The final Disney Lorcana Challenge in North America took place this past weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana. This marked the end of North American DLCs for season 2 and was the first to feature the highly polarizing Infinity Constructed format. If you were on social media after the event, you likely saw a few of the controversies that spawned from this weekend. While I do think there are some interesting discussions to be had about those topics, I don’t think all that buzz focuses nearly enough on what attending the event was actually like. As someone who attended the event, played in both the main event and side events, and witnessed some of the controversies firsthand, let’s review the Disney Lorcana Challenge: Indianapolis!
Infinity Format: A Diamond in the Rough
When the Infinity DLC was initially announced, general player perception was not particularly enthusiastic. Infinity Constructed is a new format in Lorcana in which every card is legal to play—okay, all but one card. This differs from Lorcana’s main format, Core Constructed, in which only cards from sets in the current rotation (sets 9-12) are allowed to be played.
With old favorites like Madam Mim – Fox and Ariel – Spectacular Singer allowed to be played once again, you would think most players would have been jumping at the chance to play an Infinity DLC. Unfortunately, with a lack of meaningful official support for the format, most players saw Infinity as a stale format in which Sapphire/Steel items would dominate the meta, as they had before the initial rotation, leaving little room for innovation. This, coupled with the vast majority of CCQs (Challenge Championship Qualifiers) using the Core Constructed format, meant there just wasn’t much reason to playtest Infinity until closer to the DLC date.
As time went by and more sets were released, there was a ban in Infinity, which began to open up the meta, but that wiggle room shrank quickly as players realized the best deck in Core would also be the best deck in Infinity. As large-scale Infinity events finally began to pop up, Amber/Emerald Dogs quickly staked its claim on the title of “best deck in format,” with unprecedented play and conversion rates unlike anything we had seen for the ink pairing in Lorcana to date. As with most big-bads of a format, players began resenting the deck as weeks went by, and its meta share and win rates continued to rise. It would all come to a head when it was time for the Dortmund DLC, in which Illumineers held their breath, anxiously awaiting to see if the dogs deck would finally showcase its true power and demonstrate to Ravensburger that bans needed to happen ahead of DLC Indianapolis. However, surprisingly, the deck didn’t even make the finals. And despite 38% of players converting their day 2 into a top 64 finish, no Amber/Emerald in the finals didn’t bode well for the case that any bans needed to happen, allowing the dogs to bark another day at DLC Indianapolis.
With most players aware that it would be a dog-eat-dog world, they floundered, desperately searching for a way to avoid playing dogs without feeling like they were making a bad decision. Some players even opted out of the main event entirely, spending their weekend as attendees to avoid the meta altogether. Others kept their head down, playtesting various deck combinations, determined to find an answer to a seemingly unsolvable puzzle. While it makes sense that some players would resent the idea of having to play dogs, beat dogs but lose to other things, or lose to dogs and beat everything else, many players actually began to enjoy the format. The deeper into the weeds players went, the more complex gameplay became. Dogs mirrors were no longer about who could find Under the Sea first, and innovations in the Amber/Emerald strategy slowly gave room for other decks to find their footing, making some sleeper picks become viable once again.
Ultimately, Ruby/Sapphire took home the trophy, piloted by South Florida local Bryan Pereira, who FaceTimed his family in a heartfelt moment immediately after winning. And while Amber/Emerald did much better this time around, finishing 2nd, piloted by popular Lorcana player Alphos, it didn’t win the event, and that in and of itself felt like a win to most of the community. In the end, while the metagame for DLC Indianapolis remained dominated by Amber/Emerald decks, most players seemed to have warmed up to the format, whether through genuine enjoyment or acceptance of their fate. Some even shared that they would miss being able to play it competitively.
