You’re definitely going to need to load up on Japanese Lorcana cards if you plan to play a tournament there.
The Japanese Disney Lorcana site managed by Takara Tomy got some pretty sweet updates today, even creating their very own official deck builder that you can share the deck list around!
Tournament Rule Key Points
There are a lot of details to the Japanese tournament rules document linked here, so here are a few key points I noticed.
- The rules stated in the document only apply to the Japanese version of the game for official events in Japan. They are different from the English version and should not be treated as a Japanese translation. (Opening paragraph)
- Only Japanese cards can be used in official tournaments held in Japan. (Point 1.5)
- Probably for simplicity of understanding, the match structure is listed as (Point 3.3)
- BO1 (Best of 1) – Winner receives 3 points, draw = 1 point each
- BO2 (Best of 2) – Each game is worth 3 points, player who wins both games earns an extra point
- BO3 (Best of 3) – Played until 1 player wins 2 games
- Interestingly, the rules state that constructed decks cannot contain 5 cards or more that have the same full ENGLISH name, not Japanese. (Point 5.1)
- Time limits are split down according to the match structure and not according to swiss / single-elimination rounds like in the English rules (Point 7.1)
- BO1 – 25 mins
- BO2 – 45 mins (Similar time limit for swiss rounds)
- BO3 – 70 mins (Similar time limit for single elimination rounds)
To explain point 4 in more detail, the rules is the same as English Lorcana, you can only play a maximum of 4 copies of any card (full name in the document likely refers to name + version). The interesting part is the rule states that they check the full name of the ENGLISH version of the card, not the Japanese version.
Aside from the points I noticed above, the rest of the rules do look similar to the current English Tournament Rules, though I recommend anyone planning to take part in a Japanese event to still study through their version of the tournament rules document.
Deck Builder
In another cool update, they got an official deck builder site you can try out linked here!
It’s pretty easy to use, even if it is in Japanese.
Step 1: Choose your ink
Note: If you already have a deck code, you can key it here in the bottom of text field too!
Step 2: Start adding cards to your deck by using the plus or minus / trash symbols
There is also a name search and ink cost filter on top, or press the right button for more filters
When you are done with your deck, click on the “デッキ詳細を見る” button
Step 3: Check our your final deck, including some basic stats like ink breakdown, card costs and more!
Also if you want to share the deck to others, you can copy the deck code shown on the bottom left, or just click on the “URLをコピー” button to copy the URL to share to a friend.
The deck builder is of course limited to The First Chapter, but it still looks like a pretty nice clean way to build the deck! I just wish it didn’t cut off for the 3rd row of cards. I’ve tried using various monitor sizes but they all cut off in a similar way.
On the phone though, it looks pretty similar to the official app’s deck builder. I am digging the extra data given at the final deck display and the deck code sharing implementation though. This definitely feels like they took some inspiration from Dreamborn.ink and I’m all for following design patterns that work.
