# 100 Irelia Players. Only One Played Astral Heron. He Won.

Yesterday, Irelia won the Wuhan Regional Open.

The decklist was creative and may actually have cracked the code to make her work this set.

Let's analyze this unique decklist and understand what made it different.

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The Only Irelia Player on Astral Heron

Out of around 100 Irelia players, Adtoll was the only Irelia player who included Astral Heron.

And he won with it.

Yes, I didn't lie.

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He cooked it on his own and built a strong win condition around the card.

Switcheroo and Rebuke

Adtoll wasn't the only player who included Switcheroo and Rebuke in their main deck.

However, most players only played one copy of each.

Both cards increase the delta, meaning that players who included these cards in the main deck had better results on average.

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This is where Astral Heron becomes important.

Astral Heron allows him to play these cards for "free".

Adtoll identified that both Switcheroo and Rebuke were really strong cards in the meta and found a way to play them more often and for free.

That's how he built his edge.

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Treasure Hunter and Pyke

He also included Treasure Hunter and Pyke.

These units allow him to have plays during the early game while also generating Gold.

This means he doesn't deramp too much and can play Astral Heron sooner.

In short:

  • he doesn't fall behind in points;
  • he generates Gold;
  • he keeps a good curve;
  • and he reaches Astral Heron faster.

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What Happens Next?

The big question now is:

What will be the answer to Astral Heron?

We may already get a clue this week with the Singapore Regional Qualifier.

You can find all the cards played filtered by legend here: https://www.riftools.app/card-stats