Dark Child
Annie's Legend readies up to two runes at the end of your turn, and this list pairs that with Hidden units and Reaction threats. Evelynn, Entrancing can drag an enemy unit into your battlefield on your turn, while Vex, Apathetic stuns every unit the opponent plays while she is at a battlefield.
Evelynn, Entrancing is a 2-Energy Hidden unit, and when you play her from face down on your turn she may move an enemy unit from a different location to her battlefield. That enemy unit arrives as the attacker, so your units there defend. Kha'Zix, Mutating Horror gets +2 Might for the turn when he attacks or defends while an enemy unit is alone at his battlefield, which makes a single pulled unit a good target. Vex, Apathetic covers the opponent's turn: while she is at a battlefield, each unit they play is stunned and cannot move that turn.
Dark Child - Starter
Legend
Evelynn, Entrancing
Key card · Chaos
Kha'Zix, Mutating Horror
Key card · Chaos
Vex, Apathetic
Key card · Chaos
Annie wants to make the opponent commit before you decide how much a fight is worth. You can put units into play during your turn, let Dark Child ready two runes, and still have Flash or Hard Bargain available on theirs. That does not mean every answer is covered. A three-Energy play needs another ready rune beyond the two you get back, and recycling a rune for Power leaves nothing there to ready later. Before ending your turn, decide which card you expect to use and leave the resources for that card. An expensive answer in hand is not protection if you cannot pay for it.
Take points with efficient attackers, then make the opponent pay for trying to clear them. Sometimes the right answer is another unit in the fight. Sometimes it is a spell, and sometimes it is sending your valuable unit home while the opponent has already spent their turn attacking it. Stubborn keeps a good spell available for another exchange, so you do not have to treat every Flash as your last one. The danger is getting too interested in saving everything. A retreat that keeps your hand and board full but gives away the winning point is still a losing play.
Noxus Hopeful
Hopeful's Legion discount applies after you have played another card that turn, reducing its Energy cost from four to two. It does not have to be exactly the second card. Sequence a useful cheap play first when that leaves enough resources to develop the attacker and preserve the response you need later.
Annie, Stubborn · Star-Crossed · Flash
Star-Crossed can return Annie and an enemy unit to hand. Play Annie again later and she can recover the Star-Crossed you just used. That line asks you to pay for Annie again, so use it when the spell and the board you keep are worth that next four Energy and Chaos Power. Flash is cheaper and can save two units, but it sends them to base. It does not ready Annie or give you another play trigger.
Rengar, Pouncing · Long Sword
Rengar can enter the battlefield you are attacking with Reaction timing and contributes 5 Might while attacking before other modifiers. Long Sword can be played and attached as a Reaction when an existing unit needs another 2 Might. These are different payments and different kinds of reinforcement, so count the answer you actually have. Dark Child's two-rune refresh does not pay Rengar's three Energy and Fury Power by itself.
16th place · S4 Fuzhou City Challenge,
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link.
Deck total $311.57
22
222
11
4442
4
343223133233If you would rather build your own list, start one in the Riftbound deck builder.
This is my Annie pick because it gives Dark Child's readied runes and the deck's Hidden cards different jobs. Nine main-deck cards have Hidden, and once one is hidden at a battlefield you control, you can play it on a later turn without paying its base cost. That leaves the two runes Dark Child readies for Flash, Against the Odds or Hard Bargain, while a facedown Pyke, Returned or Tideturner needs no runes at all. Evelynn, Entrancing is what makes the list proactive: played from face down on your turn, she can pull an enemy unit to her battlefield. If that unit was the only one holding the opponent's battlefield, they lose control of it and your next unit can move in to conquer, and Kha'Zix, Mutating Horror gets +2 Might when he defends against a lone enemy. Vex, Apathetic handles the other side of the fight, since every unit the opponent plays while she is at a battlefield is stunned and cannot move that turn. I like Annie, Stubborn as the Champion here because the spells worth recovering, like Flash or Rebuke, are the ones that decide these fights. If you want Rengar, Pouncing available on the opponent's turn, leave one rune ready alongside the two Dark Child readies, because he costs 3 Energy and a Fury Power.
Grove of the God-Willow
Grove draws a card each time you hold it at the start of your turn. This list's Reactions and Hidden units are built to keep a battlefield through the opponent's turn, so Grove turns that defense into a steady extra card. The opponent gets the same draw when they hold it, so I would not give it up cheaply.
Startipped Peak · Dark Child - Starter · Ferrous Forerunner
Peak lets you channel an extra rune exhausted when you hold it. That helps you reach Ferrous Forerunner while still keeping a Reaction available. The new rune cannot give Energy while it is exhausted, though you could still recycle it for Power, and it is one of the runes Dark Child can ready at the end of your turn.
Proving Grounds
Legend: Annie, Dark Child - Starter (OGS-017)
Seat of Power · Evelynn, Entrancing
Seat draws one card for each other battlefield you control when you conquer it. With two battlefields in play that is one card at most, and only if you already control the other one. Evelynn's pull can help by removing a lone defender from Seat before you move in.
Mindsplitter · Beast Below
Mindsplitter reveals the opponent's hand when played and makes them discard the card you choose. Beast Below returns another friendly unit and an enemy unit to their owners' hands, and returning Annie, Stubborn lets her recover another spell when you replay her. Both cost 7 Energy and two Chaos Power, so bring them in only when games last long enough to play them, trimming cheap cards such as Gust or Acceptable Losses.
Decree of Rage · Noxus Saboteur
Decree of Rage deals 4 to an enemy Calm unit and cannot be countered. The second Noxus Saboteur means the opponent's Hidden cards cannot be revealed at its battlefield. Swap them in when those cards are actually in the opposing deck, for a Switcheroo or an Acceptable Losses.
Long Sword · Star-Crossed
Long Sword has Quick-Draw, so you can play it as a Reaction for 2 Energy and a Fury Power and attach it for +2 Might right away. Star-Crossed returns a friendly unit and an enemy unit to their owners' hands, which can also give Annie another play trigger. Bring them in for Acceptable Losses or Gust when the matchup comes down to single fights.
Rek'Sai, Breacher · Pyke, Returned
Rek'Sai, Breacher gives your units played from anywhere other than a player's hand Accelerate, which includes Annie from the Champion Zone and units played from face down. The third Pyke, Returned adds another Hidden body that makes an exhausted Gold the first time an enemy unit dies each turn while he is at a battlefield. Consider them against decks you need to pressure early, cutting a slower card like Noxus Hopeful.
