Keria’s immaculate Bard play was a huge part of T1’s upset victory over JD Gaming in the 2023 League of Legends World Championship semifinals—and you too can dominate your ranked games with the Wandering Caretaker by following in the Korean star’s footsteps.
Bard is one of the more difficult-to-play and unique champions in League and because of this he’s often overlooked and doesn’t have the best pick rate, which is sitting at 2.5 percent this patch, according to League stat tracking site U.GG.
However, during T1’s domination in their semifinal League Worlds games against JDG, Keria’s Bard was phenomenal. While he doesn’t build Bard too differently from what’s recommended or popular on U.GG, there are slight differences in his runes and items you can apply to your own normal or ranked games to win more.
For Bard’s runes against tanks, Keria chose the Resolve tree runes:
- Guardian
- Font of Life
- Bone Plating
- Unflinching
And the Domination tree runes:
- Zombie Ward
- Relentless Hunter
While we can’t see which offensive, flex, and defense options Keria chose in each game, the preferred choices for Bard when played in League matches usually include:
- Offensive (Attack Speed)
- Flex (Adaptive Force)
- Defense (Armor)
He also used nearly the same rune trees when playing against Lulu, except instead of taking the Font of Life for the ally heals, he took Shield Bash for the bonus adaptive damage for your next basic attack after you’ve gained a shield. This slightly differs from what’s recommended, but it might be worth considering in your ranked games.
Runes aren’t everything though. We must also consider Keria’s Summoner Spells, which were consistently Flash and Ignite, and his items. Regardless of whether he was playing against a tank or an enchanter, he built:
- Shard of True Ice
- Locket of the Iron Solari
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity
- Knight’s Vow
As these Worlds semifinal games were over before he could complete his Bard build, there’s no way to tell exactly what he would have chosen next. After reviewing his ProBuilds profile and Bard games though, we can confidently say he would have been leaning towards selecting something like Randuin’s Omen or Bulwark of the Mountain.
The only time he didn’t take the Locket of Iron Solari was when playing against Blitzrcrank. In that situation, he chose Shurelya’s Battlesong, which is a great idea considering Blitzcrank’s popularity in League ranked games and how important it is to escape his hook.
Keria’s Bard build differs from what you’d find on U.GG, as players are recommended to take Boots of Swiftness, Deadman’s Plate, and support items like Redemption. While there’s nothing wrong with that, there’s no harm in trying something different, especially if a pro like Keria is building him quite similarly every time.
You may not get the same success as Keria, as he is a professional League player at the top of his game and just about to play a Worlds final. But as League changes every patch, it’s worth trying new things, especially with the 2024 preseason looming.
Hopefully, we will see more of Keria’s Bard build in League ranked games and in the Worlds 2023 Finals, where T1 will face off against Weibo Gaming on Nov. 19.
