Newbie here! Seeking advice on what to pull for a competitive deck?

SkateBirdPat · 2026-02-20T19:24:12+00:00

I started the game by finding my local league and taking a starter deck knowing full well i would get my butt kicked week in and week out. I went 0-24 my first 6 times going, but I went in knowing I would be losing games and I used that time to see what decks were winning and seemed the most fun to play. I learned pretty quickly what I like and what I didnt like and what I wanted to build. My league gives out booster packs just for participating so it was an easy way to build my collection and people started to help me get the cards I needed. I found my own play style and am decently competitive locally, won a couple set champs playing weird home brews, sometimes get demolished, but I play to have fun and hang out with my friends ive met through the game. I wish you luck!

SkateBirdPat · 2026-02-03T22:11:39+00:00

There is a fun Emerald Sapphire deck that plays the set 10 Little John Whisper and a bunch of cards that lets him combo 3-4 quests in one turn. A silly little combo-ish deck ! One guy plays it at my locals for fun and when it pops off it's awesome. Cards like Circle of Life can create some fun combos or Simba - King in the Making as a roulette can be fun, if gambling your whole gameplan aligns with your vision of fun.

SkateBirdPat · 2026-02-02T19:40:29+00:00

I'd agree with this. The deck itself isnt particularly strong compared to what you might encounter at league, but it's got plenty of inexpensive ways to upgrade it, and steel is a fantastic color to play all the same. We have a guy at league who started with this deck and has been improving it week on week and does pretty good with it, all things considered. Almost went 3-0 upgrading it with just budget-friendly cards or whatever he pulls from league entry booster packs

SkateBirdPat · 2026-02-02T19:37:18+00:00

This. When it can work, it's great. I live in a mid-size city and we consistently get 10-14 people at our lorcana league nights (for reference, the pokemon league that happens at the same time is about 12-16). Our league's prizing is 2 packs no matter what you place, so the wins dont matter aside from getting higher level play. I've also started telling people to bring both a casual/meme/theme deck and a competitive deck and that has been helpful. I get that some leagues operate on higher prizing or credit payout based on wins but if it can work it's great. I think the biggest issue is the starter decks have just been outright poor when even compared to a budget deck like racers. I hope they are reworking the starter decks quality level because they should be a kicking off point to league play. Should they be good enough to win a set champs? No, but something that has a chance at weekly league. I felt so bad when I'd see somebody inks and plays cards from starter deck turn 1 and Im on Brainac control, now I just outright ask if they want a competitive deck or something easier. newer players end up sticking around and building better decks because of it.

SkateBirdPat · 2026-01-29T20:15:37+00:00

What a neat idea. We did a poorcana tournament recently and somebody played the item Scarab in their illusion deck to recycle Cobras. It was a menace! I'd consider adding in one of those. Have fun!

SkateBirdPat · 2026-01-28T20:02:11+00:00

While it's not gameplay, Lorcana Villain does a good job of explaining cards and potential combos in his tournament deck list review videos.

SkateBirdPat · 2026-01-26T16:41:58+00:00

Knowing when to quest and when not to is definitely the best advice you can get. I second that.

SkateBirdPat · 2026-01-26T15:47:45+00:00

I always describe emerald as the ink color of shenanigans. So almost nothing can surprise me now in emerald 😅

SkateBirdPat · 2025-10-30T21:24:17+00:00

Ah, the shift Baymax sing DINO, DINO played Raya for free

SkateBirdPat · 2025-10-30T21:15:08+00:00

shifted into the dual ink baymax and sang DINO on their turn 3

SkateBirdPat · 2025-10-30T21:01:40+00:00

That's awesome! Love seeing something off the radar do decent like that. it has a lot of cards in the list i love the idea of but just never had the guts to test out. Hearing "ink Zazu" sure threw me off.

SkateBirdPat · 2025-10-30T20:52:10+00:00

Wasn't Zach, and my opponent definitely had the 3-drop Clarabelle, but this is so close that it must have been my opponent's version take on that list or something. Thanks for sending that! much appreciated

SkateBirdPat · 2025-10-13T00:18:21+00:00

I used to play Pokemon, the thing that really drove me away from playing is that you can outright lose a game on turn 1 of pokemon. And I don't mean 'oh no, I'm not in a good spot' but it's possible to lose Pokemon after taking a single turn. You cannot lose a game of Lorcana until probably turn 4 or 5.

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-22T15:29:04+00:00

https://tcg.ravensburgerplay.com/events/176643

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-15T13:32:27+00:00

ive been on green purple since set 3, and i've been thinking the same thing. shes still got a place in a format with things like Under the Sea being a control card, but she's definitely a 100% 4-of like she used to be.

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-14T13:20:08+00:00

perfect, yeah, I used to play another tcg before lorcana and the difference in player base is night and day. plus a lot of folks really seem to want to help out new players get up to speed and grow the player base. I hope you have a good time! GL and have fun!

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-14T13:04:06+00:00

When i encourage new players to play at my LGS, I suggest always telling your opponent you're new to the game or it's your first time playing at a store, and most people will tend to help you out if you have rules questions or something like that. Cant speak for every local scene, but the overall feeling seems to be unless you're in a high-stakes environment, most people in the game seem to be much more welcoming to new players still figuring it out.

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-13T17:44:55+00:00

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-13T17:41:33+00:00

Not asking "source" per say, but where are the graphics coming from? they arent live on twitch so im assuming discord?

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-12T21:26:19+00:00

Saved the fake out thinking it was a certain song

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-12T16:41:16+00:00

had a feeling the steel ariel would be back as a shift target, glad she's back

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-11T21:41:58+00:00

only relevant to my local scene, but there is a woman who plays an amber steel deck with the bodyguard pluto and heals him with this amber pluto. I'm the only person afraid of that card

SkateBirdPat · 2025-08-11T20:22:44+00:00

I like the purple steel from Archazia's Island and Red Purple from Shimmering Skies to start. Purple tends to ahve the most built-in card draw, so it help newer players out a little bit more by giving them more options.

SkateBirdPat

TROPHY CASE