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Once again The Pack Tournament by Thea Beasty broke another record. 297 Players showed up and competed for 2K in a Pixelborn Tournament over the Easter holiday weekend. So for today, we are going to break down the Top 8 Decks of The Pack Alice’s 2K Easter Special.
Top 8 Decks of The Pack Alice's 2K Easter Special Tournament
Just like the previous The Pack Tournaments in Pixelborn, we have a variety of different decks that showed up at the top once again. I personally think that the reason behind this is that all cards are available for everyone’s use in the tournament.
The Pack Top 8
Jacob Pullen - Steel Emerald Discard
This Deck has been performing great since the first week of Set 3 Release. Jacob’s version of the deck is running some pretty cool tech that helped him get to Top 8. It’s running 2 Tinker Bell - Most Helpful instead of 4 Tinker Bell - Tiny Tactician. Instead of Multiple Flynn Rider - His Own Biggest Fan, this deck only has one. But it has 2 Tiana - Celebrating Princess to have a solid 4 drops that can survive and quest for 2. This is a pretty solid decision that makes the deck less greedy and doesn’t rely too much on your opponent having an empty hand.
Joe Curley - Steel Emerald Discard
Joe’s version of this deck has a really interesting tech that I did not expect. It has 3 Friar Tuck - Priest of Nottingham. This was a surprise that many people don’t expect in my opinion. But I can see why it worked out for him. The thing is, it’s a great back up card and a flexible one due to it being an Inkable card. It also has a solid 2/4 body that can quest for 2. Another Tech in the deck that he ran is 2 Ba-Boom!. While others run Smash, this card is a solid answer in the current meta against cards like Rafiki - Mystical Fighter and Cinderella - Ballroom Sensation.
Massimiliano Calbucci - Ruby Amethyst Bounce Control
Looking at Massimiliano’s List, there are a few important things to point out. The first thing that I noticed is that it has fully cut out all of the Merlin - Crab. While most decks usually would have at least 1 to 3 of it. Another thing is that it has 2 Dragon Fire. A super solid tech especially in a meta where there’s a lot of big bodies in mid and late game such as Beast - Tragic Hero and Cinderella - Stouthearted. It compensates for not having Lady Tremaine - Imperious Queen, and though it’s an Action Card and doesn't have a body, it is just way more flexible.
Derek “Bannibal Harca” Toso - Sapphire Ruby Pawp Control
Derek’s List is what we usually would see and expect on a Pawp Control Deck. Except for 1 Tech that stood out the most for me. This list is running 4 Gramma Tala - Keeper of Ancient Stories. This card gives the deck the ability to filter even better. The thing is, most people won’t even consider adding this card into this deck since it doesn’t do much in hindsight. But in the hands of a great player, Filtering your deck and having the ability to find answers on the board is a deadly card.
Top 4
Devin Beyer - Ruby Amethyst Bounce Control
Devin’s Version of Bounce Control is very Strong in Early and Mid Game. As a Control Deck, it still is very strong in late game. But this deck runs 10 1-Cost Characters and has 4 Merlin - Crab. Another Tech it has is 1 Jim Hawkins - Space Traveler. You are almost guaranteed board control in the early game and this card then provides a very good way to pressure your opponents even more. Lastly, I’d like to point out that the deck only has 3 Be Prepared. The reason behind this is that this is a reset button card. If you are planning to win the board early, you most likely won’t play this at turn 7 unless you somehow lose the early game.
BrindleBoar - Emerald Steel Discard
BrindleBoar’s deck has a few techs in it that helped him get to Top 4. I’d like to point out right away that the deck doesn’t run any Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy. Instead it runs 16 songs that can help control the board. Also it has 4 Friar Tuck - Priest of Nottingham and 4 Daisy Duck - Secret Agent to help sing And Then Along Came Zeus and Combo with Prince John - Greediest of All. Everything else is what you would usually see in Emerald Steel Discard.
Top 2
Julian “Artabax” Hammer - Amethyst Emerald Bounce
Julian’s List is what a super solid Amethyst Emerald Bounce would look like. There’s really nothing in this deck that we can call a tech. Yzma - Scary Beyond All Reason used to be a tech but now has been more of a staple card for this deck. I would also like to mention how this deck evolved and adapted towards the meta. It started as an aggro deck that now has evolved into a solid Fast Midrange Deck.
The Pack Top 1
Brennan DeCandio - Amber Steel Song “Order 66”
You might be wondering why it’s called Order 66? The deck has 66 Cards in it! I personally asked Brennan, "Why 66 cards? What is the reasoning behind this?" He basically told me that he just can’t figure out what to cut from the deck! As we know by now, there are so many good cards in both Amber and Steel for this deck. What started as a Meme ended up winning. But we all know that it’s more than that. Brennan is a great, solid player, first of all! And also, this deck has a lot of draws and ways to find answers against different situations. I guess it won’t matter if you have 66 cards, if you have multiple ways to find a card you want. It’s also important to point out the strength of Lantern to stay ahead of the curve to be able to play Beast - Tragic Hero early. Since the meta has a lot of Madame Medusa - The Boss, Lantern helps you stay ahead.
Conclusion
It really makes me so happy to see a bunch of different decks being played. In offline tournaments, we see much less diversity and I think one of the reasons is that not everyone has access to all the cards they want. Hopefully prices for cards continue to fall across the board, opening up more deck building options for paper players.
After breaking down the Top 8 Decks of The Pack Alice’s 2k Easter Special Tournament, we can see that fast midrange decks with a lot of draws ruled at the top. The Top 8 has multiple Emerald Steel Discard decks that are great against control decks, especially Ruby Amethyst Bounce Control. It disrupts their plan for the late game and they are always forced to play a certain curve. But Emerald Steel Discard can also struggle against Steel Song or fast decks with a lot of draws.
Overall it was a very interesting tournament. I can’t wait to see what the next one will bring! Stay tuned to Lorcana.gg, as we continue to provide the best content for competitive Lorcana players such as meta reports and tournament breakdowns. I will see you on the next one!
