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The Ornn Trundle deck is a mid-range deck in Legends of Runeterra that really packs a punch. With its focus on Equipment, Overwhelm, and gaining tempo through value trades, this deck can quickly get out of hand for those facing off against it. Not to mention the healthy dosage of luck with Concurrent Timelines….

RELATED: Legends Of Runeterra: Ornn Guide

There is one major variant of this deck that swaps out Ornn for Vi and brings in a couple of more discard cards to the deck in lieu of others. While this may seem like a large change, both versions play very similarly, only Ornn offers more late-game power than Vi does. Either way, only the Ornn Trundle version will be addressed in this article, so let’s dive into it.

General Strategy

Legends of Runeterra split image of Ice pillar and spirit of the ram cards

Sample Decklist:

1 Thermogenic Beam

3 Piltovan Castaway

3 Concurrent Timelines

2 Aloof Travelers

2 Three Sisters

1 Avalanche

3 Zaunite Urchin

3 Combat Cooks

2 Favored Artisan

1 Harsh Winds

3 Ferros Financier

3 Trundle

2 Mystic Shot

3 Ornn

1 Vulpine Wanderer

1 It That Stares

2 Aftershock

2 Buried In Ice

2 Kindly Tavernkeeper

As is the case with most mid-range decks, you’re going to want to curve out as best you can and take the best trades that you can. Ideally, you’ll pick up Concurrent Timelines in your mulligan which will allow you to take better trades (more on that in the next section), but if not, take heart, for Trundle can carry you through the mid-game pretty well with his Regeneration.

Usually, the game-ending combo comes when you can play Trundle’s Ice Pillar and turn it into a different, much scarier eight-mana follower through Concurrent Timelines, and then still have eight mana left over to play even more cards. This is a massive tempo swing in your favor and will often be difficult for your opponent to answer. So, as long as you can reach that play, you’re in good shape.

Mulligan

Legends of Runeterra Concurrent Timelines card

The number one rule when playing the Ornn Trundle deck is that you want to mulligan Concurrent Timelines. This card is essential to play as early as you possibly can, as it makes your game significantly stronger. If you don’t get it, you’re at a disadvantage, but not one that can’t be overcome.

Other than that, you’re generally going to want to mulligan low-costing followers. You don’t necessarily need to keep removal spells in your hand (unless you're against an aggro deck, as you’ll see later in this article), and it’s not even the worst idea to send your whole mulligan back no matter what you got to try and pick up Concurrent Timelines. That said, some good followers to have in your opening hand are Favored Artisan, Piltovan Castaway, and Kindly Tavernkeeper.

Combat Cook is a great follower to keep in your mulligan, but typically only if you’ve found Concurrent Timelines.

Win Conditions

Legends of Runeterra split image of Ornn, Spirit of the Ram, Ice Pillar, and Buried in Ice cards

The Ornn Trundle deck has a few win conditions, some more obvious than others, so let’s look at them.

  • Ornn: Ornn is your most apparent win condition due to how powerful a late-game champion he is between his own stats and those of his Spirit of the Ram. That said, he will only be as such against control decks or the later end of a game against another mid-range deck. If the game you’re in is picking up steam early on, playing Ornn is a bit clunky unless your battlefield is already prepared to receive him with good Equipment and a level-up.
  • Trundle: Trundle is your most potent win condition when it comes to the mid-range playstyle. Being five mana for a four-attack, six-health body with Regeneration is incredible for trading, not to mention he gets Overwhelm when he levels up.
  • Ice Pillar: The Ice Pillar you receive upon playing Trundle, while only a zero-attack, six-health body, can turn into an extremely threatening eight-mana minion if your Concurrent Timelines is active. So, with the possibility of turning your Ice Pillar into a heavy-hitting minion, it can easily become a win condition, considering how many scary eight-mana followers are out there.
  • It That Stares: It That Stares follows the same logic as the Ice Pillar. Granted, you don’t necessarily need to have Concurrent Timelines active to turn this eight-attack, eight-health minions into a win condition; all you need to do is give it Overwhelm, which is easy enough with your Stance Swap from Vulpine Wanderer or the Overwhelm Equipment generated from your Improvise followers.
  • Buried in Ice: This spell can easily lead to you winning (typically against mid-range decks), as long as your opponent doesn’t come out with a Deny to stop its cast. By entombing all your opponent’s minions, you leave their Nexus wide open for a full-on assault of your own minions.
  • Combat Cook: Turning Combat Cook into a win condition is incredibly situational, but nonetheless possible. This can happen under the following circumstances:
    • You have Concurrent Timelines active.
    • You transform him into an extremely powerful four-mana follower.
    • You Improvise the perfect keyworded Equipment to complement the extremely powerful four-mana follower you turned him into.

