It is quite remarkable how competitive Lorcana has become in such a short time. Last weekend I attended the Disney Lorcana North American Continental Championships, NA's first competitive season finale where the top players from the previous six regional events went head-to-head in the biggest, most high-stakes Lorcana tournament to date.

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As I sat in the ballroom of the Disneyland Hotel, surrounded by thousands of excited fans, watching Lorcana play at a high level on the big movie screen, I couldn't help but think that seven months ago, Disney's Lorcana Challenge (DLC). The organization did not yet exist.
The developers always wanted Season 1 to end this way
During the tournament, I sat down with the game's co-designers, Ryan Miller and Steve Warner, to talk about the first season of the Disney Lorcana Challenge, reflect on the last seven months of the tournament, and share some thoughts about the present and future. Competitive Lorcana.
“Even before we had the final game, we were talking about the need for an organized game,” Warner told me. That was one of my dreams that I really hoped would come true, and here we are. The Worlds, the grand finale of the first competitive season that pits the top players from the North American Championships against the top players from the European Championships, will take place later this year at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Organized play is especially important to Miller, who began his career on Wizards of the Coast as a judge for Magic: The Gathering. “I've always enjoyed creating experiences for people to come together, because I think that's one of the best things that games do,” says Miller. “They are great at bringing people together to make memories, make new friends and make connections.”
While these events were built around competitive tournaments, they quickly grew into much more than that for Lorca fans. Fans love having a place to meet with fellow players and celebrate the game, and, for designers, this has become an important aspect of the competitive series.
“Our community is the best we could hope for,” says Warner. “Disney fans love to be with everyone and talk about Disney, and card gamers love to talk about cards, everyone has something to talk about.” He says his favorite stories from these events are about families coming together to enjoy Lorcan. “Those stories are always really special to me, and at these events we always hear stories that are so fun to hear.”
Miller was at the first competitive event of the season in Atlanta, and says the first thing that really impressed him was how many newcomers there were to TCG. “That was amazing,” he says. “It told us that we're not only getting a lot of competitive players, we want to make sure there's something here for everyone.”
That event is where Miller first came up with the Pack Rush pattern, originally called the Inkcaster. At NACC, Miller and his fellow developers spent the entire weekend playing a game of Pack Rush with as many fans as possible. He says he hopes the DLCs will be more than competitive events, and evolve into a celebration of our love for Lorcan. “It's a lot of fun to watch that game and see people come and have a good time. That, for me, has been the biggest development of the challenges.
Two-game format
A big feature of the Disney Lorcana Challenge is its two-game format, a unique structure for organizing tournament play where opponents play only two games instead of the standard best-of-three. This format was chosen for competitive Lorcana for several reasons, and now that it's been in place for the entire first season, the designers say they have a lot of data to process. “We have a lot to learn from the two-match format,” says Warner. “There will be a lot of discussion within the organized sports team and what will be the best way forward. It's a matter of wait and see at this point. We want to do what's best for the players. ”
Designers are committed to learning from feedback within the community and making changes whenever possible. We saw the morals emerge early on with the decision to remove First Edition cards, and we saw it repeated throughout Lorcana's lifetime with things like Bucky Errata. Warner says the evolution of the spectator experience, which started with small TVs streaming games and evolved into a large theater-style viewing area at the NA Championship, is another example of teams identifying weaknesses and moving to improve.
The team tries to be careful not to bite off more than it can chew. Starting basic and expanding overtime ensures that they deliver the best possible experience without overextending or overpromising. Miller cited the lack of on-demand events in Atlanta, and the initial decision to issue only 512 tickets (later increased to 2048) as examples of their efforts to establish the program without overexpanding.
“Let's keep it simple, let's get the system going, and then we can start layering it,” he says. “If you try to do too much too soon, that's bad.” Initially they wanted to focus on systematic development. “Of course, it became clear very quickly that we had more demand than we thought.”
Miller says mistakes, especially early ones, are inevitable. “We didn't always hit it, we made our mistakes. But I'm very proud of this team because we come back after every incident and say 'OK, what didn't work, what can we do better, how do we make changes that can be managed long-term?' ?'
Quote “We're not here to be right, we're here to get it right.” It's something Miller heard on a podcast once, and it means a lot to him. “It's nice to hit a home run on the first swing, but really, going through the effort, repeating, getting feedback, and just putting your ego aside and saying, 'This is how you get better,' that's the real work. A great experience.
“We have a great team, and we're always trying to make things better.”

Disney Lorcan
Lorcana is a trading card game developed by Disney and published by Ravensburger, featuring iconic characters, settings, and more from the studio's long history. As an Illumineer, you must help build your deck and protect Lorcana.