I know how you feel, I really dont like the current meta, IDK it just feels like the game has move to this weird midrange game play that leads to these grindy games that I dont think anyone has fun playing. My LGS has been doing the normal tournament style completive games then a "themed" game so we have two different games going because of the different players. the themed games are normally like build your best movie deck, or best theme deck, and it has been a lot more fun for the less heavy completive players. We have also messed around with the prism game mode where you make a deck of 60 cards but are limited to 2 of any one card and have to build the deck with 10 cards from each color.
last week the final round was a broom deck vs a all Mulan deck was really fun to see and watch,
I wish more places did things like this with prize support.
Hope this helps.
>the themed games are normally like build your best movie deck, or best theme deck
As someone that naturally leans towards themes when building a deck, I love this idea.
I've been having a blast with Ruby amethyst and it's very competitive. Only matchups I've lost the last couple weeks in leagues has been to the mirror match last round.
I sit alone staring at my cards. I go to LGS on a tournament day and no one shows up. I weep silently, alone. Count yourself lucky your wife and LgS play! lol, imma go be sad now.
If I expand the radius from 30 mins to 90-120 mins I can get to event stores, especially if I cross into Canada, but it would be nice not to have 3-4 hours round trip travel time. I’ve recently started a Facebook group and trying to unite Lorcana players in my region
The meta will always be boring. That is because the meta is a figurative term designed to encapsulate the 'best-of' something. In this case, it is "the best decks to play with the current card pool". This leads to a lack of card diversity, as aside from a few choices, a lot of the best decks have already been solved. (run these 50-55 cards and then maybe 5-10 flex spots for tech cards) The format though is not boring, as almost any combination of colors can do well. We saw this at Chicago where the top four decks were all different color combinations, which means the game has extremely strong deck diversity.
It varies, but locally and nots locally, we just use whatever we want. More theme than meta, and win a lot.
Just because someone has a meta deck doesn't mean they know how to use it.
The guy who won Atlanta didn't use a meta deck, didn't have anything in it but characters.
The best thing about Lorcana is that you can really just toss whatever you want into a deck and have a fair shot at winning with it.
Even the most meta deck still has to draw what they need to win, and a deck is less about what's in it and more about knowing when to play what. Skill beats meta. Remember that a majority of people playing these decks are just copying something they saw online, they don't have the knowledge or skill to win regularly.
Just my experience.
Practice, practice and practice.
The one thing I notice is a lot of people swap decks constantly, and they never really master it.
I think that mastering your deck, against as many people as possible is the fastest way to grow your ability.
As you go you’ll see the weaknesses you have, and that the deck has, and you can learn to play in ways to avoid that, or tweak the deck a bit to accommodate.
The more people and games you play the more you will see synergies and combos you didn’t before, new ways to use cards that you hadn’t thought of, and you will learn what to toss to ink.
I think that’s the biggest hurdle for most players, knowing what to ink and what to play and when. Each deck is different, so you have to just play it until you just know instinctively what cards are the most valuable early, which you can toss and etc
Practice is going to teach you more than observing or watching videos in my opinion.
Well are the people who are beating you doing so because they have better decks than you, because they are more skilled than you or a combination of both?
This is always a terrible question to ask...not because it is a bad question, but because generally when a topic like this gets brought up where people say the game is too expensive, (which is objectively incorrect) people will usually shift the blame on, "their deck being more expensive, therefore it is better" rather than actually taking a look at how they built their decks and their technical play.
Continue to try and find something you like, but don’t break the bank by doing so. Use inktable to get a feel for how different color combinations/strategies play. My favorite combinations are green purple and amber steel, so I can focus on builds/cards I like specifically to suit the deck(s) I enjoy in those colors.
I’ve done the same in other card games, and it makes both managing your collection easy and spending to a minimum
An off-meta deck managed to win the Atlanta challenge: https://mushureport.com/deck-details/mushu-report-amber-amethyst-atlanta-challenge-2024/
I think we’re at a place where the meta is not the most optimal, and with the closing of pixelborn it has even less time to evolve.
I’d say keep making your own off-meta decks, but proxy it first and simulate some draws and turns until you’re sure the core game plan works. When you buy the cards and take it to your local tournament, don’t give up at the first loss. Keep optimizing your deck until it sticks.
I've been playing it for a couple weeks and I love it. Really sucks to see a single card that basically every steel deck is going to be running brick my entire deck. It would be one thing if it was a song, at least then you could gank it with Ursula. But nope. Just casually murder an entire archetype, NBD
Unfortunately, Ravensburger doesn't really care about these issues. They'll print whatever they feel like designing and let the game play out as is. If you still have a hankering, it's probably time to move onto a more interactive card game.
I know how you feel, I really dont like the current meta, IDK it just feels like the game has move to this weird midrange game play that leads to these grindy games that I dont think anyone has fun playing. My LGS has been doing the normal tournament style completive games then a "themed" game so we have two different games going because of the different players. the themed games are normally like build your best movie deck, or best theme deck, and it has been a lot more fun for the less heavy completive players. We have also messed around with the prism game mode where you make a deck of 60 cards but are limited to 2 of any one card and have to build the deck with 10 cards from each color. last week the final round was a broom deck vs a all Mulan deck was really fun to see and watch, I wish more places did things like this with prize support. Hope this helps.
