Ornn, 10/1/2026 Bologna, 125th

I was 1 of the 6 Ornns played at Bologna Winter League Tournament, with 340 players. Placed 125th, went 4-4-0 after 12 hours of tournament. ## MATCH-UPS ## vs. Ezreal, 1-2, didn't find solid gear (Svell, Shurelya) to challenge spells and battlefield, but all 3 games ended between 4 and 6 point. vs. Master Yi, 0-2, 2-energy drop and Trinity in both games is hella hard to keep up with. vs. Darius, 0-2, he cooked something with mechs (Ferrous, Rumble), Rally and Azir, went over a 25 might Ornn. vs. Irelia, 2-0, g2 was lucky to have a hand with 6 counter (3 Defy, 1 Wind Wall, 2 Not So Fast) with 12 open runes, while Ornn was a 18 might. vs. Ornn, 2-1, mirror against a strong Volt-Ornn (I think was along the line of the Fuzhou City Challenge deck, g1 was lucky with 3 Svells in 8 cards, g2 was tableturned with a Time Warp, g3 had Shurelya with a stronger Ornn. vs. Bye, 2-0, opponent didn't show up, but I played a game against a Kai'sa just for fun (didn't find that MU yet). g1 won, g2 Thermo Beam (no counter in hand), g3 Thermo beam (no counter in hand). vs. Draven, 2-0, a slightly different Draven list of what you can find in Top16, less gold generating and slower, had time to build up Ornn with enough counter for Rebuke/Thermo Beam vs. Draven, 0-2, Overzealus Fan, Treasure Hunter, Draven, Darius, Kai'sa, Brynhir Thundersong, Stacked Deck, Called Shot, Rebuke/Fight or Flight/Switcheroo (Thermo Beam in g2), this were all the card he played in both g1 and g2, and was enough to win the game (he also had Hard Bargain ready). ## IDEAS POURED IN THIS DECKLIST ## Played Ornn in all different versions, from Cyber's Control to Turn 2 Blornn, from Igzolt's Ornn (both lists) to Saucekey Control, and in the end the Fuzhou City Challenge list. After all those testings I needed something to keep up in points with faster and more oppressive decks, since most Ornns are slow and when Ornn is ready, big and protected, opponent already has 5/6 points. However, smaller units where prone to damage spells, like Wages of Pain and Hextech Ray, so if at the beginning the idea of playing Plundering Poro, Clockwork Keeper, Lonely Poro was somewhat considered, I quickly went to trash that idea really fast. Pit Crew was a intrusive thought that however didn't stick around a lot since if I was gonna play all my and in 2/3 turns just to try to make points from a single unit, like Irelia, but unlike her I can't focus on both him and Stellacorn Herder. In the end, I went with an flex approach (if you can say that) playing with Stellacorn Herder, Apprentice Smith and green Ornn to see as much gear as possible, looking to make Ornn as big as possible, trying to steal points with Dropboarder and Sterak's Gage and incrementing Ornn's movement between battlefields with Azir and Emperor's Divide. Sideboard was created starting with 3rd Defy and Wind Wall, Janna and Forgefire Cape. Thousand-Tailed Watcher was thought as a substitute for Dropboarder in those matchup where I don't have Shurelya/ED/Azir to move Ornn and I want to quickly reconquer a battlefield with a lot of units in there where a 4 might wasn't enough. Rocket Barrage was a tough choice between that and Charm, but I opted for that since Akshan with Svell/Shurelya is a problem, but also other 4-might units camped in base or strong gears like Trinity or mirror match. Aspirant's Climb was the safest battlefield choice I had, and the choice for the other 2 was more oriented in the direction of what benefites less the opponent. Since now gold generation is kinda easy, Power Nexus was out of equation, The Papertree was a card that had value for both, but especially for opponent. Sunken Temple, Ornn's Forge, Vilemaw's Lair, Obelisk of Power and Sunken Temple were the ones I ended up with, but in the end I chose the last 2. ## GAMEPLAN ## Try to squeeze in some points with early Stellacorn, Apprentice or Dropboarder, look for gears with Apprentice, Stellacorn, Poro Snax and Green Ornn, make Ornn big with Svell and move him around with Shurelya, Azir or Emperor's Divide, keep Ornn alive with Zhonya and Guardian Angel. Sterak's Gage is optimal when you can turn around a combat, World Atlas when you can threaten a opponent unit, extra point if your unit can hold and generate a +1 might for Ornn (+2 if you have Svell, up to +4). You can flex around with Stellacorn/Apprentice + Svell to draw more if in a really bad spot. Aspirant's Climb for Game 1, Obelisk of Power Game 2 going second (first if against a fast deck, need to consider that) and Forgotten Monument for Game 3 going first. ## HOW IT WORKED OUT ## - Draven meta has acknowledged Brynhir Thundersong as a card, so if you see that it means he's willing to Thermo Beam/Rebuke all your board, you can just ff and go next. - Sterak's Gage won more combat that I initially estimated, a nice surprise. - Taking points early and dropping a deflect 4/6 Ornn made targeting him a tougher choice for opponents, but even if I had a deflect 8 Ornn, if opponent needs 2/3 point to win he's willing to recicle all his runes to remove him, and you need to pray that your untapped runes are enough to counter what's coming - No Viktor MU - Had always a way to move around Ornn, and gained a lot of value moving Stellacorn around with Svell when Ornn was on battlefield. ## HOW IS THIS DECK GONNA CHANGE ## I don't know. Bryinhir in a Dravern meta seems kinda hard to play against since counter are needed against gear/unit hate in this season, so if that shifts the meta into a "I play during my turn and ruin yours" I'll look more into a "on-board-threat" with something like Tianna, Ezreal and green Ahri, paired up with all 3 Ornn's signature gears (in an average scenario, Ezreal can deal 3+ dmg twice before even opponent action, or Ahri can score 2 additional points if she can hold). It will still suffer from Brynhir + Thermo Beam + Rebuke on Tianna/Ahri/Ezreal, but that will make your board a little more intimidating then a 4-might Ornn. Probably I'll add some damage spells like Singularity since this remove some problems against unit-in-base setup. This was my first approach to an official TCG tournament, and was very special to me, but what made the most of that fun was the games I had trying to reach an optimal decklist I was confortable with, testing against my friends who I shared my burdens with. I wish for all Riftbound players who are looking at this guide to have fun playing at this game, with your friends or strangers met at locals or online, and to value more a game played while having fun then a game played just for a win.