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Disney Lorcana Attack of the Vine Best Decks: Current Meta

Disney Lorcana Attack of the Vine best decks: Amber/Amethyst leads Core data and won the North America Championship. Emerald/Steel took 11 Top 16 slots.

9 min readBy Alex ChenUpdated 7 days ago
Three Disney Lorcana cards including Moana, Simba, and Mulan arranged side by side on a burgundy background

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Disney Lorcana

The Disney Lorcana Attack of the Vine best decks question has a real answer now, and it's not the one an ongoing meta-share tracker alone would give you. Nearly two months after Set 13 launched, the format got its first actual title event: the Disney Lorcana North America Championship, held in Anaheim and concluded September 3, 2026. Emerald/Steel was the most-played deck in the 136-player field by a wide margin, but Amber/Amethyst, a deck built to prey on exactly that kind of predictable top-of-the-room pick, walked away with the trophy.

That's the current headline. The rest of this page still tracks how the archetypes players already knew got patched up with the strongest new pieces from Monsters Inc, Up, Turning Red, and the returning Winnie the Pooh cast, useful context for understanding why these specific decks are the ones competing for the title now.

TL;DR: The Wilds Unknown top decks (Steelsong at 19%, Bounce at 16%, Ruby/Sapphire Items at 12%) were the competitive backbone heading into Set 13 launch. Update (2026-07-29): Week 1 Core Constructed data is now in, and the new Core top tier is Amber-paired across the board: Amber/Emerald Elinor (~13%), Amber/Ruby Boost (~12%), Amber/Amethyst Midrange (~10%), and Amber/Steel Steelsong (~10%, crossed over from Infinity), with Amethyst/Ruby Evasive (~7%) rounding out the top five. None of the pre-rotation Core leaders held a standalone top-tier slot. Update (2026-08-07): Three weeks of Core data now covers 750+ logged decks across 44 archetypes. Amber/Emerald Elinor (15%, 158 decks) and Amber/Amethyst Midrange (14%, 143 decks) have separated into co-leaders, with Amber/Ruby Boost (12%), Amber/Steel Steelsong (10%), and new entrant Amber/Emerald Songs (9%) rounding out the top tier. Amethyst/Ruby Evasive didn't disappear, it settled at 6%. Infinity-format data specific to Set 13 is still too thin to read reliably (only a handful of logged decks so far), so the Wilds Unknown Infinity numbers above remain the best available baseline for that format. Update (2026-08-20): inkdecks.com's live tracker has grown to 1,770 logged decks across 60 archetypes, and the top tier tightened further. Amber/Amethyst Midrange and Amber/Emerald Elinor are now fully tied at 16% each, Amber/Ruby Boost cooled to 10%, and it's joined there by Amber/Emerald Songs (10%) and Amber/Steel Steelsong (10%) in a three-way tie for third. Amethyst/Ruby Evasive slipped to 5%, passed by a new Tier 2 entrant, Amethyst/Steel Bots, at 6%. Infinity-format Set 13 data is still negligible (only a handful of decks logged total), so the Wilds Unknown Infinity numbers remain the best available baseline for that format. Update (2026-09-14): the season's first real title event is in, and it changes the picture more than any tracker update has. The Disney Lorcana North America Championship (Anaheim, concluded September 3) drew 136 qualified players, and Emerald/Steel took 11 of the 16 Top 16 slots. But the title went to Dillon LeDuc on Amber/Amethyst, who beat Sky Duntz's Emerald/Steel 3-1 in the finals, becoming the format's second-ever North America Champion despite Amber/Amethyst being less represented in the room. Amber/Emerald Items and a new contender, Emerald/Amethyst Retro (built around the item card Retro Evolution Devise cheating expensive glimmers into play early), rounded out the rest of the Top 16. This is tournament-verified data, not a rolling percentage tracker, and it's the strongest single data point this article has cited since Set 13 launched. The Amber/Amethyst Evasive deck guide now has the full winning 60-card list.

Updated October 2, 2026: The October 1 inkDecks Core snapshot for Attack of the Vine lists Amber/Amethyst Midrange at 19%, Amber/Emerald Elinor at 13%, Amber/Emerald Songs at 8%, and Emerald/Steel Detectives at 7%. The official North America Championship recap still records Amber/Amethyst as champion over Emerald/Steel 3-1 and 11 Emerald/Steel decks in the Top 16.

