Chaos & Confetti

For those who have been following the Chaos y Confetti blog for a while now, it’s no secret that we’ve become really into Disney’s Lorcana (Confetti is obsessed). Between collecting cards, joining Lorcana leagues, spreading the game to friends and family, and playing both in person and online, we have given a good amount of time and energy to this new-ish trading card game.

Due to the joy that is having a toddler, it is difficult for both my wife Confetti and I to get out and play in-person events. While Confetti has had the chance to go out with me some and to play solo in a sealed event for the set two release, I am usually the one who frequently plays games around town. However, when we heard that a local game store would be holding a sealed Lorcana event, we quickly figured out a plan, so we could both attend the event. Those plans fell apart just as suddenly.  

Thankfully, Confetti’s brother who recently began trying in-person Lorcana events also wanted to attend the sealed event, and his wife was kind enough to watch our child while Confetti, her brother, and I ventured off to our local game store, Battlegrounds.

Now I would like to share about our experience:

THE BASICS

Each player received six Lorcana Rise of the Floodborn (set 2) booster packs.  The 72 cards needed to be turned into a deck.  The deck had no color limitations but needed to be at least 40 cards.  

All registered players competed in a four round, best of three swiss tournament.  After the four rounds, the top eight continued into a best of three, single elimination tournament.  Ten dollars of each entry went into a prize pool.  The prizes were as follows:

1st place: 45% of prize pool, League promo card, a D100 gift set

2nd place: 25% of prize pool, league promo card

3-4th place: 15% of prize pool, league promo card

5-8th place, league promo card

All players kept whatever card they opened during the event.

BUILDING OUR DECKS

Sealed events always create an interesting deck building dynamic.  On one hand, everyone is on even ground because they must build with a completely new set of cards.  There is no “meta” or optimization beyond doing whatever works best with what you happened to open.  Most players will create something that they feel iffy about. Card synergy will be lacking and less overall deck consistency exists in terms of knowing what you’re likely to draw.  This creates a unique situation of never knowing what to expect from your opponent and always having to adapt to whatever cards you happen to draw each game.

Some people will complain about luck.  Obviously someone who opens a few really good cards or does open a couple of cards that work well together may have some advantage.  However, a few good cards alone won’t win games, and there is no guarantee that you’ll randomly draw your synergistic cards together.  Players still need to actually assemble a deck that works and figure out how to play what they do have.

If you’ve never played a Lorcana sealed event, here are a few tips on building a deck:

1. Be aware of your curve.  Make sure you have cards to play at different points in the game.  If you only throw in big and expensive cards, your first few turns will be lacking.  Have cards to play early and cards to build to later in the game.  Finding the proper balance is essential.  You’ll probably want fewer high cost cards, more lower cost cards, and the greatest amount of middle cost cards, which hold play-value but aren’t as hard to get on the board (your balance may change depending on the kind of deck you’re running).

2. Watch out for uninkables.  Uninkables tend to be pretty good cards, so that is blanched by the fact that they can’t help build an ink pool.  Drawing too many uninkables will stall out your building of ink and may keep you from being able to play anything at all.  Few things suck as much as holding a full hand of unplayable cards as your opponent runs off with the game.  

3. Draw is power.  Drawing cards is essential for any tcg format.  More cards equal more options, more fodder for inking, and more opportunity to play multiple cards.  Being able to draw can keep you a step ahead of your opponent and away from simply praying for a decent draw each turn, as you sit there with an empty hand.  Any card that can help with draw, reasonably and without too much sacrifice, is usually good to include

4. Be aware of the potential card pool.  In a limited event, there is likely to be less removal. This turns many games into a race for lore.  Evasive characters and ones that quest for more lore become very powerful.  This also makes any possible removal worth its weight in gold.  Also, since draw will be more limited, anything that hurts your opponents hand can also be very beneficial.

Like most, we ended up constructing decks that felt lacking, but tried to comfort ourselves knowing that others would be in the same boat.  We considered the above rules and did our best.  I tried to stay true to my curve and included a lot of cards that quested for at least two lore.  I also tried to put in a few cards that might have synergy, even if they were unlikely to come out together.  While I did get some draw, I lacked almost any removal and did not have much evasiveness.

Confetti mostly stuck with the above rules, but also tried to play a bit more risky.  She added some “junk items” (her words) to help power possible draws from a Flavorshim.  Having less sealed event experience, she tried to go with what felt right, or at least a little right.

PLAYING THE GAME

Confetti’s Experience:

Confetti discovered a few flaws in her deck build, and quickly questioned the inclusion of a few of her junk items, but her overall deck performed decently.  Her first match up 2-0.  Each game she built a strong board presence, but she would also claim that her wins were at least partially due to misplays by her opponent.  As I’ve stated before, a deck is only as good as the person piloting it.  Staying aware of what’s on the board, how to play out situations, and how to best utilize your resources are all part of the game.

