Chaos & Confetti

The Disney Lorcana trading card game is accessible to casual and competitive players, but for those who want to truly test their skills beyond their family and local leagues, Disney Lorcana Challenges (DLCs) are the way.

DLCs are official Lorana tournaments hosted by Ravensburger, the game’s publisher. DLCs provide a way for players to compete for exclusive merchandise, gain rare promo cards (like the Golden Mickey), and most importantly earn their invite to Lorcana’s national and world’s tournaments.

We are currently in the second season of DLCs, with them being held all across the world. In North America, there are three DLCs this year: Milwaukee, Richmond, and Indianapolis. Each DLC hosts thousands of competitors and attendees from all over the world. This year, Chaos and Confetti would be amongst those vying for Lorcana victory! 

THE TICKETS:

When it leaked that there would be a DLC in Richmond (our hometown), we were excited but also doubted we could be so lucky. Then, the official announcement came. Excitement levels grew, but so did nerves. Competitive DLC spots are in huge demand, selling out almost instantly. What if we couldn’t get in? It would be such a bummer to have the event miles from our home and be unable to participate. At the very least, we needed attendee tickets.

The day of sales finally came. My wife Confetti snagged a competitive ticket, my sister got one, even my brother-in-law bought his at the initial drop. Meanwhile, I had one in my cart and the payment process wheel kept spinning. Eventually, the transaction went through after almost 20 minutes of loading. I was going to DLC Richmond!

All four of my family members securing tickets felt like a miracle, as we found out that many of our other locals couldn’t get them, and we saw plenty of other people online wishing they could have too. Hope remained, as people checked the website/app regularly to see if any tickets popped back up after refunds. By the end, especially the week of the event, most of our locals were able to buy a ticket (after continuously stalking the sales site) or ended up signing up to work the DLC event.

My wife and I were able to attend the first ever Lorcana DLC in Atlanta, Georgia back in 2024. However, since then, ticket availability and travel have been a roadblock to returning to another. We were stoked to be able to not only attend a DLC, but to do one locally.

PREPARATIONS AND DECKLISTS:

Like anything that’s a few months out, it feels forever away until it’s suddenly here. Confetti and I put in the work at leagues, at home, and online, but there were also the big distractions of work, family, and the holiday season.

Confetti spent weeks fine-tuning and practicing her different decklists (usually in the Blurple realm since that’s been her baby since set 2), always adjusting to local meta and what she believed would be in the larger meta. Does she need item removal? How does she combat aggro decks? What works as a counter to Baja’s one-sided board sweep? Up until the night before the DLC Main Event, she worked on maximizing her deck’s effectiveness.

For the last few sets, I’ve been playing Emerald Sapphire (before it was cool). I enjoyed my old janky, but effective list, which made full use of Clarabelle, muses, John Silver, Go Go, McDuck Manor, and plenty of songs. It ran several one, two, and three ofs. I made adjustments according to match ups and trusted my deck to get me what I needed through Sapphire’s dig cards. As Emerald Sapphire has grown in popularity and gained new combo tools, I continued to play it, but slowly started to lose some of my love for the deck. What once felt like a fun control deck that demanded my best plays and decision making, soon felt more like a deck centered on my ability to get off one or two combos. I’ve joked that Emerald Sapphire’s biggest enemy is itself. If the combo pieces don’t come together or you can’t stall long enough, the deck falls apart (yes, I know ES won DLC Richmond, so feel free to ignore everything I say).

Before shifting into Emerald Sapphire, Ruby Amethyst was my preferred deck. For the several sets I played it, it wasn’t the dominant deck it once was. It operated as a deck that had few great or bad match ups (until items really took control). I played it knowing I always had a fighting chance, but I needed to make the most of every play. The deck was a powerful one if played correctly. A Ruby Amethyst mirror match felt like an intense game of chess. That was the feeling I missed. I wanted a strong battle against my opponent and their deck, not a battle against my own deck to find a combo in time (no shade towards players of other decks, it’s just play style/situation that I was seeking).

Sometimes it feels good to come back home. I ended up picking back up Ruby Amethyst, a very different deck than it was pre-card rotation. No longer the king of the meta, but a slight underdog that could prove what it brings to the table.

