Practice With Purpose: Eddie Caudill on Competition, Rotation & the Road to Worlds

 This week on The Lorcana Muses, we're joined by Arizona's own Eddie Caudill to talk about the competitive journey that's led to a Top 16 finish at the Infinity DLC, a Top 8 at Richmond, a Top 32 at Ghent, and a $5K tournament victory.

With Set Championships wrapping up and rotation just around the corner, we dive into how Eddie prepares for major events, what "practice with purpose" really means, the importance of finding the right testing group, and why learning your deck inside and out matters more than chasing the latest list.

We also talk about Arizona's incredible Lorcana community, balancing competition with fun, preparing for Continentals, and the Disney movies and characters that keep the magic alive outside the game.

Whether you're chasing your first Day 2, getting ready for rotation, or just love hearing how top players think about the game, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Happy Questing!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Hello and welcome to the Lorcana Muses. I'm Brittany. I'm Leslie. And joining us today, we have a very special guest, Eddie Codill. If you've been following the competitive Lorcana scene for a while, chances are you've seen our guest today making a deep tournament runs all season long. Hailing from our own Arizona Lorcana community, Eddie has built an impressive competitive resume with a top 16 finish at Infinity DLC Richmond. Top eight, well, that is top eight at Richmond, top 16 at the Infinity DLC, uh, top 32 at the Ghent DLC, a victory at the at a 5K large tournament. And he's been traveling internationally to a lot of the other big events this tournament cycle. But beyond the results, Eddie is someone who's put in the work, helped strengthen our Arizona Lornacana community, has earned a reputation as one of the players to watch whenever he sits down at the table. And then with keeping in mind with set championships wrapping it up and rotation just around the corner, there's no better time to talk about the current meta, preparing for a brand new format, what it takes to compete at the highest level. Eddie, thank you so much for joining us. We're excited to have you on the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

For anyone that hasn't met you yet, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you found Lorcana?

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah. So I uh found Lorcana actually from the start. I had seen posts at, I think it was D23 where they had announced it or Gen Con or I don't remember exactly, but I, you know, I played from from day one. So I was driving around store to store buying $20 booster packs and you know, I've not been hooked ever since.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

That's awesome. So do you have a competitive TCG background previous to Lorcana?

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Yeah, so I I did play Magic the Gathering for a while. I say for probably like 10 or 15 years, maybe. You know, I I tried to grind the Pro Tour and played as many competitive events as I could then. I didn't have a big boy job then, so I couldn't avoid you know, afford all of the travel. So it was like if I didn't do well, I couldn't go to tournaments. So I didn't get as many opportunities as I do now. And honestly, I just like Lurcana so much more. So it's that also helps with the drive to try, you know, travel the world, like you said.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

But uh yeah, I was I used to say like I also played magic for 10 or 15 years and then I joined Lurcana and I really, really enjoy Larcana too. So I understand that as well. I never ever had the desire to play Magic competitively. So kudos to you for trying.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

It's so much better over here. This is the place to be.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Um, I mean what draws you to like the competitive Lurcana scene?

SPEAKER_00 2:49

I mean, I I always was competitive my whole life in anything I did. So like, you know, I grew up playing sports. This gives me like a competitive out, you know, outlet now that I, you know, am getting older and not good enough to play sports at a higher level. Uh yeah, I mean I just honestly I like winning. That's that's kind of where the where the drive comes from. I you know, I don't really care about the prizes, I don't care about the prestige or anything that comes with it. I just I like competing and playing and the strategy that comes along with the game. Yeah, it's it's it's it's different every time, you know, it's it's a puzzle each each and every game. So trying to figure it out is uh is a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Love to hear that because that's kind of how I feel about it too. I have been playing kind of silly versions of decent decks this cycle, you know, playing superheroes uh for Ruby Amethyst instead of like a traditional list. And I played a traditional list this last weekend and I played much better, but I didn't quite have as much fun with it because you know I was like, where's my dash? Like I want to butt on the That Mr.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Incredible is so cool too.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Yeah, no, honestly, he makes the whole deck really run very actually it's it was it wasn't a bad deck, it was just not quite as consistent as the traditional list. And but it again, the traditional list is not quite as fun as one of those synergy lists, but but I also like winning, so which is why I twitched so I could do better in such a three.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yes, I mean like how do you balance because you've been playing or you've been competing with dog the dogs list essentially, right? So like how do you balance? Yeah. Do you other do you play other decks that you enjoy, you know, on the local scale?

