Analysis: Champion Zan Syed's Decklist!
A deeper look into the DLC SP champion's deck!
Hi everyone!
For those who still haven’t checked out the recap of everything that happened at the first Disney Lorcana Challenge in São Paulo, during the April 25-26 weekend, here’s another chance, huh? Just click here on this link and check it out
As you saw, there were several rounds until we reached the decisive final matches, which crowned the great champion of the first Disney Lorcana Challenge in Brazil: Zan Syed, from the United States.
In today’s article, we’re going to analyze the champion’s deck list, better understand how the deck works, and why it was such a great choice for the Brazilian tournament.
The Amber and Emerald ink combination has been known, since the earliest Lorcana sets, for focusing on fast decks - in other words, decks capable of winning games quickly, using several low-cost characters and strong Lore generation.
With the arrival of more sets, especially the seventh set, Archazia’s Island, we also saw the arrival of several cards from the classic animated movie The Lady and the Tramp.
A large portion of those cards were concentrated precisely in the Amber and Emerald combination, which greatly reinforced the fast-paced game plan of decks using those inks. And since the movie focuses on the romance between the two dogs - the Lady and Tramp - from that point on, the Amber and Emerald combination using several cards from that film affectionately became known as “Amber/Emerald Dog Decks.”
Now that we know a little of the “history” behind the “Dog Decks,” let’s understand how ’s list, which brought him to the top of
the podium at the Disney Lorcana Challenge São Paulo, was built!
In Lorcana, one of the greatest qualities a deck can have is consistency. In other words, the ability to gather the right cards that allow you to develop a specific game plan and achieve victory.
One of the biggest strengths of the “Dog Decks” is precisely the speed with which they can develop their game and dictate the pace of the match. And this is determined by the number of low-cost characters the deck uses, combined with characters that reduce the cost of playing others.
Add to that, the fact that the deck includes several characters that draw cards - increasing the deck’s consistency - as well as characters that force the opponent to discard cards, and you have an extremely complete deck!
If you stop to think about it, the “Dog Deck” does a little bit of everything: it has card draw and card selection; it has interaction to disrupt the opponent’s plans; and it has fast ways to generate Lore and quickly win games, reducing the chances of an opponent being able to stop it.
Of course, there’s no way to say the deck “plays itself”: the champion Zan Syed didn’t get there by accident - nearly 2 months before DLC São Paulo, at the beginning of March, Zan had already won DLC Ghent (Belgium) with almost the exact same deck! There’s no doubt that great players choose great decks, and Zan’s success showcases precisely the combination of player skill and the resilience/consistency of the deck he chose.
So let’s take a closer look at the winning list from DLC São Paulo!
So, let’s start analyzing the Cost 1 characters:
• Bobby Zimuruski is one of the best plays you can make on turn 1, already allowing you to see one extra card from your deck while also discarding one - it could be something “uninkable,” which would hurt your ink development in the following turns, a card that isn’t very useful against your opponent, or even a Lilo - Escape Artist, which can later return to the board.
• Lady - Decisive Dog and Lady - Elegant Spaniel are the two versions of Lady, both cost 1, and both already bring strong Lore generation potential for future turns. Decisive Dog, with 3 Willpower, is slightly harder to remove from the board, while Elegant Spaniel has less Willpower but synergizes with any Tramp character you play, easily generating 2 Lore (or more, if it stays on the board for several turns!).
• Finnick - Tiny Terror and Rhino - One-Sixteenth Wolf are the remaining “1-Drops,” and these bring ways to interact with the opponent’s board. In other words, they are not “ideal” turn 1 plays, since you usually want to use them later to gain value from their effects, but if necessary, you can still play them on turn 1 and establish some board presence.
Moving on to the Cost 2 characters, we start seeing the cost reduction plan!
• Tramp - Enterprising Dog has synergy with Lady characters, perfectly pairing with the eight copies of Lady at cost 1. It can also easily increase a character’s Strength and allow for a “positive trade” — in other words, trading one of your smaller characters for a larger or more relevant opposing character.