Update (2026-10-01): The current Core tracker shows Amber/Amethyst Midrange at 19% meta share, followed by Amber/Emerald Elinor at 13%, Amber/Emerald Songs at 8%, Emerald/Steel Detectives at 7%, and Emerald/Sapphire Mickey & Minnie at 6%. The Infinity sample is only three archetypes, so its percentages are not a stable tier signal.

Disney Lorcana Attack of the Vine Best Decks: Quick Answer

Build from what works. Amber/Steel Steelsong, Amethyst/Ruby Bounce, and Ruby/Sapphire Items all survive Set 13 and all pick up real upgrades from the new card pool. New players have a genuine choice: jump into a proven shell at a lower singles cost, or try to get ahead of the meta by assembling the most promising new builds early. Both approaches have merit, but the first one is lower risk.

If you have zero Lorcana cards, the Disney Lorcana starter decks guide covers your entry options before you start buying singles.

Key Takeaways

  • Amber/Amethyst just won the Disney Lorcana North America Championship (Anaheim, Sep 3), beating an Emerald/Steel finalist 3-1. The official recap records Emerald/Steel in 11 of the 16 Top 16 slots.
  • Amber/Steel Steelsong (19% meta share in Wilds Unknown Infinity) was the deck to beat entering Set 13, and its Core crossover (10%) confirms it held up
  • The 2026-08-20 inkdecks.com snapshot showed Amber/Amethyst Midrange and Amber/Emerald Elinor tied at 16% each, with Amber/Ruby Boost, Amber/Emerald Songs, and Amber/Steel Steelsong at 10%; it is a historical comparison point, not the current tier order
  • As of 2026-10-01, the current Core tracker shows Amber/Amethyst Midrange at 19%, Amber/Emerald Elinor at 13%, Amber/Emerald Songs at 8%, and Emerald/Steel Detectives at 7%
  • Infinity-format tournament data specific to Set 13 remains too sparse to draw conclusions from as of this update, so treat the pre-Set 13 Infinity numbers as the working baseline until more results come in
  • Winnie the Pooh's Hunny cards give Amethyst a new multi-ink tutoring engine, a different tool than the Bounce shell's tempo game
  • Emerald gains the most new raw aggressive tools via Up characters (Carl Fredricksen, Ellie Fredricksen, Russell); Monsters Inc's real Amber pieces upgrade a different half of the deck
  • Rush week (days 1-7 post-launch) almost always inflates aggro win rates before the meta adapts
  • Buy key singles after prerelease data drops, not before
  • Core format players on a tight budget benefit from the Core vs Infinity format guide (linked below in Related Reading) before choosing which deck to invest in

The Current Meta Going Into Set 13

Before Attack of the Vine changes anything, you need the baseline. In Infinity format, three decks have consistently posted the strongest results through the Wilds Unknown season:

Amber/Steel Steelsong (19% meta share) is the most played competitive deck. It uses Steel's defensive tools to protect high-value Amber singers while questing at a pace most opponents can't keep up with. Steelsong gets the most attention from any new set because it sits at the top and everyone's trying to either upgrade it or beat it.

Amethyst/Ruby Bounce (16%) punishes opponent setups by returning characters to hand at key moments. The deck wins through tempo rather than raw power. It's particularly effective against slower control strategies that need their big characters to stay in play.

Ruby/Sapphire Items (12%) is the item synergy deck that uses Sapphire's card draw to find its pieces consistently. It won several Wilds Unknown Championships by running a slower, more surgical gameplan than the aggressive decks sitting above it in raw share.

In Core format, the pre-rotation numbers were: Amethyst/Sapphire Evasive at 20%, followed by Amber/Amethyst at 15% and Amber/Emerald Aggro at 15%. Those were snapshots from before Sets 5-8 left Core Constructed on July 17, the same day as the Set 13 prerelease.

