Eleven open-field starting configurations, with the posture, the conditional variants, and what each matchup is actually about.
Meta snapshot · August 2026. Dated starting configurations from the source guide, not live, not auto-updated, and not immutable plans.
vs Kennen
Your role · Aggressor-disruptorRengar, Trophy Hunter
29shuffled units after boarding✓ Stable
2629 floor33
29 shuffled units after boarding · at or above the 29-unit floor.
＋ Bring in
2×spell / gear
2×spell / gear
− Take out
2×spell / gear
1×unit
1×unit
Qualifications
Their shell turns card selection and trash access into repeated outside-hand spell plays, and some builds keep a Hook branch, so Gear removal earns its slots.
attacks the non-unit engine before you have committed several bodies to a battlefield they were always going to answer.
Do not overload one battlefield with temporary Might. This is the deck best equipped to punish a single concentrated target.
Preserve · · · · Keep Falling Star: their support units are small enough for a three-and-three split to be a real two-for-one.
Avoid · Bringing before game one has shown that damage, rather than bounce, Stun or recursion, is how they break your board.
Sideboard philosophy in §14 · role assignment in §5.
Memory aids
Structural problem → the card that answers it. Each sideboard slot exists for a specific structural reason, not a general one.
99.91%→At least one shuffled unit in the opening four
97.80%→At least two shuffled units
71.12%→At least one natural one or two-Energy unit
43.62%→At least one Ambush unit: Inferna or Nidalee
28.76%→At least one six-Energy unit
26.70%→At least two natural one or two-Energy units
3.18%→Two six-Energy units, which is the hand to recycle
From the guide . §15 Matchup Map
These plans assume the recommended sideboard, with two and one .
⚠ WarningThey are strategically informed starting configurations, not measured matchup percentages. Adjust them against the exact list in front of you rather than against the archetype name.
Current aggregate results place Master Yi and Kennen as the top two decks, with Irelia, Draven, Ezreal, Rek’Sai, , Azir and Rengar forming much of the next competitive tier.◆src
Pilot noteThe most common boarding error across all eleven is the same one: bringing in so much interaction that the shuffled unit count drops below the level where the Legend, Kinkou, Legion and the ready effects all still work.