We had amazing games in the Disney Lorcana tournament Lorca Quest in Paris. Amazing close games and a versatile meta showcasing a healthy Set 5 as players continue changing their lists and adapting to the top performers. The Lorca Quest tournament had over 700 players participating, so it was a competitive event with players giving their all to win.
With the Seattle Lorcana Challenge drawing near, Lorca Quest is a great opportunity to analyze the Lorcana Set 5 meta development.
First Place Emerald Steel
4 Beast - Tragic Hero
4 Diablo - Devoted Herald
4 Diablo - Maleficent's Spy
1 Hidden Cove - Tranquil Haven
4 Hypnotize
4 Let the Storm Rage On
2 Lucifer - Cunning Cat
4 Morph - Space Goo
4 Pete - Games Referee
3 Prince John - Greediest of All
4 Robin Hood - Champion of Sherwood
4 Strength of a Raging Fire
4 Sudden Chill
4 Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy
4 Ursula - Deceiver
2 Ursula - Deceiver of All
4 We Don't Talk About Bruno
Emerald Steel yet again proves it’s one of the best decks in Set 5 meta. It went head to head with the popular Ruby Sapphire, managing to take it down and claim first place in the Lorca Quest.
This is a discard deck that aims to bleed opponents out of resources using cards like Hypnotize, Sudden Chill, and Ursula – Deceiver. This forces the opposing player to rely on top decks and can make life miserable when it comes to inking. Additionally, Emerald Steel has Beast – Tragic Hero, Diablo – Devoted Herald, and Prince John – Greediest of All who act as draw engines, further increasing the resource value gap and giving you more plays to make.
Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood and Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy are your strongest Character on the board, capable of challenging and banishing exerted Characters to slow down opponents from Questing.
Second Place Ruby Sapphire
3 Be Prepared
2 Brawl
3 Fishbone Quill
4 Gramma Tala - Keeper of Ancient Stories
1 Great Stone Dragon
4 Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker
2 How Far I'll Go
3 Ice Block
2 Kuzco - Selfish Emperor
2 Lucky Dime
2 Madame Medusa - The Boss
4 Maleficent - Monstrous Dragon
3 Maui - Hero to All
2 One Jump Ahead
4 Pawpsicle
2 Queen of Hearts - Impulsive Ruler
3 Sisu - Daring Visitor
3 Sisu - Empowered Sibling
4 Tamatoa - So Shiny!
4 Tipo - Growing Son
4 Vision of the Future
Ruby Sapphire is the popular choice among players and has dominated multiple Lorcana metas. This is a ramp deck that wants to take things to the late game where it shines the most and overpowers most decks. Tipo – Growing Son, One Jump Ahead, and Fishbone Quill offer that ramp power to gain more Ink and speed up this deck’s game plan. You’re able to set up stronger future turns, but ramping up means you’ll lose on resources, so draw engines are crucial to keep the engine running. Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker shines as the best card to play early into the game, banishing an Item to draw 2 cards, offering more plays to make in the late game.
The list has multiple control tools like Brawl, Sisu – Daring Visitor, Madame Medusa – The Boss, and Be Prepared to help you keep control of the board and slow down the opponent’s Lore generation. This forces the opposing player to rebuild a win condition, but it can be troublesome when you take over the late game.
Tamatoa – So Shiny! is a late-game win condition, Questing for a lot of Lore and you can win the game on the spot when combined with Lucky Dime for extra Lore.