Update (2026-07-29): enough post-release data now exists to check that projection. Core shifted more than a simple "the leaders lose a few cards but hold on" read predicted: the new top tier is Amber/Emerald Elinor (~13%), Amber/Ruby Boost (~12%), Amber/Amethyst Midrange (~10%), Amber/Steel Steelsong (~10%, crossed over from Infinity), and Amethyst/Ruby Evasive (~7%). None of the three pre-rotation Core leaders held a standalone top-tier slot in the new picture; Amber paired with nearly every other ink turned out to be the format's real story. The Attack of the Vine format impact guide (linked below in Related Reading) has the full Week 1 breakdown. Treat this as a snapshot, not settled data, this soon after a set release.

Update (2026-08-07): three weeks in, the sample size is much larger (750+ decks logged across 44 archetypes, per inkdecks.com), and the picture has sharpened rather than flipped. Amber/Emerald Elinor climbed to 15% (158 decks) and Amber/Amethyst Midrange followed close behind at 14% (143 decks), effectively co-leading Core. Amber/Ruby Boost held at 12% (122 decks), Amber/Steel Steelsong stayed steady at 10% (105 decks), and a new fifth archetype, Amber/Emerald Songs, entered the top tier at 9% (97 decks). Amethyst/Ruby Evasive is still around at 6% (60 decks), it just isn't top five anymore. Infinity-specific Set 13 data is still too sparse to trust: only a handful of tournament decks have been logged for that format since the rotation, nowhere near enough to call a new Infinity tier order.

Update (2026-08-20): inkdecks.com's Core tracker has grown again, now 1,770 decks logged across 60 archetypes. The Elinor/Midrange gap has closed completely, both sit at 16% meta share, effectively a coin flip between the two rather than Elinor holding a lead. Boost cooled from 12% to 10% and now shares third place with Songs (10%) and Steelsong (10%). Evasive continued its slide to 5%, and a new archetype, Amethyst/Steel Bots, entered Tier 2 at 6%, ahead of Evasive but still outside the top five. Infinity-format Set 13 data remains negligible, inkdecks.com's Infinity tracker lists only 3 archetypes and roughly 4 total logged decks, so no meaningful read is possible there yet.

The full breakdown of how Songs interact with these archetypes is in the Songs mechanic guide (linked below in Related Reading), worth reading if Amber-heavy decks are your lane.

How Attack of the Vine Changes Each Ink

Set 13's new IP additions aren't evenly spread across the six inks. Some colors gain a lot; others get decent flavor cards and not much else.

Emerald gets the biggest competitive bump, but not from Monsters Inc, which prints in Amber, Ruby, and Sapphire, not Emerald. The real Emerald addition is Up: Carl Fredricksen, Ellie Fredricksen, and Russell all land primarily in Emerald, plus two standalone cards built for a straightforward Aggro shell, Tod - Clever Fox (draws 2, discards 1) and the bounce Song Put That Thing Back. Amber/Emerald Aggro sits at 15% share in Core already. Real Emerald tools from Set 13 are a meaningful push for that number, even though the Up cards themselves lean toward a location sub-theme that a pure Aggro list can take or leave.

Amethyst picks up a genuinely new build-around rather than a straightforward Bounce upgrade. Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh's Hunny Sage, is an Amethyst/Sapphire legendary whose Gather the Party ability lets a Hunny deck ignore the normal two-ink limit, pulling in Ruby's Tigger and Emerald's Gopher alongside him. It's a toolbox strategy, not the cheap, repeatable disruption Bounce is built around.

Ruby gets a faster early game. Meilin Lee-based characters from Turning Red bring cost options that trade well and put early quest pressure on opponents, including Meilin Lee, Popular Red Panda's Temporary Shift line. Ruby's been slightly inconsistent on turns 1-3 for a while. These additions help. See the full Attack of the Vine Turning Red Ruby deck guide for how Meilin Lee fits Amber/Ruby aggro and Ruby/Sapphire Items.

Sapphire adds a card draw piece through Dug, plus a Sapphire print of Ellie Fredricksen. Dug specifically previewed with a draw trigger, which is precisely what Sapphire/Items needs. One or two more draw options in a 60-card list adds up quickly in a late game that's already close. The full Attack of the Vine Up Sapphire guide covers Carl, Dug, and Russell roles in detail.

Steel gets mostly flavor cards with modest competitive impact. Steelsong doesn't need new Steel pieces to stay strong, so this barely matters.