I tried out a few lists and got into the Maui Shark/No Maui Shark debates. Finally, I settled on a list my sister and brother-in-law sent me. It felt good. It felt fun. It wasn’t a world beater, but with careful plays and well-planned challenges and moments of questing, I could make it work. After winning a local set championship with the deck, I decided it would be what I was taking to DLC Richmond.

Emerald Sapphire is still my back up deck, and it kept tempting me back as the DLC approached, but I decided I needed to do what would be fun for me. If I lost, I wanted to feel more like I wasn’t able to pull out a win, and not just that my deck beat itself.

Confetti would be taking Blurple (Amethyst Sapphire)

Chaos would be taking Ruby Amethyst

EXPECTATIONS GOING IN:

Back in 2024, in the Atlanta DLC, Confetti and I both placed in the top 20% percent, a stat that I often think back on fondly. We didn’t make day two, but we performed well. My goal on that day was to pick up more wins than losses, and I met that goal. Amongst my local players who attended Atlanta, I scored the highest point value (though none of us made day 2). I was proud of showing.

Since then, I’ve done well locally, but have never considered myself a rockstar. I collect wins and points at league, and I earn cards and mats at set champs. However, I am not a dominant force at all. I win more than I lose, but I’m still very beatable.

Confetti took a while to work up the courage to attend a league regularly, but since she has, she has won her store’s league season four times in a row. At the end of every season, the top eight compete in a mini-tournament, and each season Confetti has attended, she has come out on top. I’d like to point out how incredible of an accomplishment that is, but she’ll always tell you that she’s a good but not great player. She’ll point out her losses and point out that she doesn’t always perform as well as she’d hope during set champs (though she has won a few and made top cut in even more).

Confetti and I do well locally, but what would that mean anything on a larger stage? 

This set, we’ve both felt a little rockier than usual. Confetti continues to mess with her Blurple build, never feeling like it performed to her expectations. I questioned my deck choices, and felt a bit more beatable than normal.

We decided it was best to set some realistic goals, set a level of achievement that we would need to fight for, but also didn’t seem impossible.

Chaos’ DLC Goal:

My goal was to get at least three round wins during the eight on Saturday. That would earn me the Mulan promo card. Like in Atlanta, I also wanted to try and get more wins than losses. It might not earn me a day 2 spot, but I’d feel good knowing that I wasn’t a complete chump. 

Confetti’s DLC Goal: 

Confetti shared my goal of earning the Mulan promo by winning at least three rounds. Her other, personal, goal was to not get 2-0ed during Saturday. She either wanted to win the round, or at least get a game win off of anyone she faced that day (each round is best of three). 

DLC RICHMOND – THE EVENT: 

After about a year and a half, we finally returned to a Disney Lorcana Challenge (DLC).

It was obvious that a lot had changed since our last DLC. Overall, everything ran a bit more smoothly and prize wall tickets were more achievable.

Vendors were still a big part of the non-competitive floor space, but there were a few new (to us) offerings as well. Immediately upon walking in, we found ourselves joining in on a collection quest, opening booster packs and trading cards in order to earn a promo. 

There were also artists who worked on Lorana cards doing meet and greets. Confetti brought her Merlin crab cards to get signed by Valentina Graziuso. Valentina was very kind and the two of them had a nice chat.

Some of the game devs were stationed on the floor to play pack rush with attendees (something we sadly didn’t have the time to indulge in). One corner of the hall was set up as a kids’ space with puzzles, coloring books, and stickers.

The main hall housed the larger competitive events, but there was also a separate area for on-demand events like draft, pack rush, infinity, and core constructed mini-tournaments. 

The community vibes were great overall and it was awesome to see so many people from all over sharing their passion for a card game and all things Disney.

I was most surprised by how many people cosplayed for the event (probably shouldn’t have been). 

Minor Influencer Status:

Confetti and I have been running our social media page for several years now. We’ve covered board games, puzzling adventures, travels, and more. However, for the last couple years, we’ve also done a lot of Lorcana content. 

We know that in the world of actual celebrities and social media stars, we’re tiny, but at a Lorcana event, we’re surrounded by one of the groups that is most likely to recognize us. 

It happened slowly at first, but as the weekend picked up, especially on Saturday, quite a few people went out of their way to say that they enjoyed our content. Most were passing comments, but some were longer conversations, and a few even wanted selfies with us. We’re talking about a small group of people, maybe a few dozen, who approached us all weekend, but it was pretty cool to meet some of the people who follow us and to hear words of appreciation. It’s nice knowing people do care about some of the content we put out.

