What’s more exciting than a best-of-five final match? Winning the title of Champion and an invite to the Disney Lorcana World Championship with two Tipo – Growing Son glimmers, of course!

We’ll get to the finale of the Disney Lorcana Challenge Richmond in a moment, but I must start off with a HUGE thank you to all the Lore Guides and others who helped make the event such a special time for over 2,000 Illumineers. It was a magical weekend, and I know everyone in attendance is so thankful for the work you do.

Now, let’s jump into the event…

For those of you tuning in from home, it was a pleasure and a joy to be a part of the broadcast team along with Baker, Liam Kozma, Katie, Brent Mukai, and ZBexx. We hope we were able to bring all the excitement of the event to you wherever in the world you were watching from!

I spoke with so many competitors and attendees who had traveled, not just from around the country, but from around the globe to be at the event. One player lived 20 minutes from the venue, and another travelled from Singapore! And, of course, many Illumineers from everywhere in between, from Florida and New York to Michigan, Texas, Colorado, California, The Netherlands, Ireland, and more.

One of the things I loved to see were the many families in attendance and first-time players! I met one woman who played her princess deck in the Infinity event on Sunday with a tiny little one held over her shoulder—and her Princess glimmers were surprising many players as she continued to win. There was a young player who beat a former Worlds player in an intense game and a player who said she was a working mom and this was her first TCG. Many players said this was their first ever big event—they were having the time of their life.

Illumineers of all ages had a blast in the Side Events which began on Friday with a huge Promo Quest event. There were other events and activities all weekend long, from constructed and limited events to coloring pages and puzzles in the Young Illumineers section. Players could also watch live feature matches in the viewing area. Players lined up to meet game developers from Ravensburger and play a game of Pack Rush or get signatures on some of their favorite cards from Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game artists Javi Salas, Valentina Graziuso, and John Loren.

For the first time at a Disney Lorcana Challenge event, Illumineers were invited to try out a Collection Quest where they could open a pack and trade with others to complete their Quest and earn a Disney Lorcana Promo Card. Another first at this event was the Ravensburger Store where you could buy Disney Lorcana products and puzzles.

Also spotted around the venue were many incredible Illumineers who wore costumes and outfits dressed up as their favorite glimmers. I saw Stitch, Hades, Kuzco, so many Disney Princesses, and even all seven dwarves!

Of course, there were many dedicated competitive players in the room who’d been playtesting with their local communities to gear up and get ready for the weekend. I met many players who have been fine-tuning their decks for weeks and other players who brought multiple decks with them because they couldn’t decide. With incredible prizes up for grabs, including invites to the Disney Lorcana North American Championship, eight golden Mickey Mouse – Brave Little Tailor cards, and more, there was a lot on the line.

Ultimately, the decklists were submitted, the matches were played, and it all came down to one who claimed the title of Champion and secured his invitation all the way to the Season 2 Disney Lorcana World Championship: James Gray.

I had the opportunity to talk with James about his win, so let’s dive in!

I spoke with so many players for whom Disney Lorcana is their first Trading Card Game. When did you start playing Disney Lorcana and is this your first TCG?

James: I started playing Disney Lorcana in The First Chapter as a way to get my wife introduced to TCGs as a Disney fan. I have been playing TCGs since 1998, and more or less my entire life since then. I have been a judge and tournament organizer at various stages of the hobby but have always been a competitive gamer since I was old enough to do so.

You are known for being a Sapphire Emerald player - what is it about this deck that you love so much?

James: I am a control player at heart and gravitate towards more controlling strategies where I usually have the most decision points. I was known as a Sapphire/Ruby player for a long time, but with the bans, I moved on to Sapphire/Emerald and started working on decks in those inks to find a strategy that was competitive and meshed well with my preferred play style. I really value having agency over my games and opportunities for skill expression.

What matchups were you most concerned about going into Richmond - and how did those games turn out for you?

