Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome to Lorcana.gg's weekly meta report! Each week we analyze the state of the meta using data from the previous week of online and tournament play. Our tier list is updated with the latest data, while this meta report will go over what it all means, as well as highlighting some particularly strong and interesting decks in each archetype.
The tier list is separated into three tiers. Tier 1 has the strongest decks that boast a high meta share (percentage of games played) and multiple top 8 performances in major tournaments. Tier 2 and Tier 3 decks are a notch below the top tier, with these decks usually having one or two weaknesses keeping them from dominating the meta.
Meta Overview
The meta continues to diversify at the top. Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control has now been overtaken as the most played deck by Amber/Steel Steelsongs, while Ruby/Sapphire and Emerald/Steel are close behind. We also see a similar trend in the top 8s this week, with all the tier 1 decks nabbing multiple top 8 spots (with the exception of Emerald/Steel Control... maybe. More on that in a bit.).
Tier 2 remains largely unchanged. Amber/Ruby Mufasa moves to the top of tier 2 with a jump in meta share this week but did not have any major tournament top 8s to go with it. Emerald/Steel Discard falls a bit this week but manages 3 tournament top 8s. It's the same story with Amethyst/Emerald Tempo: falling meta share but solid tournament results. The Amethyst/Steel decks round out tier 2 with both holding fairly steady in meta share but neither having any top 8s to their name this week.
And, bringing up the rear, we have only one tier 3 deck this week and it's Amber/Amethyst Hyper Aggro.
All in all, the meta looks like it is shaping up to be a five-way race for the crown of "best deck in the format". Each tier 1 deck looks quite strong and like a viable and competitive option in both tournaments and on ladder. Overall, as we head into the Set Championships and then the Lorcana Challenge, this is probably the healthiest we have seen the Lorcana meta since the first set!
And with that, the tier list...
Tier List
| Tier | Deck Name | Meta Share | Win Rate | Top 8s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 |   Amber/Steel Steelsongs | 11.4% | 50.0% | 2 |
  Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control | 10.2% | 49.9% | 6 | |
 Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle Control | 9.8% | 49.6% | 8 | |
 Emerald/Steel Control | 9.2% | 49.9% | 0 | |
| Sapphire/Steel Ramp Wheel | 7.4% | 50.0% | 2 | |
| Tier 2 | Amber/Ruby Red Mufasa | 4.4% | 49.3% | 0 |
| Emerald/Steel Discard | 3.9% | 49.2% | 3 | |
| Amethyst/Steel Tempo | 3.7% | 50.5% | 0 | |
| Amethyst/Emerald Tempo | 3.6% | 50.1% | 3 | |
| Amethyst/Steel Jafar Wheel | 3.6% | 50.0% | 0 | |
| Tier 3 | Amber/Amethyst Hyper Aggro | 2.9% | 50.2% | 0 |
Tier 1
Amber/Steel Steelsongs
Amber/Steel Steelsongs has gone from tier 3 to top of the tier list in a span of a few weeks. Propelled by some fantastic tournament finishes, including a few high-profile tournament wins, the deck is a force to be reckoned with in this Into the Inklands meta. It's one of the most flexible decks in the top tier, able to adapt its gameplan based on its matchup. It can go slower and control the game against fast decks but can itself go fast against slower, control decks. This makes it a great option for tournament success, as we have seen.
One of those successes was this deck from Brennan DeCandio, which took home 1st place in the 297-player The Pack Pixelborn tournament. As we noted in our tournament recap, the deck actually runs 66 cards, which is unusual in a competitive environment. Normally, you want the smallest deck possible to ensure you are always drawing strong and efficient cards. But Amber and Steel have so many good cards now, it can be hard to cut your list down to just 60 cards. So Brennan said, why bother? And this is the result.
Guide:
Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control
Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control falls out of the top spot on the tier list for the first time since we began ranking this tier list by meta share, way back at the beginning of December. It has been over 4 months of meta dominance by this deck! But finally we are starting to see other decks rise up and challenge Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control, making it no longer the slam dunk, "best deck in the format".
That being said, this deck is still very, very good, as evidenced by its abundance of top 8s last week and 6 more added to the pile this week. One of those top 8s was this list from Pietro Gatti which came in 3rd place at a 54-player tournament in Italy last week. The list looks pretty standard except for the inclusion of Maui - Whale. This isn't the first time we've seen the Whale show up in a top tournament deck either. Maybe the Whale is a better card than we think? He is a solid answer to locations and their high Willpower.
Guide:
Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle Control
The Pawpsicle deck takes the crown for most major tournament top 8s this week with eight of them. The deck has really come into its own with the inclusion of Lucky Dime. It is now a top meta contender and a deck that more and more players are bringing to tournaments.
Our deck highlight for Ruby/Sapphire Control this week is this one from Moritz Krauskopf, which won a 51-player invitational tournament in Germany last week. The inclusion of Gaston - Arrogant Hunter not only gives this deck some much needed early game juice, it is a great Shift target for your Gaston - Intellectual Powerhouse.
Emerald/Steel Control
Emerald/Steel Control saw a rise in meta share this week while its counter part, Emerald/Steel Discard, fell. Or did it? This may be a case of the stat tracking not keeping up with the evolving deck lists.
We've seen Emerald/Steel Discard begin to cut Bucky - Squirrel Squeak Tutor, which was once a staple card of the deck. In fact, Bucky was such a staple that Pixelborn's stats were using him as THE card to differentiate between Emerald/Steel Control and Emerald/Steel Discard. My hunch is that the "rise" we see in Emerald/Steel Control this week is actually the new version of the discard deck getting tracked under the wrong archetype. If that is the case, hopefully some changes to the way the decks are tracked in Pixelborn will correct things next week.
