The Lurk Pyke Rek’Sai deck is one of the oldest archetypes in the Legends of Runeterra meta. Known for having a die-hard fan base, this deck has had its ups and downs for the entirety of its existence.
You can say that Pyke Rek’sa is a pre-built deck with the synergies and champions only working in this one deck. However, we’ve had the list change a bit over the years, and right now, this is the most updated list as of writing this article.
How to Play
Pyke Rek’Sai’s game plan centers around the Lurk keyword, looking to activate it at every chance possible. When you go for the attack with one of your units and the top card in your deck is a Lurker, you gain +1 Power on Lurkers everywhere for the whole duration of the game.
Over the course of the game, you’ll activate Lurk multiple times, stacking up the Power on your Lurkers and creating stronger attacks that eventually will be enough to win the game.
The list runs a lot of Lurkers to have high odds of hitting a Lurker at the top of the deck when we attack with one of your units. However, we also want to hit units like Rek’Sai or Pyke, which offer way more than a normal Lurker would.
This is where Predict cards come into use. Forsaken Baccai, Aspiring Chronomancer, and Xer’Sai Caller can look at 3 cards and place one of them at the top of the deck. We’re usually aiming for a Rek’Sai, which will give us an extra +1 Power on all our Lurkers. If we find Pyke, we can get Death from Bellow, a powerful removal spell.
Snapjaw Swarm is usually played on our defensive turns. His play effect lets him attack immediately, triggering the Lurk keyword and accelerating our game plan.
Since we can only activate Lurk once, we’ll avoid playing him on our attack turns.
The Overwhelm win conditions strike the Nexus for an insane amount of damage thanks to the Lurk keyword. Once Rek’Sai hits 8 Power, we can play and attack with her, and she’ll gain +2 Power, leveling her up and presenting a threat to win the game.
You other Lurkers can are alternate win conditions that if not answered, they’ll win you the game.
Pyke’s Death From Below is a game changer, winning you the board presence. If he’s leveled, then the opponent is in trouble and will struggle to block your attacks. Usually, you want to attack with a leveled Pyke first so he can clear the opponent’s units, allowing your Overwhelm attackers to deal more damage.
Blood in the Water is a Rally spell, letting you go for an attack that could win you the game. You’ll usually play it once you’ve established a board that can commit to a powerful attack.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- It can be overwhelming if you go first and start stacking up the Lurk keyword.
- It’s not difficult to play, straightforward deck.
- Midrange decks will struggle in the late game.
- Weak against decks with stun ability.
- Struggles against decks with low-cost damage spells that shut down your Lurkers.