First Bucky, now Diablo. Who would have thought such minor characters would have such a huge impact in the Disney Lorcana? Ravensburger made short work of the overpowered Bucky earlier this year with an errata so severe it rendered the squirrel virtually unplayable, but with Emerald/Steel’s continued success post-Bucky nerf, the ire of the competitive community has now turned towards Maleficent’s fiendish familiar. After two back-to-back Disney Lorcana Challenge wins, the big question is this: is it time for Ravensburger to ban Diablo, Devoted Herald?
Diablo has been a powerhouse since its introduction in Ursula’s Return. The combination of Evasive, continuous card draw, an effectively free cost to shift, and a one-cost shift target that allows you to check your opponent’s hand for counters, creates one of, if not the most threatening early-game play lines in Lorcana. Diablo must be dealt with swiftly, as anyone who has found themselves stuck without a Brawl or Fire the Cannons! knows. An unchecked Diablo will almost always allow an Emerald player to run away with the game.
Related
The 5 Most Intruiging Lorcana Card Reveals For Azurite Sea
These cards have the potential to make a big impact on the Disney Lorcana meta.
Many of Lorcana’s best players have strong opinions about Diablo. With the release of Azurite Sea and the continental championships in Paris and Anaheim quickly approaching, many feel it’s time for Ravensburger to address the problem by either nerfing or removing Diablo from the game. I spoke with several top players and commentators to get their perspective and to better understand why they’re so confident it’s time to ban the bird.
Ryan Miles
One of Lorcana’s strongest players is also one of Diablo’s most outspoken critics. The 5k SCG Atlanta winner has been on a Twitter tirade about this card recently, and last week he published a comprehensive video on The Forbidden Mountain’s YouTube channel making a case for why Diablo makes Lorcana a worse game while addressing all of the most common arguments people make in favor of keeping the card as-is.
His argument is well-thought-out and pretty compelling. While some Diablo defenders point to the answers that already exist, Miles argues that it’s the simple fact that one must have these answers that makes Diablo such a huge problem. Here’s what he how he summarized his argument for me:
“Other cards with similar effects indicate Diablo should cost at least five ink. Diablo is so efficient for one ink that killing him still means you are behind in some way. Every card in Lorcana has a decision point – do you develop your board to match their threat, or do you remove your opponents’? With Diablo, there is only one answer, because there is no equal threat for the same cost. The problem with Diablo is not that you can’t kill it – the problem is that you have to.”
Kendall Burdette
Considered by many to be the world’s best Ruby/Amethyst player, Burdette has a good reason to have beef with the bird. His perspective on Diablo is somewhat unique. While he can appreciate the design of the card, he believes it’s representative of the future power level of Lorcana, not the current one. Here’s what Burdette had to say:
“Diablo feels like he’s from the future. He’s on the same power level that I might expect cards to be at 3-4 years into the game. I’m not really for banning cards but we simply do not have the ‘efficient’ tools available to properly combat Diablo. I like his design and the power level that it showcases Lorcana can have one day, but the rest of the game has not caught up yet. In short, Diablo is Chess, and we are playing Checkers.”
Ryan “R_M_B” Beaupre
Labyrinth TCG is one of most formidable teams in the competitive Lorcana scene, and R_M_B is one of the team’s best player. With a Top 8 finish at Disney Lorcana Challenge Atlanta and Top 64 In Fort Worth, it’s hard not to take him seriously when he shares his take on Diablo. R_M_B kicked off the Twitter discourse with a sorry-not-sorry post about the bird last week, prompting a number of other pro players to weigh in. I reached out to R_M_B for a more detailed explanation for why he is one of Diablo’s biggest anti, and this is what he had to say:
Beaupre’s teammate Luke “vVonderland” Goodwin took home the top prize at DLC Seattle last month playing – you guessed it – an Emerald/Steel Diablo deck.
“Just like the story of Icarus, Diablo, Devoted Herald is flying a bit too close to the sun. The Song mechanic has already been proven to be an incredible tempo swing in Disney Lorcana and is an integral part of the game mechanics. It allows you to cheat ink on turns, leveraging characters played from previous turns to gain tempo advantages. Much like the Elemental creature cycle from Magic: the Gatherings Modern Horizon set, Diablo is essentially a free, incredibly powerful, character that can be played with an alternate shift cost of discarding an action.
Diablo creates conditions for a tempo advantage that is not possible to come back from. There is exactly one card in the game that answers Diablo without putting yourself at a tempo disadvantage, Fire the Cannons!, which can be invalidated by the Hidden Cove. On turn two, Diablo enables lines that can spend a total of eight ink worth of cards. There are very few lines of play capable of mirroring this amount of ink spent on turn two. Diablo causes a cascade of card advantage that limits deck building and creates game conditions that, for lack of a better word, is unwinnable.
A constructed format with the likes of Diablo would open up deck design significantly and creativity to be explored with many cards that may not have the opportunity to see the light of day today. A world without Diablo is a world of unlimited possibility with painted ink. I trust the design and development team to make the best choices for the future health of the game.”
Brandon “BSquared24” Bolen
Lorcana content creator and six-time DLC caster BSquared24 has observed countless Diablo matches and knows better than anyone how powerful the card is in the current meta. As a commentator and analyst, Bolen has come to the same conclusion about Diablo as many of the game’s best players have. Here were his thoughts when asked if it’s time for a ban:
“In short, yes. Diablo left unchecked is too advantageous. There aren’t enough early answers for Diablo to keep it in line. If answers were printed, they’d inadvertently hurt other cards that already aren’t being played because of the cards players are forced to play to answer Diablo already. If Diablo were banned I believe we could see a wider pool of viable decks for competitive play.”
Zach Bivens
One of the most accomplished competitive players in Lorcana, Zach Bivens was a pioneer of the Amber/Steel song deck and currently holds the record for the most Day Two qualifiers. Never one to be afraid of going against the grain, Bivens is the only player who told me he doesn’t think Diablo needs a ban. Here’s what he had to say:
“Do I wish Diablo was never created? Yes. Do I wish Cove was never printed, taking away many of its early counters? Also yes. During my run to the number one seed in Las Vegas, I referred to my opening hands with diablo1, diablo3, action, and Cove as ‘Exodia’. An unbeatable opening, especially during when you can also use the shifted Diablo to sing Let the Storm Rage on.
Do I think Diablo should be banned? No. While it can be miserable to play against and feel like it restricts deck building, there are ways around it, and the same can be said about other cards (though typically to a lesser extent). There will always be a ‘best’ card. Diablo is that card at the moment.”
To Ban Or Not To Ban?
We likely won’t know what Ravensburger thinks about Diablo unless a change is announced. Given how quickly Bucky was addressed once it became a problem, one would expect a similarly swift change for Diablo, if indeed it’s deemed overpowered. One thing is certain though: if Diablo isn’t nerfed or banned before the upcoming continental championships, you can expect to see a lot of decks with a lot of Diablos.
Disney Lorcana
Lorcana is a trading card game developed by Disney and published by Ravensburger, featuring iconic characters, settings, and more from the studio’s long history. As an Illumineer, you must build your deck and help protect Lorcana.