In a recent weekly stream, Ravensburger has announced two new game formats for the Disney Lorcana World Championship (June 28th to 29th).
According to Richelle Brady, Global Disney Lorcana Community Manager, the competitors for the World Championship have already been informed of this decision for the event and were given the finer details of what’s to be expected. For us, however, this is all new, and it all seems hugely exciting.
Super Sealed
Super Sealed is the new format for the first day of the World Championship. Looking a little closely, we can see some resemblance to the Disney Lorcana Pack Rush format, but with some added padding.
The main difference here, outside of having a larger pool of cards to work with, is the fact that Ravensburger wants the competitors to create a deck consisting of three ink colors rather than the normal two.
As mentioned Super Sealed format will be played on the first day of the World Championship. Following a Swiss tournament layout (best of three), Super Sealed is the first time that Disney Lorcana would feature a “sideboard” in an official tournament.
Between rounds, players will have the opportunity to exchange cards between their constructed deck and the rest of the available cards from their packs within reason. When moving to the next match, however, players must always begin with the original deck list they had initially submitted.
For now, that's all the information we have about the Super Sealed format. What we've seen so far, however, does look rather exciting. We're particularly excited to see how Dual Ink cards will perform in this new format, since they should be more accessible.
Triple Deck Constructed
Triple Deck Constructed looks like the most complicated format that Ravensburger has produced for Disney Lorcana.
The competitors for the World Championship now need to bring three different core constructed decks to use for this format. The main parameter for deck construction is that ink colors can not be duplicated in any of the decks submitted.
According to Ravensburger, they want their players at the World Championship to showcase a form of mastery of the game beyond just using their preferred tools.
To add another curveball, part of this format’s procedure during the Swiss is that players can essentially “ban” or “bench” the use of one of the three decks the opponent has submitted.
This adds another layer to the tournament as players can strategically plan what decks they face or what decks they can deny an opponent from using based on their reputation.
During the grand finals for this format, the ability to ban an opponent’s deck is removed. To compensate for this, the match now moves from a best-of-three to a best-of-five.
For an average player, the best-of-five might seem a daunting task as it transitions the game to one of mental endurance.
Players not only need to be aware of all, if not most, of the cards in rotation for this format, but also have the stamina to make decisions in the heat of the moment.
What would this mean moving forward?
The announcement of the Super Sealed and the Triple Deck Constructed format came as a surprise. For most trading card games (TCGs), events of this level don’t normally throw a major change out of nowhere.
While the formats may provide an interesting showing, it does raise some logistical concerns if applied to the level of the friendly local game store.
For the Super Sealed format, it’s highly product-intensive as it asks for 4 booster packs from 4 different expansions.
Depending on the turnout for a tournament, this may put considerable strain on a store without some support from Ravensburger itself or the local community.
As for Triple Deck Constructed, not all players have the stamina or the interest to conduct such an investment in product, time, or energy. Subsequently, Ravensburger would probably have to go out of their way to promote these formats outside of the World Championship.
Right now, the future of the Super Sealed and Triple Deck Constructed format is uncertain, but it’s a good showing on Ravensburger’s part. They are testing the waters to keep the game of Disney Lorcana fresh and to add to its longevity.
If anything, this shows the company’s commitment to its product, its current player base, and its future player base.
TCGs come and go, but at the very least, Ravensburger is giving us some assurance that Disney Lorcana will have a good amount of years ahead of it.