Disney Lorcana Challenge Ghent Recap

Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game fans and players traveled to Belgium this last week from around Europe, and across the globe, for the second European Challenge event of Season Two. And if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be in a building with 4,000 other Illumineers, Disney Lorcana Challenge Ghent was even more exciting than I ever imagined!

This event brought back everything Illumineers love about the event, and introduced new and exciting activities to create an incredible three-day experience!

New at Disney Lorcana Challenge Ghent was a Quest Book each attendee got when they arrived with eight activities to complete. Those who completed at least five activities, received a Disney Lorcana promo card.

Many of the activities were found in the Fan Experience Zone, a new area where Illumineers could participate in a button exchange to collect six Ink icon buttons, help build a community puzzle, play Disney Trivia, trade Disney Lorcana cards, hop into one of the fun photo ops available or relax at the movie corner where players and attendees could relax and watch a Disney movie. My favorite spot had tables set up for players to work together and beat Ursula or Jafar in a game of Illumineer’s Quest: Deep Trouble or Illumineer’s Quest: Palace Heist.

Also new to Disney Lorcana Challenge Ghent was the VIP Zone where players and attendees who purchased the VIP Package could relax and wind down with Disney Lorcana themed treats and a private viewing area.

All weekend long there were many side events happening that Illumineers could participate in: Pack Rush, Constructed, and more! Illumineers who played in side events, as well as the main event, earned tickets throughout the weekend which they could redeem at the prize wall. There were also vendors in the hall and the Ravensburger store where you could buy puzzles, board games, and Disney Lorcana products.

Rebekah Quests: You piloted the Amber/Emerald dogs build at both Disney Lorcana Challenge Bologna and Milwaukee. At Disney Lorcana Challenge Richmond we saw you piloting the Amber Amethyst deck with the Monstro combo - what brought you back to the Amber Emerald Dogs deck for Ghent? 

Zan Syed: The deck became a lot better in Winterspell. I actually wasn’t going to play it at first. I had thought about the Monstro combo, but switched to Amber Steel - similar to the deck that Diego played. We had come to a similar conclusion separately that Amber Steel was a good choice in this meta. In the end, I decided it wasn’t good enough to beat Amethyst Steel.

On Thursday night before the tournament, I stayed up and played more games with Amber Steel, and ultimately I wasn’t happy with the choice. I had been testing a version of Amber Emerald Dogs weeks prior that had no Daisy Duck – Donald’s Date or Go Go Tomago – Darting Dynamo. I saw what S4iler had played in the Ink Inc. CCQ event that he won and thought the Finnick – Tiny Terror would help with the mirror, and was positive that Chromicion would be important. 

So, I had put the work in with the deck and knew it would be the right choice. I submitted my deck list with 15 mins to spare. 

R: Speaking of that Emerald Chromicon, many Illumineers have opted to cut Emerald Chromicon from their Amber Emerald builds. Your deck is running four copies of Under the Sea and two Chromicons. Tell us more about that decision. 

Z: I always put myself in the shoes of the average invested player. What are they thinking? What are they talking about? There’s lots of group-think going on and the majority of players move together. So, my goal is to pick something that acts against the majority of players. That’s why Emerald Chromicon became an obvious inclusion.

You can get accurate predictions of the meta by listening to what the majority of players are doing. After S4iler’s win without Emerald Chromicon, massive amounts of people were split on whether to play item removal or not. The majority of Amethyst players thought it wasn’t necessary. This caused confusion and meant Amethyst Sapphire and Amethyst Steel were easier to beat. Emerald Chromicon makes people make mistakes - players hadn’t been testing against it leading up to Ghent and fumbled against it. 

Also, regions matter because local meta will vary. European players tend to not play Emerald Amber as much, and I believed Friday would have less Dogs decks since locals would be more likely to get a Friday ticket. We did see in the meta breakdown that Friday had about 14.5% dogs and Saturday was 18.2%. 

R: What was your most challenging matchup over the weekend, and how did you feel about those games?

Z: Amethyst Steel is supposed to be historically difficult for Amber Emerald. I played it five times on Day One. In the Swiss rounds I knew I was more likely to play against Amethyst Steel but that Top Cut was more likely to be Amethyst Sapphire and Amber Emerald. Dogs are basically going to eat Blurple - the more Dogs, the faster Blurple will get eliminated. Of course, I didn’t want to play against Amethyst Steel, but I went undefeated against it.