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Yeah, so I mean when I'm when I'm playing games with friends or testing or preparing for events, I'll I'll play pretty much everything. You know, I think I think it's important to learn the basics of every strategy so you can understand what they're doing or where the weak points are, or also sometimes you just you know, dogs isn't the most fun deck to play, you know. But you know, like so Red Blue Action has been one of my favorite ones that I've been playing lately. Like that deck is you know, it's awesome. You know, you get to draw a bunch of cards and gain a bunch of Laura Shark and yeah, so uh yeah, I defin I definitely think it's important and I try and play a little bit of everything pretty much all the time.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

So sorry, Brittany, I'm hanging around a little bit. So it's good. So we're heading into the last weekend before set champs. So I guess it's like, do you are you looking forward to rotation? Are you uh looking forward to trying different decks or trying to find like the more consistent deck again?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Uh yeah, I mean I'll I'll defin the goal is always to find the most consistent deck. That way you can kind of limit the amount of variants you're dealing with in games, which is always variants in card games. You know, you have to draw well, have to get a little lucky, you know, in multiple spots throughout the event. But uh no, I'm I'm super excited for rotation. Um like I said earlier, you know, coming from magic, rotation was a core part of magic. It was always a part of the game ever since I started playing that game. So it feels very familiar to have you know a change in scenery, you know, new cards, cards rotating, multiple different formats. All of that I, you know, I really, really like having. So yeah, I mean, I'm excited to find, you know, play with new cards, try new stuff. When you have so many sets in it, like where we're at right now, with you know, all of the decks are the most consistent they've been or will ever be, you know, with the most amount of sets in the format. So going to like five sets or four sets, however many are gonna be legal after rotation, is exciting because you get to try new cards that basically don't exist right now because we have much more consistent, powerful things.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

So is there anything that's been revealed uh during reveal season so far that you're like really excited to play out?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

You're probably not gonna like this answer, but I couldn't tell you a single card that has been revealed. I'm really focused. Like I love seeing all the enchanteds during reveal season and the amazing art. That's one of my favorite parts of reveal season. But I I really don't look at cards until all of the cards are revealed. And then that's when I'll start like seeing, you know, it so much can change. You know, one single card gets printed and like Willow got printed. And if I remember correctly, it might have been one of the last spoilers of like the two sets ago or whatever it was, and it changed the whole format. Now it's maybe the best card in the game, you know. So like I I'm really bad at keeping up with spoiler season other than seeing all the beautiful enchanteds and iconics. So sorry, I don't really have a good answer for you.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

No, but I'm honestly see I I see them like red as they're revealed, and I get so excited every single time. But that's just because I have no patience when it comes to seeing the new cards.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

I did see potato. That card's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Yeah, item potato. I was like, they can go with this so many different directions, and then they revealed the shift target today. Or so they so now I'm like, okay, that makes sense. That's hilarious. As someone who watched a lot of Darkwing Duck, makes a lot of sense. And I wasn't sure if they were gonna go like the Potato Land classic Mickey and Friends route and like kind of hone in on some of the Disneylands type trope, or if they were doing that. So I was kind of I was like, there are lots of or if like the internet had decided that it was going to be a place to put all of Mr. Potato Head's accessories. I saw I did see that. I did see some some some memes of that, and that was pretty funny.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

I thought it was real at first, seeing the you know, yeah, big cards, and I was like, this actually seems absurd, but thankfully it was not real.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Yeah, they were trying to make the Exodia happen.

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SPEAKER_01 8:15

And

(Cont.) Practice With Purpose: Eddie Caudill on Competition, Rotation & the Road to Worlds

SPEAKER_01 8:17

oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, we don't talk about that game on this. Yeah, I mostly I don't look at spoilers. Um my partner Chris is always like, look at this really cool card, and I'm like, cool, but because you're like you said, anything change like and and people make predictions all the time, and then all of a sudden a card comes out, and that crazy card that everyone thinks is gonna break the meta doesn't actually do anything anymore. So how do you sorry, I thought something it's a lot different if not in person. So how do you prepare for big tournaments then? Because you've had a lot of big finishes for the year, like top 14, top eight, top 32 at Ghent. Like that's how do you how do you prepare for big tournaments?

SPEAKER_00 8:54

So I mean, mostly I I don't think there's any uh substitute other than just playing a lot of games, you know, whether that's online, whether that's in person with your team, with your testing group, with people that are just local to you. I I think that's the most important thing is to just get your reps and play and play and play. It's uh I I'm involved with a couple like testing groups online, and I see the amount of people that like they queue up games and they're just in the Discord server and they'll like stream their matches, and the amount of time that they put in is just it's unfathomable to me. It's it's absurd. So I basically just like watch what they do because I know they are better than I am, and I you know learn from watching games and then also just try and put in the work because that's what it takes. It's just practice, practice, practice.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

So as someone who has, you know, more competitive aspirations, like just making it to a day two is my goal, right? Right now, is what would you say, like how do how do you get from that, you know, being pretty locally competitive to making it on a bigger scale?

