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
Set Championships are here! There were loads of tournaments over the past weekend, as Set Championships got underway around the world. Many of the championship events were below our cut-off of 40 players to be considered for the meta report. But we still had a lot more top 8s to report this week than the past few weeks.
Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control tops the tier list in meta share again this week and also took home the most top 8s in tournament play. It is closely followed by Emerald/Steel Discard, Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle Control, and Amber/Steel Steelsongs in meta share, but they all had fewer top 8s this week. The other tier 1 deck, Sapphire/Steel Ramp Wheel, trailed the top four quite a bit, but still remains clear of the second tier.
All the tier 2 decks are crowded together in meta share but there was a wide range of tournament performances for the decks in the Set Championships. Mufasa and Amethyst/Steel Tempo had only one top cut each, while Amethyst/Emerald Tempo managed an impressive four. But the biggest performer from tier 2 was the resurgent Emerald/Steel Bucky Discard list, which had a whopping seven top 8s for the week.
Down in tier 3, we see the emergence of a new deck archetype. The Amethyst/Sapphire "Blurple" Ramp list brings together Sapphire's ramp with Amethyst's control tools for yet another heavy control archetype. It will be interesting to see how this deck performs over the coming weeks. Is it destined to be just a flash in the pan or will it become a meta mainstay? Time will tell.
Now, onto the tier list...
Tier List
| Tier | Deck Name | Meta Share | Win Rate | Top 8s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 |   Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control | 13.3% | 50.1% | 13 |
  Emerald/Steel Discard | 12.4% | 50.2% | 5 | |
 Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle Control | 11.7% | 50.1% | 7 | |
 Amber/Steel Steelsongs | 10.2% | 49.7% | 5 | |
| Sapphire/Steel Ramp Wheel | 7.5% | 50.2% | 2 | |
| Tier 2 | Amethyst/Steel Tempo | 4.5% | 49.4% | 1 |
| Amethyst/Emerald Tempo | 4.4% | 50.3% | 6 | |
| Amber/Ruby Red Mufasa | 4.3% | 50.2% | 1 | |
| Emerald/Steel Bucky Discard | 4.1% | 49.8% | 7 | |
| Tier 3 | Amethyst/Steel Jafar Wheel | 2.3% | 49.7% | 0 |
| Amber/Amethyst Hyper Aggro | 2.3% | 49.0% | 1 | |
| Amethyst/Sapphire Blurple Ramp | 2.0% | 50.3% | 1 |
top 8s are from tournaments with 40+ players between Apr 15 - 22
Tier 1
Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control
Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control holds onto the top spot on the tier list. It looks like players went back to the deck they knew could perform in tournaments, as we saw a lot of Amethyst/Ruby in the set championships and it subsequently took home the most top 8s on the week.
There were many decks to choose from for our highlight this week but I liked this one from Amin Chouana, which was top 8 in a 68-player tournament in France. It is a throwback to the early days of the Inklands meta with the Jim Hawkins - Space Traveler location package being a big part of the list.
Emerald/Steel Discard
Emerald/Steel Control as an archetype has mostly been supplanted by the Emerald/Steel Discard variant. So we are making the name switch here on the tier list. This version of the deck is much more midrange, almost aggro, in its approach, so labeling it control is no longer accurate.
Many of the Emerald/Steel Discard decks have started to run Tiana - Celebrating Princess for even more disruption of your opponent's game plan. Here is a list using Tiana from Thomas Labasque that took home a top 8 at that same 68-player tournament in France.
Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle Control
The Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle Control archetype has been undergoing some evolution. More and more Ruby/Sapphire players are moving away from McDuck Manor - Scrooge's Mansion. It was originally included as a win condition for the deck, but Lucky Dime is just better in most respects. That has left Manor as cuttable in many lists and players are searching for the right replacements.
This deck from Qoala, which was a Set Championship winner, showcases one of the potential replacements that many players have opted for. How Far I'll Go has quickly become a deck staple for Ruby/Sapphire. The ability to ramp and dig for your important cards on a song card is invaluable.
Amber/Steel Steelsongs
Steelsongs has slipped from the top spot a few weeks ago, now down to fourth in meta share. But after only one top 8 last week, it bounced back with five total top 8s during this Set Championships week. The deck is certainly still a contender in this Inklands meta.
One interesting emergence we've seen with this archetype is a variant that runs Pride Lands - Pride Rock. This usually takes the spot of either Lantern or Sleepy's Flute. This Pride Lands Steelsongs list from Dylan Lee won a Set Championship tournament this past weekend.
Sapphire/Steel Ramp Wheel
Sapphire/Steel Ramp Wheel has so far had a pretty underwhelming Set Championships. Only two top 8s in qualifying tournaments for the past week is the lowest amongst the tier 1 decks. It's hard to say why it hasn't done as well as the other tier 1 decks. It could be a case of players not wanting to bring it or potentially some bad matchups holding it down.
