Darius
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Good (7/10)
Low Investment
Rare Relics OK
Darius is a straightforward, aggressive champion who excels at rapid clears and speedrunning. While his early constellation upgrades provide immense value, his final upgrades are considered inefficient, and his core strategy often revolves around empowering support champions rather than playing Darius himself.
Deck Buff Utility
Maximizes rerolls to ensure consistent access to premium starting powers.
Provides passive stat scaling to the entire deck, enhancing early board presence.
Offers crucial protection against early removal spells for key units.
Strategy
Darius is uniquely positioned as a champion who rarely needs to be played to win. This build turns him into a utility engine. Loaded Dice ensures consistent access to premium powers like Titanic Wake, Stacked Deck provides passive scaling to the entire deck, and Black Shield offers crucial protection. The goal is to draft a strong support champion and use Darius's relics to empower them.
Plunder Swarm
Reduces cost upon plunder and provides scaling stats.
Further reduces cost upon plunder, enabling very early deployment.
Generates massive value upon summon by creating discounted high-cost units.
Strategy
This setup focuses on aggressive cost reduction. By triggering early plunder effects, Darius can be deployed as early as turn one or two. Portal Pals generates massive value upon his summon, flooding the board with big units to overwhelm the opponent and trigger his rally mechanics.
Speedrun Reroller
Provides extra rerolls to secure optimal starting powers.- Stacks with the first Z-Drive for maximum drafting consistency.
Grants a rally effect upon leveling up for immediate game-ending attacks.
Strategy
A highly accessible build tailored for speedrunning. The dual Z-Drive Prototypes maximize the chances of drafting Titanic Wake or Trifarian Might at the start of an adventure. Crownguard Inheritance provides a reliable rally effect upon leveling up, enabling immediate, devastating attacks.
Other Relic Options
Enables a 4-mana start when combined with stat-boosting relics, allowing for immediate deployment of high-impact support champions.
Provides a stun and rally effect. Players disagree about its effectiveness. Some consider it a powerful tool for explosive turns, while others find it too situational and inefficient compared to passive deck buffs.
Excellent for burst damage, allowing Darius to immediately strike the Nexus upon entering the board.
Synergizes well with high-attack support units, creating ephemeral copies for massive combat damage.
Constellation
Darius's constellation tree is heavily front-loaded. His early upgrades provide massive power spikes, but his later nodes are widely regarded as inefficient investments.
Noxian Might
Each round, the first time you play an ally, grant it +2|+0.
Carve a Path
+1 Starting Mana. Each round, the first time you attack with 15+ total Power, Rally.Review
The ability to rally upon reaching 15 power is the cornerstone of his aggressive strategy, enabling rapid victories and punishing opponents who cannot clear the board.
Noxian Might II
Each round, the first time you play an ally, grant it +4|+0 and Overwhelm.
Hold It!
Round Start: Stun the strongest enemy.Review
This upgrade is exceptionally powerful. Stunning the strongest enemy at round start neutralizes major threats and provides the necessary defensive breathing room for his fragile units to survive and attack.
Manaflow
Game Start: Get a mana gem.Review
The additional starting mana is highly impactful, accelerating his game plan and allowing for immediate deployment of average-cost units on turn one.
The Hand of Noxus
When allies attack, summon a random Noxian ally with cost equal to your mana gems.Review
This upgrade is considered highly inefficient. The summoned units do not enter combat attacking and lack stat buffs, often merely clogging the board rather than contributing to his aggressive win condition.
Gameplay Tips
- Prioritize Premium Powers
Drafting the right powers is critical. Titanic Wake and Trifarian Might synergize perfectly with the deck's high-attack units, often enabling turn-one victories. Use rerolls aggressively at the start of an adventure to secure these.
- Leverage Support Champions
Darius himself is often the least important card in his deck. Focus on drafting and buffing a strong, low-cost support champion. Equip Darius with passive relics so he can empower the deck from the bench while the support champion acts as the primary win condition.
- Exploit the Level 2 Rally
Plan attacks around the 15-power threshold. By carefully sequencing unit deployments and combat tricks, you can trigger the rally effect mid-combat or immediately after, allowing for devastating back-to-back attacks.
- Manage Board Space
Be mindful of the unit limit. Darius's abilities and certain relics can generate multiple units quickly. Ensure there is enough board space before initiating attacks to avoid wasting valuable summons.