…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