Confetti won her second match up 2-1. Again, Confetti would argue that her opponent might have deserved the win more (she’s too nice).  While her opponent’s deck had both great draw and synergy, it still wasn’t able to keep Confetti from reaching twenty lore.  The ability to get ahead on lore allowed Confetti to race forward while tactically using her resources to slow her opponent.  Her opponent on the other hand had to spend more energy trying to reel in Confetti.  His board and card draw was impressive, but it had to be used towards Confetti instead of advancing himself.

Sadly, Confetti’s next two match ups were losses, 1-2 and 0-2.  Her first loss came to a deck she felt she couldn’t quite out race.  Confetti did feel she might have been able to do better in her final match up, but she wasn’t quite in the right headspace anymore. Several hours deep into the tournament, Confetti faced some mental fatigue but also the extra worry of how much longer the event might go on.  The transitions between rounds was a bit sluggish, dragging out the event time, and Confetti knew she had a toddler in need of picking up and getting home for bed.

With a 2-2 final record, Confetti did not qualify for the top eight, which was okay with her since she wanted to get her son home for bed anyways.

Chaos’ Experience:

I won my first match up 2-1.  Surprisingly, both our decks had a few similar key components, including a massive Hercules and a Daisy Duck that caused repeated discard on an opponent.  Our games quickly became lore races, since neither of us had decent removal.  Thankfully, I came out on top both games, partially due to luck and partially due to effective character trades in battle.

My match up quickly fell apart as I went 0-2.  My lack of solid removal bit me in the butt as my opponent slapped down characters with large lore counts again and again.  I thought I had the second game won, but then I drew three cards in a row that I couldn’t play and my opponent overtook me.

Round three was a good bounce back round as I finished 2-0.  My opponent did not have a very fast deck, which allowed me to build strong board presence and to drop down several large characters, who could wipe out his without sacrificing themselves.  While he might have had some better characters mechanically, not being able to use them more than once hurt his possible advantage.

In the fourth and final round of the tournament, I ended up facing my brother-in-law.  This allowed for a casual feel to our matches, which ended up being a lot of fun.  Each of our games felt like they could have gone either way.  My deck had some big bodies and decent lore questers, but his deck mostly worked on early game speed before becoming dangerous without his own big body characters.  Thankfully, I eked out the victory with a 2-1.  (For those curious, my brother-in-law went 1-3 for the day, but he also had the “luck” of facing all people who ended up in the top eight).

That’s right!  With an overall record of 3-1, I found myself in the top eight!  I may have been the absolute lowest ranked player of the top eight, but I still made it.  

My first match was against the only player to go 4-0 during the swiss tournament portion of the day.  He also happened to be the guy who beat Confetti during the third round.  Confetti had actually left to pick up our son at this point. As my round began, she called to ask if she should just take our son home or if should they swing by to pick me up.  I told her she could get me because I wouldn’t be long for the tournament.

Then, the unthinkable happened.  I actually won 2-1.  Somehow my deck and plays started coming together perfectly, hitting all the little moments I hoped it would.  I drew cards, rushed for lore, made effective trades, and stayed in a dominant position for two of my matches.  The other match, saw me crushed quickly.  However, two wins pushed me right into the top four.

Then, the next round took a long while to get started.  Those running the event were occupied with store duties, and the clock ticked away.  By the time they finally got to pushing out the next match ups, about twenty minutes had passed.  Confetti had arrived with our son Yeti, who was already up past his bedtime.  Yeti loved to be at the store and was so excited to see me, but I knew that I had to do the responsible thing and get him home.

I gave the win to my final-four opponent without playing a single match, wishing him good lucks in the finals (which he would go on to lose).  I gave up my chance at larger winnings, but still collected a promo card and $35 dollars in store credit, which I used $6 of immediately to buy a pack for Yeti to open.  

It was a little disappointing not to play everything out, but I already had a full day of playing and needed to keep my main responsibilities in mind.  All in all, I had a fun day.        

THE WRAP UP

I had a lot of fun playing so much Lorcana and I really enjoyed getting to play a sealed event.  Back when I played Magic: The Gathering regularly, sealed events were my jam.  I did better than I thought I would and pulled out some sweet wins.  I look forward to getting to play more Lorcana at league nights, but I also hope I find the opportunity to make it to some more sealed events too.

Confetti and her brother also seemed like they enjoyed themselves.  Confetti said she had a lot of fun, but she said playing in person also adds a hint of nerves to her games as well.  It’s different playing against real people vs. faceless decks on her computer.  She won’t be rushing out to every sealed event, but she’d like to play some more, especially as new sets are released.