Chaos & Confetti

Just when you thought they were no more, here comes a…

CLASH OF CHAOS AND CONFETTI!

The Premise:

Chaos and Confetti will face off in a best of three series, playing a different board game from their collection.  The winner will claim the moniker of C&C Clash Champion.  The loser feels a little less magical.  The lesser player will also get to choose the game for the next Clash (though those have been happening a little less often lately).

We will maintain a record of wins and losses throughout the year to see who finishes 2023 as the ultimate board game champ in our household.

Pre-Clash Current Standings:

Our current C&C Champions is Chaos after winning a series of Wingspan: Asia games back in mid-June.  The win/loss records were left standing at:

• Weekly Winner: 4 Chaos – 3 Confetti
• Individual game wins: 9 Chaos – 7 Confetti – 1 tie 

Originally, Confetti chose the next contest to be settled through Dice Throne: Marvel, since enough time has passed, there has been a change in plans (though hopefully, we’ll eventually circle back around to Dice Throne).  Instead, we present to you:

The Game – Lorcana

Lorcana is the new collectible card game by Ravensburger and Disney.  As some of the first people to own the game, it was hard not to dive in and play.  Also, Confetti is obsessed with the game (welcome to the world of collectible card games).

In Lorcana, players will begin with 7 cards drawn from a deck of at last 60 cards.  Each player deck can only contain two different colors from the game’s six color sets.  Character, action, and item cards make up the playable cards in Lorcana, with each card being inspired by a Disney animated property.  Items will stay out permanently and can be used as directed.  Actions are one time use cards they also do what they say.  Characters are the heart of the game and make up the majority of the cards.

Character cards each come with a strength and willpower number which tells how much damage they do in a fight and how much life they can lose before being banished (sent to the discard pile).  Many characters also have special abilities that happen when they are played or are in play.  Finally, the characters have many type labels, such as prince, villain, and dreamborn.  Some of these types are important to other cards, but many will probably see further value as more cards are released.  One of the most important aspects of a card is its lore count, which players will use to win the game (more on this soon).

No matter what card players hope to use, they must pay its cost.  To do this, they must exert (tap) their inked cards.  Inked cards are the cards that have been played face down into the inkwell.  Once per turn, any card with an ink symbol (gold design around the cost) may be inked.  This makes the card a permanent resource, but also means that whatever is on the front of the card no longer matters.  As their inkwell grows, players can pay for and play larger cards.  The only exception to this rule is actions that are labeled song cars.  Those cards can be played by exerting a character who meets certain requirements, so they can sing the song.

The path towards victory is collecting 20 lore.  Character cards will have a number of lore marks on them.  During their turn, a player may send a readied (non-exerted) character to quests.  This means that the character gains lore equal to their marks.  When a player reaches 20, they win!

However, exerted characters do become more vulnerable.  During their turn, players may use one of their characters to challenge an opposing exerted character.  The characters will fight and both take damage equal to the others strength.  If the damage taken equals or surpasses the character’s remaining life/willpower, then the character is banished to the discard pile.  If the character survives, they may stick around but they must still keep the damage.

Players will take turns until one finally reaches the win condition of gaining twenty lore (or if someone loses by not being able to draw a new card at the start of their turn).

It’s a Disney magic duel.  Let’s find out who deserved to wear the mouse ears today!

Chaos’ Pre-Clash Thoughts:

As someone who played Magic: The Gathering for years, I look forward to trying out a new collectible card game.  It’s also good to be back for another clash.  I’ve been able to sit pretty as champion for about two months, but I look forward to reminding everyone why I am champ.  Sorry, Confetti but not everyone gets a fairy tale ending.

Confetti’s Pre-Clash Thoughts:

I’m really excited about Lorcana – I love Disney and being able to get the pre-release of the game at Gen Con was very exciting. Hopefully I can pull out a win or two too!

Game 1 – 

During our visit to Gen Con, we got a box of boosters and the three starter decks.  For this clash, we decided to limit ourselves to just the use of the starter decks.  For game one, Chaos picked the Emerald/Ruby deck and Confetti chose the Amber/Amethyst deck (because Moana).