SPEAKER_00 9:57

It's a it's kind of a big jump, but it's not real, it's right there. It's so attainable. I think the most important thing, I know I said practice, practice, practice, but it's it's really um, there's a better way to say this, but I'm kind of drawing a blank. It's basically like practice with a purpose. So like we have the availability to like review our games. You know, you could, you know, screen record or just play face up if you're playing against someone at home and you know, talking through multiple lines, say, hey, you know, I have this as an option for ink now, but I'm concerned three turns from now, you know, if I ink this Demona now, maybe I'll need it three turns from now because I'll be out of cards or I need to exert a valuable target that you have. So basically like focused and um yeah, just focused practice. You you really want to really dive deep into the games to not only understand your lines, but think about all the things that your opponents could have that could, you know, kind of foil that plan essentially. So I I think that's probably would be my biggest, you know, always you want to surround yourself with players that you view as better than yourself. That's that's kind of been my goal in any game that I've ever played, is find the people that have similar goals, that maybe have a little bit more experience or even just more reps, you know, and kind of just pick their brain, be a sponge, absorb everything you can. So there's there's so much to learn. It's kind of absurd in these games. It's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Yeah. And as more cards get printed and more keywords come out, it's like more it's the puzzle gets more complex, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Absolutely it does. Yeah, there's there's it's not it's never straightforward. But uh just learning from your losses. I don't even know what that is.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

He doesn't there's no spoiler.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

I know, I know, no spoiler. Well, there's a duo shift now. Actually, there's lots of changes to shift mechanics. So and team cards. I did see the Mickey Mini one. Yeah, that's the one I was talking about, is the duo shift. Okay. Um, because you have to shift it onto both of them.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

That card has to be so good if there's you know a good Mickey and you know.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

It it is good. It's a very good. I'm like, no, it's it's very good. They did some j uh lore guide rulings on that card today already. So good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

That's always the hardest part, is they come out and they don't tell you exactly how the cards work.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Yeah. But it's it's nice to say, they said they said it'll be part of yeah, they said it will be part of the rule document that comes out every set, but they were saying how and I was right with with my with my prediction of how the ruling was gonna go. So I was I was like, I'm always excited when I was like, yes, I was right about how that mechanic's gonna work. I've been right on on all of the shift targets, but I've shifted a lot of cards. So I was like pretty sure I was like, I think it's I'm like, because it has to be this. So dual shift works where you have to have both characters, so you have to have both Minnie and Minnie, Minnie, Minnie, Minnie and Mickey on board. And one of them can be wet and the one can be drying, but if you shift it, it would end up being drying, right? So it's whatever the worst outcome is for the shift, basically. So it's so it's a dry, so if both of them are fully dry, then the shift would be fully dry. But if one of them is wet and one of them is fully dried, then you would have it to where it is still drying as well. So and then if one of them is exerted and the other one and yeah, if the other one is exerted and the other one's not exerted, then it would enter exerted. Interesting. That makes sense. I mean this is like the most fair way to do it. Yeah, so it would be whatever the yeah, the quote unquote worst outcome would be, right? So it like takes away a slight bit of its power. And I was so excited because I was like, I was right. Yeah. Really great. It's still a really, really great card. The especially since its shift cost is zero, but you had to shift on to both of them. So like that's what this card ones it does. He's like, I'm so I'm I'm like lot I I I have never been someone to be like, I wanna play Emerald Sapphire until this card was revealed and I was like, I wanna play I wanna play with shift targets. That's what I want to do. Especially since I really like the one drop mini mouse from this this last set that does the inking ability. I like that one.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

So or those she quests. Is detective mini still gonna be legal post-rotation? Detective Mickey, the one that puts uh yes, detective.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

That's awesome. Yes. But the detective Mickey was reprinted.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:15

Yeah. He was reprinted and fabled. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

So that would also be a good target. So you have the mini on one and then Mickey on three, and then shift.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Bam! Go. You're already uh thinking about craft uh builds on this.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

It doesn't quite sing under the sea by itself.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

So I think I I think they did that purposefully.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

That was smart.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Yeah. Yeah. So I I'm I'm always looking at fun new mechanics. That's my favorite part of reveal season is looking at the new new things.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Get the gears going.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

So I mean with rotation and like competitive Lurcana and mine, like we're coming up on August, which is the LCQ or nationals for you, because you don't need to do the LCQ to qualify. But it'll be one month post-rotation. So are you excited, nervous? What are you doing to prepare for it? Because you said you don't look at spoilers, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

So I I probably won't start preparing until the set's fully out. At that point, we'll have you know a month and a half, I think it is, until uh NA Continentals. But there is a Continentals right before NA. So that's that'll also be a little bit uh a little bit helpful. We'll be able to see kind of what some people are doing. I think it's Southeast Asia might be the first one. I'm not exactly sure. It might be Japan. I don't know. But uh yeah, no, I'm excited to start playing with the new cards, learning new things. Toys looks fun, you know, whether it's red, yellow, green, yellow, or I'm supposed to use the names, Emerald, Amber.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

I never do. So worry.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

But yeah, I mean I I'm definitely a little bit nervous. Uh I was able to play in Continentals last year, so qualifying again feels nice, makes you feel like you kind of belong once you've done it a couple times. You know, first time you get a little bit of imposter syndrome. But uh I didn't have a really good testing process last time because I was just playing for the LCQ and it was like two completely different tournaments. One is like, you know, you know what most people qualified with. So this time I'll be able to go in with a testing process specifically for the room that's gonna be there and specifically focused on that tournament as opposed to trying to win five or six rounds the day before. So yeah, excited, nervous, everything. You know, I want to qualify for worlds, I would be like dream come true.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