The best performance for the archetype this week was a 2nd place finish at a 62-player Set Championship tournament. This list from Wade W. looks like a pretty typical Blue Steel Dime deck.
Tier 2
Amethyst/Steel Tempo
Amethyst/Steel Tempo continues to rise in meta share, as most Amethyst/Steel players are now abandoning the Jafar dream and moving to this more traditional midrange list. Its meta share puts it atop tier 2 this week, despite it only having one top 8 finish.
That top 8 finish came from this deck, which took home 2nd place at a 58-player Set Championship over the weekend. The deck, from domdom, looks to be a standard build which pairs the strong tempo tools available in Amethyst and Steel into one tight list.
Amethyst/Emerald Tempo
The other tempo deck popular with players right now is Amethyst/Emerald Tempo. It did drop a bit in meta share since last week but also pulled in an impressive seven top 8s during this first week of Set Championships.
This deck from Brendan Gamache got top 4 at a 66-player Set Championship tournament in the US. Wildcat - Mechanic seems to be teched in to help mostly against Lucky Dime, but also can do work in the Steelsongs matchup, taking out Sleepy's Flute or Lantern.
Amber/Ruby Red Mufasa
Amber/Ruby Mufasa is another deck that has not had a great Set Championships. The prevalence of Emerald is probably a net negative on the deck's performance as one thing you absolutely hate to see happen is to have your Mufasa - Betrayed Leader bounced back to your hand or deck.
The one top 8 this deck managed for the week was this list from EvolvedChimp, which landed in the top cut at a 58-player Set Championship in California. Overall, it's a pretty top-heavy and greedy list, but that is probably what you need to compete in this meta.
Emerald/Steel Bucky Discard
Bucky has made a bit of a comeback. Yes, the deck is down at the bottom of tier 2, but it had a whopping seven top 8s for the week. This after it looked like the player base had mostly moved away from Bucky Discard to the aggro/midrange Emerald/Steel Discard deck. My suspicion is that, much like Ruby/Amethyst Control, once Set Championships rolled around, players went back to a deck they were comfortable and familiar with, instead of one they had only been playtesting the past couple weeks. And, for many Bucky Discard players, that seems to have paid off.
Here is a list, from Vincent Lafarge, that took home the win at a 68-player tournament in France over the weekend. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo works well in this list, allowing you to bounce your Floodborns to your hand and back on board, giving you two procs off of Bucky in a turn.
Tier 3
Amethyst/Steel Jafar Wheel
The Jafar Wheel deck had a somewhat surprising goose egg in top 8s during this Set Championship week. I've so far felt the deck is better than its tier ranking suggests, but it might be time to admit it just isn't consistent enough for top-level play. The days of worrying the game might be broken by Jafar - Striking Illusionist into A Whole New World seem like a distant memory...
This list from Pietro Rampinini came in 2nd place in a 20-player Set Championships tournament in Italy. It's emblematic of the struggles of wholly relying on the Jafar-Wheel combo, as the deck doesn't even run a full playset of either. It's actually more of an Amethyst/Steel Control list with Jafar included as an alternate win condition.
Amber/Amethyst Hyper Aggro
Amber/Amethyst Hyper Aggro is the deck that just refuses to die. Despite it being heavily unfavored in the current meta, people keep playing it. It's the little deck that could.
In fact, that is just the name given to this deck from Jesse K., which landed in the top 8 of a 51-player Set Championship tournament. As always, the name of the game is to quest early and quest often with this deck. The inclusion of Never Land - Mermaid Lagoon works with that game plan, by presenting opponents with a difficult to remove 4 Willpower card on turn 1, that will often gain you two or more lore.
Amethyst/Sapphire Blurple Ramp
Amethyst/Sapphire Ramp is the first new deck we've seen on the tier list in quite a while. Affectionally labeled "Blurple", this deck is another spin on the Sapphire ramp archetype, this time adding in Amethyst's bounce package and late-game control cards. It has been gaining popularity over the past couple weeks and finally breaks through onto the tier list.
We are spotlighting this deck from Brandon M. which won a 57-player Set Championship in Minnesota. The list includes the typical Sapphire ramp, but it's top-end of Madam Mim - Purple Dragon, Hades - Infernal Schemer and Elsa - Spirit of Winter is anything but typical. Not only does that make this deck quite unique, it's also reasonably priced, as these Legendaries aren't seeing much play in the meta at the moment and, as a result, are pretty cheap.
And that's our meta report from this first week of Set Championships. This weekend we will likely see more Set Champ tournaments and it will be interesting to see if the tier list changes much between the two weekends of play.
Overall, I would consider this inaugural Set Championship a success, as we've seen a fairly diverse spread of decks taking home top 4 spots and earning the coveted 001-P1-030.
Until next week, good luck and have fun!