Amber is where the real Monsters Inc upgrade lands. Mike Wazowski, Sulley, and Boo print primarily in Amber, and Amber/Emerald Aggro's Amber half picks up real pieces: Mike Wazowski - Well-Rounded Entertainer as a cheap 1-drop with a small lore boost, and Sulley - The New Boss as a 5-cost Super Rare Bodyguard finisher with discard recursion. The Amber core is already deep enough that these have to compete with proven pieces rather than slot into obvious gaps, but the top end especially is a real upgrade.

GODEEPER: The full ink breakdown for Set 13, including which new cards are already showing up in early deck techs, is in the Disney Lorcana Attack of the Vine ink changes guide.

Best Decks for Launch Week

Launch week data isn't representative of the long-term meta, but it still matters if you want to win locals happening in the first 10 days.

1. Amber/Steel Steelsong (Infinity Format) The safest choice, and probably the easiest upgrade path. The deck needs at most 5-8 new singles to stay current. The core engine of Amber singers questing under Steel protection doesn't change. Set 13 just gives you flex slots to improve the curve or target specific matchups. If you own the Wilds Unknown version of this deck, you can upgrade for a fraction of what building something new would cost.

2. Amethyst/Ruby Bounce (Infinity Format) Bounce doesn't get a splashy new-IP injection this set the way Emerald or Ruby do. Its staying power at Set 13 launch comes from the proven Wilds Unknown shell rather than any Attack of the Vine disruption upgrade. I'd still expect it to hold in the 14-18% share range through the first month, mostly on the strength of what it already had.

3. Amber/Emerald Elinor (Core Format) Update (2026-07-29): Week 1 Core results confirm Emerald was the right lane, but the winning shell turned out to be an Amber/Emerald Elinor build (~13% share) rather than the straight Amber/Emerald Aggro list projected before launch. The Emerald additions fill in aggressive two and three-cost slots that existing lists sometimes felt thin at, and Elinor's specific tools pushed that shell to the top of Core. For players on a budget who already own Wilds Unknown Emerald singles, upgrading into this archetype is the most cost-efficient way into competitive Core play right now. The full upgrade path, including which slots to cut and a budget option, is in the Emerald Aggro upgrade guide for Attack of the Vine. Update (2026-08-07): Elinor's lead over the field hasn't grown, Amber/Amethyst Midrange (14%, 143 decks) is now nearly tied with it for the top Core slot, so budget players should compare both builds before locking in singles purchases. Update (2026-08-20): the two are now fully tied at 16% each on inkdecks.com's live tracker, there's no meaningful lead left to speak of, so this is a coin-flip choice based on which existing singles you already own rather than a clear favorite.

4. Amber Monsters Inc Package This started as a rush-week piece to watch rather than a standalone new archetype, and that read has held up. Monsters Inc prints in Amber, not Emerald, so its impact shows up as an upgrade slotted into existing Amber-based decks, Amber/Emerald Elinor's Amber half and Amber/Steel Steelsong both, rather than a new deck on its own. Whether Sulley - The New Boss and Mike Wazowski earned a permanent spot in established Amber lists is folded into the August 20 snapshot's tied 16% shares above; there is no separate "Monsters Inc deck" line in that historical tracker data. For a deeper breakdown of Mike, Sulley, Boo, and Randall's individual card roles, see the Attack of the Vine Monsters Inc characters guide.

For the prerelease context and sealed format picks, the Attack of the Vine prerelease guide covers what to prioritize before you start drafting.

GODEEPER: If you're looking at specific card values and which singles are worth picking up early, the Disney Lorcana complete guide has an up-to-date section on Set 13 acquisition strategy.

What to Expect Over the First Month

Every Lorcana set follows the same rough arc after launch, and Set 13 probably won't be different.

Week 1 is rush week. Aggressive decks built around new IP characters overperform because opponents haven't practiced the matchup yet. Unfamiliarity adds fake win percentage. Steelsong and Bounce may look weaker than they actually are because their pilots are still testing new cards rather than running tight, optimized lists.

Week 2 is when control players who spent week 1 watching catch up. The meta compresses toward 4-5 dominant archetypes. Community lists converge on near-identical 60-card builds. This is usually when the first real "surprise" emerges, often a deck that looked mediocre in week 1 because nobody had built it correctly.

