Lorcana: Competitive Analysis - First Weekend post-bans!

Hello, everyone!

After last week's ban announcement, the competitive metagame sure was shaken!

With that in mind, let's take a look at some larger Lorcana tournaments that happened through the world, and see where the competitive players are preparing for the new meta!

Let's go!

Last week's bans went into effect immediately, so everyone had to think about new lists for the upcoming events.

This means that many ideas and lists could still be a little unrefined, and so it is natural that in the first week some already established archetypes, which were not affected by the bans, would stand out.

We selected three events from last weekend to report and study their winning decklists! These three events were chosen either because they had an above-average number of participants, or because they had a relevant prize pool - which, of course, attracts more competitive players -, or even a combination of both!

Enchanted 2k - USA - 57 Players

In this event, with 57 participants, we had a diverse Top 8, with all ink colors represented.

The winning list, played by David Nunez, was an Amethyst Steel Aggro:

This new archetype, made possible by some additions from Archazia’s Island, has been analyzed in more detail in this article.

Of course, with the metagame in motion, some important changes were made. Cards aimed at countering the prevalence of item decks, such as Benja - Guardian of the Dragon Gem, gave way to more card advantage, such as The Library - A Gift for Belle.

The inclusion of four copies of Elsa - The Fifth Spirit was also very important to combat evasive threats - especially cards like Diablo - Devoted Herald, a key piece for discard decks . Elsa is an important board control tool, and can single-handedly challenge and defeat a Diablo. It is also important in the mirror, to combat Genie - Wish Fulfilled. As if all that weren't enough, Elsa is also inkable, so it will never be a full dead card in your hand.

Some great meta calls by the champion!

Lorcana 1k - USA - 72 Players

In this event, with 72 players, we once again had a diverse top 8, with all ink colors also represented.

The winning list, played by Jackson Tran, was a Ruby-Amethyst Midrange:

This is an extremely efficient list, combining the strengths of each ink - Ruby's strong board control with Amethyst's card draw.

This version seems especially prepared to face discard decks - notice the focus on cards with Evasive, to ensure an immediate answer to Diablo - Devoted Herald: not only Elsa - The Fifth Spirit, as we mentioned in the previous list, but also Peter Pan - Shadow Finder, Brawl, and even Pegasus - Flying Steed!

Let's also highlight the use of Iago - Giant Spectral Parrot. It is an illusion character, and therefore, fragile to Actions from the opponent. However, the metagame is still stabilizing, and Actions aren't focused at the moment, so Iago ends up being a fantastic answer to evasive threats - with Diablo - Devoted Herald and Genie - Wish Fulfilled being the main ones right now. Of course, being inkable gives it a lot of flexibility, since you can just use it as ink in games where it would be unfavorable - for example, against SteelSongs, who have several ways of dealing with Iago.

Ostlore Meisterschaft - Germany - 131 Players

In the last and largest of the events analyzed, in Germany, we had 131 participants. Interestingly, despite being the most numerous, the event was also the least diverse in the Top8, since one ink color, Amber, was absent - although present in the Top16.

The winning list, played by Dinh Khang Pham - himself champion of DLC Melbourne -, was also an updated version of his favorite deck, Ruby-Sapphire Control:

With the banning of Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker, DKP innovated by removing the entire item package from the deck, leaving only Pawpsicle and two copies of Tamatoa - Happy as a Clam! as item-focused value plays.

Instead of card advantage, the Sapphire ink now focuses on accelerating the deck with ramps - Sail the Azurite Sea, How Far I'll Go, All Is Found, and Tipo - Growing Son -, while the deck generates Lore continuously with McDuck Manor - Scrooge's Mansion and A Pirate's Life, and also control the board with the Ruby ink - Be Prepared, Sisu - Empowered Sibling, and the powerful Maui duo, Maui - Hero to All and Maui - Half-Shark.

The one-of copy of Goofy - Super Goof is a powerful tool for maintaining Lore parity with aggressive decks, and can eventually be a finisher in a tight match against slower decks. In addition, of course, it is inkable - if you've been paying attention, a highlight in all lists, is that tech cards are always inkable.

The deck gives up early turns removal and threats in favor of acceleration, and from a certain ink threshold it gains value after value with each play. Characters that return actions from the discard, characters that challenge or even blow up the board, and cards that give consistency to the plan through card selection - Develop Your Brain, Vision of the Future, and even Gramma Tala - Keeper of Ancient Stories - contribute to an effective game plan.

The results of the first post-ban weekend's major events seem promising! Overall, we've seen a lot of diversity and even experimentations - of course, when looking at results, it's natural that already refined and established decks will have an advantage in the format.

Although bans are always a delicate moment in any TCG, the numbers seem to indicate not only an increase in the number of participants, but also a greater variety of archetypes - which, after all, is the main goal when a card is banned as a way to regulate a metagame.

We look forward to seeing how the meta will evolve in the coming weeks!

What did you think of the article's highlights? Did any recent deck catch your attention? Share them with us!

Hugs, and see you next time!