Table of Contents
Today, we're diving into a topic that's perfect for those of you that just starting your competitive Disney Lorcana journey - 'The Best Decks for Competitive Beginners in Lorcana'. What makes these Decks unique from one another, why they are great starting points for new players, and the bonus that a few of these are already proving to be some of the better decks in Lorcana.
What type of decks are good for new players?
Choosing the right deck is crucial. As a beginner, you want a deck that is easy to handle but also competitive enough to give you a fighting chance at your events. Lorcana has a lot of layers in gameplay, with four different card types: Actions, Action Songs, Items, and Characters. Each one of these Card types has many versions with different interactions within the game.
So, limiting decision points amongst these card types can go a long way at making your day easier. Creating a straight-forward gameplan that can make winning much easier for newer competitive player or simply players that prefer a “simpler” path to victory. Let’s look at some examples that follow this type of pattern in deck building.
Aggro: Amber Amethyst
This deck is what we like to call an “Aggro” deck, which is short for “aggressive” What does Aggro mean in terms of Card games? Aggro decks focus on playing fast and efficient threats early in the game to put immediate pressure on the opponent. The primary goal of an aggro deck is to gain Lore as quickly as possible and close the game out before the opponent realistically can even really start playing their own game plan. If you are constantly keeping them back on their heels, they will never be able to “put both feet on the ground.”
This deck can accomplish that goal by having a low curve that focuses on playing multiple characters with 2 or more Lore effectively throughout the game and protecting them against all harm using the Bodyguard keyword or cards that “bounce” character back to your hand to protect them from board wipes or from being challenged while exerted.
This deck is not without its accolades: it won a 46 player $2k early on in the season and has game against many top lists in the meta. Utilizing the powerful Amethyst package of Madam Mim and Befuddle to continually bounce cards like Lilo - Making a Wish or Pinocchio - Star Attraction back to your hand to never leave them vulnerable for your opponent to challenge them can stretch your opponent’s answers to these cards thin.
Key Cards
- Lilo - Making a Wish and Maleficent - Biding Her Time
- Simba - Protective Cub
- Pinocchio - Star Attraction
- Madam Mim - Fox and Madam Mim - Snake
- Merlin - Rabbit
- Arthur - Wizard's Apprentice
Evasives: Emerald Ruby
Many card games have abilities that make your character type cards hard to interact with: in Magic: the Gathering it is known as Flying, from the World of Warcraft TCG it was Elusive. In Lorcana, it is the Evasive key word: characters with Evasive can only be challenged by other characters who have the Evasive keyword as well. When you are playing an Evasive Deck the clear the goal is an attempt to remove Challenging from the game in hopes that our opponent will not have enough way to prevent us from questing each turn, relying on removal from hand.
This deck is a different form of an aggro deck: maintaining a low curve and pressuring opponents early, making it difficult to interact with your board. It is not as purely fast as Amber-Amethyst, but it is more resilient to your characters being taken off the board. Utilizing Evasive and Ward to remove most of your opponent’s interaction can help you quest your way toward many victories. This deck also uses the Shift mechanic to speed out Floodborn characters that quest for higher-than-normal lore earlier in the game than when you would normally be able to quest that highly.
We are still waiting for a player to truly crack the code of this deck in the current meta game. Utilizing Flynn Rider, Minnie Mouse, Tinkerbell, and Pongo you have a ton of ways to generate lore and force you opponents to have the right answers at the right time. Having a subtle backup plan with Bucky to gain incremental card advantage through discarding could be enough of a way to prevent players from being able to keep their answer and could prevent them from having their own threats on the game.
Key Cards
- Bucky - Squirrel Squeak Tutor
- Minnie Mouse - Wide-Eyed Diver
- Minnie Mouse - Stylish Surfer
- Flynn Rider - His Own Biggest Fan
- Pete - Bad Guy
- Ray - Easygoing Firefly
Midrange: Mufasa Amber Ruby
Remember, the point of this discussion is to talk about decks that are easy to PILOT and limiting choices at your first big events. That being said, this deck will NOT be easy on the wallet…
The Mufassa/McDonalds (Amber/Ruby) is a key midrange deck in the metagame that can carry you throughout the season as you make incremental upgrades, but what does that mean? This deck relies on it’s Tempo and Value, focusing on gaining incremental advantages throughout the game to snowball to victory.
This deck aims to maintain control of the board and generate value through efficient card usage and powerful creatures or actions. With this deck you are totally reliant on characters, as there are zero non-characters in the list. This is accomplishing two things: the first is by removing actions (and songs) from the deck it removes decision points from ever needing to be made and it capitalizes on the strength of Mufasa - Betrayed Leader.
This is not to say the deck is bland or inefficient. In fact, an upgraded of this deck recently top 8’d a CM Games $2k. This shows that you can learn and grow in complexity with the deck, even while keeping the decision points of relying on different card types very low.
This deck has a Strong curve, with characters that survive most of the current out of hand removal or trade well with characters challenging in. It has characters that create card advantage through Draw, Removal, or Replacement. This deck is a one stop shop toolbox for all of it!
Key Cards
- Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing
- Lady Tremaine - Imperious Queen
- Maleficent - Monstrous Dragon
- Stitch - Carefree Surfer
Note: Again, I get it, this deck is expensive. 🤣
Conclusion
Remember, the best deck for you will depend on your playstyle and the meta you are playing in, locally. So, do not be afraid to experiment and find what works best for you. These decks allow you to play in a competitive event and remove the opportunity for mistakes by limiting the amount of decision points, allowing you to focus on your own game.
While these decks are certainly not the “best” in the game, a version of one of them very well may be the best deck for you! Pick a Style, or an ink that you enjoy and make the deck fit the style you would like to play early on as you learn more and more about competitive Disney Lorcana.
