The pixie dust has settled and Disney Lorcana has its first ever World Champion, crowned the last weekend of June 2025 not exactly in the Happiest Place on Earth but reasonably close to it. Dinh Khang Pham from Hamburg, Germany (who qualified at the Melbourne DLC in Australia) brought home the glittering prize (s). The top haul included a 1 of 1 serialized Mickey – Brave Little Tailor and of course a sweet trophy for DKP to sit on the table the next time he faces off against a challenger at his local game shop.
Ravensburger
DKP bested 28 competitors including such luminary Lumineers as Edmund Chiu, Zan Syed, and Zach Bivens in the two day event which saw the players duking it out in three unique formats designed to test the best of the best. As I’ve stated in this column, I thought the novel formats were a brilliant idea as the competitors couldn’t rely on what worked on the DLCs or in their leagues. Some folks took issue as these formats dramatically shake up the game as played by those that got all the way to Orlando. But by all accounts- and as witnessed on the streaming feed that Ravensburger kindly provided to give us paupers a view of how the kings of this game play- the players rose to the challenge.
Dinh Khang Pham
Super Sealed, the first event, gave each player 4 packs each of Shimmering Skies, Azurite Sea, Archazia’s Island and Reign of Jafar with the directive to build a three ink (!) 50 card deck in 60 minutes with sideboarding allowed. This is a true test of deckbuilding mettle and card knowledge- especially because you’ve got to triangulate your ink choices rather than pair them, and that had the potential to create entirely new interactions. Edmund Chiu and three other competitors managed to come out of the event undefeated in the three round format.
The second event was Triple Deck Constructed, which was a somewhat more complicated format because a strategic angle was introduced whereby players could “bench” one of the opponent’s three decks. Each player submitted three deck lists prior to the event and all six ink colors had to be represented. It will likely surprise no one, but Ruby Sapphire and Ruby Amethyst were heavily represented in the mix. There were a couple of surprise rogue decks in the mix, like Elie Vipierre’s puppy deck (which really surprised me considering how many times I’ve failed to make a good one), and he managed to finish third in the event among, again, four undefeated players including Edmund Chiu, Raphael Brule, and Zach Bivens.
Ravensburger
That was a whole lotta Lorcana for one day, and I can only imagine how brutal it was to play through so many high stakes, high stress matches against the best players in the world. So after an evening where hopefully no one thought about Lore at all, they were back at it the following day with the top cut 8 returning for the finals- another triple deck constructed event but with the grand final match being a no bench best-of-five twist on the format, essentially requiring players to win with all three decks. And despite making a potentially fatal mistake in the finals, DKP manage to rally and defeat Edmund Chiu to win the whole thing.
I didn’t watch the streaming event live but the clips I’ve seen were largely successful and well done with great commentary and plenty of drama. It’s interesting to me, as a casual player, to watch high-level play but it remains somewhat remote to me as it simply is not how I enjoy Disney Lorcana- or any other TCG or tabletop game for that matter. There’s something about a fun pastime becoming a super competitive, high stakes struggle that I have repeatedly discovered over the years is not for me. But that isn’t to diminish the effort, skill, talent, and quality of play that was on full display in Orlando last weekend- rather it’s to celebrate those who bring that level of excitement, value, and thrill to the game.
For those choose to partake, announcements were also made regarding the next season of the Disney Lorcana Challenge with some pretty big changes, including a best of 3 Swiss format (with best of 5 in the finals) and a 32 player top cut with new prizing that now includes serialized cards, full foil sets, and uncut sheets in addition to the usual promos and playmat. But the even bigger news was that the next season will include the new Infinity Constructed format, which will allow players to continue to use the first four sets despite them falling out of standard rotation. This is great move on Ravensburger’s part as it solidifies the format as an ongoing concern- and keeps those who invested heavily in the game during its early days in it without obsoleting entire collections. Events will start popping off later this year around the world- but they are regional and quite dispersed, so if you want to have a shot at Lorcana glory, get your travel bag together!
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