• Grandmother Willow - Ancient Advisor is perhaps the most important card to play on turn 2, since the cost reduction already allows you to immediately play a cost 1 character. Starting on the following turn, it also grants a discount on the first character you play each turn, generating considerable advantage over the course of many turns.
• Lilo - Escape Artist works beautifully with the deck’s many “self-discard” cards, such as Bobby and Tramp. Even without being discarded, when played from hand it is still a respectable character capable of generating 2 Lore every turn, demanding an efficient answer from the opponent, since simply banishing it will not be enough.
• Finally, Mowgli - Man Cub and the single copy of Ursula - Deceiver (which actually functions more like a fifth Mowgli) provide important interaction with the opponent, preemptively dealing with several songs and actions capable of stopping your board.
At Cost 3, we have Nani - Stage Manager and, if we consider Shift, Lady - Miss Park Avenue.
• Miss Park Avenue normally costs 5, but if you have a Lady in play, you can use the Shift ability and play it for only 3 ink. Miss Park Avenue recovers 2 characters with cost 2 or less from your discard pile to your hand, allowing you to reuse several options depending on what you need in that particular moment of the game.
• Nani - Stage Manager also has the role of bringing more cards to your hand, but she allows you to choose 1 character with cost 2 or less from the top 4 cards of your deck and add it to your hand.
• Both Nani and Lady also have good Strength and Willpower stats, allowing you to start making Challenges against the opponent’s board as well!
At the end of the deck’s ink curve, we have two Tramps: Tramp - Dapper Rascal and Tramp - Street-Smart Dog.
• Dapper Rascal is the only “different” card between the championship lists used by in Ghent and São Paulo. In Ghent, Zan chose to play 3 copies of Mickey Mouse - Amber Champion and no Dapper Rascal copies. For São Paulo, however, he swapped them.
• Dapper Rascal does indeed allow you to continuously recover resources, especially against opponents who constantly banish your characters. In addition, with 8 Willpower, it is extremely difficult to remove from the board - especially for Steel ink decks, which were expected to be more popular because of the new Amber-Steel Songs deck. Because of that, paying close attention to the metagame, Zan replaced Mickey Mouse - Amber Champion with Tramp - Dapper Rascal.
• Meanwhile, Tramp - Street-Smart Dog is basically the card that “defines” the deck. Its cost reduction ability is already excellent, and when combined with the ability to draw countless cards — one for each other character in play — it provides a level of selection power that many Amethyst decks would envy!
• As if all of that weren’t enough, it is also a character with 6 Willpower, meaning considerable durability and the ability to stay in play for multiple turns.
Completing the deck, we have two songs and one item:
• Della's Moon Lullaby can occasionally enable positive trades with opposing characters, while also drawing a card! It’s a great flexible option, exactly what the deck wants.
• Under the Sea is an extremely important card, especially in the Dogs mirror match (“mirror” is the term used when facing someone with the same or a very similar deck to yours). Basically, being the first player to sing/play Under the Sea is the key difference-maker, since it gives you enormous board control.
• Emerald Chromicon is another board control tool, and also a flexible one. You can use it either to slow down the opponent’s game plan or to reuse one of your own characters with an interesting effect — Bobby Zimuruski, Rhino - One-Sixteenth Wolf, or Tramp - Enterprising Dog, among others.
As explained, it is no surprise to see a Disney Lorcana giant like Zan Syed raise his third Challenge trophy.
The champion demonstrated not only tremendous skill with his deck, but also that he pays close attention to metagame shifts and is not afraid to change and adapt his list from one tournament to another.
That adaptability, combined with his knowledge of the metagame and opposing decks, only reinforces his title in Brazil!
Thank you for following our analysis of the winning deck list from Disney Lorcana Challenge: São Paulo! Stay tuned for next week as well, when we’ll bring a larger analysis of the entire Top 16 from the event!