Third Place Sapphire Amethyst
3 Belle - Accomplished Mystic
4 Chernabog's Followers - Creatures of Evil
1 Cogsworth - Illuminary Watchman
3 Elsa - Spirit of Winter
4 Elsa - The Fifth Spirit
4 Friends On The Other Side
3 Great Stone Dragon
3 Hades - Infernal Schemer
4 Madam Mim - Fox
4 Madam Mim - Snake
2 McDuck Manor - Scrooge's Mansion
4 Merlin - Crab
4 Merlin - Goat
3 Merlin - Rabbit
3 Rafiki - Mystical Fighter
3 Scrooge McDuck - Afficionado of Antiquities
4 The Library - A Gift for Belle
4 Tipo - Growing Son
Burple Amethyst Sapphire makes it into third place in the Lorca Quest tournament! This deck combines Sapphire’s ramp with Tipo – Growing Son and Great Stone Dragon and Amethyst’s Bounce mechanic using Madam Mim – Fox and Madam Mim – Snake.
Merlin – Crab, Merlin – Goat, and Merlin – Rabbit are essential additions to the list when going for the bounce strategy, creating more value when returning them back to your hand.
The late game has control Characters Belle – Accomplished Mystic, Elsa – The Fifth Spirit, Hades – Infernal Schemer, and Elsa – Spirit of Winter each having unique abilities to weaken the opponent’s side of the board.
Fourth Place Amber Steel
4 A Whole New World
4 And Then Along Came Zeus
4 Ariel - Spectacular Singer
4 Cinderella - Ballroom Sensation
3 Cinderella - Stouthearted
3 Lawrence - Jealous Manservant
4 Let the Storm Rage On
4 Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate
4 Pete - Games Referee
2 Piglet - Pooh Pirate Captain
4 Prince Naveen - Ukulele Player
4 Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing
4 Robin Hood - Beloved Outlaw
4 Robin Hood - Champion of Sherwood
4 Strength of a Raging Fire
2 Ursula - Vanessa
2 World's Greatest Criminal Mind
Amber Steel didn’t perform as expected two weeks ago in Las Vegas and Birmingham Lorcana Challenges. So many players went back to the drawing board, either tweaking the list or moving to a different archetype.
However, in Lorca Quest, Amber Steel made it into the top 4! This deck is known for its Song value, using singers like Ursula – Vanessa and Ariel – Spectacular Singer to play Songs without having to spend Ink. This allows the deck to dominate the board presence, banishing your opponent’s Characters while still continuing to develop their side of the board.
Since you’ll be singing Songs, you’ll end up running out of steam pretty quickly, so A Whole New World is critical for this deck to continue setting up powerful plays in the later stages of the game.
Cinderella – Stouthearted is the strongest Character in this list, difficult for most decks to remove from play, and is capable of Challenging ready Characters, slowing down opponents’ Lore generation.
Top 8:
5th Sapphire Steel
4 A Whole New World
1 And Then Along Came Zeus
1 Ariel - Treasure Collector
2 Ba-Boom!
2 Belle - Strange but Special
2 Captain Hook - Forceful Duelist
4 Cogsworth - Grandfather Clock
2 Fire The Cannons!
4 Fishbone Quill
4 Fortisphere
1 Gaston - Intellectual Powerhouse
3 Grab Your Sword
2 Hades - Infernal Schemer
1 Hide Away
4 Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker
2 Kuzco - Selfish Emperor
2 Let It Go
1 Let the Storm Rage On
2 Lucky Dime
2 McDuck Manor - Scrooge's Mansion
4 Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate
4 Pawpsicle
4 Tamatoa - So Shiny!
4 Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy
2 Tinker Bell - Tiny Tactician
This is a ramp deck that heavily relies on A Whole New World to replenish its hand after it uses Fishbone Quill to ramp up. The list is heavy on the board control cards, using Ba-Boom!, Fire The Cannons!, Grab Your Sword, and Let It Go to make sure opponents don’t take over the game.
Interestingly. the list is running cards we don’t see much of in Set 5 like Arges – The Cyclops, Ariel – Treasure Collector, and Chien-Po – Imperial Soldier.
Similar to the Ruby Sapphire deck, Sapphire Steel uses Lucky Dime as a Lore generation win con, comboing it with cards like Tamatoa – So Shiny! or Ariel – Treasure Collector.
