Hello, Illumineers! By the time you read this, I will already be in Las Vegas for the Disney Lorcana Challenge event! In today's article, we'll discuss what has happened throughout the week. Let's jump right into it..

Disney Lorcana Challenge - Las Vegas set to kickoff this Friday, September 20th

Disney Lorcana Challenge Vegas is anticipated to be one of the largest, most engaging challenge events across those in the US so far. Coincidentally for the EU region, Birmingham will be on the same weekend.

Since this is a 2048-person event, you can expect expanded prizing for day 2 competitors. Here's the breakdown:

Swiss

• Early check-in: Kristoff - Reindeer Keeper
• Participation: Dragon Fire
• Swiss performance: Let it Go (all players with the same points as the 64th player)

Day 2 Single-elimination:

• Top 64: Cinderella - Stouthearted
• Top 32: Rapunzel - Gifted With Healing
• Top 16: Rapunzel - Gifted With Healing playmat and qualification for the US Continentals
• Top 8: Serialized Golden Mickey Mouse - Brave Little Tailor
• Top 4: 2 Booster Boxes of the most current set (Shimmering Skies) and Prize Wall tickets
• Top 2: 2 Booster Boxes of the most current set (Shimmering Skies) and Prize Wall tickets
• Winner: Challenge trophy and a full foil set of the current challenge legal set (Shimmering Skies) including the enchanted cards as well

Besides the main competitor event and for the first time ever, we have side events starting as soon as 11:00 AM on Friday. This is a huge improvement from the previous schedule, which has the main event for competitors starting Saturday, and side events for attendees as well. Sunday is for day 2 participants of the main competition event and additional side events.

If you're not at one of these events, fear not, as Ravensburger has been streaming the events on Twitch. You can check it out here. If additional Disney Lorcana Challenge events are announced for next year in your area, you definitely don't want to miss out of these extremely engaging opportunities.

A Closer Look at High-Performing Decks Throughout the Week

Week over week, we continue to see 3 breakout decks carve their larger portion of the meta. These are Amber/Steel Songs, Ruby/Sapphire Ramp, and Ruby/Amethyst.

Some important things to note are that Ruby/Amethyst continues to struggle with finding a new identity beyond their most impactful inclusions from Rise of the Floodborn, that being the bounce package of Madam Mim Snake and Fox, as well as Merlin Goat, Rabbit, and sometimes Crab. However, do not be quick to judge as the archetype looks to maintain one of its key factors set over set, and that's pure consistency. Strangely enough, we're not seeing much 1st place results from the list, so I wonder if it's times to shake things up a bit? We'll continue to follow developments throughout the weeks, especially after both Las Vegas and Birmingham Disney Lorcana Challenges.

Amber/Steel Songs continues to be a highly represented deck across multiple events. It's clear that inclusions of Prince Naveen - Ukele Player gave players another line into a range of impactful songs, such as A Whole New World, And Then Along Came Zeus, and Grab Your Sword. We're now seeing a resurgence of the item Lantern make its way back into decks, thanks to Brennan DeCandio's recent top performance, where he's looking to leverage an early A Whole New World play as soon as turn three with the right cards. Leveraging the Singer ability to play Action - Songs for "free" continues to be a controversial topic on whether or not this makes Steel Songs too powerful. However, we must consider that a reasonable response from a deck that I'll touch on a bit later means that the deck is beatable under the right conditions. More often than not, the wrong play allows the deck to fall on itself, requiring a bit of practice and know-how into your most problematic matchups.

Another deck rising in popularity to capitalize on the share of Amber/Steel Songs is Ruby/Sapphire Ramp. The deck honestly got a lot of great tools from Shimmering Skies, such as Tipo - Growing Son and Vision of the Future. We're even seeing some lists running one of my favorites, Mufasa - Ruler of Pride Rock. A lot of these options make the Ruby/Amethyst matchup a bit more bearable, from previous set. The deck is well positioned heading into the upcoming Disney Lorcana Events, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the majority of these decks converting to to day 2.

Lastly, I want to touch on the opportunity for tier 2 and rogue decks. This is honestly your time to shine if you're piloting one of these. Locally, we have a few players with some pretty spicy builds heading into Vegas and I wouldn't be surprised to see them performing quite well with the tech choices made.

Wrapping Up

That's another Week in Disney Lorcana! Are you excited for the upcoming DLCs this weekend? What decks do you want to see up top? Be sure to let me know on X: @_EmeraldWeapon_

And remember, CoolStuffInc is your one-stop shop for all your Lorcana needs. Whether you're looking for singles, sealed product, or the latest accessories, they have you covered. Be sure to check out their website and stock up on everything you need to dominate the Lorcana scene!