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 often a high win rate as well. 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. Lastly, we will highlight a Sleeper deck or two, which are decks with very low meta share but a high win rate. These decks are ones to watch out for, with further refinement, they could vault themselves into the top tiers of the meta.
Meta Overview
Another week gone in the Rise of the Floodborn meta and this time around we are doing things a bit differently on our tier list. A few readers correctly pointed out that it doesn't make much sense to rank decks by win rate as all the decks have roughly a 50% win rate, with only fractions of a percent separating the "best" and "worst" deck. It makes more sense to rank by meta share, as there is a much clearer divide and people generally tend to play the best decks more often, so this gives us a better idea of which decks are best.
To that end, Amethyst/Ruby Control has started to pull away from the pack in terms of meta share. At nearly 14% of the meta, the deck has become ubiquitous on ladder and even more ever-present in tournaments. It just has very few weaknesses and players gravitate to a deck that can handle most matchups.
The other two decks that round out the top tier of decks according to meta share are Amber/Steel Songs Flute and Ruby/Sapphire Item Control. The Flute variant of Steelsongs has continued to gain in popularity over the traditional list, which has declined in meta share once again. It may only be a matter of time before Flute is the one and only Steelsongs variant.
In tier 2, we find the premiere aggro list, Amber/Amethyst. It is one of the few decks that can give Amethyst/Ruby Control some trouble. We also have a pair of Emerald/Steel decks in the Discard and Midrange versions. As we covered last week, these lists have a lot of overlap with each other, with one opting to run a discard draw engine and the other going with a more traditional draw package. Both decks seem to be quite good in the current meta though and if combined would be the second most common deck on ladder.
In the last tier we find an assortment of off-meta decks and decks that have now fallen out of favor with the player base. Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Aggro is one of those as it was quite popular at the launch of Rise of the Floodborn, but has since been completely overshadowed by the much better and more consistent Control list. The other is Amber/Emerald Discard Aggro, which continued to see a fall in meta share from its peak in week one.
The Sapphire/Steel Control list meanwhile had a small fall in meta share but keeps a strong win rate. Hard to tell if the list is really good or just buoyed by a small percentage of players playing it who are very familiar with the deck. Lastly, we have the Amber/Ruby Mufasa deck which has grown in popularity this week and now sits at a respectable 3.4% meta share. The deck may have started out as a meme but it might actually have some staying power.
Tier List
| Tier | Deck Name | Meta Share | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 |   Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control | 13.7% | 49.6% |
  Amber/Steel Songs Flute Midrange | 8.9% | 49.6% | |
 Ruby/Sapphire Item Control | 7.5% | 50.1% | |
| Tier 2 | Amber/Amethyst Aggro | 6.1% | 49.7% |
 Emerald/Steel Discard | 5.8% | 50.1% | |
| Amber/Steel Songs Midrange | 5.0% | 49.5% | |
| Emerald/Steel Midrange | 4.8% | 50.7% | |
| Tier 3 | Sapphire/Steel Item Control | 3.8% | 51.1% |
| Amber/Ruby Mufasa Roulette | 3.4% | 49.8% | |
| Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Aggro | 2.7% | 49.5% | |
| Amber/Emerald Discard Aggro | 2.0% | 50.4% |
Tier 1
Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control
The top deck in the meta is Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Control. The deck is just very consistent with very few actual bad matchups. This is what makes it a favorite on ladder and especially in tournaments. As we covered in our guide, this deck has a core that is pretty unchanging but has a few different ways you can add to it, depending on your play style preference.
The list we are highlighting here is one that topped an online tournament hosted by the Lorcana Play Network. It's a fairly standard list but does include 2 copies of Ursula - Power Hungry which has not seen as much play in Floodborn as she did in The First Chapter meta.
Amber/Steel Songs Flute Midrange
The Flute toots on and this week Steelsongs: Flute Edition lands as the second most popular deck out there. It's not a surprise that the Flute version has risen in popularity so rapidly. Having Sleepy's Flute in the deck gives Amber/Steel a fighting chance against Amethyst/Ruby. And with the meta both online and in-person being dominated by Amethyst/Ruby Control, I'm guessing the Flute is here to stay.
Here is a Flute deck that nabbed a top 8 at a 56-player 1k tournament hosted by Decks & Dice in the US. The deck runs 4 copies of Flute for maximum tooting with the rest of the list looking like the standard Steelsongs stuff.
Ruby/Sapphire Item Control
Rounding out the top tier is Ruby/Sapphire Item Control. The Pawpsicle deck has remained a consistent presence in the meta since the first week of Rise of the Floodborn. Despite that, we still have not seen as many top 8s as one would expect from a deck with as much popularity as this one. This is likely due to a poor matchup against Amethyst/Ruby.
That being said, this list by Logan Johnson did manage a top 8 at the Decks & Dice 1k over the weekend. It runs 4 copies of Tamatoa - So Shiny! plus the Aladdin package giving it a bit more of a win condition than other versions of this deck which can often be just draw cards ad infinitum.
