Hello, Illumineers! I'm back from Las Vegas, and sadly, I did not win. However let's talk about who did and some reveals from the upcoming set Azurite Seas!

Zan Syed Wins Disney Lorcana Challenge: Las Vegas and Frederico M. Wins Disney Lorcana Challenge: Birmingham!

For the first time in Disney Lorcana history, we had not one, but two DLCs over the last weekend. We saw phenomenal performances from both sides of the pond, with Zan Syed piloting the return of Emerald/Steel Discard. Federico M. took down Birmingham with a more familiar popular deck list, being Ruby/Sapphire. Let's take a look at each decklist and highly some key inclusions that secured their wins.

Steel/Emerald Discard | Zan Syed | inkDecks.com

• Characters (38)
• 2 Anna - Diplomatic Queen
• 2 The Muses - Proclaimers of Heroes
• 2 Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy
• 4 Beast - Tragic Hero
• 4 Diablo - Devoted Herald
• 4 Diablo - Maleficent's Spy
• 4 Morph - Space Goo
• 4 Pete - Games Referee
• 4 Prince John - Greediest of All
• 4 Ursula - Deceiver
• 4 Ursula - Deceiver of All

• Locations (2)
• 2 Hidden Cove - Tranquil Haven

• Songs (16)
• 4 Let the Storm Rage On
• 4 Strength of a Raging Fire
• 4 Sudden Chill
• 4 We Don't Talk About Bruno

• Actions (4)
• 4 Hypnotize

Overview

Zan Syed decided to take Emerald Steel discard as it felt well positioned into the Top 3 meta decks assumed to have high representation, those being Ruby/Sapphire, Amber/Steel, and Ruby/Amethyst. Starving your opponent of resources and allowing you to draw based on those discard effects, thanks to Prince John - Greediest of All is phase one. Once your opponent is either completely or nearly discarded and the board is clear thanks to all the support from the Steel removal cards, your heavy questers like Anna - Diplomatic Queen, Prince John - Greediest of All, Beast - Tragic Hero, and Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy help close out the game. While I reminisce on the more punishing pre-errata Bucky version of this deck, the one in particular seems to be a bit more fair and requires a bit more attention from the pilot. The Muses - Proclaimers of Heroes bounce ability is important to navigate through triggers and how you resolve them from the bag in order to maximize effectiveness. Ursula - Deceiver of All and The Muses - Proclaimers of Heroes with any song that Ursula can sing can literally turn the tides for you at the right moment, as we saw with Zan's phenomenal gameplay on Twitch. Because of how well Emerald/Steel converted to day 2, we can without a doubt expect a wave of this heading into set championships. Good luck out there, and congrats Zan Syed!

Ruby/Sapphire Ramp | Federico M. "Fedemeco" | inkDecks.com

• Characters (32)
• 1 Mufasa - Ruler of Pride Rock
• 2 Madame Medusa - The Boss
• 2 Sisu - Daring Visitor
• 3 Maleficent - Monstrous Dragon
• 4 Gramma Tala - Keeper of Ancient Stories
• 4 Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker
• 4 Maui - Hero to All
• 4 Sisu - Empowering Sibling
• 4 Tamatoa - So Shiny!
• 4 Tipo - Growing Son

• Actions (8)
• 2 Hide Away
• 3 Brawl
• 3 Vision of the Future

• Songs (6)
• 2 Be Prepared
• 2 How Far I'll Go
• 2 One Jump Ahead

• Items (15)
• 1 Fang Crossbow
• 1 Great Stone Dragon
• 2 Lucky Dime
• 3 Ice Block
• 4 Fishbone Quill
• 4 Pawpsicle

Overview

On to a more familiar list, we have Ruby/Sapphire, piloted by Federico M. There's just enough spice in here to deal with the mirror and Ruby/Amethyst matches effectively. Fang Crossbow continues to make its way in and out of this list, and while a one-of feels neat, but not consistent enough for when you actually need it. Thankfully, it's inkable in the matches where you know you don't need it. Otherwise you'll be relying on a lot of draw and filtering to find it. I'm also noticing a lot more Ruby/X players have been relying on less Be Prepared and more Sisu - Empowered Sibling for more targeted one-sided board wipes. This gives less value to cards like The Bare Necessities and Pete - Game Referee, but this is the kind of adjustments you expect when facing those powerful cards consistently in the top cut. It was definitely the right call here. Great Stone Dragon is also a fantastic card when dealing with a lot of removal and discard. Other than that, you're seeing Ruby/Sapphire doing Ruby/Sapphire things; ramp, wipe, dropping big questers and using Lucky Dime for large lore gains. Congrats to your amazing performance Fredrico!

This Week's Official Card Reveals from Ravensburger from Azurite Seas

Azurite Seas is not too far away, which means we're in spoiler season! Below are some of the latest reveals from the set.

Wrapping Up

That's another Week in Disney Lorcana! What were your thoughts on the latest Disney Lorcana Challenge results? Will you be preparing for the new wave of Emerald Steel players in the upcoming weeks? 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!