So that's your next competitive goal is qualify for worlds.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Definitely. That's always the goal.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

I feel like that I feel like that's a good goal. Like, like my goal, like I've I'm like get to a day two, or because I'm playing in the LCQ, win an LCQ pod, which I was one one one away.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

It's right there, it's it's attainable, it's right there.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

Okay. I I I feel it. And then I'm also like, I still haven't won a set champs, Matt, in a while. So there is that too.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

It goes through it goes through phases. It's a completely different format. Maybe this one just didn't gel with you, you know. Like there's been formats that I didn't win any set champs, and it is, and then there's formats where you have a deck that you really like and really gel with, and you win like two or three, you know?

SPEAKER_02 17:01

Like it's this one I also like added the extra challenge of not being able to switch my deck colors all the time because we heard about that same thing. And so I've been stuck in the same ink pairing for the whole season. For the whole seas for the whole you know, set. And so I and so I've I've put myself in this hole. It's been fun, it's self-inflicted, and it was supposed to be my break set, but I've realized that I shouldn't ever take break sets because I'm too competitive in my head to have fun with the break set. I I've figured that out by now. I was like, oh yeah, I probably shouldn't have done that. Doesn't really feel great to not win.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Um but so sorry. It's hard to tell who's like saying something not in person. Anyways, but you've been competitive since day one, right, Eddie? Because like you you said you're just a competitive person. So before DLCs were announced, before, you know, regional competitions, all that stuff, like what drove you to be competitive in Larcana, I guess, and driving around getting those $20 first chapter packs.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Yeah, I mean, it was just uh, you know, you kind of know they're gonna bring uh organized play around. So I just wanted to be prepared for as soon as they kind of announced that, you know, there was unofficial like 5K's and 10Ks and 2Ks and 1K's, you know, some in Arizona, some in, you know, like they had like star city games ones. They had uh like I think the first event I went to was in California and set two. They had like a random 5k there where they had like these cool playmats that were, you know, uh of course they were just focused on the store and whatnot, nothing official Disney, but you know, that's that was always the the stepping stone to DLCs and yeah, uh you I mean you just kind of know that they're gonna come out with a organized play eventually. So I wanted to, you know, have my best foot forward and be prepared for that when the time did come.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Well, I I remember early on that you were playing like a lot of sapphire steel because Daryl was liking Sapphire Steel too, and so I was like always looking at what you were playing to like give him some ideas and things like that early early in Lorcana days, you know.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

For sure.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

I was like, I'm pretty sure you won a few set champs off of those those sapphire steel builds and early seven.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Well, yeah, those stitch promos, that was a good time.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

Yeah, yeah, it was definitely I was like, that was a while ago, but I I do remember. So speaking about Arizona, rather like specifically, it's Arizona I feel has a pretty strong uh competitive Larconic community. What do you think about like like how our Arizona competitive scene compares to playing other places, like compared to like playing nationally or playing at other like LCQs or things like that or CCQs?

SPEAKER_00 19:43

I think I think the CCQs versus DLCs are a little bit different. So I think on average, when you go to a CCQ, I think the level of competition is going to be slightly higher than our local. But I think when you go to a DLC, I think our local prepares us pretty well for, at the very least, day one of a DLC. So I mean when you go to a DLC, it's you know, it's a Disney family friendly event. So you have people that it's their first DLC, you know, like they have those announcements at the beginning of the day when they're like, you know, raise your hand if it's your first tournament ever, raise your hand if this is the first DLC you've been to. And it's a large majority of the room, which is which is awesome. That's how it should be. Everyone's super nice, everyone's there to have a good time. People are collecting promos and tickets. And so, I mean, to to kind of make a long statement short, I think Arizona has a really good competitive scene. You know, I there's spots in the United States that maybe are a little bit stronger, more densely populated with like, you know, I guess top level players. But I mean, we've had multiple Continentals qualifiers, we have multiple people day two, we have multiple teams in Arizona that all perform really well during set champs season. And yeah, I I think Arizona's up there for sure. And I definitely think it prepares you pretty well for DLCs.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Yeah, I as a as a team captain right now, I've been really proud because our team did like the best weekend they've ever had at like playing set champs. And so like we have several Matt winners on the team and like lots of just really good camaraderie. So like on a local level, like I'm super, super proud of our team. And I'm hoping that it helps push us like mentally to really prepare for the LCQ and getting you know teammates ready because a lot of us are playing in the LCQ right before NA Continentals. So like that's that that's my my you know proud, proud, proud team captain moment there. So who are some Arizona players that you feel like deserve uh some recognition outside of yourself? Do you feel like they're uh players or teams or people that you work with regularly you want to give a shout out to?

