A few weeks after the Disney Lorcana European Championship, a North American Champion was crowned. We learned that the more things change, the more that stays the same: Ruby Amethyst has won both Championship events.
Despite the continued success of Ruby Amethyst, it didn’t have the best weekend. Even though it won the entire tournament, the Azurite Sea meta remains enjoyable and wide open, with several decks proving more than viable. After Amber/Steel’s breakout success, Amethyst asserted itself as a dominant ink choice. From the longtime stalwart Ruby Amethyst to the fan-favorite Sapphire Amethyst, lovingly referred to as “Blurple,” this past weekend proved it’s Amethyst’s world, and we’re all just living in it.
That doesn’t mean non-Amethyst decks didn’t enjoy a successful weekend. From Ruby Sapphire being the best overall performing deck of the weekend to the return of Emerald Steel, here are the five things we learned from this past weekend’s Disney Lorcana North American Championship.
Amethyst is the Best Ink in Lorcana
Let’s start with the weekend’s biggest takeaway: Amethyst is the best ink color in the game, though we already felt this was true.
Genie – Wish Filled is the one of the best cards released in Azurite Sea. Alongside Diablo – Obedient Raven, which is arguably a better Kuzco – Wanted Llama that had previously seen play in Amethyst decks, the emergence of several Amethyst themed decks could be felt throughout the weekend in Disneyland Paris.
Having said that, the best performing Amethyst deck was Edmon Chiu’s Ruby Amethyst, which featured zero copies of Genie or Elsa – The Fifth Spirit.
Edmond made an excellent meta choice, not just forgoing Genie – Wish Fulfilled, but also Madame Medusa – The Boss, a popular Ruby character that can remove enemy characters. He correctly guessed that Ruby Sapphire would be the most played deck, leaning into the power of the Amethyst core while also utilizing a full four copies of Lady Tremaine – Imperious Queen.
As great as cards like Genie and Elsa are, they are weak to Sisu – Empowered Sibling, meaning your ink investment goes to waste. It’s like Ed said, “Why bother running these cards if they’re just going to be killed,” and instead went all in to play to Amethyst’s strengths: a powerful draw engine and some of the strongest locations in Disney Lorcana. The Library – A Gift for Belle is the chosen location, as it’s harder to remove than The Queen’s Castle while still providing card draw.
Blurple is a Real Deck
The real testament to Amethyst’s strength comes from Blurple’s strong performance. It turns out that playing Genie – Wish Fulfilled on turn three is an extremely powerful thing to do!
Blurple utilizes the power of Amethyst with the ramp of Sapphire. Cards like Sail the Azurite Sea and Tipo – Growing Son aren’t just for playing Hiram Flaversham on turn three. Playing Genie or Merlin – Rabbit is just as good!
While Blurple doesn’t have the powerful remove suite seen in Ruby decks, its top end, backed by Hades – Infernal Schemer and Elsa – Spirit of Winter, can close out a game in the blink of an eye. Fifteen of the deck’s characters quest for at least two lore. Thanks to its ability to ramp, whether early on with Tipo or Sail or even in the mid-game with Donald Duck – Focused Flatfoot, you can play multiple high-profile threats a turn while still drawing cards. This allows Blurple decks to keep sustained pressure on their opponents to always have an answer.
Some lists also go down the location route; sometimes, it’s with The Library, and other times, it’s McDuck Manor, on the back of its nine strengths.
Emerald Steel is Still a Very Real Deck
Since the release of Azurite Sea, a former meta-defining archetype has been missing: Emerald Steel.
Yes, the errata of Bucky – Squirrel Squeak Tutor brought the deck down in terms of power, but it was still capable of great things. Diablo – Devoted Herald is still a card, after all.
It turns out that the deck was just sleeping. In the hands of Zan Syed, it Top 4’d the Disney Lorcana North American Championship and almost had a second copy make the Top 16 in the hands of Luke Goodwin.
Rather than ripping apart your opponent’s hand, the new Emerald Steel utilizes several tempo advantages. Diablo – Devoted Herald lets you keep drawing cards, as does Prince John alongside your discard. Ursula – Deceiver of All is an excellent singer, capable of removing multiple threats from your opponent’s board. The Muses – Proclaimers of Heroes works well alongside Ursula, as her ability to sing songs twice means you get two Muses triggers.
