Ink a Podcast, Play a Podcast

Today we’re just vibing.With no big (first-party) tournaments coming up soon, Merlin and Maleficent are a little low energy, even with the release of a new set just around the corner. So now’s a time for reflection on the state of the game. How do you approach new sets that don’t have a competitive tournament associated with it? Maybe the break is worth it to avoid the constant churn and potential burnout. Bolstering the local community with Set Championships could be the appropriate answer, especially compared to how serious the last couple seasons of “DLC Prep” were.So enjoy this lightly-edited, cozy episode while we recharge.

In games with experience points and a ranked ladder, Rank Decay is when a game punishes you for not playing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It keeps players playing and gives them a reason to engage with the game, even if you’ve already achieved your goals.There’s not a ladder in Lorcana (anymore, RIP Pixelborn), but the same sort of concept could be applied to one’s ability. You might not literally fall down ranks, but your skills do decay over time. But even more than just being rusty when coming back from a holiday break, if you want to achieve a higher level of success, you continuously need to challenge better and better opponents. And the best stage to do that is at a Disney Lorcana Challenge.But what do you do when there’s only three in your country for the entire season? How do you prevent rank decay and, even more importantly, break your current skill ceiling?

Continuing our conversation on Disney's potential hidden strings within the game. This time: the new DLC Takeback rule. On the one hand, a more forgiving environment is a more welcoming one for new players and kids, arguably the target audience. On the other, DLCs are the highest level of competitive play open to all players. It makes sense to reward tight, correct play.

Listen, we all know we’re playing a Disney card game. But how much does Disney actually influence the game?A conversation that’s adjacent to our ongoing series of “Please Know Who You Are Actually Mad At.” Disney undoubtedly has a hand in everything that passes through this game. And we can see creative design guided by the invisible corporate forces from other TCGs that don’t own their own IPs (*cough* Magic cough). Without knowing the inner workings of Ravensburger’s licensing deal with Disney, it may be an impossible question to answer.But even beyond tilting at windmills about brand identity and licensing agreements, there’s a bigger picture when it comes to designing a Disney (TM) card game. From the language we use (challenging, questing) to the victory condition (gaining points instead of losing life) to a core, central mechanic the entire game revolves around (songs, characters), the Mouse is everywhere, even if he’s hidden from plain sight.

Introducing Aside Events, a new series wherein we discuss small topics that may not fill a full episode, but are interesting (to us) nonetheless.This week, let’s discuss specific design decisions that allow the colors and cards to differentiate themselves, for better or for worse.

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and drama because of DLC tickets going on sale.” - Benjamin Franklin, probablyDLC Richmond tickets went on sale this week and it feels like a time loop story with how accurately we can predict what will happen before it happens: website doesn’t load, app crashes, false confirmations, and accusations of conspiracy theories. This time even featured calls for PPG to return, so we at least know this is a new iteration of the loop. With factors outside of a player’s control, there’s a lot of frustration with how the DLCs are managed. And at the core of it all is a feeling of helplessness that comes with trying to compete at the highest open level. So what is there to do? Well, we have some thoughts. Ravensburger: feel free to steal.

As we debrief from our DLC Milwaukee weekend, we talk also about the concept of goal setting: a way to be realistic about your skills and abilities while also pushing yourself to do better and better at each event. When you’re starting out, your goals can be as small as winning a game or a round at your local tournament. But as your experience grows, so, too, do your expectations for yourself. Taking on the challenge of a Disney Lorcana Challenge will be the toughest rung in most competitives ladder. So what are realistic achievements for you to set for yourself in a field of 2000 players? And does the current tournament structure facilitate or hinder that process?

It’s all in the timing.Keeping tempo in a game like Lorcana relates to matching pace to the speed of the game and relative to your opponent. Tempo informs every decision you make, from deckbuilding to the endgame. When you start playing off-curve, trading multiple cards for one of your opponent’s, or just not answering a key threat at the proper time, you can fall behind - and quickly. There are typically ways to catch-up from a tempo negative position. However…In this episode, let’s explore what the Fabled meta has become. It seems like a reasonably balanced meta (multiple archetypes are finding success), but deck viability doesn’t tell the whole story. What does the gameplay look and feel like when actually playing, and is this the type of gameplay we want to encourage?

You should really take this Ruby/Emerald list. Trust us, it’s awesome.But if you still aren’t sold, let’s talk about what’s spinning around in our heads when it comes to choosing a deck for the upcoming DLC. It feels like a harder choice this season than it was last season. Rotation shook things up, and this is the first time where just compounding on a deck you’ve been playing isn’t necessarily an option (RIP Ruby/Amethyst). One deck has risen above the rest, with two or three others vying for attention. So do you choose the tier 0 deck and play out a battle of wits in the mirror all day? Or do you choose a challenger and hope to dethrone the king. Don’t worry too much; the next set is right around the corner. Maybe Ruby will be playable again.

Archetypes cover a large group of jargon that new players (and maybe some existing ones) may not fully understand. You may be able to intuit their meaning, but it’s helpful to do a full dive into the definition of these deck types: aggro, control, midrange, [redacted], and [redacted]. By understanding each archetype, their relationship with each other, and where your deck fits on the spectrum, you can better understand your role in the matchup.