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Absolutely. So I'm part of the Arizona team, Big Mikey Mike and the boys, which is comprised of our team captain, Michael McGowan, who's like Arizona staple, always, you know, great community member. Everyone likes him. How could you not? Michelle, and then Gio and Tony. So I think our team's pretty awesome. Honestly, it's just like it's came together because we're all great friends. There's there was really no like recruitment process or you know Tony's my neighbor. I met him during one, which is kind of absurd that he lived four houses down from me and I met him playing at a tournament. So I mean overall like my the you know the the big Mikey Mike and the boys team is they're the I mean they're awesome. You know we have we have great players. I think Mike just had his first day two at a DLC in Indianapolis. Geo's made a couple days and uh yeah I I think that's great. I think uh John, I think he goes by Buzz, Buzz of Westwind is his like John is incredible. He's made top cut at multiple CCQs and has been right there trying to you know break that I I really think that he could break through at the next event and he could you know dominate the LCQ and end up in Continental. He's been so close so many times I played against Brandon on Team Muses the last set champs I was at and he always gives me a run for my money. Always played really well. I don't I don't play against too many Team Muses players just in like I feel like most everyone's like East Valley located and I'm always like I play like the three West West Valley locations. So you know I get a little bit of Brandon. Daryl sometimes out here and I think at the central ones you guys were there as well. But uh I mean honestly it's just everyone's there's there's so many good players in Arizona that it just feels like there's they're so close to that breakthrough and it's just you know it just takes a couple extra events a little bit of luck in one spot where you might have got lucky unlucky before it's the margins are so thin in the game.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

So it's uh yeah you could play like Leslie and get all your uninkables in one hand.

SPEAKER_03 23:31

Exactly you know it just it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Well people have heard the story so many times now because I can't help but tell it but I brick on a deck that I only ran four uninkables in and I couldn't play. I drew all four uninkables in a ramp deck too so I'm like what's going on so yeah the the luck thing is definitely something I can't figure out.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

So you tell me if you have like a lucky charm or something that you bring with you tournaments or you've got it to strengthen numbers you know the more events you play the more chances to get lucky or you know I guess unlucky but breakthrough's right there. That's absurd for uninkable.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Yeah you're telling me I had to show everyone in the room I'm like I don't know what's going on anymore. Yeah. And so I mean because what is that you're you're saying like all these who are very top level players just have to hit that break or that point where they can break through. And it's like when did you feel like that was for you've had a very successful season but you've been playing since you know set one and it's this season or I guess this year in general that's been like great working out great for you. Right. So when do you think you hit that like point where you're like I feel comfortable I I'm competing at this level I don't feel like an imposter anymore.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

So first season I did not have the best results. You know I I think I won one let it go um and then I would I did win an LCQ to qualify for Continentals. But before that, you know I I scrubbed out essentially you know of all the DLCs that I played I think I played three in season one um and got a let it go at one and then that was it. I th I really think three game format best of three was a huge change that benefited me. You learned so much in the first game whether it goes your way or doesn't and you could can kind of adapt for you know games two and three whether you're on the play or on the draw. So I think that was a big difference. I think the ability to play games more frequently you know I I work a couple jobs and it's hard for me to get on play in-person games so sometimes you can you know use online forums and whatnot to to play online and that allows you to get more reps so that I felt a little bit more prepared having that capability. And then dogs honestly dogs has been great and that kind of latched on from the get-go and it was uh very uh rewarding to say the least the bane of many people's existence yes there's a reason that my there's a reason why Ruby Amethyst is like one of my top favorite decks is because I do not like dogs.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

But Eleanor Eleanor has switched that has has changed that doesn't work yes it does I was like I need an anti-Elinor deck just a hundred percent I don't know if they exist the card's too good okay so kind of switching off of Lorcana off of specific Lorcana a little bit and moving on to the base of the game which is everyone's love of the mouse. Of course so were you a Disney fan before you played Lorcana?

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Always always something uh I mean so I I just got married a year ago but I've been with my wife for seven eight almost yeah seven and a half years and something we've always loved is Disney. So that's something that uh you know I can show her cards and that brings the joy of like she doesn't care at all about cards. She's never played cards. She's not you know she's not a game person. So the fact that I you know we can bond over that I can show her the cool promos that I get when it's a character she loves and you know I watch Disney movies every day. We fall asleep to one every day. So I mean Disley's always been a huge part of my life which is why when I saw it announced I was like I'm playing this game. I don't care what the mechanics are I don't care you know how much it costs like this is what I'm doing. So it was uh it yeah Disney I love Disney.

SPEAKER_04 27:08

Do you have a favorite character?

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Um so growing up I always loved Peter Pan for some reason that movie always was kind of my go-to since meeting my wife though I have absolutely I never watched Princess and the frog prior to meeting her and I absolutely love Tiana and all the characters in that movie. It's like probably my favorite movie now great one. Oh it's so good. It is so I I've it's so good. It's one of our go-to's when we're falling asleep to watch so yeah I've probably seen it you know 200 plus times.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Nothing wrong with that. Yeah maybe more honestly but do you have a favorite card? Do you have a favorite card or card art?

