This past weekend was an incredible time for competitive Disney Lorcana as the first-ever regional championship played out over three days at Disneyland Paris. The invite-only event which included a last chance qualifier saw all of the qualifying players from Europe’s four Disney Lorcana Challenge tournaments competing for thousands of dollars worth of prize cards, and more importantly, an invitation to the Disney Lorcana World Championship at Disney World early next year.
If you missed the broadcast (or you’re looking for a little inspiration ahead of the North American Championship LCQ next month) here’s a rundown of the weekend.
Friday Last Chance Qualifier
On top of the 64 players who qualified for the EU Championship by finishing in the Top 16 at each of the four European DLCs, another 32 players qualified on Friday during the Last Chance Qualifier. The LCQ was divided into two sessions with 512 players competing for 16 spots in each.
Each session further divided players into 16 flights of 32-player single-elimination tournaments. The only way to secure an invite to the main event was to win five best-of-threes in a row. That was fewer rounds overall than it took to get an invite at a DLC, but more unforgiving, since a single loss would end your run.
Dividing the LCQ into two sessions has been a controversial decision among players, particularly those on this side of the pond. Some competitors were able to secure tickets for both sessions, competing in the early event and having another chance to compete in the afternoon if they didn’t manage to qualify.
The North American LCQ is not split up into two sessions, meaning NA players only have one last chance rather than two. It’s worth mentioning that while NA had six Disney Lorcana Challenge, EU only had four.
Some notable players who qualified for the EU championship in the LCQ include Amethyst/Emerald progenitor Artabax and his ArtaCast co-host Lorcana Decklists, and DLC Birmingham Top 32 finisher John Prayer.
Saturday Swiss
With 96 qualifiers locked in, Day 1 of the EU Championship kicked off Saturday morning. The tournament followed the same structure as all previous DLCs, with the first day being two-game format Swiss, before a top cut into best-of-threes on Day 2.
The live broadcast on Twitch featured seven matches, one from each round of the day, and a nice assortment of deck archetypes and new tech. This is the first official event since the release of Azurite Sea last month, and the first time that powerful new cards like Genie, Wish Fulfilled and Lilo, Escape Artist would see play.
Round 1 featured content creator Adam Roper AKA HarlanSweete on a very aggressive Sapphire/Steel list, facing off against Jerome Bastogne on an updated Amethyst/Emerald, which is considered by many to be the best archetype in the current format. Throughout the rest of the day we saw a mix of classic powerhouses like Ruby/Amethyst and Ruby/Sapphire up against more unfamiliar brews, like Amethyst/Steel midrange and Amber/Steel aggro.
Eight deck archetypes were represented on Day 1, with Ruby/Sapphire being the most popular at 34 percent, followed by Amethyst/Emerald at 21 percent. Emerald/Steel, which is the deck that won the last two NA DLCs, was only played by 18 percent of the players on Day 1.
The other bit of controversy surrounding the EU Championship had to do with Day 1’s closed deck lists. Some felt that those selected to be featured on the stream would be at a significant disadvantage given that their deck would be made public while their opponents’ remained secret.
To preempt players potentially refusing to be featured on the live stream, the organizers decided doing so would result in a disqualification. Like it or not, competitors had no choice to play their match on camera if selected.
Sunday Top Cut
The cut to Top 16 on Sunday narrowed the field down to just six ink color combos, with Steel or Amethyst (or both) making up 13 out of 16 decks. Unsurprisingly, Amethyst/Emerald ended up with the best conversion rate, with five players making top cut. They were followed by three Ruby/Sapphire players, three Ruby/Amethyst, two Emerald/Steel, two Amethyst/Steel, and one Amber/Steel.
The Top 16 featured match had the top seed Reece Benlier on a surprisingly low-curve Ruby/Sapphire list playing against the bottom seed Douglas Auchelie playing just one of two Amethyst/Steel decks. Despite going second, Auchelie was able to sneak under Benlier’s Ruby/Sapphire and win 2-0. Every player who won this round secured an invite to the World Championship next year.
The Top 8 featured match was a face off between Lukas Kaupa on Ruby/Amethyst and Andreu Vidal on the other Amethyst/Steel – a more aggressive version than Benlier’s. It proved to be a tough matchup for Vidal, and Kaupa took the win 2-0.
Top 8 included three Ruby/Amethyst, two Amethyst/Steel, two Ruby/Sapphire, and one Amethyst/Emerald. The once dominant Emerald/Steel nowhere to be seen.
The Top 4 featured a single Emerald/Amethyst player and all three Ruby/Amethyst players who began Day 2. Emerald/Amethyst player Michele Assirelli took down Ruby/Amethyst player Luca/Lazzara in a decisive 2-0 on stream, while off stream Domingo M. Rodenas and Lukas Kaupa duked it out in a Ruby/Amethyst mirror match, with Rodenas coming out on top.
The championship final featured a best-of-five match between Domingo M. Rodenas and Michele Assirelli, and was a thrilling showcase of both players skill, and the ferocity of both Ruby/Amethyst and Amethyst/Emerald. Players traded wins for the first two rounds, with each taking a game on the play, but in round three Rodenas was able to claim a win on the draw, turning the advantage on Assirelli.
The match went the distance, but Rodenas was ultimately able to take game five, becoming the first-ever Disney Lorcana European Champion. Impressively, Rodenas qualified during Friday’s LCQ, meaning he survived three full days of the stiffest competition imaginable and came out on top.
If you’ve been playing Disney Lorcana since the start there’s something poetic about Rodenas claiming the first championship with Ruby/Amethyst. The deck has evolved over the last six sets, but it’s been a dominant archetype from the very beginning and overall the most consistent in Lorcana’s short history. It remains the deck of choice for skilled pilots like Rodenas who want to avoid many bad matchups and let their superior card playing ability take control of every match. Despite being on the draw in a matchup that’s considered weaker for Ruby/Amethyst, Rodenas proved both himself and the continuing elite status of the deck.
It will be exciting to see how the NA Championship compares. Players will have an extra month of testing in an environment where Emerald/Steel is a lot more popular, so there’s no guarantee things will shake out the same way. But if you’re preparing for the LCQ or the upcoming set championships in January one thing is certain: you better be prepared to play an Amethyst deck, or prepared to beat them.
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.