Lorcana: off-meta decklists from Worlds!

Hello, everyone!

The First Lorcana World Championship, which we analyzed in our last article, showed not only a snapshot of the established metagame, but also many possible paths for the next season.

Once Fabled, the ninth Lorcana set, is released in September, there will also be a rotation in the Core Constructed format, and sets 1 to 4 will no longer be valid - except, of course, for reprints, which we know will happen in Fabled, and have already showed in Reign of Jafar, such as Captain Hook - Forceful Duelist and Dalmatian Puppy - Tail Wagger.

Today, we're going to highlight some interesting and different lists used in Lorcana's World Championship, and identify some new ideas for the next step of the metagame! Let's go!

Before we analyze the decks, it is worth remembering that the format used at World Championships was a little different from what is normally played at local game stores, or even at larger events, such as the Lorcana Challenges.

At World, as explained in this article, a new format was used, called Triple Deck Constructed. In short, each player brought 3 decks, with all 6 ink colors represented. Before each match, players looked at the lists and chose an opponent's deck to bench, and whoever won with the remaining 2 decks was the winner of the match.

This allowed for some interesting strategies, such as using 3 decks that had a common weakness, and thus always banning the opponent's deck that hit that weak point. Some of the decks we will highlight below were used with this in mind, so it is important to be careful and prepare for your metagame before using them.

Emerald Sapphire, by Diego Saz

Diego Saz brought a very interesting and different combination of decks: Emerald-Sapphire, Amber-Ruby, and Amethyst-Steel. The highlight is the Emerald-Sapphire list:

This deck is similar to Ramp to My Will, which we analyzed in this article, but of course, without budget limitations and updated with the latest sets.

The idea is to accelerate your available ink, through several cards that increase your inkwell beyond the limit of 1 per turn, and thus reach powerful seven-cost options as soon as possible.

The addition of Donald Duck - Focused Flatfoot brings an accelerator that is also inkable, something very important since the deck cannot falter in ink development in the initial turns.

The deck's 7-Drops are quite impactful. Bend to My Will, when played quickly against a slower deck, is practically a game over, and both Clarabelle and Basil are good Lore generators in addition to their effects - Basil has board control, and Clarabelle refuels your hand.

To help with interactions, the deck has several ways to return cards from to the hand, or shuffle a card into the deck and grant two cards in return. All of these options are excellent when accompanied by Clarabelle - Light on Her Hooves or Bend to My Will, further demonstrating the deck's synergy.

Amber Amethyst, by Luke Goodwin

Luke Goodwin used a combination of decks alternating between aggro, control, and his beloved Diablo Discard - after all, it was the deck that he used to win at DLC Seattle, in October 2024.

Here we're highlighting his Amber Amethyst Hyper Aggro:

No card in the deck costs more than 4 ink, and over half the deck costs 1 or 2 ink! The game plan is straightforward and simple: flood the board with efficient Lore-generating characters, protect them, and win as quickly as possible!

These are some of the most efficient 1-Drops in the game in terms of Lore generation, and ideally you want to start with one of them, and probably follow up next turn with one or two more!

In the following turns, the theme of generating more lore than the ink you spent continues! Pinocchio and Piglet are 2-cost characters that generate 3 Lore, and on the third turn, Lady will add even more pressure to your board, probably bringing along another character that generates 2 or more Lore.

Of course, the Lore generators are fragile, so the deck also has a selection of Bodyguards to protect them. While they're not good for eliminating the opponent's board, the goal is just to out-tempo the opponent by forcing challenges against the Bodyguards instead of the Lore generators.

Finally, if your opponent manages to stop you reaching 20 Lore quickly, the deck has some cards to directly obtain Lore, without having to wait in order to Quest: both Merlin and White Rose can be used to reach those final points. And in a longer game, against an opponent that uses a lot of removal, Lilo - Escape Artist will be a constant threat, needing to be dealt with turn after turn, wearing down the opponent's resources.

Sapphire Steel, by Scott Markeson

Soon after the release of Archazia’s Island, Sapphire-Steel Items quickly rose to the top of the metagame. We analyzed the deck in depth in this article, but with the sequence of results and polarization of the metagame, two cards from it ended up being banned, considerably reducing its strength and presence in tournaments.

Scott Markeson, however, maintained his confidence in the archetype, registering the only Sapphire Steel of the Worlds, which is highlighted here:

The deck combines the ink acceleration in Sapphire with the strong board control in Steel, and the result is a deck with several tools that allow for a flexible stance between aggressive and control.

One of the strongest first turns in the game is starting with Pawpsicle and Belle - Apprentice Inventor, and this deck seeks to exploit this, combining Belle with some songs from the Steel ink that help keep the board under control.

Miss Bianca and Mr Smee, to a lesser extent, are characters with stats above the ink curve, and thus support the plan of songs and efficient duels in the initial turns.

Speaking of songs, these are the strongest ones available in Steel - all aimed at board control. Grab Your Sword, in particular, is really effective against the many hyper-aggressive lists used at Worlds.

With the board under control, the larger characters make sure you have a smooth endgame. Tinker Bell is another option to clear a board of smaller characters, and it's interesting to note that there's no Shift option on the list. Hades, on the other hand, deals with big characters, who are out of reach for damage-based removal from Steel. Simba has double duty, since he can be used to cycle inefficient cards, or to finish off small characters, alongside good Lore generation.

Finally, McDuck Manor - Scrooge's Mansion is important in games with a lot of grinding and character trades, since the Location is a constant Lore generation, and with 9 Willpower it's extremely difficult for the opponent to answer efficiently.

Players at Worlds had the opportunity to create flexible lists, designed around the three-deck + bench format, specific to the Event. However, the ideas presented can certainly be transferred to local metagames, with the necessary adjustments, while maintaining the efficiency and core strategies.

Many ideas can be developed in the coming months, when we also have more information about the next sets and knowing which cards will remain in the format after the rotation, with Fabled.

I hope you enjoyed it! As always, leave your comments or feedback below!

Cheers, and see you next time!