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Card art. I think for a while Detective Mickey was my favorite card probably coming from Sapphire Steel. Yeah exactly definitely the original and man so it's hard because I'm not super focused on the art and I'm really bad about knowing artists and playing characters. So like most of my enjoyment comes from the cards that I've had like success with or really enjoy playing or love to play in my deck. So like Detective Mickey's one of like Nani has been you know a godsend that card's incredible so that's one that I've always really liked. Bobby Zimaruski I didn't even know Bobby existed before this game you know I didn't watch a ton of I believe it's goofy movie. I did I've only seen it a couple times you know I know I'm sorry Britney okay just hurt my heart just a little bit characters because of the song's decorate one of my favorite parts of this game now is I can go and watch movies and I know characters like we'll be watching uh man who is uh like I didn't even know uh Lawrence's name from Princess and the frog. So like now I now I know that they're seeing new characters and knowing who they are and like it's it's so cool after watching the movies after learning about the characters in the game.

SPEAKER_02 28:58

Yeah Daryl and I just started Daryl hasn't seen up and so we started watching it but we had to stop about 15 minutes in not because like we were both crying. So you know we stopped about 15 minutes in if that gives anybody any indication as to about how far we made it. So good yeah and so we have he has yeah he hasn't seen it and it hits different um than it did previously like when I was you know what came out way longer ago than I wanted to admit and like it just hits different as when we were younger. And I was like oh this hits in a very different emotional space than it did when I was younger and did not expect it to hit it because I haven't seen in a long time did not expect it to hit as emotionally gut punching as it did. So I I'm also I've been Disney for forever. That's a big reason why we do this right is the Disney love rewatching everything and like the new potato card is from Darkwing Duck, which I knew, but a lot of people are like where is this from and I was like Yeah I couldn't have told you. Yeah and so it's just like things like that where you're just like it's really some there are some more obscure Disney characters that are being added to these cards and things like that.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

Yeah so I I I'm so happy that you guys are getting to experience or Daryl's getting to experience up yeah such an incredible movie. We uh actual random fun facts we uh after we got married the the music they play as you walk down the aisle we actually played the married life song from up as our like walk down the aisle as a couple together. It was yeah it was pretty cool. We had a pretty uh Disney themed ceremony I guess so like the her walk in music was the uh the lantern song from Rapunzel when they're on the lake and they're playing the lanterns and flat on the boat. Yeah so it's it's uh yeah it's pretty it's pretty cool. I love that movie so I'm happy that he's getting to watch it.

SPEAKER_02 31:02

I I I walked down the aisle to the Darth Vader uh sound.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

So cool I was like yeah mine too mine was also Disney but you know it counts it does count was uh was it a warning to Daryl just kidding he had he had plenty of warning we were together a long time before we got married yeah and honestly I'm the one who needed the warning just if anybody ever knows him that man is sass incarnate but no he's great I love my husband yeah I just tease me you guys are s I I love the like the conversations that you have together. Both you both give each other sass so I don't know who is more gosh I think sarcastic than the other person. So Eddie are you looking forward to any IPs being part of you or looking for any characters that you specifically love that you want in the game?

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Um I mean Pixar coming out was honestly my biggest ask. So I mean seeing Toy Story was awesome. I'm so excited for Monsters Inc. as well outside there's there's not really any that I'm super focused on yeah probably I'm just excited for the upcoming ones you know Pixar is huge.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

So yeah up is coming also yes yep so it's yeah pretty pretty exciting any sorry go ahead was just gonna see uh so you said you played the deck the dogs deck you played Sapphire Steel is there like a favorite deck that you've played that or like a favorite deck of yours that maybe not necessarily the most competitive deck but like a just a favorite deck that you like a favorite fun deck like something that is just like part of the Eddie spice.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

I'm not much of a deck builder but blue red actions is probably what I've enjoyed the most lately. When Infinity when we first started testing for Infinity I built a blue red actions deck that it just plays all the one cost actions and draw a card basically any card that says draw a card on it you would play and it it it would create some really cool games where Stark was just you know really dominant. So I that uh that definitely brought me back to like I played a lot of combo decks and magic when I played so that like kind of felt similar to that so that was like fun because there's there hasn't really been anything like that. You know we've had a few combos here and there with like monstro combo and maybe like Jafar wheels those kinds of things but you know drawing all those cards and chaining a bunch of actions together was definitely something that I I enjoy. So that's my kind of style for sure.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

Do you prefer to play infinity over core?

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Oh no I like core so much more I like core so much more but uh I'll play whatever the next tournament is so whatever format it is I'm happy to practice for it.

