With Eternal now playable in Patch 5.6, Azir Irelia quickly became one of the popular decks to pick for the ranked ladder. This is a combo deck that relies on the synergy of Azir’s Sand Soldiers with the many attacks it can set up.
CMCQCBQHEIAQSBYJAIAQEBRKAMCAEBIJBYBQIBYDGNZAKAICAIFACBACBAAQIB25AEDAKAYBBEDQYAAHow to Play
Azir Irelia is an aggressive combo deck, capable of unleashing multiple attacks that can force the opponent to sacrifice their units to block your attacks.
Early Units
All three of these units have a built-in ability to gain stats and become a threat. Sparring Student gains both Power and health for every unit you play, becoming a high-stat attacker that can survive being blocked. Your opponent can’t simply ignore it and allow it to attack the Nexus freely.
Shadow Apprentice and Greenglade Duo are your elusive attackers. Shadow Apprentice is tied to Ephemeral units, meaning Sand Soldiers can buff up his Power. As for Greenglade Duo, she’ll gain +1|0 whenever you summon an ally, forcing the opponent to find an answer to her immediately as she’ll start dealing lots of damage if left unchecked.
The Wider the Stronger
Through Azir and Emperor’s Dias, we can summon Sand Soldiers every time we attack. This adds to the aggressiveness of our attacks and can force resources from the opponent.
Depending on what the opponent has on the board, we might avoid attacking with Azir and let him stay safe behind. We don’t want to lose him to one of the opponent’s blockers since the Sand Soldier he summons is too valuable to lose.
Buff the Attacks
Play Desert’s Wrath as early as possible to start making use of the +1|0 throughout the whole game. It’s preferred to play it on your attack turn to use the Sand Soldiers offensively.
Think of Domination as a leveled Azir that doesn’t summon Sand Soldiers. She’s boosting our attacks by buffing 1-cost allies by +1|0. This means Sand Soldiers and Blades will now be more threatening for as long as Domination is allowed on the board. The Husk she summons can be useful and you’ll want to give it to one of your Champions for added defensive power.
We’re working on leveling up Azir as fast as possible to get access to the damage boost he provides, buffing the Power of your played units, including your Sand Soldiers. The added power can kill blockers easier and push more Nexus damage.
Multiple Attacks
Attacking with blade dance triggers your Azir and Emperor’s Dias, letting you summon Sand Soldiers to join the battle. Irelia is perfect with her Flawless Duet, creating one at the start of your turn or when she’s played.
The Blades attacking will advance both your champions’ level up, putting you a step closer to dominating the game. On level-up, Irelia creates Bladesurge which we’ll use strategically to swap our attackers around to make sure to create favorable trades or even set up the lethal attack. We can more than one Bladesurge through the Blade’s attacking, so we can swap Irelia around with multiple units.
Protection Cards
Players can use Shaped Stone, a low-cost spell, to buff the stats of a certain unit. Since we have multiple landmarks in the deck, we can activate the +2|+1 buff, helping us save a low-health champion, trade with one of the opponent’s units, or push more Nexus damage.
Retreat is the strongest defensive card in this deck, recalling one of your units and letting us summon a 3-cost or less unit with the Return card it creates. We’re holding onto this card to save one of our champions, which are integral part of our game plan.
Although players can use Defiant Dance offensively to create more Sand Soldiers, they can also use it defensively. Recalling a potential threat that can slow the opponent’s game plan and possibly keep one of our key units alive.
Mulligan
Champions are always a keep, they’re an important part of the game plan. Emperor’s Dias and Domination are good to have as well, setting the stage for our early game until champions carry.
Other Cards to Include
Twin Disciplines can be used offensively or defensively. The +3 health is huge to keep your champions alive and keep the pressure going.
Lead and Follow can protect one of your key units or even be used to add pressure. We can recall Ribbon Dancer and replay her, reactivating her blade effect. The Flawless Duet created Lead and Follow also puts offensive pressure, especially if you have an Azir on the board.
As for Blossing Blade, it functions similarly to Ribbon Dancer but with more Blade Dance power. It’s a bit expensive so you’ll only get to play it in the late game.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Can be oppressive once Azir and Irelia level up and join forces.
- Decks with no board interaction will have a rough time against this deck.
- Azir IRelia struggles against aggressive decks. You’ll be forced to play defensively, slowing down your combo aggression.
- Decks capable of dealing with your champions or combo pieces like Domination can be a pain, especially if you don’t have the resources to protect them.