James: My testing group and I were confident in most of our Amethyst matchups and thought that we could beat them a significant portion of the time with good play with our build. We felt less confident in our Dogs matchup (which we thought might show up in larger numbers) and some of the other more low to the ground aggressive strategies such as Amethyst/Emerald Inkcaster and Amber/Steel. We ultimately predicted Dogs to be around 10-12% percent of the metagame and thought this choice could make a deep run in the tournament even if we were losing to dogs, with the other low to the ground strategies being far less likely. We also decided that Under the Sea was a stop gap to an already bad matchup and that it didn’t give us enough play into our bad matchups to warrant the clunky uninkable, opting for Improvise as a tech choice that draws a card. I ended up playing dogs twice on the draw, an Inkcaster deck, and an Amber/Steel aggro over the course of the event. I managed to squeak out miraculous victories in all of those matches, except for one other player on dogs who would end up making Top 32.

What advice would you have for those who would like to pick up this deck?

James: I think this is a deck that rewards commitment to understanding the play lines and understanding your role in every matchup on the play, on the draw, and at various stages of the game. Your altering decisions and ink decisions are critical to success. If you want to have the maximum chance to outplay your opponents and are dedicated and this style of play is something you are comfortable with, then start putting in the time to learn by just getting out and playing lots of games. Then once you have the reps, you will be at your best to really polish your knowledge and become great by using resources such as guides and experts. Put in the work and you will be rewarded.

The finals in Richmond went to game five, which was an incredible game to watch. Tell us about the key moments in that game that helped you get the win.

James: I felt really good about my decision making going in and for the first two games I felt like my confidence was warranted. I made a critical inking decision in the third game where I inked a Clarabelle – Light on Her Hooves while setting up a Prince Phillip – Vanquisher of Foes play that I tanked on for several minutes. Ultimately, I think that decision was wrong and I could afford to save that resource. Sky really took advantage of it and played well and took away what was my momentum in that third game. Going into game four with a seven card alter and missing my turn two ramp compounded my turn and, of course, Sky got that one as well. Game five was a wild back and forth game, like most of these mirrors are, and both of us were in the driver's seat at various phases, but he found the Bend to my Will before I was able to do so. Thankfully, I had pressed advantage while I had it and kept him on the back foot. Ultimately, he found answers to put us on the edge of a knife. I tried to just focus, play to my outs, and make him have multiple answers. And when I saw him play Develop Your Brain, I asked Sky if he had it. And, of course, Tipo drove us to victory from there.

You’re a Champion and secured an invitation to Worlds. Can you share what this win means for you?

James: I have been fairly successful in games in my life, but I have never topped such a large event before, especially on a deck that I helped pioneer and refine. I have had lots of success in Disney Lorcana throughout the various seasons, especially at open tournaments, but this is only the second Disney Lorcana Challenge I was able to attend, and I am really glad that I was able to prove myself at the highest stage. I came in expecting to do my best and take things round by round, but I am so satisfied that all the long hours of hard work in preparation culminated in something special.

Congratulations again to James on his win and to ALL the Illumineers who achieved goals big and small this past weekend.

And now, I’ll hand it over to Baker for a look at the Disney Lorcana Challenge Richmond meta breakdown!

4 John Silver – Alien Pirate 

2 Mother Knows Best 

4 Develop Your Brain 

4 Donald Duck – Perfect Gentleman

4 Prince Phillip – Vanquisher of Foes 

4 Clarabelle – Light on Her Hooves 

4 Clarabelle – Clumsy Guest 

4 You're Welcome 

4 Tipo – Growing Son

4 Vision of the Future 

4 Prince Phillip – Royal Explorer 

1 Bend to My Will 

4 Sail the Azurite Sea

3 Basil – Undercover Detective 

4 Cinderella – Dream Come True

4 Malicious, Mean, and Scary

2 Improvise

Mwuhahahaha! 
 
Greetings Illumineers!  

It was my pleasure to attend the Disney Lorcana Challenge Richmond to add some villainy to the broadcast team and wind up my wonderful co-host Rebekah Quests by disturbing the peace and quieting in the lounge. I met so many incredible players and experience some more of the amazing atmosphere created by the Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game community over in North America. 