SPEAKER_02 33:42

Do you feel like the playtesting is different for infinity versus core? Like do you feel like it's easier to like train for one versus the other I would think core would probably be a little bit easier.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

I mean they're kind of similar but in infinity there's so many different decks you know so it's a lot of time in core you can say hey maybe dogs will be higher percentage this weekend and then blurble also so you can kind of make it's easier to decide what your tech choices might be. You know so if you want to kind of focus a little bit more on one matchup versus the next in infinity you're kind of walking into a 12 deck format and it's just like you know you kind of hope you hit the matchup lottery you want or you you can you kind of play the most streamlined version of your deck because there's no sense in teching for you know an 8% metagame share deck as opposed to where core might be a 20 a 10 a 15 and then you're teching for 55% in the room as opposed to you know 15%. So that's uh I would I'd say it's probably a little bit easier to test for core but in that same note like on that same note it's kind of like you can just focus on what your deck does Infinity and then kind of learn the matchups a little bit here and there and what your you know goals are and lines and whatnot. So probably core is a little bit easier would be my guess.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

How did you prepare for the infinity event? Because yeah like you said there's so many decks the meta is wide open how do you you like tech for anything?

SPEAKER_00 35:01

I picked dogs super early. I played the CCQ in California which was I think the enchanted citrus class clash and I played like the more aggressive dogs version there was like Snowforts and Mulans and you just kind of turned your stuff sideways and got there fast. And then so like from that point forward I had a decent result there. You know I lost in top 16 to Tiago. Yeah from that point there I basically just thought that dogs would be the place to be and it's just a matter of where the format evolved from there. So each event the format evolves a little bit progresses a little bit to whether the dog decks are trying to you know cannibalize themselves or the you know the random contender pops up like blue red actions was supposed to be a a good matchup against dogs. So I I basically just like picked my deck early tried my best to focus on specific lines against the you know like the top three decks essentially the the purple decks the blue red decks and then the amber steel decks and then uh you just play games yeah um I watched a lot of my replays back so you know I would screen record my games or watch the replays back and basically see did this inking decision make make sense? Did it cost me the game? Could I use this card you know five turns from now watching back the replays and then we have a group chat that we would send replays in uh with Mike and Geo and Michelle and Tony and uh we would you know comment on each other's games why did you do this? And then kind of just talking about your thought process helps a lot as well. So yeah. And then just hope and pray you get the right matchups. You know you could show up and I had a good friend from California that actually gave me the list that I played in Indianapolis. He's the one that created it. He was the mastermind behind the deck his name's Justin Justin Nguyen and he played against red yellow like basically dogs anti-meta deck round one and then he played against two Amber Steels and you know his day was done even though he had like this incredible win percentage with the deck up until the tournament and you know you just that's just how it works. You know there's nothing you can really do. Yeah variance is definitely a thing yeah so that's yeah that's something that I think people uh a lot of people put a really big emphasis on the next event or the the the set champs this weekend or the event that they're playing tomorrow. And I mean really the goal is just to slowly get better at each event because every event's going to be different. You know you can like I said the variants could get you in the first one and you can get terrible matchups or just are your four uninkables in your four uninkable deck and it just doesn't it doesn't matter. You know sometimes it's just not your day. But if you learn something that day and you're more prepared for the next one, the the day two is going to come or the top 32 or the Continentals qualification or the set champs mat or winning your league at you know league night like whatever the goal is it's it's right there. It's just a matter of getting bet a little bit better each time.

SPEAKER_01 37:50

Is there a match or a moment that really stood out to you in your competitive season this year like anything that you're like I will never forget this thing that happened.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

Definitely winning a golden Mickey like that's that's like what you dream of when you start playing you see the people with the golden serialized Mickeys you're like I need one of those. That's what I need. So I in top 16 in Richmond I was paired against a Blurple deck I was playing dogs and my opponent actually got a game loss because he had a deck registration error he registered like Royal Guard and was playing Palace Guard or you know vice versa I don't remember which one it was and so that I mean obviously it helps when your opponent gets a a game loss but I I got to play so sitting down in my top eight match I played against Skylarkana who's who's like an early streamer he's on team maelstrom I believe he was part of the Podcama podcast you know an incredible player. So like that's he's been the person that like I reached out to early and I was like hey like I love this blue steel deck do you have any tips I'm going to a 5k like I tried to make connections early and he's the one that like I was like this guy's incredible. He's who like this is this is who I want to be you know and I got to play against him actually in top eight. So thankfully we'd already want our Mickeys at that point. He absolutely destroyed me. I'm not sure I gave him my best but the next time we play I he'll he'll get my best.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

So isn't he who uh shouted you out so that you ended up being on KD Lore keepers in her recruiting thing for everybody. Oh for her.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

Yeah for the the team uh they do like a a fantasy draft essentially which that was so cool. I had never been on someone's fantasy team before I'm actually in the in a Discord with Skye now and I think he's like saw the result and like I I seven owed like that Friday event or whatever it was like a ticket quest or promo quest or whatever it's called and he told her about me and that was really cool because I was able to show out the first time that it felt like someone believed you know that I could do something. So that was that was a really cool feeling.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Yeah it was really cool seeing your name on that and I was like hey we know him kind of absurd honestly I was like we always expect we like we were super excited to see it because I was like hey he's he's from our deck of the woods it's always it's always great to see how our community like lifts other players up like no matter how good you are or how competitive you are it's so great to see that everybody like you mentioned you you ask people for decks or tips or whatever and everyone is so like happy to share it with you.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

