Legends of Runeterra’s newest expansion, Monuments of Power, is the second of three within the latest set. In similar fashion to other times when new cards are added to the game, LoR’s Expedition mode looks to add those cards into the mix with varying buckets.
Like every other expansion or set release, the first few weeks of the Expedition mode will add an extra weighted bonus to find these newer archetypes. This weighted bonus usually lasts for two patches, lowering the initial chance in the first update after the expansion drops before being removed entirely in the following patch.
Any current and ongoing runs players have will be retired once the Monuments of Power expansion goes live. While players will still receive rewards for their highest win count in either of their trials if their current run is ended prematurely, they should still try to finish their Expedition run if they didn’t achieve seven wins yet.
Here are the new archetypes and full notes for Expedition mode that Riot imparted:
- Four new Monuments of Power archetypes added to the Expeditions draft pool.
- Dragon’s Descent: Dragon-based archetype led by Shyvana and Aurelion Sol.
- Mending Touch: healing-focused archetype with Soraka and Tahm Kench.
- Fists of the Dragon: Lee Sin and Shyvana bonus archetype with a Dragon thematic.
- Blood on the Ice: Darius and Ashe bonus archetype featuring Noxkraya Arena.
- Monuments of Power archetypes will temporarily be three times as likely as they would otherwise be to appear in the initial Champion Picks. We’ll even out these chances in a later patch.
- Cards from Monuments of Power have been added to various appropriate archetypes.
- Active Expeditions won’t roll over into Monuments of Power and players will be forced to retire any active runs. Active trials (not those mid-draft) will be compensated normally.
What these new archetypes mean for the Expedition meta
Since Expedition mode favors tempo plays and properly filling out your mana curve over your opponent, both Fists of the Dragon and Blood on the Ice are immediate candidates for the strongest looking archetypes out of all the newest ones.
But there’s always a chance that Dragon’s Descent can be potent if players can survive any level of early aggression and play their Dragons to scale up with Fury. Additionally, Mending Touch can be a strong bucket to consider picking up if players can find multiple value trades and heal up with Soraka while Tahm Kench provides removal opportunities.
LoR: Monuments of Power will be released with Patch 1.12 tomorrow, Oct. 14, on PC and mobile.