Nani – Stage Manager and Grandmother Willow – Ancient Advisor really contribute to winning, especially against Amethyst Steel. There’s a lot more agency in the matchup because of those cards. 

Z: Tough matchups require perfect play. The mirror match does have a lot of luck involved, but there are ways to get the edge. For example, you don’t want to ever turn Daisy Duck – Donald’s Date sideways and give your opponent more cards in this matchup. So, cutting Daisy Duck was good for the mirror. Most opponents I played had Daisy Duck, but because I cut her that allowed me to play four copies of Under the Sea, instead of just three, because of the un-inkable count in the deck. 

I did have to use Under the Sea whenever I got the chance since they were playing four copies of Ursula – Deceiver. Even if I held Della’s Moon Lullaby or Emerald Chromicon to protect Under the Sea against Mowgli – Man Club, Ursula would hit Under the Sea every time. That meant I didn’t have a choice - I had to sing it when it was in my hand. My opponent had the luxury of holding Under the Sea and something else to protect it.

In Game Four I cast an early Under the Sea because of that, which wasn’t powerful enough since my opponent had played two Nani’s on the board. But they thought they could win that game with just Under the Sea and had committed to that line. If they had challenged my characters, they maybe could have won that game. 

There were mistakes made, so it wasn’t like everyone knows exactly how to play it perfectly. People get exhausted, there’s always human error - that’s part of the beauty of the game. This game is extremely hard and decision fatigue sets in.

I was tired. Jet lag was still affecting me. On Saturday I came to the hall to support my teammates and friends. Then I went back to the hotel to sleep a bit then stayed up testing all different scenarios to find a way to gain an edge in the mirror match. 

The line I ended up taking in the finals in Game Five, was the first original way to play Under the Sea early which I used in Bologna and Milwaukee. Turn 1: play Bobby Zimuruski – Spray Cheese Kid then discard a one or two cost character. Turn 2: play either Lady – Decisive Dog or Lady – Elegant Spaniel, and the two cost Tramp – Enterprising Dog (who can be played for one Ink if there’s a Lady in play). Turn 3: Shift Lady – Miss Park Avenue and sing Under the Sea with Lady (5 cost character), Tramp (2 cost character), and Bobby (1 cost character).

Since I had cut Daisy Duck – Donald’s Date, I could play more copies of Lady than my opponent. I had four copies of Lady – Elegant Spaniel which allowed me to take that line. That’s what I worked on Saturday night - and that’s what got me the win.

R: Playing in a big tournament comes with a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. For players out there who want to get to this level, what advice do you have for how best to prepare for a big tournament? 

Z: The first approach should be to have fun playing the game. You can’t win without enjoying playing Disney Lorcana. A lot of decision making at the end is based on the fun times I had during testing.

I switched to Dogs last minute because I had fun testing different builds in case they were relevant. Having fun and asking questions is what led me to the point of saying: What happens if I take out 8 core cards? Why would I do that when others have already tested this deck so much? Because I want to have fun and find a reason to try out new things. Me trying out new scenarios gave me the ability to make a judgement call based on the current metagame and what would be relevant.

Also, be intentional. Am I testing just to play? No. I’m testing different scenarios of what I might face. A lot of my preparation approach comes from sports. For example, Steph Curry on the Golden State Warriors shoots a majority of his three-point shots in his warmups. Then he just tries to do the shots again, replicated better, in the game - he’s creating muscle memory. It’s the same for me and testing.

So, be intentional about the thing you’re practicing. Have a discovery process - come up with a hypothesis and test it. Of course, 90% of things you’re testing are bad. But keep asking questions and try new things and have fun. Gain new information and then learn how to apply it. 

R: After traveling the world during Disney Lorcana Challenge Season Two, you’ve become a two-time Disney Lorcana Challenge Champion and finally secured your invite to the next World Championships. You were quite overcome with emotion.  What does this moment mean to you and… what’s next?

Z: I honestly don’t remember the last time I cried like that. It was an extremely emotional moment for me. This win wasn’t easy.