One of the most exciting parts of the event for me was observing the competitive metagame for our first Disney Lorcana Challenge since the release of Whispers in the Well. This release brought several interesting and powerful cards into the format! It’s been some of the most fun I've had playing Disney Lorcana since the game released. Third party Disney Lorcana events have seen many ink combinations find success, so there was every reason to believe that Richmond would feature a variety of deck types! There are always frontrunners for the perceived best decks, and there were no huge surprises when we got the metagame breakdown for the event. Let’s do a summary of the eight most represented decks.

Amethyst/Steel has been a top contender among competitors for a long time, providing consistency in its play style and having the potential to win against almost any other deck. This deck also allows for a lot of customization, with the priority simply being to curve out characters and continue to widen their board due to the high density in lower costed glimmers. Strength of a Raging Fire card and He Hurled His Thunderbolt card round out this deck as removal particularly strong against other low to the ground aggressive strategies

Sapphire/Amethyst remains a popular ink combination having been one of the best performers since set nine rotation, not to mention becoming the primary deck for Disney Lorcana World Champion: Ding Khan Pham. If the world champion is playing it, you know it’s got to be a solid choice.

Emerald/Sapphire has become extremely popular with high rollers due to its ability to combo cards together and perform some of the most powerful functions available in the metagame. Clarabelle – Light on Her Hooves provides a draw engine with a high ceiling of potential, especially when combined with You’re Welcome to remove a problem character on board and force our opponent to draw. Malicious Mean & Scary is the new boogieman song of the game placing damage on all opposing characters, which clears a path for Prince Phillip – Vanquisher of Foes to be summoned Swift and Sure banishing all opposing damaged characters. The community seem to be largely in agreement that this deck unlocks some of the most dominating play lines and is sure to be popular amongst the most experienced players. 

Amber/Emerald dogs is another deck that's found success, capitalizing particularly against slower control strategies utilizing Sapphire cards. This combo deck draws a lot of its power from cards from Disney’s The Lady and the Tramp.  This adorable couple works in tandem to build a wide board, which in turn contributes towards the power level of cards like Tramp – Enterprising Dog, and Tramp – Street Smart Dog, clearing the way for various Lady characters to quest quickly to 20 across one or two turns.

Much to my villainous delight even Ruby/Amethyst has been making a comeback, moving away from its pre-rotation control style, now resembling something more akin to Amethyst Steel. This strategy looks to curve out with aggressive questers before unleashing The Headless Horseman – Terror of Sleepy Hollow, who can banish some of the games most must-answer glimmers such as Genie – Wish Fulfilled. Gathering Strength boosts the Strength of all our characters, unleashing high value challenges. This deck seems set to best take advantage of the new Demona – Scourge of the Wyvern Clan present in most of the Amethyst lists, with good matchups into mid-range and aggro builds. 

Sapphire/Steel players are some of the most loyal pilots in the community, always working to achieve the full potential of this ink combination. Whispers In the Well brought a new powerhouse in the form of Goliath – Clan Leader acting as a draw engine which synergises well with the Sapphire cards that often quickly deplete your hand size, such as Tipo – Growing Son. Another fantastic new addition comes in the form of Cinderella – Dreams Come True, who unlocks the potential to ramp your ink fast enough to play a six-drop character as soon as turn four, and then continue to play high-cost, high impact cards every turn for the rest of the game. It’s an appealing strategy, and I found time to discuss the deck with Schuyler Duntz who reached second place at the event, as I know he has been a big fan of the ink combination in the past. 

Another deck on people’s radar was a new creation popularised by European caster Joe Curley. Emerald/Amethyst has always been a popular ink combination, but Joe built an innovative deck incorporating a strategy which combines low-cost aggressive questers with cards like Enigmatic Inkcaster and Gathering Knowledge And Wisdom, which allow you to gain lore outside of questing. This fast deck can often be too much for the slower control strategies to go over in time and could be a strong choice for those looking to have polarizing matchup spread across the tournaments Swiss portion.