6th Ruby Amethyst
4 Be Prepared
4 Brawl
4 Chernabog's Followers - Creatures of Evil
2 Elsa - The Fifth Spirit
2 Finders Keepers
4 Friends On The Other Side
3 Kuzco - Wanted Llama
1 Lady Tremaine - Imperious Queen
4 Madam Mim - Fox
4 Madam Mim - Snake
3 Madame Medusa - The Boss
4 Magic Broom - Illuminary Keeper
4 Maui - Hero to All
4 Merlin - Crab
4 Merlin - Rabbit
4 Sisu - Emboldened Warrior
1 Sisu - Empowered Sibling
4 The Queen's Castle - Mirror Chamber
This deck is one of the oldest decks in Lorcana and has proven to be a powerful contender Set after Set.
It uses the bounce mechanic to gain more value from cards Merlin – Crab, Merlin – Goat, and Merlin – Rabbit and has the control power to keep your opponent from taking over the board. Cards like Be Prepared, Madame Medusa – The Boss, and Lady Tremaine – Imperious Queen can banish Characters and weaken the opponent’s presence.
Be Prepared is an extremely strong play that forces the other player to hold off from fully committing to the board to avoid losing all their resources. It’s also great when combined with The Queen’s Castle – Mirror Chamber, leaving a Location in play to generate Lore with no opposing Characters to Challenge.
7th Emerald Amethyst
1 Anna - Diplomatic Queen
2 Banzai - Gluttonous Predator
3 Clarabelle - Clumsy Guest
3 Clarabelle - Light on Her Hooves
1 Cogsworth - Illuminary Watchman
1 Cri-Kee - Lucky Cricket
3 Cursed Merfolk - Ursula's Handiwork
3 Elsa - The Fifth Spirit
4 Friends On The Other Side
1 Kit Cloudkicker - Tough Guy
3 Lyle Tiberius Rourke - Cunning Mercenary
1 Madam Mim - Elephant
4 Madam Mim - Fox
4 Madam Mim - Snake
2 Merlin - Crab
4 Merlin - Goat
4 Merlin - Rabbit
3 Pegasus - Gift for Hercules
2 Sir Hiss - Aggravating Asp
1 The Library - A Gift for Belle
2 The Queen's Castle - Mirror Chamber
4 Ursula - Deceiver
2 Ursula - Sea Witch Queen
2 You're Welcome
Emerald Amethyst made 7th and 8th spots in the Lorca Quest Paris tournament.
This deck combines the bounce and discard mechanics as part of its game plan. Madam Mim – Fox and Madam Mim – Snake can return Characters like Merlin – Goat and Merlin – Rabbit to activate their abilities. You’re not tied to those two Characters, but can also return Ursula – Deceiver for another discard activation. Kit Cloudkicker – Tough Guy can return one of the opponent’s Characters, slowing down their Lore generation.
Ursula – Sea Witch Queen can be a game changer, preventing opponents from singing Songs, which proves useful against the popular Amber Steel deck. Clarabelle – Light on Her Hooves became a popular addition to this archetype, offering a late-game draw value to ensure you don’t run out of steam.
8th Emerald Amethyst
3 Banzai - Gluttonous Predator
1 Belle - Accomplished Mystic
3 Clarabelle - Clumsy Guest
2 Clarabelle - Light on Her Hooves
4 Cursed Merfolk - Ursula's Handiwork
4 Elsa - The Fifth Spirit
4 Friends On The Other Side
3 HeiHei - Bumbling Rooster
2 Lyle Tiberius Rourke - Cunning Mercenary
4 Madam Mim - Fox
4 Madam Mim - Snake
4 Merlin - Crab
4 Merlin - Goat
4 Merlin - Rabbit
1 Pegasus - Gift for Hercules
4 Sir Hiss - Aggravating Asp
4 Ursula - Deceiver
3 Ursula - Sea Witch Queen
2 You're Welcome