It’s a lifelong goal to become a Disney Lorcana World Champion. This is such a special game that will continue to catapult forward, and I don’t think that dream will ever go away. The Season One World Championship wasn’t my tournament - there were some things that didn't go my way for that event, and I just wanted to go back. And when they announced the Disney Lorcana Challenge schedule for Season Two, I knew I would only have so many chances to make it back - only so many opportunities to win.

Luck won’t always go your way - I’m human just like anyone else. But to say: win a 4,000-player tournament and go to Worlds… the deck is going to give you what it gives you. You don’t have complete control. There are so many players who are amazing at this game - some of the best players in the world don’t even have their invites to the North American or European Championships yet. 

There was a time when it felt like I was going to be erased from the game because I knew I would only have so many opportunities. My team was willing to give me the best shot possible - and as soon as I won I had an adrenaline rush and I was overcome. The thing I would give up anything for - the invitation to the World Championships - I had to play for it in a Best of Five in front of everyone that felt a little bit like a coin flip. So, it was difficult to play the Grand Finals. My opponent was amazing and this was his first big win and I’m happy for him. But Walt Disney World, and the World Championships is the next level - and this next one is going to be even more crazy and I wanted it so much. I was so thankful in that moment - so many people were part of the journey and believed in me, and that is all just racing through you in the moment.

There are some great rivals out there with Dinh Khan Pham, Ed Chiu, and more, and they motivate me to do better and be the best player I can be. I want to be a part of this game for a long time.

Speaking of Ed Chiu, Ed is here to give us a deeper dive into the Winterspell meta at Disney Lorcana Challenge Ghent!

Disney Lorcana Challenge Ghent Kickoff!

On March 6 and 7, more than 4,000 Illumineers came to battle it out for the title of Disney Lorcana Challenge Ghent Champion and punch their ticket to the World Championship. The tournament structure was slightly different than previous DLCs, where half of the players played on Friday and half played on Saturday, and anyone with 18 points continued their journey on Sunday.

All decklists were submitted on Friday morning so the Saturday group would not have any competitive meta advantage by swapping decks based on Friday’s data.

Here is the meta breakdown of both Friday and Saturday.

Both days had a similar spread of decks in terms of popularity but slightly different percentages. On Friday, the big three decks were Amethyst/Steel (25.8%), Amethyst/Sapphire (22.9%), and Amber/Emerald (14.5%). On Saturday, the big three decks were Amethyst Steel (24%), Amethyst Sapphire (20%), and Amber Emerald (18%).

Saturday had a slight decrease in Amethyst/Steel (down 1.8%) and Amethyst/Sapphire (down 2.9%), along with a slight increase in Amber/Emerald (up 3.5%).

The numbers are quite similar, but my theory is that the European metagame is generally more Amethyst-focused and enjoys playing cards like Genie – Wish Fulfilled and Dumbo – Ninth Wonder of the Universe, while the American/global metagame enjoys playing the Lady and the Tramp cards.

After eight rounds of Swiss during their respective days, Illumineers with 18 points moved on to Championship Sunday.

The following are the conversion rates between the days:

On Friday, even with the smaller representation of Amber/Emerald, it was clearly the highest-converting deck at 22%, followed by Amethyst/Sapphire at 18%.

An interesting third-place deck, Amber/Amethyst, appeared at 15% and took Amethyst/Steel’s spot. Amber/Amethyst is the king of Amethyst decks, with cards such as The Horseman Strikes! to deal with opposing evasive characters and World’s Greatest Criminal Mind to deal with Demona – Scourge of the Wyverns, so it makes sense that it performed well given the larger representation of Amethyst decks on Friday.

On Saturday, Amethyst/Steel converted at 18%, as it has a naturally good matchup into Amber/Emerald, with Amber/Emerald coming in second at 17%.

Another interesting third-place deck, Ruby/Amethyst, appeared at 16%, as it also has a naturally good matchup into Amber/Emerald.

Some of the conclusions we can draw from this data are that the Amber/Emerald strategy is potentially the strongest deck at the moment, and the only decks that can compete are ones trying to counter it, like Amethyst/Steel or Ruby/Amethyst. However, if you end up running into decks like Amethyst/Sapphire or Amber/Amethyst, you can also have a poor result.

Zan Syed Wins the Grand Finals with Amber/Emerald!