Let’s say your Ursula sings a Sudden Chill, and you have Muses and Prince John in play. You can set things up to where Muses bounces a card, your opponent must discard it, and Prince John causes you to draw a card. Then, of course, you get to do it all over again. It’s easy to see why Emerald Steel is still a strong choice. Its issue, however, is the amount of setup needed to make this happen. I just named four cards in this “combo,” all needing to stay on the battlefield before you sing with Ursula.
There have been some new additions to Emerald Steel from this set. The first and most obvious inclusion is Go Go Tomago, which allows it to gain lore from nowhere upon paying its additional cost. The second, and more of a sleeper inclusion, is the song I’m Still Here; giving your characters Resist is a fun trick to protect them, including the self damage from Mr. Smee. The real reason you play this card is that it draws you a card; if Ursula sings it, you draw two cards.
Aggro is the Superior Version of Amber Steel
The days of Steelsong being the premiere Amber Steel deck appear to be over. Only three Amber Steel variants made Day 2 of the Disney Lorcana North American Championship, one of which was Steelsong, which was promptly crushed by Ruby Sapphire. Dwarf’s Mine Aggro, better known as “Diggy Diggy Hole” by creator Brennan DeCandio, was another. While DeCandio didn’t do well over the weekend (he did enjoy a successful Sunday Revival finish), others did.
What makes this version of Amber Steel more appealing? First, it has more game against Ruby Sapphire. Playing A Whole New World against the deck ramping to its powerful top-end isn’t a good idea. Instead, going under Ruby Sapphire’s curve to aggressively quest and gain lore means the game could be over before Ruby Sapphire can even think about playing Be Prepared.
The characters in Amber Steel Aggro perform better against the Ruby removal cards, not just in Ruby Sapphire but also in Ruby Amethyst. Cards like Brawl, Madame Medusa, and both versions of Sisu usually line up well against Amber Steel’s characters. The inclusions of Lawrence – Jealous Manservant, Pluto – Guard Dog, and Gantu – Captain Crankyhead throw a wrench into Ruby’s plans. The only way to deal with them is to Be Prepared or challenge them directly.
Ruby Sapphire May Be the Best Deck in the Game
Of course, I’ve said all of this only to conclude that Ruby Sapphire, despite the odds and other decks looking to take it down, may be the best deck in Disney Lorcana.
On Day 1 of the North American Championship, Ruby Sapphire made up 32% of the tournament. That percentage grew on Day 2, with Ruby Sapphire comprising 37.5% of the Top 16.
What’s truly remarkable is that several variations of Ruby Sapphire were deployed. We will highlight the list that made the finals, coming up short against the Ruby Amethyst deck designed to never lose to Ruby Sapphire.
While the core remains the same, Scott incorporated a couple of tweaks to help propel him to success. The first was a popular change in virtually every successful Ruby Sapphire deck: a second copy of A Pirate’s Life.
The Set 4 song seems innocent at first glance, draining two lore from your opponent at the cost of six ink, albeit singable with the Sing Together mechanic. The song has enjoyed a new lease on life, though, thanks to the addition of Maui – Half-Shark in Set 6. This means that not only do you gain an additional lore for every copy of Maui – Half-Shark on the field when you play A Pirate’s Life, but Maui can also bring it back from your discard when he challenges opposing characters. This is the hedge Ruby Sapphire needed to help stem off the early aggression it formerly struggled with.
In fact, the Maui – Half-Shark engine is so effective, gaining one lore for every action you play, that Scott completely cut Lucky Dime from the deck. While it seems sacrilegious to make such a decision, Dime may no longer be needed to close out games. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen; other Ruby Sapphire decks weren’t so eager to make that deck-building choice, and I tend to agree that keeping one copy of Lucky Dime is effective.
Some argue it helps reduce your unsinkable count and is worth the risk. However, Ruby Sapphire’s success is mainly due to its ability to close out games quickly with Lucky Dime. This feels like a meta call to not have to deal with drawing an unsinkable seven-cost card early against some of the more aggressive decks.
Finally, Scott’s decision to run a single copy of Queen of Hearts paid off well for him. Not only is it an extra hedge against aggressive decks, but we saw on camera during the finals Queen of Hearts prevented Flynn Rider – Frenemy from gaining three lore for the Ruby Amethyst player. Being able to stem off early lore gain is key for Ruby Sapphire’s success; you don’t want to be too far behind by the time you reach the mid-to-late game, and Queen of Hearts helps make that possible. Don’t be surprised to see people experiment with one or even two copies.
Disney Lorcana Azurite Sea Tier List
It’s been a bit, so let’s update our tier list for the best decks in Disney Lorcana.