It was thrilling to hear one person talk about how they were hoping we’d be at the DLC and to have them be excited that we were actually there. 

At another point between rounds, someone asked me how my record was looking. They clearly knew me and I started to rack my brain for where I knew them. Turns out they follow us on TikTok, and were interested in my Lorcana journey and how I was performing. He said something along the lines of, “It’s just crazy being here and seeing so many big deal influencers like you.” I’m not a big deal influencer, but it’s definitely nice to feel a little special.

What I really want to point out is that several women approached Confetti, really not caring about me at all, and treated her like such a star or inspiration. I know competitive TCG spaces can be male dominated (though Lorcana does seem to pull from a wider demographic), so I’m proud of her for doing her part to show that women can be successful anywhere from local levels to bigger stages. 

COMPETITION:

Okay, we should probably get to the actual meet of the weekend: the competitive card playing. So without further ado, here it is.

Friday – Promo Quest:

On Friday, the DLC hosted several side events before the main event on Saturday. The biggest was the Promo Quest, a chance to earn prize well tickets, promo cards, and maybe even a DLC exclusive playmat.

We knew we would be adding another grueling day of competitive Lorcana to our schedule if we participated, but how could we say no to the potential prizes. Also, we approached the Promo Quest as a sort of pre-season. This would be our chance to see how we and our decks performed in a more competitive environment and to figure out if any tweaks needed to be made.

722 players competed for prizes in seven best-of-three rounds. Each win earned prize tickets, but five wins was the magic number to start earning larger prizes.

We went in “playing on vibes” as Confetti would put it. We’d do our best, learn from the experience, and have some TCG along the way. I ran the numbers, and in order to hit our prize wall ticket goals, we’d need three wins between us. Then, we both picked up more than three wins each. 

Confetti hit a record of 4-2-1, earning five thousand tickets and placing herself in 183rd place (top quarter of competitors). 

I finished with a record of 5-2, earning five thousand four hundred tickets., putting me in 100th place exactly (top 13.8%). Most importantly, my five wins earned me a set of non-foil promo cards. 

We were both shocked at how well we did and expected this to be our competitive highlight of our weekend.  Little did we know…

Saturday – Main Event Day 1:

Getting a chance to enter the competitive trenches with our local community proved to be one of the best parts of Saturday. Between rounds, we checked on each others’ records, cheered one another on, discussed strategies, and talked about all things Lorcana. There were about 30-40 of us from the Richmond area.

To begin the day, our locals picked up a lot of wins, and for a while we kept winning. Ever victory for the Richmond cohort felt like a personal victory, but sadness came as more and more of our locals started to hit the loss threshold that would disqualify them from making day two of the tournament.

Point breakdown was simple. A round win equaled three points, a tie 1 point, and a loss 0 points. To qualify for day 2, a player needed at least 18 points (six wins). That also meant that once someone hit three losses, their dreams of day two were done.

Here’s a breakdown of my run during day 1:

Round 1: 2-0 Amber Amethyst 

I had almost no practice into this budding deck archetype. However, my deck felt good playing into it. Their small creatures were ripe for my removal, and while their removal was set up to deal with my evasive, I still was able to keep control there too. I went into first round stressed, but ended up leaving it feeling great with a strong confidence boost.

Round 2: 2-0 Amethyst Steel

Amethyst Steel is the deck I had the most practice playing into. I know it can be a tough battle that hinges on a few specific game moments and plays, but I also went in knowing that I needed to do. I kept their board presence contained and did my best to set myself up for pivotal Demona plays and strong challenges.

Round 3: 2-1 Emerald Sapphire

Emerald Sapphire is the deck I feared most (having recently been an ES player, I know its power level). I knew my only chance was to race to get under its combo because at that point it would be too late. I needed to get quick questers down to run towards the finish line. I needed to empty my hand to keep their Clarabelle draw engine at bay, but I also needed to be careful not to completely deprive myself of resources in case they did get the one sided board clear. In the end, I conquered the ES deck. They actually did get their combo off during game three, but I purposefully filled the board with one-drop Diablos along side strong questers. This meant only when their combo went off did my hand refill with cards, so I could then dump it again next turn, keeping a full board to get me to the finish line.

This victory locked in my Mulan promo and accomplished my three win goal. 