Main Deck:

4 Bobby Zimuruski – Spray Cheese Kid
2 Finnick – Tiny Terror
4 Lady – Decisive Dog
4 Lady – Elegant Spaniel
4 Rhino – One-Sixteenth Wolf
4 Grandmother Willow – Ancient Advisor
4 Lilo – Escape Artist
4 Mowgli – Man Cub
4 Tramp – Enterprising Dog
1 Ursula – Deceiver
4 Nani – Stage Manager
3 Mickey Mouse – Amber Champion
4 Lady – Miss Park Avenue
4 Tramp – Street-Smart Dog
4 Della's Moon Lullaby
4 Under the Sea
2 Emerald Chromicon

Zan Syed takes down the largest combined tournament with more than 4,000 Illumineers using Amber/Emerald (Dogs).

He is no stranger to the competitive scene, with a previous win at Disney Lorcana Challenge Las Vegas and a Top 4 finish at the North American Continental Championship, so it is no surprise that he took down this tournament.

Most of these Dog decks have a similar core, but a couple of differences that stand out are the inclusion of Finnick – Tiny Terror and Mickey Mouse – Amber Champion.

All Dog decks require between 16-18 one-cost characters to play a discounted Tramp – Street-Smart Dog, but it is up to the Illumineer to choose which ones.

Finnick – Tiny Terror functions as one but also has a secondary ability: being able to return an opposing character with 2 Strength or less.

This ability is relevant in the mirror match, where you can slow down your opponent by returning their Grandmother Willow – Ancient Advisor to delay them from playing their own Tramp – Street-Smart Dog and prevent them from being able to sing Under the Sea.

Mickey Mouse – Amber Champion is also a recent inclusion in the deck, first being spotlighted by Pierre Marc Duguay in last week’s win at the Ink Inc Open: Winterspell CCQ.

Mickey Mouse presents a solution to the new Winterspell card Angel – Experiment 624. Previously, Angel could immediately remove Grandmother Willow – Ancient Advisor, but with Mickey Mouse in play, it would require another 2 damage in order to remove her.

In addition, with two Amber characters on board, he can sing Under the Sea by himself, freeing the other characters on your board to either quest or sing Della’s Moon Lullaby.

Maxime Oger finishes second on Friday with Amethyst/Sapphire!

Main Deck:

4 Basil – Practiced Detective
4 Rafiki – Mystical Fighter
4 Tipo – Growing Son
4 Cheshire Cat – Inexplicable
3 Dumbo – Ninth Wonder of the Universe
2 Genie – Wish Fulfilled
3 Iago – Giant Spectral Parrot
3 Isis Vanderchill – Ice Queen of St. Canard
2 Belle – Accomplished Mystic
4 Elsa – The Fifth Spirit
4 Hades – Looking for a Deal
4 Demona – Scourge of the Wyvern Clan
4 Hades – Infernal Schemer
4 Sail the Azurite Sea
3 Into the Unknown
4 Let It Go
4 Junior Woodchuck Guidebook

The second most represented deck this weekend was Amethyst/Sapphire.

Most of the builds are fairly similar, but the one card that Maxime added to his deck that stands out is the new Isis Vanderchill – Ice Queen of St. Canard.

One of the major playlines that Dogs has is the 1-cost character → Grandmother Willow → Tramp – Street-Smart Dog opener.

If Amethyst Sapphire is able to play a turn three Isis Vanderchill, it can heavily delay the Dogs deck’s plan to overwhelm the board with characters.

This inclusion was a great meta call, and it is not surprising that this was the best-performing Amethyst/Sapphire deck of the tournament.

This deck also sees Belle – Accomplished Mystic make a return.

After Cheshire Cat – Inexplicable was added to the deck, Belle took a back seat as the “weaker” of the two damage-moving characters, but Maxime decided to add two copies of Belle in addition to the four copies of Cheshire Cat to gain more access to this effect.

In addition to being able to win the evasive wars, Belle also acts as a card that can prevent your opponent from gaining lore through Go Go Tamago – Darting Dynamo and can also banish characters that haven’t been exerted yet.

Amethyst/Steel finishes in the Top 8!

