My season of Set Championships has ended, and I find myself with only one playmat and it doesn't say "Champion" on it. But I honestly feel I walked in with a list that was more than just a clone of some decklist of someone else's efforts. With the vast amount of info on the net I am sure someone posted something like it out there. Also, because of the number of cards in the pool for any two colors my list is unlikely to be "unique." However, the list was always mine and not an intentional copy. On my journeys hither and thither I ran into a couple of other brave souls who realized the true pleasure of playing your own list outweighs the almost empty victory of playing someone else's.

Today I am going to present you with three lists that I saw operate at various set championships. I never had the other players I met write up his/her list so I might be off by a card or two, but the general idea is there. I think these players deserve some real kudos for standing against the tide and cooking their own brew.

I don't mean to sound negative toward my fellow Lorcanites who choose to play the same list that scored Top 8 in the Chicago Challenge or, by the time this is published, the Dallas Challenge. I just personally don't find the wins as rewarding when I play a "net-deck." Also, I never have to ask myself why the same exact cards didn't perform as well in my hands and the guy I copied. When building my own I have a built-in excuse that doesn't make me feel as bad.

The first deck I will bring you is the one you are least likely to play. It came from a lovely and friendly lady named Heidi. Heidi was at the tournament with her husband or boyfriend. While he was hoping to crush us all with the very well-known Bucky Discard, she was toting a list that was easy to mulligan and had a fun (if rare) win con. The gist of her deck was the interaction with Li Shang - Valourous General, Olaf - Carrot Enthusiast, and Alice - Growing Girl.

The central idea is to go wide as fast as possible, then chain the supports one on top of the next to make your numerous characters gain extra lore. Eventually making Alice big enough to grab 6 lore by herself. I would laugh at the idea normally but I saw her go from 6 to 21 lore in a single turn. The joy she had at that moment is kinda the inspiration for this article. I could almost guarantee that her satisfaction at that moment was greater than all the top 8 qualifiers combined. I talked to her a bit after our games as we were at adjacent boards and finished quickly. I never asked her if she carried any Lucky Dimes in the deck but I am guessing no because of her boast of the entire deck costing less than her entry fee. As I stated before these decks are approximations not precise.

Alice in China | Heidi

• Characters (60)
• 4 Alice -Growing Girl
• 4 Anna - Braving the Storm
• 4 Aurora - Regal Princess
• 4 Basil - Of Baker Street
• 4 Fa Li - Mulan's Mother
• 4 Jasmine - Heir of Agrabah
• 4 Li Shang - General's Son
• 4 Li Shang - Valorous General
• 4 Mulan - Injured Soldier
• 4 Olaf - Carrot Enthusiast
• 4 Olaf - Trusting Companion
• 4 Owl - Logical Lecturer
• 4 Philoctetes - Trainer of Heroes
• 4 Sergeant Tibbs - Courageous Cat
• 4 Simba - Scrappy Cub

One note before moving on to the next herald of the off Meta. When deciding on what to Mulligan, the concept is simple. Any card not named Olaf, Alice, or Li Shang gets shipped unless you have all three pieces already. If that happens, mull based on ink cost.

Our next deck comes from a player named Max. Max's play caught my eye during a 1st round bye. Mostly because he played two of my favorite cards. When my local store owner convinced me to try the game out, I read the rules and built my own deck within a budget. I received those cards two days before the Inklands Set Championship and snuck into a 3rd place finish. Therefore, the cards that I built around will always have a place in my heart. Those cards are Lucky - The 15th Puppy and Perdita - Devoted Mother. What I didn't realize until I watched Max's game was their synergy with LeFou - Instigator. Perdita is still the only card in the game that can take a character from discard to play and if Lucky is lucky he hits a LeFou allowing you to possibly draw 6 cards in a turn. Before you smirk at that, I personally saw it happen.

The rest of the deck seemed to play like the Mother/Rapunzel engine that I am sure you all have seen. Once again, I am listing the cards I remember as 4 of's and allowing my readers the liberty to tweak as you would like.

Lucky Mother LeF...(shut your mouth) | Lorcana | Max

• Characters (52)
• 4 Julieta Madrigal - Excellent Cook
• 4 LeFou - Instigator
• 4 Lucky - The 15th Puppy
• 4 Mother Gothel - Withered and Wicked
• 4 Mulan - Elite Archer
• 4 Mulan - Injured Soldier
• 4 Pegasus - Flying Steed
• 4 Perdita - Devoted Mother
• 4 Piglet - Pooh Pirate Captain
• 4 Queen of Hearts - Impulsive Ruler
• 4 Queen of Hearts - Sensing Weakness
• 4 Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing
• 4 Rapunzel - Sunshine

• Actions (4)
• 4 Brawl

• Songs (4)
• 4 Be King Undisputed

The final deck list I give you today is the least off meta of the bunch. I was piloted by yours truly so I do have an exact list. Basically, I got lucky in a couple packs to land some Diablo - Devoted Herald and decided to go ahead and shell out some cash to make it a full set. My original intent was to run a Bucky deck without the Beast. Before the Errata change I decided I disliked winning with Bucky. I don't know if it is because the list wasn't really mine or because the type of win isn't very fun. Either way, I didn't want to waste my Diablos. So I made a couple of modifications to Amber/Amethyst Speed Lore. Well, more than a couple. I made it Amber/Emerald.

AE Speed | Dan Eckstein, 2nd place Set Championship

• Characters (52)
• 2 Enchantress - Unexpected Judge
• 2 Lucky - The 15th Puppy
• 2 Wendy Darling - Talented Sailor
• 3 Prince Eric - Seafaring Prince
• 3 The Queen - Commanding Presence
• 4 Baloo - von Bruinwald XIII
• 4 Cursed Merfolk - Ursula's Handiwork
• 4 Diablo - Devoted Herald
• 4 Donald Duck - Musketeer Soldier
• 4 Donald Duck - Perfect Gentleman
• 4 Flynn Rider - Charming Rogue
• 4 Lilo - Making a Wish
• 4 Piglet - Pooh Pirate Captain
• 4 Simba - Protective Cub
• 4 The Queen - Regal Monarch

• Locations (8)
• 4 De Vil Manor - Cruella's Estate
• 4 Never Land - Mermaid Lagoon

I was able to pilot this deck into a 2nd place finish at my local store with its only loss going to a Ruby/ Amethyst deck. Regrettably, Diablo only made one valuable appearance in the whole affair and the more popular Amber/Amethyst version is slightly better in the Bounce Control matchup but it's still a 45/55 game. I don't regret the switch at all. I will value my playmat even more since the wins were mine, not borrowed.

Until next time, may all of your home brews be enjoyable.