Tier 1
| Ink Combination | Reasoning |
|---|---|
 Ruby/Sapphire |
It was the most played deck at the Disney Lorcana North American Championship. It had a target on its head leading up to the event and still had the best conversion rate into Day 2. It made the finals, only losing to a deck specifically engineered to defeat it. It deserves its flowers as one of, if not the best, deck in the game. |
 Ruby/Amethyst |
There have been two Continental Championships for Disney Lorcana. Ruby Amethyst has won them both. While it didn’t have a successful weekend outside of in the hands of Edmond Chiu, there’s no denying the strength of Ruby Amethyst. |
 Amethyst/Steel |
Nearly 2,000 words later, we finally talk about Amethyst Steel. If it weren’t for Blurple, this would have been the weekend’s biggest surprise. Pairing the strength of Amethyst alongside powerful Steel cards such as Doc – Bold Knight, Calhoun – Marine Sergeant, and its bevy of removal options was a winning formula for Zach Bevins and Patrick Cote, who Top 8’d and Top 4’d, respectively. |
 Amber/Steel |
While it didn’t have the weekend many expected it to, you still have to put respect on Amber/Steel’s name. Whether it’s the traditional Steelsong or the newer aggro version with Dwarven Mine, Amber/Steel will be an excellent choice moving forward should Ruby/Amethyst rise in popularity. |
Tier 2
| Ink Combination | Reasoning |
|---|---|
 Sapphire/Amethyst |
The breakout deck of the tournament. Blurple was always a fan favorite, with Disney Lorcana players trying to make the deck work for quite some time now. Finally, Blurple proves that it’s a force to be reckoned with, more than capable of utilizing its ramp to take advantage of the strength of Amethyst’s powerful cards. If the deck gets an effective mass removal spell, expect this to position for one of the best decks in the game. |
 Emerald/Steel |
Reports of its death were greatly exaggerated. Emerald/Steel nearly had two decks in the Top 16 and was highlighted by its Top 4 finish in an incredibly close back-and-forth match against Ruby/Amethyst. Emerald/Steel may require a little more setup than before, but it’s hard to stop once it gets going. If you’re willing to put in the time and practice, this is an excellent choice for your local Set Championships. |
 Amethyst/Emerald |
Amethyst/Emerald is the tempo deck of Disney Lorcana, always hanging around and ready to make pounce. It deserves credit for being the top overall seed heading into the Top 16, and Mo Shamblin piloted Amethyst/Emerald to a Top 8 finish and an invite to Worlds. Go Go Tamago has been an excellent addition to the deck. |
Tier 3
| Ink Combination | Reasoning |
|---|---|
 Sapphire/Steel |
Sapphire/Steel gained momentum in past sets to be an excellent alternative to Ruby/Sapphire. Unfortunately, as Ruby/Sapphire picked up powerful cards like Maui – Half-Shark and utilized the strength of Be Prepared, Sapphire/Steel continued to fall by the wayside. It enjoyed some success at the Content Creator Store Championships, but outside of small events, it struggles. |
 Amber/Emerald |
We thought maybe, just maybe, Amber/Emerald had a chance to come back as the premiere discard deck in Disney Lorcana. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case. Some people saw its potential, undoubtedly based on success locally and in testing, as three competitors brought it to the North American Championship. However, it didn’t see any success over the weekend outside of smaller tournaments. |
 Amber/Amethyst |
While the aggressive Amber/Amethyst deck continues to be overestimated at the start of a set, it still has yet to break into mainstream success. Aggro will spike a local event every now and then, but it continues to struggle on the main stage. |
It’s important to note again that Ed’s version of Ruby/Amethyst was explicitly designed for the NA Championship meta. Don’t expect it to do well locally. Having said that, if the popularity of Ruby Sapphire grows for your local events or at Set Championships, Ruby/Amethyst is an excellent choice.
For those looking to take advantage of a wide-open meta, it’s important to focus on which deck fits your personal preference. The beauty of the Azurite Sea meta is that you can argue for seven different decks, in the hands of the right player, to be capable of taking down an event. The beauty of Set Championships is that you can rely on your knowledge and practice with one of these decks to help you succeed.
We’ll see you in a couple of weeks to talk about how Set Championships have been going, including the performance of yours truly.
Looking for the best place to get started in Lorcana? Check out guide to the best beginner sets for TCG players, or our guide on how to play the game. Or, if you want to get a peek at the next two sets for Lorcana, head here.