Finally, Amber/Amethyst has been the talk of the town as of late, with some good performances at CCQ’s by players like Zan Syed. Amethyst cards are very powerful - no matter which ink you pair them with, you’re already running solid cards. Amber gives us some unique tools such as The Horseman Strikes, one of the most reliable answers to Evasive characters in the game. Additionally, Alan-A-Dale – Rocking Rooster, (who allows you to gain lore whenever you play a Song card), who can be used in union with We Know the Way, The Great Illuminary – Abandoned Laboratory, and Monstro – Infamous Whale to create a combo to win in one turn. There is some debate amongst players as to whether it’s optimal to include this combo or not, but the deck was sure to be a contender for many at the event. 

After the 12 rounds of Swiss were through, our top 32 were reasonably diverse: nine Emerald Sapphire decks, seven Amethyst Sapphire, six Amber/Emerald, five Amethyst/Steel, three Amber/Amethyst, and two Emerald/Amethyst.  
 
Emerald/Sapphire decks dominated in Richmond, converting extremely well into the top cut, going on to win the whole event in a mirror match between James Gray and Schuyler Duntz. You’ve already heard from James, courtesy of his interview with Rebekah, but I asked Schuyler his thoughts on why Emerald/Sapphire performed so well. 
 
Why was Emerald Sapphire such a popular choice amongst a lot of the most experienced and well-respected players in the game? 

Schuyler: The most important question a player should ask themselves when preparing for an event is, what deck wins the most and loses the least in that room? It is a very simple question at base, but many factors go into shaping players answers which is why there is still always a diverse selection of decks that people bring. This weekend in Richmond, myself and 14% of players came to the conclusion that Emerald/Sapphire Control was the deck that wins the most and loses the least. Emerald/Sapphire currently has only one real weakness and that is hyper aggressive strategies. The dogs deck is currently the premier aggro deck that in a weird way helps Emerald Sapphire thrive because it overshadows all other aggressive decks and leaves people with little incentive to bring any other aggro variant thus making the pool of aggro players smaller. So since this dog deck has essentially taken up all the aggro meta share, the next question is determining how bad is it to take a loss to the dog deck in this event. Let's say my prediction of 12% playrate was conservative and in reality 15% (2.5x higher than DLC Milwaukee) of players decided that dogs was the play, that is still only 15% of the field that I would lose to on paper which is an incredible stat. I would say most decks that struggle into close to 25% of the room are easily considered tier 1 and when this number starts to get closer to 10%-15% is when a deck approaches tier 0. In reality only 8% of the field was dogs on Saturday which made for an incredible field to play Emerald/Sapphire. Overall the room ended up being heavier on Amethyst/Sapphire than I had anticipated and lower on Emerald/Sapphire which again was beneficial for me and I think if there was any lesson to learn from the deck data this weekend is that previous formats still have a large impact on playrates, Amethyst/Sapphire dominated the previous format keeping an insane 35%-40% playrate and it seems enough people stuck with the deck to make it the 2nd most popular deck even though I think it was a weaker choice on paper. Overall Emerald/Sapphire was a deck that simply beat almost everything this weekend and I think the misconception of the deck being "high variance" scared a lot of people away from testing it enough to see that with the correct build it is actually very consistent and doesn't rely as heavily on perfect openers like many believe; I think me and my finals opponent being on the exact 59 cards without communicating our lists proves that. 

So there we have it, another Disney Lorcana Challenge down. This one had particularly noticeable community vibes of support, sportsmanship, and fun. Meanwhile the meta was diverse and delivered a lot of amazing games to entertain viewers. 

Emerald/Sapphire was the star of the show this time, but will that still be the case when we come back for Disney Lorcana Challenge Ghent? Winterspell will be the most recent set when that time comes, we don’t know much about that yet, but I'm very excited to see which new cards may make or break the current competitive metagame! 

That’s all for now Illumineers, be prepared for the next one!