It's really cool that's completely at least in my experiences unique to the Lorcana community. That's not at all how magic was I don't believe that at all is how Yu or other you know any of the other games are like everyone is so kind and open and it's it's amazing honestly Lorcana's like none other that's why I never played competitive magic this is a good choice so kind of just final thoughts all right so the Lorcana community has watched you go from being a really strong local player to someone people expecting to see at those top tables. Has success changed the way that you experience the game are you still chasing the same feeling you had when you started like I don't think success changed really anything I yeah I mean I still want to be as good as I can you know like I love I love going to tournaments. I love hanging out with friends at these there's nothing better than like tournament weekends with your friends, sharing Airbnb dinners, following everyone's tournament runs, seeing other local AZ players and seeing how they're doing it's uh yeah I don't I don't think you know a couple good results because I mean results come and go you know season three I could catch bad variants or not practice enough or you know like I could go from topping four events in a row to to none you know like it's I think the drive will be just as just as strong then and yeah I I yeah I kind of forgot where I was going with that but it's the love of the game. It is yeah I just I love playing cards and it gives me something to do while I chart also so I can chart for work and play games on my other screen and it's a live so what's the thing that or what's a piece of advice that you would give to somebody who is trying to be more competitive or more like uh like getting to that level? I think it's important to know the card you're playing with a lot of people will jump from deck to deck or they'll show up and play you know Ruby Amethyst and have not a great weekend but I I think knowing your deck and picking something and sticking to it is super important. If you're like say your sole goal is to like you know day two a tournament if you become let's say a green steel aficionado eventually green steel will be a great color combination and it'll be your time to shine. So I think you know kind of picking something and being consistent with it and learning it is is pretty important because you know familiarity of your deck and um there's so many decisions you have to make every single time you play a game of Lorcana from you know from inking on turn one to whatever card you you know play on turn seven it's so not questioning those simple decisions makes all the difference and like knowing hey this I'm playing against Red Steel I don't need you know Tinkerbell so I can ink this one this is you know a a simple decision and finding those simple decisions I think is a great place to to be if you're trying to get to the next level um that only comes with you know knowing your deck inside and out.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

I have a more personal well not really personal but for me I get so nervous at high level competitions because I am also very competitive but I know that I freak out very easily so what's your advice for somebody or how do you hold on hold the nerves at bay when you're competing at the highest level?

SPEAKER_00 43:15

I think just experience honestly I don't know if there's any uh any other fix other than just like knowing you know your cards I mean you can try and take the importance out of it. You know you can say hey this is I'm playing around against random opponent from you know Tucson or you know San Diego or it's you know every opponent is going to be so kind and at least for the most part but I honestly just putting yourselves in those situations more the more tournaments you play the easier it's gonna get we were in Indianapolis and local player Bryce who's been doing pretty well at set champs came up to us after like round six or something I think he was like four and two or three and one or whatever the case may be and he's like I just played so bad because I was nervous and shaking and I was like you just gotta you know the next time you're in that spot you'll do a little bit better. And then the time after that you'll do a little bit better. It's just a matter of playing cards.

SPEAKER_02 44:05

Love it. Do you have any no I do you have any last minute thoughts that last minute pieces of advice you want to give out any random Disney fact you want to share?

SPEAKER_00 44:15

Ooh I don't know if I have any Disney facts. I did watch uh one of my favorite movies I've seen recently from Disney because of this game is I watched uh I I'm gonna be I don't even know that the name of the movie is it's the one with Jim Hawkins and Treasure Planet I loved it. I watched it actually because of Sky and him talking about it like on a stream and whatnot. Incredible movie one that I think a lot of people haven't seen at least I assume like I I consider myself a reasonably big Disney fan and I don't most people I have talked to don't know what that movie is which is kind of what's pretty underrated. So good. So I mean yeah I mean I I would definitely recommend people go watch that movie.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

I really liked it really enjoyed it yeah I mean just keep playing the game game's awesome well we think you are awesome and we are so thoroughly impressed by you and the amazing run that you have both locally and you know internationally and wish you all the luck in your upcoming you know mega tournaments right as we finish off DLC season two or Lorcana competitive season two and then roll right into competitive season three right right right off the bat right I'm hoping three star I was like season three starts before season two is over.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

So hopefully more NA DLCs that's the plan.

SPEAKER_02 45:30

Yeah yeah but we uh would love to have you on again at some point uh you know maybe when you're a big nationals winner you know just I hope so you guys will be my first call I appreciate you guys giving me the opportunity to come on and you know let me talk about Lorcana. Absolutely love all right thank you thank you and with that happy questing happy questing