Both players had a little experience after a learn-to-play event, but the game still remained pretty new to them.  Chaos took an early lead in lore, as Confetti struggled to keep up.  Chaos racked up lore but Confetti’s deck provided her characters who were ready to challenge.  Her characters packed strong punches when challenging and were more than happy to attack.

Confetti’s attacks kept her from quests for lore, but Chaos soon had the problem of not having enough characters around.  He did find some nice synergy between his Mad Hatter (3 lore) and a fireproof shield that let him re-ready the character.  This meant that Mad Hatter could gather up lore and then immediately leave danger.  

Unfortunately for Chaos, he seemed to be losing steam as the battle raged on.  His character pool dwindled as Confetti’s started to ramp up.  Her ascendance was also aided by her deck’s ability to draw cards.  Chaos, on the other hand, could only rely on the top of his deck for hope.

Finally, Chaos had to break his pattern to go on the attack to prevent Confetti from reaching the finish line.  He succeeded in slowing her down, but she overwhelmed him with force again.  In the end, Chaos just couldn’t reach the win.  Confetti grabbed the final lore and claimed victory.  

Game 1 Winner: Confetti

Game 1 Score: 19 Chaos – 20 Confetti

Game 2 –

For game two, Confetti stuck with the Amber/Amethyst combo.  Chaos hoped to redeem himself with Sapphire/Steel.

This game saw the competitors climbing the lore track a bit more neck and neck.  They quested for lore, but they also had no problem attacking one another.  Confetti mostly stayed true to her previous strategy because it already proved to be a winner.  Chaos played a bit more conservatively with his inking actions.  He tried to play smaller characters and to keep more cards available for future plays.

Despite his best efforts, Chaos soon saw a familiar pattern play out.  Without any draw power in his deck, Confetti soon outmatched him as he started to run out of steam.  She gained card advantage thanks to a few draw abilities.  Chaos couldn’t keep up.

Once again, Confetti and her deck’s endurance proved to be successful.

Game 2 Winner: Confetti

Game 2 Score: 17 Chaos – 21 Confetti

Game 3 –

For the final game, Confetti offered to give her deck over to Chaos.  She already won for the week, but why not Chaos try out the “better deck.”  Chaos declined and wanted to try beating the Confetti/Amber/Amethyst combo one more time.  He doubled down on Sapphire/Steel.  This time he had big plans.

By big plans, Chaos meant that he would lean more into the deck’s strengths.  He tried inking faster to get out bigger characters.  While the ink came, he then had trouble actually drawing his big characters.  This proved to be a mixed bag.  He was able to start gaining lore, but he couldn’t create the large amount of pressure and danger he desired.

It may not have helped that Confetti finally tapped into one of her deck’s big combos.  Using Mickey’s broom abilities, along with playing brooms, gave her an endless stream of broom characters.  Every time one died, it would pop back into her hand, only to be played again immediately. 

Eventually, Chaos did get big characters like Simba and Scar to hit the field, but they were a bit too late.  Whether questing or challenging, they weren’t going to be able to turn things around.

Confetti took the final game in the series as well to be the first to ever claim a clean, three game sweep in a clash.

Game 3 Winner: Confetti  

Game 3 Score: 18 Chaos – 20 Confetti

Your winners and NEW C&C Clash Champion: Confetti!!

Chaos’ Post-Clash Thoughts:

Dang. My defense of the championship turned out to be direct-to-dvd quality.  That was rough and I just couldn’t overcome the amber/amethyst combo.  The draw power is what did it (not to take away from Confetti’s good plays too).  I’m glad Confetti got some wins and I hope this continues to hook her on the idea of CCGs.  She better watch out though once I get to actually toy with and construct my own Lorcana decks.

Confetti’s Post-Clash Thoughts:

I am really excited I was able to pull out a win, although I seemed to have picked the best starter deck! I’m sure things will really start to heat up with Lorcana when we start putting together our own decks. I am sure happy to claim to C&C Clash Championship back though!

New Standings:

Post-Clash Standings:

• Weekly Winner: 4 Chaos – 4 Confetti
• Individual game wins: 9 Chaos – 10 Confetti – 1 tie 

Next Clash: Dice Throne: Marvel?  Who knows!?!