So, the dogs made it through to rotation without catching a ban hammer, and infinity seemed to go off without a hitch. Was the format ever as bad as players made it out to be? Or are card game players just ubiquitous complainers? Probably a bit of both. Regardless, Attack of the Vine card reveals have begun, and consciousness has already shifted away from Infinity and back to Core Constructed. Maybe time does heal all wounds.
You’ve Got a Friend in Me…and My Teammates Who Are Looking at Everyone’s Deck Choice
So, I mentioned controversies earlier. Well, this was a big one. After the weekend, many players found themselves in a heated debate on the ethics of scouting at tournaments. Scouting is when players go around between matches, looking at other players’ active games to determine which decks they might be up against, giving them an advantage should they later play someone whose deck they have already identified.
On some level, this will always happen and is hard to control. Think about something like a Lorcana Set Championship, which usually has anywhere from 8 to 30 players. In a room that small, it’s easy and even common for everyone to already know their competition each round. Usually, the room is full of locals who play together and playtest every week, or players would naturally see opponents’ decks they aren’t familiar with by sitting next to them or by finishing a match early and seeing them as they walk through the store. In a vacuum, the act of scouting doesn’t seem like such a big deal. However, some players have noted that, when it comes to premier-level events with the sheer size of something like a DLC and the amount of prizing at stake, the issue becomes harder to ignore.
There are teams in Lorcana with nearly a hundred players, or even locals of 30+ people who all know each other and meet up after matches to share stories about what happened. It’s easy to see how someone traveling with a group can gain an advantage over an illumineer going solo, whether intentionally trying to or not. Ravensburger was quick to acknowledge these concerns on their most recent Lorecast, and I was happy to hear they are considering solutions such as public ink pairings and open decklists.
I think the line on punishment for scouting is a hard one to draw, as it can be difficult to track when it’s being done maliciously, and at some point, it is a natural part of playing the game. While I understand the general concern and distaste for the idea, it is true that players will always seek to give themselves an advantage. I think the key solution here is to give both players an equal advantage by revealing ink pairings in advance. This protects any “spice” players may have while removing the inherent advantage of players who scouted the field in advance. Ravensburger has encouraged everyone to share their thoughts on these potential changes, and I encourage everyone to do so respectfully with the team as well! Discord.gg/DisneyLorcana has a feedback section where you can share your thoughts. In the meantime, be sure to stay diligent and stay kind. While competition will always have winners and therefore losers, we must all remember that we are opponents, not enemies.
Side Events, Ravensburger’s Booth, and a Prize Wall filled with Whozits and Whatzits Galore!
Alright, alright, so a few hundred people actually made it to day 2 and focused on the competitive side of Lorcana all weekend long. But what about the rest of us? Well, from Friday through Sunday, there were side events aplenty for players to try and hoard as many tickets as possible to go home with some sweet Disney Lorcana loot. Side events ranged from a $20 pack rush for guaranteed tickets to $100 sealed events, where players would get to open multiple packs from the past 4 sets, including Wilds Unknown. During season 1 of Disney Lorcana Challenges, players used to be able to pay around that same $100 mark to open packs of the highly coveted The First Chapter booster packs, but it seems those are in short supply these days.
Also in short supply were several of the products on the prize wall, given that Let It Go promos sold out before the end of the event’s first day. During the previous DLCs, the prize wall has sold out of items as well, but nothing had ever sold out before Sunday night. So, admittedly, it was a little frustrating to see a card sell out so early in the weekend. Despite this, all the players I spoke to appeared to be in generally good spirits, side events fired all weekend long, and Past Times, the event’s organizer, even opened On-Demand Events earlier than usual on Sunday without compromising prizing on the prize wall. Rumor even had it that a couple of Buzz Lightyear – Jungle Ranger Iconics were pulled from side events after screams were heard throughout the venue, which helped lift a few spirits.