Round 4: 2-1 Emerald Sapphire Dogs

This is the deck I prayed to see every round. While dogs can get out quickly and become unstoppable, my deck usually has the match up advantage. If I play my large bodied characters, I can avoid their under the sea shenanigans, and if I quest with them, they can’t challenge back without losing their questers back. The longer the game goes, the more it tends to favor me since I can build a board of challengers and start picking off my opponents with removal or damage movement. 

Round 5: 1-2 Amethyst Steel

With four wins under my belt, day two felt in reach, but far from guaranteed. I just need to win two of the remaining four rounds, 50%. My confidence level started to rise….

Then round 5 brought me back to Earth, I suffered my first defeat. Despite knowing what I need to do against amethyst steel, I just couldn’t get my deck to cooperate fully and my opponent was able to take advantage of better board states, while making strong plays of their own. 

My hopes began to crumble a bit. Two out of four games felt much more doable than two out of three. I would fight, but I didn’t feel great about my odds.

Round 6: 2-1 Amethyst Steel 

My next match was an immediate fight against amethyst steel again, and then my opponent picked up game one. They had some unique card choices that I was not prepared to see. They took advantage of my surprise and stole the first win. Games two and three, I adjusted my strategy into what I saw their deck wanted to do (more set up for challenges, combating what I normally see as my decks advantage in the match up). Thankfully, my shifted tactics paid off and I took the win.

Oddly enough, despite once again needing to only get 50% of my remaining matches, day two still felt far off.

Round 7: 2-1 Emerald Sapphire Dogs

I wanted to jump for joy when I sat across from a dogs deck because I have such a strong advantage into it, but I also knew no match was guaranteed. This deck of course threw in a few curve balls like 3-drop Clarabelle and Gentlemen Donald to keep my opponent drawing and being able to spit out characters. Thankfully, I kept my hand size low and a timely Headless Horseman took care of Donald.

I took the round win and locked myself into day two. My wife and sister were secretly watching from nearby and rushed in to congratulate me almost immediately. The win felt unreal. I far exceeded my expectations.

Sadly, while I celebrated, this round proved fatal for the hopes of many of my locals. Many who I also considered in top contention for day two instead collected their third loss. 

However, Confetti had picked up a win and was now 5-1. If she could win her final round, she would also qualify for day two.

Round 8: 1-2 Amethyst Sapphire (Blurple) 

In a day of nice opponents, my opponent this round came off as one of the friendliest. Maybe it was because we both already locked in our day two seating. This round was a slobber knocker. We went toe-to-toe and shifted control of the board and game back and forth. I took the first win due to an army of Lumiere. He took round two through evasive dominance. The final match took us to time and he got it in turns (overtime) on turn 5. It was a battle.

Strangely, we actually had crowds around us (and other nearby tables) watching matches play out. It was strange to be at such a high level table.

As soon as the match ended, I quickly scanned the surrounding crowd and locked eyes with my wife. She won her round. She made it. We’d both be going to day 2!

Somehow, we were our only locals to make the cut to continue on the next day. Crazy.

Sunday – Main Event Day 2:

After playing Lorcana for two full days, going into day 2 of the Main Event, which started at 8:30am, proved this weekend would also be a test of endurance and fortitude. 

We arrived pumped and ready, assuring ourselves that no matter what happened, we would still be proud of ourselves and each other because we made it so much further than we thought possible. On day 2, we would be facing some of the absolute toughest Lorana players, many who have made DLC top cuts before and possibly even some who have gone on to win entire DLCs.

Sadly, day 2 turned out not to be quite as successful for us. My first round saw a draw and Confetti picked up a loss. That locked us out of making top 32, but we told ourselves we would play every round, so we could find out exactly where we deserved to be in the final standings.

The day was rough in terms of die rolls, draws, and opponent skill levels. I was able to pick up a couple wins, but none of them were easy. I saw a tide of amethyst, being paired with amber, steel, and sapphire. My final match of the day was a win, so at least I got to end on a high note.

Confetti’s big moment came in taking on Frederico Marinangeli, the winner of DLC Birmingham. She wasn’t able to topple him, but she did take a game off of the former champion.