Chances are your Combat Cook will only become a win condition if you’re against an aggro deck. Against other mid-range or control decks, your opponent will likely be able to deal with this potent amalgamation without too much fuss.

RELATED: Legends Of Runeterra: What Is Equipment?

Playing Against Aggro Decks

Legends of Runeterra Kindly Taverkeeper card

To successfully play against aggro decks, you need to mulligan a hand filled with early-game minions so you can properly contest the board. On top of that, you’re going to want at least one Mystic Shot or an Aftershock (or a Thermogenic Beam in lieu of either). It’s essential that you trim their board as best you can, because the second they can get two or more minions on the battlefield than you, you’re in deep trouble.

Kindly Tavernkeeper and Avalanche are great cards to have against aggro decks due to the healing and waveclear they provide, respectively. Just bear in mind that getting Concurrent Timelines in your starting hand is not as essential as it would be against other decks. So, if you manage to mulligan a perfect curve with one spell and three low-costing minions, don’t swap any out in search of it. Stick with what you got and hope you can survive with it.

Playing Against Mid-range Decks

Legends of Runeterra Trundle rank one card

Dealing with mid-range decks really comes down to who can trade better (and gain more tempo as a result). To do so, if you find Trundle in your mulligan and you have sufficient cards to get you through the early game (and a Concurrent Timelines, of course), you can consider keeping him in your hand, as he’ll help you trade quite a bit.

If things get too out of hand against a mid-range deck, that’s when the control aspect of the Ornn Trundle deck comes in: Buried in Ice. You don’t even need to follow it up with It That Stares the next turn to destroy all the Frozen Tombs if you can win with what you have on your board already.

Playing Against Control Decks

Legends of Runeterra The Darkin Saga: Awakening Ornn Card And Art

Control decks can be tough match-ups if you don’t get Concurrent Timelines early on. The reason for this is that your minions’ base stats are quite poor for their mana cost, and even with the Equipment they Improvise, they’re still nowhere near as threatening as they could be with a good Concurrent Timelines switcheroo.

With that in mind, you’re going to want to pressure them as best you can, with or without your Concurrent Timelines. This might end up being difficult to do depending on how you draw, but this deck isn’t necessarily meant to go toe-to-toe with a control deck. However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible, for if the stars align and you get Concurrent Timelines in your mulligan, and Trundle and Ornn leveled up, you’re in good hands.

Tips

  • Things may not go as planned, and you may not have Concurrent Timelines active for Trundle’s Ice Pillar. If that’s the case, don’t wait to draw it and just play the Ice Pillar, especially if you need to generate some tempo.
  • Don’t be too worried about Recall spells, as your units with Overwhelm will still hit your opponent’s Nexus even if their blockers are Recalled.
  • When Improvising, if you can find an Overwhelm Equipment without putting yourself in a bad position, grab it. You’ll want to put it on Ornn or whatever your Ice Pillar turns into later.
  • Speaking of Improvise, picking up the Scout Equipment can be superb on Ornn too, as you can get him to summon two Spirits of the Ram in one turn for a nice one-turn-kill (OTK).

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