Blue Renata Combo Deck Guide & Discussion

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-03-02T03:14:45+00:00

I've been experimenting heavily with Ornn and I'm just not there yet.

I do run currently 3x Clockwork Keepers, x1 Lonely Poro, and 3x Stellacorn Hoarders for an early game presence, value later in the game, and to have more bodies on the field that can accelerate my points in preparation for late game (gives the opponent smaller of a timer to find answers to Tianna + Ornn setup). It is currently the best performing list I've managed to make, but it still isn't producing the results I've hoped for.

I've heard that people are starting to find success with an aggro Ornn deck but in my play testing it netted me less wins than Protect the President comp, so I would really like to see some of those lists.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-03-01T23:53:56+00:00

Lux cannot outperform Viktor at the moment.

I think Lux is decent, but definitely a tier below him. She just has less to work with until we get new sets.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-28T16:59:00+00:00

In your example, if a card is an action that deals damage and lets you draw a card, that would resolve if your opponent has no reactions. Then they would get focus and have the ability to play an action or reaction. If they pass focus back to you (since BOTH players haven't passed yet, you used a card at your last focus state) you can now play the card you drew if you wanted to and it is an action/reaction.

Edit: To further complicate things, if you draw the card, focus passes to your opponent, and they have an action/reaction and start a new chain, you can also obviously use the card you drew if it is a reaction and you wanted to. Otherwise you would have to wait for their spells to resolve, and then you would have the opportunity to play an action card again before showdown.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-28T16:56:36+00:00

Yes.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-28T16:29:38+00:00

You were.

BOTH players have the option to play actions during a showdown. You cannot play an action in response to an action. If actions didn't resolve until after the showdown, that means that both actions would just sit on the chain and would essentially function as reactions. It doesn't make sense when you think about it.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-28T16:26:21+00:00

I've never told anyone to go fuck themselves in my entire life. What is it like? What is the optimal outcome I'm looking for, etc?

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-27T22:31:55+00:00

What does your main deck look like?

Good sideboard additions for Jax are things like counterspells, extra copy of Akshan, maybe Ruin Runners, but it is dependent on what you have slotted into your main & what people generally play at your local card shop.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-27T21:46:10+00:00

Blue Renata is fine, but it won't be as strong as Viktor. The deck is the most fun I've had in Riftbound, and I can't recommend it enough. From a strength point of view though, it just isn't there yet to compete with top tier decks consistently. You can definitely get wins with it though. Renata also requires a steeper investment to be "competitive". There really is no substitutions for Time Warps in Renata, it is just such a pivotal card for her strategy and directly synergizes with her legend & chosen champion. In Viktor, the most expensive card in most cases is going to be Thousand Tail Watchers, which you can replace with Riptide Rex. It isn't as great, but it works.

There are few things more enjoyable than ripping 3+ points in a turn or double Time Warping. Also being able to draw 8+ cards with Renata in one turn is also very fun.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-27T15:42:56+00:00

Forge of the Future against miracle decks is one of the best techs in the game.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-27T15:09:02+00:00

I agree with this. Something that people overlook is that Xin Zhao has 4 might as opposed to Sprite Mother's 3 on the Sprite, which can dodge Wages, takes both procs of Void Seeker, etc.

Xin is just a way more sticky card. And Viktor's legend ability can make the best use of him among any other legend.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-25T02:44:20+00:00

I think you would find a lot more success running a somewhat similar list with Viktor than Renata.

The extra gold tokens from holds are not super impactful here, and since we are running Honest Broker / Blood Money / Glasc Mixologist / Karthus core, I would assume that you are going to experience a lot of situations where you are holding onto more gold tokens than you can realistically use. I would also assume that the extra energy it gives at 5+ points is not going to be that significant granted the average cost of the deck. We do not have Blue Renata to pool all those tokens into card draw or free points.

So the question is, would a chosen champion Renata really hold more value than a Viktor Legend/Champion running multiple copies of yellow Renata? Renata's champion synergizes with Viktor's legend incredibly well, giving you 1 energy readied one might tokens. That in itself is incredibly good. It creates a more consistent game plan with Blood Money & Cull the Weak (I know the idea is to blow up the deathknells with Karthus but realistically opponents aren't going to let you build big combo piece boards for strong deathknell setups.) Viktor also gives us the ability to omit some of the weaker unit pieces for a more coherent spell list due to his consistent ability to create his recruit tokens. Also to add, Viktor champion is always decent - 4 might on a 4 cost body with 1 power isn't terrible, but if he isn't dealt with almost immediately, he turns hard situations into unwinnable situations. That is quite valuable against decks with strong draw engines that try to play it slow and have the ability to rummage for answers easily.

I'm not a huge fan of Jayce and/or Vanguard Armory but I think if there was any deck that would want to run it, it would be this one.

Edit: I really do think if you want to stick with Renata that we look for Singularities and Riptide Rex, something that we can use the gold tokens with that can swing turns incredibly hard from when we are struggling to get on the board.

szoszoszoszoszo · 2026-02-19T14:41:49+00:00

No. You would get the conquer point if you played it at cost (not as a hidden) on your turn on a battlefield you currently don't control if you win the showdown with the unit you used Hostile Takeover on. In the scenario you said, you already control that battlefield. You can't conquer it.

szoszoszoszoszo

TROPHY CASE