Main Deck:

4 Captain Hook – Forceful Duelist

4 Palace Guard – Spectral Sentry

3 Calhoun – Marine Sergeant

3 Christopher Robin – Joining the Fun

4 Doc – Bold Knight

2 Violet Sabrewing – Senior Junior Woodchuck

4 Cheshire Cat – Inexplicable

4 Giant Cobra – Ghostly Serpent

3 Tinker Bell – Fast Flier

3 Angel – Experiment 624

4 Dumbo – Ninth Wonder of the Universe

4 Genie – Wish Fulfilled

1 Sven – Leaping Reindeer

1 Yzma – Conniving Chemist

1 Belle – Accomplished Mystic

4 Elsa – The Fifth Spirit

1 Hades – Looking for a Deal

3 Demona – Scourge of the Wyvern Clan

3 Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy

4 Strength of a Raging Fire

The best-finishing Amethyst/Steel deck, piloted by Gratsch on Saturday, features Tinker Bell – Fast Flier and Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy as a shift line.

This deck also features three copies of Angel – Experiment 624 as a way to deal with Grandmother Willow – Ancient Advisor as soon as she comes onto the board.

This is an interesting take on the deck because, historically speaking, Amethyst/Steel has always had some issues if their opponent plays too many characters and they get overwhelmed, but with the Tinker Bell package and Angel, it makes the matchup much more manageable.

These three decks make up most of the metagame, but there are a couple of other decks that had good runs with smaller representation.

Diego Saz finishes 3rd on Saturday with Amber Steel!

Main Deck:

4 Rhino – One-Sixteenth Wolf

4 Angel – Siren Singer

4 Doc – Bold Knight

4 Grandmother Willow – Ancient Advisor

4 Lilo – Escape Artist

2 Mowgli – Man Cub

4 The Troubadour – Musical Narrator

4 Nani – Stage Manager

4 Angel – Experiment 624

2 Chief Powhatan – Protective Leader

4 Rhino – Power Hamster

4 Stitch – Carefree Snowboarder

4 Goliath – Clan Leader

4 Akood et Emuti

4 Strength of a Raging Fire

4 He Hurled His Thunderbolt

Many may recognize Diego from winning Disney Lorcana Challenge Toronto, and he is back again with a top finish with Amber Steel.

In addition to being able to play all the strong Steel cards such as Angel – Experiment 624 and the songs Strength of a Raging Fire and He Hurled His Thunderbolt, he gets to play these cards even earlier with the combination of Angel – Siren Singer and Akood et Emuti.

Being able to deploy Angel – Experiment 624 on turn two slows down the Dog deck significantly and is almost a guaranteed win if that happens.

I finished 18th on Saturday with Emerald/Sapphire!

Main Deck:

4 Clarabelle - Clumsy Guest

4 Tipo - Growing Son

4 Prince Phillip - Royal Explorer

4 Cinderella - Dream Come True

4 Donald Duck - Perfect Gentleman

4 John Silver - Alien Pirate

4 Basil - Undercover Detective

4 Clarabelle - Light on Her Hooves

4 Prince Phillip - Vanquisher of Foes

2 Distract

4 Sail the Azurite Sea

4 Vision of the Future

2 Ink Geyser

4 Malicious, Mean, and Scary

4 You're Welcome

4 Under the Sea

I decided to bring Emerald/Sapphire, as I felt very comfortable with the deck and had also finished 9th in Melbourne with it, and I still believed it was a very powerful deck.

I’ve commented before that I believe this is the “Under the Sea meta,” where whoever can cast that card the most effectively will win the game.

Dogs have Tramp – Street-Smart Dog to find it, and Emerald Sapphire has Vision of the Future. I believe they are quite similar, but you also have access to another board-wiping ability in the Malicious, Mean, and Scary → Prince Phillip – Vanquisher of Foes combo.

My favorite card in the history of Disney Lorcana has always been Sisu – Empowered Sibling, and Prince Phillip – Vanquisher of Foes is the closest card we have to Sisu at the moment.

From the list I ran in Melbourne, Ink Geyser also makes a return, as I believe this card single-handedly wins the game when you get ahead on board and are able to restrict your opponent’s ink and prevent a comeback.

A new addition to the deck this week is the reprint Distract.

In Dogs, they have Della’s Moon Lullaby to reduce Strength on the opponent’s side of the board to make Under the Sea better.

In Emerald/Sapphire, the deck used to play Heads Held High, but the issue was that it required an additional card to make it work.

Distract solves that issue by also drawing a card in addition to reducing your opponent’s Strength.