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Via the Domination expansion, Varus is the second Darkin champion to be added to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Legends of Runeterra. With Kayn being launched as the first one, Darkins and their supportive cards, Cultists, are relatively new to the game. But, there is certainly no shortage of cards of these classification꧒s to help you craft a nice deck around these champions.
While we already have a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:guide on Kayn here, this article focuses on how Varus works and how to build a deck around him. Make no mistake, he is a champion with the power to kill your opponent in a🐷 single turn, and while he has clear synergies with Cultists, he can be paired up with some other th🌸ings as well. So, let’s get right into it.
Varus: Champion Overview
Varus is a three-attack, four-health unit with Quick Attack that costs four mana to play, and his evolution condition is “You have targeted 8+ allies.” The mana cost-to-stats ratio here is below average (an average ratio would land him with four attack instead of three), but not the worst thing in the world since he can level up out of play. This is nice, as you should usually play Varus on a turn when you can evolve him with burst spells or when he’s already evolved.
Additionally, Varus Auto-Equips his weapon, The Darkin Bow, and while you may think this initially buffs his stats, it doesn’t, as the Equipment’s base stats are zero-attack, zero-health. However, every time a spell or Equipment is played, the Darkin bow gains one attack (up to five attack), but these stacks are lost upon attacking. This changes a bit once Varus evolves, as you’ll see෴ in the⛎ next section.
You can stack up Varus’ Darkin Bow even if it’s Equipped by♚ another unit, as this is an effect of the ▨bow, not Varus himself.
Evolved Varus
When evolved, Varus becomes a four-attack, five-health unit who still has Quick Attack but is also given Overwhelm. Aside from this extremely beneficial keyword, he also now gives his Darkin Bow plus two attack per spell and increases its max stacks from five to ten.
This is where Varus truly shines. Thanks to his Overwhelm and his ability to gain some very high attack stats, he has the potential to close out a game all by himself. Just b🐲ear in mind that even if Varus is leveled up, if he is not the one Equipped with the Darkin Bow or on the board with the unit that does have it Equipped, it will only gain one attack per spell, capped at five.
Champion Spell
Varus’ champion spell is Varus’ Chain of Corruption. This is a three mana burst spell that gives an enemy unit Vulnerable and an allied unit plus one attack. On top of that, it creates a Fleeting copy of itself after use, so you can use this spell as many timesꦑ as your mana will allow in a given turn.
Normally you’d only need to cast this spell on your desired target to give them Vulnerable for Vꦐarus to hit (usually so his Overwhelm damage kills the enemy Nexus), but if you’re in a position where you need to take some value trades with your opponent, casting it on other minions too is always a good play.
Only theꦇ first cast of this s♛pell puts a Varus back into your deck. Subsequent fleeting casts do not add more Varus’ to your deck.
Passive
Varus’ passive is the Arrow of Retribution. First, it allows you to put any Cultist card in your deck during deckbuilding, regardless of region. More importantly, once you’ve played three Cultists in the game, you will draw Varus straight out of your deck. Due to how reliably you can get Varus into your hand, there is absolutely no need to mulligan him. In fact, you should always replace him if he shows 🎶up in your opening hand.
Deckbuilding Options
When it comes to deckbuilding around Varus, you can be relatively flexible, though he’ll typically be placed in mid-ranged decks. Seeing that he is a strong win condition in his own right, you can never go wrong with pairing him up with a region that excels at defending its units with spells, like Ionia or Targon.
Alternatively, you could pair him up with champions that either enable him or present an equal threat to your opponent as him for some do🦩uble trouble. Whatever path you choose, it is important to include a bunch of low to mid costing spells in your deck if you want ꦇVarus as a win condition. That way, when you have him on board, you can cast enough spells to buff up his Darkin Bow for the one-turn-kill.
Varus And Pantheon
Pairing Varus up with Pantheon may be the most optimal choice, as their level-up conditions line up pretty well with each other. Granted, Pantheon’s requires you to target allies in five separate rounds, which differ🍸s from Varus’, in that you are not inhibited by the same factor of separate rounds.
Nonetheless, they make a great team, as they both pose incredibly powerful threats to your opponent. Should either get out of hand, it’s game over for them. With that in mind, this deck plays almost exactly as any other Pantheon deck would, only with the added benefit of giving an enemy unit Vulnerable with Varus’ champion spell. This makes it easier to have one of your carries hit a low-health unit for big Overwhel🅠m damage or a high-priority champion if you can’t find lethal yet.
Varus And Taric
The Varus and Taric team-up is another one that brings Targon into the mix, but it is starkly different from the Varus and Pantheon deck. Unlike Pantheon, who can one-turn-kill as much as Varus, Taric takes on a supportive function, which is keeping Varus alive, and perhaps distracting your enemy from Varus, as they will ꧋likely look to kill Taric as soon as you play him.
Normally, Taric decks run Demacia as the region paired up with Targon, allowing you to bring some spells that Rally, therefore enabling Taric to be a more front-and-center carry. Ho𓆉wever, with Varus, you’re running Cultist cards alongside Targon, so you do✅n’t have access to Rally. This is not to say Taric can’t win a game by himself, but rather, it is much more likely that Varus does in this deck.
Varus And Riven
Bringing Riven into a Varus deck means bringing Noxus as your main region, and both of these champions have the potential to become win conditions. The key cards that enable Varus or Riven here are Ruined Reckoner, which lets you give them a free attack, and Incisive Tactician, which lets you Rally.
Your opponent will need to watch out for both of these champions, as Varus himself has Quick Attack and Overwhelm, and Blade of the Exile, which will usually be cast on Riven, gives a unit these two keywords as well. Additionally, sticking the Darkin Bow on Riven once she has Blade of the Exile cast on her can get her attack power to a seriously high number.
Varus And Akshan
Just as Taric plays a supportive role when paired with Varus, so too does Akshan. The main reason to stick him with Varus is for his Warlord’s Hoard. Akshan will rarely become a win condition himself. However, that doesn’t mean your opponent can ignore him, because if they do, then you can continue pumping out Warlord's Hoards. As such, he can serve as a great distraction to soak up some of your enemy’s removal spells to pave the way for Varus.
General Playstyle
Varus excels in mid-range decks and is usually very good at winning the game in one turn. He poses an incredible threat to your opponent and is one of the more reliable win conditions in the game thanks to his passive. Not having to get him in your opening hand and being able to simply🐠 draw him after playing three Cultist cards is invaluable.
All that being said, you will want to ensure Varus survives the turn you aim to one-turn-kill your opponent because, if he doesn’t, you’ll have no efficient way to win the game if you put all your eggs in one basket. Thus, while you don’t necessarily need to run regions that have loads of defensive spells, you will alternatively want to split your win conditions and run another powerful champion that can win the game themselves, in case Varus is killed early on. Either way, even if he is dealt with, 𒈔as long as he puts sizable pressure on your opponent, he’s doing his job.