Despite being such a highly competitive environment, the players we met remained kind and welcoming. I was tempted to feel out of place at times, as I sat among those playing on professional/sponsored team players. I also joked to Confetti that the top tables were a lot shinier, as many around me had decks with enchanted, iconic, and other foil cards. Meanwhile, I sat there with my little lore wheel, played on an old Spider-Man playmat, and carried my things in a beat up set 1 trove box. Again, those around me were so nice and though we played hard, we had a lot of fun doing it, tapping into the joy of really competitive back and forth matches.  

FINAL RESULTS:

Chaos:

116th place out of 2048 (top 5.7%)

Final record: 8-3-1, 25 points

Confetti: 

214th place out of 2048 (top 10.4%)

Final record: 6-6-0, 18 points

SPENDING PRIZE WALL TICKETS: 

Going into the weekend, we hoped to earn just shy of 14,000 prize tickets, enough to get the Elsa pin and several of the promo cards. Doing my math, it would be possible if we picked up three wins on Friday, even if we lost every game on Saturday, and then lost all of our side event games on Sunday (we got refunded for our Sunday side events since we made day 2). 

Then, we did really well on Friday. Not only did we earn more tickets than expected, but since I earned a non-foil set of all the promos, we suddenly didn’t have to spend tickets on those. With 14,000 tickets earned by the end of the first day, we got our elsa pin and still had 10k left.

Our thinking switched gears and we began to picture getting a DLC exclusive playmat. We would only need 8k more tickets to get a mat, preferably Simba.

By qualifying for day 2, we both earn 10,000 tickets each. Suddenly, we had 30,000 tickets on hand. Forget one playmat, with a little work, we could get two!

It was time to grind out some tickets. At first we tried a round of pack rush, but that felt like it could get expensive. So, next we joined a pod of eight to play a mini tournament of core constructed. Between the two of us, we picked enough wins to bridge the gap. 

Two playmats, here we come!  

But, no. We never considered that prizing would start running out. By the time I got to the prize wall on Sunday at 5pm, a few items were gone: specific promo cards, the uncut card sheets, some of the oversized cards. Most importantly, the Simba playmat was gone. I felt devastated. I had almost 40,000 tickets which would expire in a few hours, and the one item I wanted most was gone. The extra grind time suddenly felt less fruitful.

Why hadn’t we even considered that mats might run out? Why didn’t we get the mat when we had enough tickets earlier? Why!?! 

Speaking to the very kind prize wall worker, they confirmed that Simba was gone and there would be no way to get him from this DLC. I was told he would be available again at the Indianapolis DLC, but I doubted I could even make that one, let alone go through the process of earning another 18k tickets (tickets can’t be carried over from one event to the next).

Feeling a little defeated, I picked up my Mulan playmat. After confirming that they had a lot of Mulan playmats left, I grabbed a second one too. Do I need two of the same mat? No. However, a plan started to percolate in my head. A most ingenious and devious plan…

Trade my extra Mulan mat for a Simba one! 

Okay, it’s actually pretty simple. There may be someone willing to trade, and worst case scenario, I might know a few people going to the Indy DLC, so a swap doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. I’ll just have to be patient. Good things come to those who wait, right? 

For those curious, I used my couple extra tickets to pick up another pegasus promo card and a random booster pack of Fabled. The competitive play of the weekend was the real goal of my DLC experience, but I won’t complain about walking away with some extra swag.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I’ve already written thousands of words on DLC Richmond, what more could I possibly say? 

Well, here are a few final thoughts:

• I switched to Ruby Amethyst because I wanted a deck that felt more fun for me to play. The deck delivered. All weekend, I played highly competitive back and forth matches, which I felt really tested my skill level. During multiple rounds, my opponents actually told me how fun and crazy our gates got. Ruby Amethyst feels like a deck that fights from beneath right now, but it definitely can figure out paths to stealing wins and taking control of the board.
• I was proud to do so well with a color combination that only about 8% of competitors brought to DLC Richmond, and a deck that only made up 4% of day 2 decks.
• Confetti was constantly complimented on her kindness and attitude from her competitors, with several liking her so much that they checked up on her tournament progress later on in the tournament.
• From prize wall workers, security, judges, and more, all the DLC workers came off as kind, professional, and capable. I saw several judge calls throughout the day and they all seemed to be handled with respect for both players and rules.
• DLC Richmond felt like a huge step up from Atlanta, and I’m happy to see how well Ravensburger has been able to grow the events 
• I really hope Richmond gets to host a DLC again in the future.