All the Emerald/Steel top 8s had a discard package as a part of their list, but this one from Jacob Pullen was the most control-oriented, so we are going to spotlight it here. This deck landed a top 8 in the 297-player The Pack tourney. After largely abandoning Prince John - Greediest of All since the start of Inklands, the card has now made its way back into the Emerald discard package.
Sapphire/Steel Ramp Wheel
Sapphire/Steel Ramp rose in meta share this week but remains at the bottom of tier 1, although that is not a knock on the deck's quality. The reality is all of the tier 1 decks have started to pull away from the rest of the pack and Sapphire/Steel is no exception. This deck also managed two top 8s this week and clearly remains a popular tournament choice for players.
This list from Albert Schwarz came in 2nd place in the 51-player invitational tournament in Germany. Belle - Strange But Special has looked to become a staple of this deck archetype. She just works so well at ramping you early and then can come in and close out a game fast, in combination with Lucky Dime.
Tier 2
Amber/Ruby Red Mufasa
After some impressive tournament results last week, we find Amber/Ruby Mufasa rising to the top of tier 2. It couldn't replicate its tourney success this week, however. That being said, it seems the Mufasa deck can still get the job done, when called upon.
The best tournament result for the Mufasa archetype this week was this deck from Matthew M. which came in 2nd place in a 33-player 1.5k tournament in Fresno, California. Pongo - Determined Father makes for a nice card draw option for the deck, since you are guaranteed to hit a character every time.
Emerald/Steel Discard
As we discussed above, Emerald/Steel Discard is technically down in tier 2 but the standard list is undergoing some changes and the deck tracking hasn't been keeping up. The new popular deck list is similar to the one we shared last week and has been pioneered by Lorcana streamer Specimen. It cuts Bucky - Squirrel Squeak Tutor and some of the expensive Floodborns for a more aggressive and proactive early game.
This list from BrindleBoar came in 3rd place in the The Pack tournament and showcases nicely the deck's new direction. Cards like Cursed Merfolk - Ursula's Handiwork and Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate give the deck a lot of early game questing power, while cards like Daisy Duck - Secret Agent and Friar Tuck - Priest of Nottingham give us immediate discard impact.
Amethyst/Steel Tempo
Amethyst/Steel Tempo didn't have any major tournament successes this week but it did see a small bump in meta share and jumps up into tier 2. It's probably the best aggro deck in Lorcana right now. Or as aggro as you can realistically be in Lorcana. The deck still focuses a lot on board control, especially in the early game.
The deck's best performance in a tourney this week was thanks to this list from Mac Ira, who piloted it to a top 16 finish in the Pixelborn tournament. The Queen's Castle - Mirror Chamber may be seeing less and less play in control decks, but is right at home in the more tempo-oriented Amethyst decks. It provides some much needed card draw on top of the passive lore gain.
Amethyst/Emerald Tempo
Amethyst/Emerald Tempo keeps on bringing home good tournament results, with 3 more top 8s to its name this week. It is still not seeing a ton of play online and so is near the bottom of tier 2, but the deck is clearly competitively viable. I suspect to see the deck start to rise up the rankings soon.
This list from Lorenzo Marsili came in 1st place in a 54-player tournament in Italy over the weekend. This deck somewhat surprisingly runs 2 copies of Genie - On the Job, a card many players are moving away from, due to its uninkability and susceptibility to Madame Medusa - The Boss. But the card can still provide a lot of tempo and, as an Evasive, can prove difficult to deal with once on board.
Amethyst/Steel Jafar Wheel
Live by the combo, die by the combo. Amethyst/Steel Jafar was mostly dying this week as it drops in meta share while also having no major tournament top 8s to boast about. As we've mentioned before, if you are playing this deck, you have to be willing to embrace the variance.
We will highlight this deck from Josh T., which placed in the top 4 in the 33-player 1.5k tournament in Fresno. The lack of Blue Fairy - Rewarding Good Deeds is surprising, but does open up some slots for more removal options like And Then Along Came Zeus, allowing the deck to survive longer to find the combo.
Tier 3
Amethyst/Amber Hyper Aggro
It is lonely down here in tier 3 these days. One could argue that there really shouldn't be a tier 3. It's clear there is a top tier of 5-6 decks and then the rest are kind of all jumbled together somewhere behind them. But for tradition's sake, we'll keep our tier 3, and its lone deck, Amethyst/Amber Hyper Aggro.
Suffice it to say, the deck is not one you want to be taking to tournaments. Traditional aggro is in a bad place in Lorcana (something I want to explore in a longer post). Only three players brought Hyper Aggro to the Pixelborn tournament and all finished in the bottom half of the player pool. It's just not competitively viable, at the moment.
The best performance for the deck I could find this week was this list from Lorcana pro BannibalHarca, which took 2nd in a small tournament hosted by the Lorcana France Discord.
And that does it for this week's meta report. Overall, we have a nice variety of decks at the top tier, which is good to see. Hopefully this continues as we approach the midpoint of the Inklands meta. Now that its clear we have multiple top tier decks, this should give players options as they prepare for the Set Championships. Which deck will become the most popular choice? And are there any undiscovered lists out there that could take us by surprise? Stay tuned to find out!
Until next week, good luck and have fun!
