Lorcana: DLC Milwaukee analysis and winning decklist!

Hello, everyone!

On the weekend of October 25-26, we had the second Disney Lorcana Challenge (DLC) of the new season. This time, in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States.

As explained in our review of the Bologna DLC, the Challenges are a great celebration of Lorcana and the community, and because they are open events, anyone can participate.

Now focusing on the main event - the Challenge itself -, let's analyze the metagame, which combinations were more and less successful, and analyze the winning decklist! Let's go!

Although this was the first Challenge of the new season in the US, it's worth remembering that other major tournaments are also taking place through independent organizers. Like the DLCs, these events also qualify for tournaments such as the Regional Championships.

The difference with the DLC is how large the event itself is, and the huge prize pool attracts more players from around the world, giving us the opportunity to see great competitive Lorcana in action – for example, the world champion himself, Dinh Khang Pham, was in attendance, and even reached the Top 16 of the event!

Metagame

The DLC Milwaukee main event had 1,934 participants, just slightly more than the Bologna DLC. And the similarities don't stop there—let's look at the Day 1 deck distribution:

Amethyst-Sapphire, or Blurple, as it's affectionately known, was the most popular combination again, although slightly lower than in Bologna. This ink pair combines the powerful card draw of Amethyst with the ink acceleration and control tools of Sapphire, and it's no surprise that it's a favorite for almost a third of participants.

It's in second place in popularity that we see an interesting shift when compared to the Bologna metagame: Amethyst-Steel raised from fourth place to second, with almost a quarter of total participants opting for this combination. While card draw, which is almost the main mechanic of Amethyst, remains present, the Steel combination brings a much stronger early game and some better control tools against the aggressive decks.

Unfortunately, Ruby has yet to find a space or combination that shows real strength within the metagame. While this time, no ink combinations were left out on Day 1, almost no combinations with Ruby achieved enough wins to reach Day 2, leaving only four Amethyst-Ruby* participants to represent the color.

The Champion - Frank Karsten's Amethyst-Steel

After 8 rounds of Swiss pairing on Day 1, four more rounds on Day 2, and then the Single Elimination Rounds with the top 32 players, Frank Karsten was again crowned champion of a DLC, having already won DLC Lille in 2024. Karsten's mastery is undeniable; he's a veteran of card games – and is even a Magic: The Gathering Hall of Famer.

Here is the champion's list:

The list used by Karsten was a version of Amethyst-Steel Evasives, which we analyzed in this recent article.

The winning list's unique feature is that it's full of silver bullets to counter specific decks—a strategy made possible by the consistency of the Amethyst ink, with a card draw power that makes it easier to find the right answers at the right time.

Besides the silver bullets, another very interesting feature was Yzma - Conniving Chemist —another Amethyst card that refills your hand, allowing for an aggressive game plan, filling the board with characters without depleting your available resources.

This more aggressive gameplan was essential to Karsten's victories, and to incorporate this strategy into his deck, non-character cards were drastically reduced. Karsten's list uses only five Actions, and no items or locations—quite unlike other lists in the same combination, which often focus on more board control, like Fire the Cannons!, or locations like Seven Dwarfs' Mine - Secure Fortress.

We have another DLC in which the strong presence of Amethyst ink among the best competitive decks is clear, and the deficiency of Ruby ink worsens the feeling of imbalance.

However, the entire metagame has proven to be reasonably diverse, with various combinations and various deck types—aggro, midrange, control—showing themselves to be present and quite competitive.

One of the highlights of the event was 10-year-old player Aiden, who became the youngest player to reach the Top 8 in a Disney Lorcana Challenge—even eliminating the current world champion on his way to the Top! The list used by Aiden, an Amber-Steel Aggro, which we already had the opportunity to analyze in this recent article, clearly shows how Amethyst isn't the only color capable of winning in the current metagame.

Now, we await the release of Whispers in the Well, Lorcana's tenth set, which also promises to shake up this metagame a bit!

Hope you enjoyed it! As always, leave your feedback in the comments below.

Cheers, and see you next time!