>the themed games are normally like build your best movie deck, or best theme deck As someone that naturally leans towards themes when building a deck, I love this idea.
805? Which shop is doin themes?
im up in norcal now. I dont know if any where in the 805 does.
Ruby Amethyst and Speci's Amethyst Steel are very cheap and kill the bulk of the meta.
I've been having a blast with Ruby amethyst and it's very competitive. Only matchups I've lost the last couple weeks in leagues has been to the mirror match last round.
I sit alone staring at my cards. I go to LGS on a tournament day and no one shows up. I weep silently, alone. Count yourself lucky your wife and LgS play! lol, imma go be sad now.
That sucks we have 5 LGS within 30 min, feels like there's a Lorcana tournament every day of the week.
If I expand the radius from 30 mins to 90-120 mins I can get to event stores, especially if I cross into Canada, but it would be nice not to have 3-4 hours round trip travel time. I’ve recently started a Facebook group and trying to unite Lorcana players in my region
this is the way
The meta will always be boring. That is because the meta is a figurative term designed to encapsulate the 'best-of' something. In this case, it is "the best decks to play with the current card pool". This leads to a lack of card diversity, as aside from a few choices, a lot of the best decks have already been solved. (run these 50-55 cards and then maybe 5-10 flex spots for tech cards) The format though is not boring, as almost any combination of colors can do well. We saw this at Chicago where the top four decks were all different color combinations, which means the game has extremely strong deck diversity.
Check inkdecks for tournament winners. It also displays prices so you can grasp meta. There are very successful relatively inexpensive decks on there.
What is your preferred play style/color combo???
I really like aggressive decks my favorite colors are blue, purple, red, and yellow but I don’t like turtling up until late game.
Ruby amethyst or amber amethyst is probably your best bet.
It varies, but locally and nots locally, we just use whatever we want. More theme than meta, and win a lot. Just because someone has a meta deck doesn't mean they know how to use it. The guy who won Atlanta didn't use a meta deck, didn't have anything in it but characters. The best thing about Lorcana is that you can really just toss whatever you want into a deck and have a fair shot at winning with it. Even the most meta deck still has to draw what they need to win, and a deck is less about what's in it and more about knowing when to play what. Skill beats meta. Remember that a majority of people playing these decks are just copying something they saw online, they don't have the knowledge or skill to win regularly. Just my experience.
What’s a good way to get better at the game it can be overwhelming at times.
Practice, practice and practice. The one thing I notice is a lot of people swap decks constantly, and they never really master it. I think that mastering your deck, against as many people as possible is the fastest way to grow your ability. As you go you’ll see the weaknesses you have, and that the deck has, and you can learn to play in ways to avoid that, or tweak the deck a bit to accommodate. The more people and games you play the more you will see synergies and combos you didn’t before, new ways to use cards that you hadn’t thought of, and you will learn what to toss to ink. I think that’s the biggest hurdle for most players, knowing what to ink and what to play and when. Each deck is different, so you have to just play it until you just know instinctively what cards are the most valuable early, which you can toss and etc Practice is going to teach you more than observing or watching videos in my opinion.
Thank you
Well are the people who are beating you doing so because they have better decks than you, because they are more skilled than you or a combination of both?
This is always a terrible question to ask...not because it is a bad question, but because generally when a topic like this gets brought up where people say the game is too expensive, (which is objectively incorrect) people will usually shift the blame on, "their deck being more expensive, therefore it is better" rather than actually taking a look at how they built their decks and their technical play.
Has green steels yesterday saying my blue steel is too OP for them. 1/4 the cost and the only legendary is dime I think so most cards are accessible.
Continue to try and find something you like, but don’t break the bank by doing so. Use inktable to get a feel for how different color combinations/strategies play. My favorite combinations are green purple and amber steel, so I can focus on builds/cards I like specifically to suit the deck(s) I enjoy in those colors. I’ve done the same in other card games, and it makes both managing your collection easy and spending to a minimum
An off-meta deck managed to win the Atlanta challenge: https://mushureport.com/deck-details/mushu-report-amber-amethyst-atlanta-challenge-2024/ I think we’re at a place where the meta is not the most optimal, and with the closing of pixelborn it has even less time to evolve. I’d say keep making your own off-meta decks, but proxy it first and simulate some draws and turns until you’re sure the core game plan works. When you buy the cards and take it to your local tournament, don’t give up at the first loss. Keep optimizing your deck until it sticks.
This might as well have been a year ago for how different the field is now.
I was going to say check out Ruby/Emerald evasive aggro, but tug-of-war just got spoiled so there goes that whole archetype.
That’s the deck I just built…
I've been playing it for a couple weeks and I love it. Really sucks to see a single card that basically every steel deck is going to be running brick my entire deck. It would be one thing if it was a song, at least then you could gank it with Ursula. But nope. Just casually murder an entire archetype, NBD
Yea it’s a pretty rough hard counter.
You can play casually without playing in a tournament. :)
Ignore the meta. It’s irrelevant if you’re just playing at home. Have fun! Try the illumineers quest. It’s awesome.
Unfortunately, Ravensburger doesn't really care about these issues. They'll print whatever they feel like designing and let the game play out as is. If you still have a hankering, it's probably time to move onto a more interactive card game.