explosive turn in which you'll play many cards and use many effects to Conquer all battlefields at once.

Like so, you'll first play as an aggro deck, and then take on a combo-focused approach.

Viktor's deck is described as a "Swarm" or "Token" deck, and, according to Riot, is a Control deck.

It is the second-easiest list to pilot. Its effects are simple and straightforward, and impact the Battlefield directly.

It is the only deck that "kills" enemy units directly. So, as a result, in a 1v1 format, it is extremely strong against Volibear decks.

However, in the 4-player format, it is often quite weak against aggressive lists like Jinx and Yasuo, and slightly struggles to control more than one opponent at the same time. You could run out of cards quite fast this way.

Despite its strong effects, it is considered the weakest deck of all, as it relies too much on specific cards that you'll need to play against other specific cards. Depending on how many different decks you face in the 4-player format, Viktor might disable one opponent entirely but get destroyed by all the others.

In any case, it is excellent when you need to Hold the Battlefield, as you can get a lot of power from your 1/1 Token units. Most cards in this deck summon these units, just like your Legend, Viktor - Machine Herald. Besides him, your main cards are Harnessed Dragon (Alatis, if you play or played LoR), and also your mass removal - Unchecked Power. This card clears your board, and is your main tool to deal with Volibear.

It also includes a few cards that "kill" your Tokens to activate effects, which means it is faster than the other control deck, with Volibear. You'll also play units faster.

This deck struggles to Score points in the early and mid game, but is the best of all when you want to Hold a Battlefield. That's because, when you conquer a Battlefield and put all your Tokens in it, you can just play a Siphon Power to give all your allies +1 power and all your enemies -1 power. This way, you'll certainly have enough stats to conquer that Battlefield.

Yasuo's deck is described as very tricky, and, according to Riot, it is a Midrange deck.

This list is truly the most difficult to pilot, and, to play it well, you need to understand everything about Ganking and going back to base.

The idea is to protect your Remorseful Yasuo or Unleashed Kayn, keep Ganking, and go back to base with them several times on a single turn. This way, you'll be able to Score many points at once from Conquering, and, meanwhile, "kill" several enemy units.

This list also plays many combat tricks that buff your units, and deny spells that stop enemy effects. It is particularly strong against Viktor lists, and is currently considered the best deck for 1v1.

However, it might be the worst list for the 4 player format, considering you need a lot of Runes to play it. To play most cards, you'll have to recycle your Runes, and this means you'll always work with less resources whenever you want to deal with your opponents.

This deck is not the fastest, but also doesn't have the strongest "late game". As a result, depending on how many different decks you face in the 4 player format, Yasuo will lose consistently throughout the entire game.

Yasuo is the best in the 2v2 format because it is the best support list out of all the starter decks, and complements other strategies really well.

To win, the Yasuo player needs to either spend many resources to Conquer all Battlefields on a single turn, or spend even more resources to Hold Battlefields until they have 8 points. Both strategies are extremely complex and need a lot of Runes.

Volibear's deck is considered a "Ramp" list, and, according to Riot, it is a Control deck.

It is by far the easiest and strongest deck out of all four.

It is great in every format, but is particularly broken in the 4-player format.

The main idea behind it is to get Runes faster than your opponents so you can eventually play very expensive cards that have extremely strong effects, and giant stats, before anyone else.

This list is not only strong because it gets Runes faster than your opponents, but because its effects are disproportionately absurd when you compare them to other decks' effects. Imposing Volibear, for instance, has 13 power when it is a Defender, and also draws cards whenever an opponent moves to a Battlefield that he isn't in.

To deal with this card, other decks (besides Viktor) need to spend many resources - so many that they probably won't have enough Runes to play anything the next turn. So, while everyone else recovers from Imposing Volibear, the Volibear player gets to play another gigantic card, and once again force the rest of the board to spend all their cards to deal with it. Furious Volibear, for instance, forces your opponents to recycle two Runes (play them back on their Rune pile) so they can target it with effects and spells. This means they'll have to spend even more resources.

This vicious cycle eventually leads the Volibear player to victory. Even though they won't Score any points early on, they'll win the match by simply Holding the Battlefield or Ganking them with gigantic units.

Out of all the 4 starter decks, this was the best build. It includes combat tricks and also damage-based removals, so it has a lot of reach and is actually quite oppressive.

Most of the time, if all opponents don't focus on Volibear straight away, he wins the game.

If there is more than one Volibear at a table, the game turns into a race - whoever gets more Runes first, wins. The only deck that has a shot against Volibear in the 4-player format is Viktor.

In the 1v1 format, Volibear tends to lose to Jinx and is evenly matched against Yasuo, so both of them can win.

Because of Volibear's oppressive nature, if 4 experienced players are playing together, 3 players will focus on removing Volibear and his units. But, as Ramp players usually don't play anything on the first few turns, these matches are often very tedious and long.

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

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See you next time!