Should players be allowed to compete in Set Championships after having already won one? Are there limits to being competitive? If you are at a Set Championship, do you allow takebacks? What if it’s at your Tuesday night league? There seems to be a tension within the Lorcana community about how competitive or casual you “should” be. Since the highest level most players will reach is Set Championships at your local store, it appears to be heavily context dependent. Those store championships will mean different things to different groups of people, and the clashing of those two is causing some rifts. So in this episode, let’s explore that context.

…They’ll probably want a new meta to go with it.Rotation is just a week away! Let’s talk about how things are changing. Without a new metagame established, we won’t be talking about specific potential decks. Instead, we’re going to focus on a more holistic level, so that you can apply this advice to any rotation moving forward. We’ll also discuss the new Infinity format and ways to encourage its growth at a local level.

Everyone loves to speculate.But let’s do it in a way that learns from the history of those who came before us. This episode is full of freezing cold takes, like “There should be a digital client” to scalding hot ones like, “It should definitely NOT be free-to-play.” With the introduction of Epics, maybe we’re taking a page from another popular game, but are they focused more on collectors than Lorcana is? To round out the episode, Matt discovers you can find inspiration from any source; in this case, the Queen’s Gambit.

The second episode in our series of advice to help you grow as a player as we head into another weekend of Set Championships. This episode focuses on what to do when the game is maybe not playing out exactly as you thought it would. Whether that is playing through bad draws, playing into total blowouts, or playing it cool when you lose. Try your best and focus on what you can control, because the law of averages comes for us all.

In this new series, Matt and Amy are going to be diving into their favorite “level up” moments; the epiphany you have when an idea or concept finally clicks and you become a better player. Experienced competitors can hopefully relate and this will give an opportunity for the newer players to hear the details on some universal concepts that may be commonplace, but were never fully explained. This episode starts with the concept of win conditions or “win cons” and how it’s a little bit more specific than “get to 20 lore.” And at the end, we’ll discuss the single hardest skill in Lorcana.Leave a comment about your best “level up” moment, a piece of advice you got that changed the way you play, or something you are struggling with and it may become a topic for a future episode in this series.

Netdecking - the oft maligned (but completely and unambiguously acceptable) practice of using a decklist found online, instead of busting out the encyclopedia of cards and brute forcing a deck together, like a real Gamer. With any card game, there will be arguments about how you are “supposed” to build a deck. Merlin and Maleficent (canonically avid card game players) discuss this “Netdecking v. DIY” dynamic through the scope of what parts of a card game do you need to engage in and what can you outsource.

Choosing your two colors is the very first decision a player has to make in this game, so let’s make sure you choose properly. Every color has its strengths and weaknesses, and the compounding effect of combining two colors together will determine whether you win or lose. So in this episode, let’s chat about the ideas behind Ink Identities and what you can learn from them.

With the release of Reign of Jafar, our second year of Lorcana is coming to a close. And it reminds us that this game is still new and developing. August brings rotation and a sense of renewal as we look toward the future of the game. Attracting and keeping players is the key to any card game, and while Ravensburger has specific tools in place to do that from a design level, we, the playerbase, also play a role in the experience itself. Most players will not play this game beyond the level of a set championship, which means it’s especially important that we foster a welcoming environment at even the smallest of events.

This episode explores the void that exists in the tournament scene in between Set Championships and Lorcana Challenges. With a little bit of reimagining and reorganization (and a little bit of wishful thinking), that gap can be filled in for a smoother organized play experience. Matt and Amy also delve into different ways TCGs can be played, including what makes Lorcana’s limited scene so lackluster.Recorded on: 3/4/2025

In this regularly scheduled and pre-recorded several months ago episode, Matt and Amy are diving into the deep end with one of Lorcana’s most controversial topics: what will a rotation look like? They’re going to discuss the tools card games have to balance a metagame and how each option defines the games they’re used in.

Welcome to Ink a Podcast, Play a Podcast! This new Lorcana podcast is all about having conversations about the game itself. Whether that’s talking about how to get better at the game now or theorizing on what the future could hold, we’ll be Gathering Knowledge and Wisdom and Developing Our Brains alongside all of you. Brawl.In this inaugural episode, Matt and Amy are going back to basics by discussing the beginning of the game and “the second hardest part of Lorcana.” They discuss The Curve™, the different levels of depth involved in making mulligan decisions, and how to play a mirror match through a classic Aggro vs. Control frame.Recorded on: 2/19/2025

Welcome to Ink a Podcast, Play a Podcast! This new Lorcana podcast is all about having conversations about the game itself. Whether that’s talking about how to get better at the game now or theorizing on what the future could hold, we’ll be Gathering Knowledge and Wisdom and Developing Our Brains alongside all of you. Brawl.In this emergency release pilot episode, Matt and Amy join the chorus discussing the ban list update: Hiram Flaversham and Fortisphere are gone, but not quite yet forgotten. This episode contains live reactions to the announcement and Q&A, as well as some analysis on what the future looks like moving forward. Should we expect more bans, and is there a (controversial) future where Hiram can be played again?