As for me, I wanted a break from the ticket grind on Sunday. I was fortunate enough to attend and compete at every North American DLC this season, so I already had copies of each promo back home. While I did play in the megaprize side event on Friday to prepare for the main event, I took Sunday off from playing to walk around, spend time with community members I don’t normally get to see, enjoy the live coverage from the viewing area, and check out the various vendors in the hall. Much to my delight, Ravensburger had its very own vendor booth this time around. And honestly? The booth was pretty awesome! The booth brought back the beloved Collection Quest, where players could earn a Violet Parr – Learning New Powers promo by buying 3 packs and trading with other illumineers to find the four cards required on their individual quest sheets. Personally, I would have loved the Collection Quest to use cards from Wilds Unknown instead of a set that is going to be rotated out in a few weeks, but I understand you’ve got to move inventory somehow.
Speaking of moving inventory, while having a Ravensburger booth was a nice change of pace, it was hard to ignore the feeling that the whole point of the booth was to move leftover product from previous sets. Take the Mystery Bag, for example. It was announced that Ravensburger was offering a Convention Mystery Bag for $31.97 that would include 1 Playmat, 1 Wilds Unknown Booster Pack, a Randomized Pin, a Stitch Promo, a Buzz Lightyear Promo, and an additional mystery item (usually a deck box from an old set). On its face, it was a great deal: the playmat, booster pack, and deck box alone totaled $32 at MSRP, and while the rest is technically hard to pin down, the Lorcana pins themselves generally sell for at least $15 each. So, value-wise, there really isn’t room to complain, but when every single person I spoke to got the same playmat and pin, it’s hard to feel like there was much “random”-ization to begin with. You could even see buckets behind the counter of that same pin that most people walked away with. I am glad they had a booth — even if it was to move old products that most players don’t want. It was good for Ravensburger to be there at their own event, and for players to be able to buy things from them directly rather than from the other 3rd-party vendors. Maybe just mix up the mystery bags a little more so that 50 people in a row don’t get the same playmat next time.
Ultimately, the booth was a big success, and players got a chance on Sunday morning to buy a booster box of Wilds Unknown at MSRP, where the market is up to nearly $250. So, it’s hard to knock it too harshly. They gave players what they wanted — a hot new product at a reasonable price — and incentivized them to buy a mystery bag to help clear their inventory. Plus, they showed face at their own event and even got to help showcase products that don’t normally get sold in local game stores, like their new Disney Lorcana puzzle line and the Disney Lorcana journal! In the end, I guess it was a win-win.
Even Miracles Take a Little Time
Overall, the Disney Lorcana Challenge in Indianapolis was a success. While not my favorite DLC of the season (DLC Milwaukee gets that title), I think Indianapolis was a perfectly fine event.
The best parts of the event were spending time with the stellar community and the lack of hiccups during the main event. The worst parts were the prize wall selling out rapidly and scandals discovered after the fact on social media. In short, actually playing Lorcana was the best part of the weekend, and everything else was just sort of okay. Sure, one could argue that everything being perfectly average is a good thing, but when there are only three DLCs for North American players to attend, you sort of hope that each one will go above and beyond in knocking it out of the park. There were certainly glimmers of greatness this weekend, with things like the Ravenburger booth showcasing how far DLCs can go with proper planning, but I don’t think any of these glimpses managed to fully form into anything spectacularly memorable.
So, season 2 wasn’t exactly the perfect sequel to the beautiful season one of Disney Lorcana Challenges, but I do think it was a necessary step in building a better future for organized play. If nothing else, this season overall showcased that Ravensburger is listening and actively working to improve, and I am genuinely optimistic that season 3 will be the best season yet. For now, though, we still have a few more months left to make the most of this season, with the North American Challenge Championship just around the corner and the second-ever World Championship not long after. So, in the meantime, we must remember…
You have to walk before you can run, good things come to those who wait, and even miracles take a little time. Give Ravensburger and Disney Lorcana a little time, and I am confident that we will all be pleasantly surprised by what’s to come for the future of organized play in Disney Lorcana.
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