Azir, Emperor of the Sands
How to play : Azir Emperor of the Sands
The emperor's token deck — cheap gear summons sand soldiers every turn, stuns and removal hold the line, and Arise! ends it.
Our take: What we would sleeve up
The token plan at full power — harder to pilot than our other top picks, with a clearly higher ceiling.
By Ubu · 31 Aug 2026 · Updated 2 Sept 2026
Build
All guides
Newest first. Every guide carries the full list, real card art, and the Thai build cost.
Legend
1 cards
Main deck
40 cards
Runes
12 cards
Battlefields
3 cards
Deck tech: how to pilot it
The legend turns cheap gear into sand soldiers, so the deck has one job: play gear every turn, hold the game together with stuns and removal, and wait for the day Arise! pours out a whole army.
The plan
A dozen-plus cheap gears are the heart: every one played is a soldier from the legend. Doran’s Shield, Eye of the Herald and Soul Sword are the best one-cost set; B.F. Sword is the flex slot because it costs the most. This deck kills nobody in a hurry: it takes ground one battlefield at a time, by weight of numbers.
Mulligan
Take two or more one-cost gears. A turn with no soldier born is a lost beat. Add one defensive spell (En Garde or Deathgrip), and ship every Arise! back; the game will find it for you.
Holding the line
The calm trio of Defy, En Garde and Discipline, plus Hidden Blade, is the standard spell package that wins showdowns small soldiers have no business winning. The newer tool is the stun: Back Off and Vi, Peacekeeper freeze a giant for a whole turn while the soldiers keep scoring in front of it.
Closing
The whole deck exists to reach Arise! The longer the game, the bigger it gets, and part of the army it drops arrives ready to attack. The opponent answers every body or loses the battlefield. Azir, Sovereign spearheads that turn, and Guards! is why their earlier all-in already failed.
Good against
- Rengar Pridestalker · Stuns and Guards! take his first punch out of the game. When the punch misses, his deck has no second plan.
- Kha’Zix Voidreaver · His tricks trade one for one, but we get a free soldier every turn: the long game is always cheaper for us.
Hard against
- Irelia Blade Dancer · Our quiet early game is exactly the one she dreams of. Once she is set up, sand soldiers cannot chase her down.
- Volibear Dragons · Dragons do not care about one-might soldiers. Fail to close before the giants land and the whole board gets stepped on.
Deck stats
Energy curve
Main deck only. Runes, battlefields and the legend print no energy cost.
- 141
- 132
- 43
- 44
- 25
- 36
Domains
Main deck. A card in two domains is counted in both, so these add up to more than 40.
- Calm23
- Order20
Card types
Main deck.
- Spell20
- Gear16
- Unit4
Rarity mix
The whole deck, legend and runes included · this is the shopping list.
- Common32
- Uncommon16
- Rare4
- Epic4
What it costs to build in Thailand
Total
฿5,268.25
Thai price at the close of 16 Oct 2026
| Card | Copies | Per copy | Line |
|---|---|---|---|
 Azir, Emperor of the SandsSFD-197/221 | 1 | ฿30.00 | ฿30.00 |
 CharmOGN-043/298 | 1 | ฿60.00 | ฿60.00 |
 DefyOGN-045/298 | 3 | ฿150.00 | ฿450.00 |
 En GardeOGN-046/298 | 1 | ฿19.50 | ฿19.50 |
 DisciplineOGN-058/298 | 3 | ฿90.00 | ฿270.00 |
 Hidden BladeOGN-213/298 | 3 | ฿70.00 | ฿210.00 |
 Doran's ShieldSFD-033/221 | 3 | ฿12.50 | ฿37.50 |
 BrutalizerSFD-042/221 | 3 | ฿47.50 | ฿142.50 |
 Emperor's DivideSFD-043/221 | 1 | ฿67.00 | ฿67.00 |
 Eye of the HeraldSFD-153/221 | 3 | ฿12.50 | ฿37.50 |
 Guards!SFD-154/221 | 2 | ฿15.00 | ฿30.00 |
 B.F. SwordSFD-161/221 | 3 | ฿25.00 | ฿75.00 |
 DeathgripSFD-163/221 | 2 | ฿50.00 | ฿100.00 |
 Azir, SovereignSFD-177/221 | 1 | ฿400.00 | ฿400.00 |
 Arise!SFD-198/221 | 3 | ฿850.00 | ฿2,550.00 |
 Soul SwordUNL-039/219 | 3 | ฿12.50 | ฿37.50 |
 Back OffUNL-042/219 | 1 | ฿20.00 | ฿20.00 |
 Vi, PeacekeeperUNL-176/219 | 2 | ฿192.50 | ฿385.00 |
 Hand HammerVEN-027/166 | 1 | ฿12.50 | ฿12.50 |
 Kennen, Keeper of BalanceVEN-135/166 | 1 | ฿34.25 | ฿34.25 |
 Calm RuneOGN-042/298 | 6 | ฿20.00 | ฿120.00 |
 Order RuneOGN-214/298 | 6 | ฿20.00 | ฿120.00 |
 Trifarian War CampOGN-294/298 | 1 | ฿20.00 | ฿20.00 |
 Hall of LegendsSFD-210/221 | 1 | ฿20.00 | ฿20.00 |
 Seat of PowerSFD-217/221 | 1 | ฿20.00 | ฿20.00 |