For those who still haven’t checked out the recap of everything that happened at the first Disney Lorcana Challenge in São Paulo, during the April 25-26 weekend, here’s another chance, huh? Just click here on this link and check it out
As you saw, there were several rounds until we reached the decisive final matches, which crowned the great champion of the first Disney Lorcana Challenge in Brazil: Zan Syed, from the United States.
In today’s article, we’re going to analyze the champion’s deck list, better understand how the deck works, and why it was such a great choice for the Brazilian tournament.
AMBER-EMERALD “DOGS”
The Amber and Emerald ink combination has been known, since the earliest Lorcana sets, for focusing on fast decks - in other words, decks capable of winning games quickly, using several low-cost characters and strong Lore generation.
With the arrival of more sets, especially the seventh set, Archazia’s Island, we also saw the arrival of several cards from the classic animated movie The Lady and the Tramp.
A large portion of those cards were concentrated precisely in the Amber and Emerald combination, which greatly reinforced the fast-paced game plan of decks using those inks. And since the movie focuses on the romance between the two dogs - the Lady and Tramp - from that point on, the Amber and Emerald combination using several cards from that film affectionately became known as “Amber/Emerald Dog Decks.”
Now that we know a little of the “history” behind the “Dog Decks,” let’s understand how ’s list, which brought him to the top of
the podium at the Disney Lorcana Challenge São Paulo, was built!
In Lorcana, one of the greatest qualities a deck can have is consistency. In other words, the ability to gather the right cards that allow you to develop a specific game plan and achieve victory.
One of the biggest strengths of the “Dog Decks” is precisely the speed with which they can develop their game and dictate the pace of the match. And this is determined by the number of low-cost characters the deck uses, combined with characters that reduce the cost of playing others.
Add to that, the fact that the deck includes several characters that draw cards - increasing the deck’s consistency - as well as characters that force the opponent to discard cards, and you have an extremely complete deck!
If you stop to think about it, the “Dog Deck” does a little bit of everything: it has card draw and card selection; it has interaction to disrupt the opponent’s plans; and it has fast ways to generate Lore and quickly win games, reducing the chances of an opponent being able to stop it.
Of course, there’s no way to say the deck “plays itself”: the champion Zan Syed didn’t get there by accident - nearly 2 months before DLC São Paulo, at the beginning of March, Zan had already won DLC Ghent (Belgium) with almost the exact same deck! There’s no doubt that great players choose great decks, and Zan’s success showcases precisely the combination of player skill and the resilience/consistency of the deck he chose.
So let’s take a closer look at the winning list from DLC São Paulo!
DECK ANALYSIS
So, let’s start analyzing the Cost 1 characters:
• Bobby Zimuruski is one of the best plays you can make on turn 1, already allowing you to see one extra card from your deck while also discarding one - it could be something “uninkable,” which would hurt your ink development in the following turns, a card that isn’t very useful against your opponent, or even a Lilo - Escape Artist, which can later return to the board.
• Lady - Decisive Dog and Lady - Elegant Spaniel are the two versions of Lady, both cost 1, and both already bring strong Lore generation potential for future turns. Decisive Dog, with 3 Willpower, is slightly harder to remove from the board, while Elegant Spaniel has less Willpower but synergizes with any Tramp character you play, easily generating 2 Lore (or more, if it stays on the board for several turns!).
• Finnick - Tiny Terror and Rhino - One-Sixteenth Wolf are the remaining “1-Drops,” and these bring ways to interact with the opponent’s board. In other words, they are not “ideal” turn 1 plays, since you usually want to use them later to gain value from their effects, but if necessary, you can still play them on turn 1 and establish some board presence.
Moving on to the Cost 2 characters, we start seeing the cost reduction plan!
• Tramp - Enterprising Dog has synergy with Lady characters, perfectly pairing with the eight copies of Lady at cost 1. It can also easily increase a character’s Strength and allow for a “positive trade” — in other words, trading one of your smaller characters for a larger or more relevant opposing character.