By week 3, tournament top-8 data starts reflecting actual tier order. At that point you have a reliable read on which new archetypes are real versus which ones only popped during rush week. Historically, about 30% of Lorcana sets produce a genuinely new competitive deck type. The other 70% just reorder the existing top 3-4 strategies.

Budget Options for New Players

If you're entering competitive Lorcana with Set 13 as your starting point, the math here is pretty clear: targeted singles beat cracking boxes almost every time.

The top 5-10 impactful singles from any new set get identified within 24 hours of prerelease events. Players who wait for that community signal and then buy those specific pieces spend far less than players cracking boxes hoping to open the same cards.

For Set 13: the Monsters Inc and Turning Red commons and uncommons that power aggressive strategies usually run under $2 each in the first week. The chase Super Rares and Legendaries are a different story, since Set 13 has no Enchanted tier to spread demand across, but most competitive builds don't actually need them to function. In most cases, $40-60 in targeted singles gets you a competitive launch-week list.

The Disney Lorcana budget deck guide covers which existing archetypes have the best price-to-performance ratio if you're building around Wilds Unknown cards you already own.

SHOP: Building one of the Attack of the Vine launch shells? Compare current Disney Lorcana singles for the cards your list actually needs. Shop TCGplayer →

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best decks for Disney Lorcana Attack of the Vine? By tournament result, Amber/Amethyst won the Disney Lorcana North America Championship, beating an Emerald/Steel finalist 3-1. In the October 1 Core tracker, Amber/Amethyst Midrange leads at 19% share, followed by Amber/Emerald Elinor at 13%. The official recap records Emerald/Steel in 11 of the 16 Top 16 slots.

Did any deck win a real Championship in the Attack of the Vine meta? Yes. Dillon LeDuc won the Disney Lorcana North America Championship (Anaheim, September 3, 2026) on Amber/Amethyst, beating Sky Duntz's Emerald/Steel deck 3-1 in the finals, despite Amber/Amethyst being only the fourth most-represented deck in the 136-player field.

Does Attack of the Vine create any new archetypes? Yes, but mostly refinements of existing strategies rather than entirely fresh builds. Monsters Inc cards push Emerald-based aggro harder than it's been before. Turning Red gives Ruby a faster early game. True new archetypes with no Wilds Unknown roots typically need 3-4 weeks of testing before reaching tournament viability.

Which inks benefit most from Set 13? Emerald gains the most raw aggro tools through Up characters, while Amber gets the real Monsters Inc pieces. Amethyst gets a new multi-ink tutoring engine through Winnie the Pooh's Hunny cards. Sapphire gets additional card draw from Dug. Ruby gets a faster early game from Turning Red options. Steel gains mostly flavor-driven cards with modest competitive impact.

Should I buy singles or booster boxes for Set 13? For competitive play, targeted singles almost always beat cracking boxes on cost per impact. The key singles list solidifies within 24 hours of prerelease. Wait for community consensus, then buy specifically what your archetype needs.

How long does it take for the Lorcana meta to settle after a new set? About 2-3 weeks. Rush week inflates aggressive new deck win rates temporarily. Control refinement happens in week 2. Tournament data becomes reliable and representative by week 3.

Is Attack of the Vine legal in Core format? Yes. Set 13 became legal in both Core and Infinity formats on July 17, 2026, the same day Core Constructed rotation removed Sets 5-8. As of October 1, 2026, the Core tracker showed Amber/Amethyst Midrange at 19%, Amber/Emerald Elinor at 13%, Amber/Emerald Songs at 8%, and Emerald/Steel Detectives at 7%.

What Pixar films are in Attack of the Vine? Set 13 features first-ever Pixar appearances from Monsters Inc, Up, and Turning Red, plus returning classics like Winnie the Pooh, The Little Mermaid, and the Mickey Mouse Gang. Fan-favorite franchise debuts historically receive cards with strong competitive stats, which is why community attention on these IP debuts runs high at every set launch.

References

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About the author

AC

Multi-TCG Format Analyst

Multi-TCG analyst covering the competitive trading card game scene. Tournament coverage, format analysis, and cross-game comparison content.

  • Covers multiple TCG formats
  • Tournament reporter and analyst
  • Cross-game format comparison specialist
  • Active in OPTCG, Union Arena, and Lorcana communities

Disclaimer

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