Tier 2
Amber/Amethyst Aggro
Aggro has been mostly bullied out of the meta due to all the control decks running rampant but Amber/Amethyst Aggro still manages to survive and even thrive. With the right draws, the deck can just outrace anything else out there which gives it a fighting chance in most matchups. The only matchup you really don't want to see is Sapphire/Steel, as it just stomps all over this deck.
This week we are highlighting a list that came top 4 in the massive online tournament. Piloted by Chan Yung Ping, this deck does a good job of illustrating just how aggressive and fast this deck can be.
Emerald/Steel Discard
Emerald/Steel Discard continues to show promise as an archetype, climbing in meta share this week while maintaining a positive win rate. It has a particularly strong matchup into aggro decks. Amethyst/Ruby Aggro gets stomped by the discard stuff, because the deck relies on cards in hand to continually enable its bounce synergies. The Amber/Amethyst Aggro deck does a bit better against it, but your Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy and Smash will carry in that matchup.
The highlighted deck for this build this week is this list from Pixelborn grandmaster Earlmeister, who has had good success with it online. His inclusion of Bucky - Squirrel Squeak Tutor makes for a particularly nasty combo on turn 4 where you can play a second Bucky and shift Flynn Rider - His Own Biggest Fan for the double discard and the ability to quest with Flynn immediately.
Amber/Steel Songs Midrange
The classic Steelsongs deck is falling off in popularity due to the rise in the Flute version. It finds itself in tier 2 this week but trending in the wrong direction. As mentioned, the Flute version does better against Amethyst/Ruby and that's likely a large reason as to why players are choosing it over the traditional build.
That being said, the traditional build is still a very good deck. This list from Alex Brosseau came in second place in the 200+ player online tournament hosted by Lorcana Play Network. Turns out Lantern plus A Whole New World is still a winning combo.
Emerald/Steel Midrange
The other flavor of Emerald/Steel is the non-discard version which, along with the discard variant, has risen in popularity and win rate this week. Emerald and Steel has been my favorite ink combination during the Floodborn meta and it seems the wider player base is starting to agree. It is now the third most popular ink combination, after Amethyst/Ruby and Amber/Steel.
This list from Youtuber RushLorcana showcases a full ping build that funnily enough utilizes almost every Beast card in the game. It's also the first time I've seen Pack Tactics make it into a list. I'm not convinced that card is worth playing in a 1v1 format, but it would be interesting to experiment with it.
Tier 3
Sapphire/Steel Item Control
The Sapphire/Steel deck that topped the tier list last week now finds itself in tier 3, due to the new ranking system. But it still has the best win rate out of all the decks on the list this week. The deck clearly is strong in the current meta and I'm curious to see if it will see a rise in meta share at any point.
The deck we are highlighting for Sapphire/Steel is this list by Ryan Beaupre, which bagged a top 8 in the Decks & Dice 1k tournament. Instead of the item heavy Tamatoa build, this deck looks to win through controlling the board and then sticking a Belle - Strange but Special or two for big lore bursts.
Amber/Ruby Mufasa Roulette
The Amber/Ruby Mufasa Roulette build continues to be refined and what was once a bit of a meme has now become a real deck. The lists out there that are the most consistent aren't as fully invested into "winning" the roulette spin, but just being a solid deck with the chance to occasionally just cheat out an easy win thanks to Mufasa.
This list from Kurt Speiss recently came in a surprising 2nd place in a 40-person tournament at Quibbles TCG. As mentioned, the list doesn't really go all-in on Mufasa high rolls but rather just includes him as a hard-to-remove character which your opponent will often not have a clean answer to.
Amethyst/Ruby Bounce Aggro
Amethyst/Ruby's other build is the full-on aggro list but this deck just hasn't reached the heights of it's control-oriented cousin. It loses hard to discard decks and also struggles against the Amethyst/Ruby Control list, which makes sense since the early game for both decks is very similar but the control's end game is just much, much better.
We are highlighting a deck that managed a top 8 in a tournament in France this past week. Piloted by Seifer, the deck goes all-in with Pinocchio and even includes his conscience, Jiminy Cricket - Pinocchio's Conscience, which I thought might be a pretty good card in my pre-release review but hasn't seen much play yet. I'd like to give this list a spin and see how it plays.
Amber/Emerald Discard Aggro
Last deck on our tier list this week is again the Amber/Emerald Discard Aggro deck. While its win rate has improved this week, it has fallen even more in meta share. Players just don't seem to feel confident or comfortable running this deck, at least not on ladder. Maybe that changes though as its worst matchup amongst meta decks is the traditional Amber/Steel Songs deck and if that deck continues to fall out of favor, perhaps the Lemon Lime discard deck might rise once again?
A version of this deck did manage a top 8 in the Decks & Dice 1k tournament this past week. Mark Miller piloted this slightly more control-oriented list to 5th place finish. Adding Pete - Bad Guy, as a card that many control decks would have a hard time dealing with, gives the deck some much needed end-game oomph.
And that's it for this week's meta report. What do you think of this new way of ranking the decks? Hopefully it is more clear which decks are the best performing and most dominant in the meta. But we want to hear your feedback, to make these meta reports as useful as possible, so let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Until next week, good luck in your games!