• Grandmother Willow - Ancient Advisor is perhaps the most important card to play on turn 2, since the cost reduction already allows you to immediately play a cost 1 character. Starting on the following turn, it also grants a discount on the first character you play each turn, generating considerable advantage over the course of many turns.
• Lilo - Escape Artist works beautifully with the deck’s many “self-discard” cards, such as Bobby and Tramp. Even without being discarded, when played from hand it is still a respectable character capable of generating 2 Lore every turn, demanding an efficient answer from the opponent, since simply banishing it will not be enough.
• Finally, Mowgli - Man Cub and the single copy of Ursula - Deceiver (which actually functions more like a fifth Mowgli) provide important interaction with the opponent, preemptively dealing with several songs and actions capable of stopping your board.
At Cost 3, we have Nani - Stage Manager and, if we consider Shift, Lady - Miss Park Avenue.
• Miss Park Avenue normally costs 5, but if you have a Lady in play, you can use the Shift ability and play it for only 3 ink. Miss Park Avenue recovers 2 characters with cost 2 or less from your discard pile to your hand, allowing you to reuse several options depending on what you need in that particular moment of the game.
• Nani - Stage Manager also has the role of bringing more cards to your hand, but she allows you to choose 1 character with cost 2 or less from the top 4 cards of your deck and add it to your hand.
• Both Nani and Lady also have good Strength and Willpower stats, allowing you to start making Challenges against the opponent’s board as well!
At the end of the deck’s ink curve, we have two Tramps: Tramp - Dapper Rascal and Tramp - Street-Smart Dog.
• Dapper Rascal is the only “different” card between the championship lists used by in Ghent and São Paulo. In Ghent, Zan chose to play 3 copies of Mickey Mouse - Amber Champion and no Dapper Rascal copies. For São Paulo, however, he swapped them.
• Dapper Rascal does indeed allow you to continuously recover resources, especially against opponents who constantly banish your characters. In addition, with 8 Willpower, it is extremely difficult to remove from the board - especially for Steel ink decks, which were expected to be more popular because of the new Amber-Steel Songs deck. Because of that, paying close attention to the metagame, Zan replaced Mickey Mouse - Amber Champion with Tramp - Dapper Rascal.
• Meanwhile, Tramp - Street-Smart Dog is basically the card that “defines” the deck. Its cost reduction ability is already excellent, and when combined with the ability to draw countless cards — one for each other character in play — it provides a level of selection power that many Amethyst decks would envy!
• As if all of that weren’t enough, it is also a character with 6 Willpower, meaning considerable durability and the ability to stay in play for multiple turns.
Completing the deck, we have two songs and one item:
• Della's Moon Lullaby can occasionally enable positive trades with opposing characters, while also drawing a card! It’s a great flexible option, exactly what the deck wants.
• Under the Sea is an extremely important card, especially in the Dogs mirror match (“mirror” is the term used when facing someone with the same or a very similar deck to yours). Basically, being the first player to sing/play Under the Sea is the key difference-maker, since it gives you enormous board control.
• Emerald Chromicon is another board control tool, and also a flexible one. You can use it either to slow down the opponent’s game plan or to reuse one of your own characters with an interesting effect — Bobby Zimuruski, Rhino - One-Sixteenth Wolf, or Tramp - Enterprising Dog, among others.
A WELL-DESERVED CHAMPION!
As explained, it is no surprise to see a Disney Lorcana giant like Zan Syed raise his third Challenge trophy.
The champion demonstrated not only tremendous skill with his deck, but also that he pays close attention to metagame shifts and is not afraid to change and adapt his list from one tournament to another.
That adaptability, combined with his knowledge of the metagame and opposing decks, only reinforces his title in Brazil!
Thank you for following our analysis of the winning deck list from Disney Lorcana Challenge: São Paulo! Stay tuned for next week as well, when we’ll bring a larger analysis of the entire Top 16 from the event!
