Fabled Rare Tournament #2 Recap | Escape Land CCG

May 19, 2026

This past Friday, players gathered to compete in competitive Escape Land with 3 rounds of Swiss play and a cut to top 4, culminating in an incredible finals between Josh and 2Lainz - which was an instant classic!

Here was the metagame breakdown for the event:

At the end of Swiss, the top 4 decks were:
1.) Dragons & Ghoulies (Josh)
2.) Fishpals & Snugglers (2Lainz)
3.) Ghoulies & Snugglers (Zrimmi)
4.) Snugglers & Dragons (M.T. Rose)

At the end of the semi-finals, we were left with an amazing matchup between Dragons & Ghoulies vs Fishpals & Snugglers.

Here is a link to game 1 of the finals, and the remaining videos can be found on the same YouTube channel!

As for what made the matchup so fun to watch, that came down to how the traits themselves in Escape Land work with and against each other. Dragons & Ghoulies are a very KO heavy, controlling strategy that is looking to gain an edge through well-timed Necrostags, Shadowflares, Dreadhounds, and Scorchlings to keep the board clear, and powerful over-the-top Legends such as Dracoria and Ghoulrex to rack up Escape Points.

Leading up to the event Josh, pilot of the Dragon & Ghoulie deck, wanted to take advantage of the recent change to Deceptnut by leveraging an efficient Legend like Shadowflare to eat the first hit from Deceptnut, and then follow it up with a Necrostag to get the KO. This proved to be an effective strategy, carrying him to an undefeated record in Swiss and a 2nd place finish.

2Lainz, the reigning champion, opted for a Fishpal & Snuggler brew to take advantage of all of the KO effects we saw run rampant in Tournament #1, which was dominated by Ghoulie & Snuggler decks. With this in mind, he leaned hard into Kingjaw, Malfin, and Deceptnut to provide as much protection as possible for his Legends, while running very little removal and only relying on 3x Scorptide, 1x Bandles, & 1x Gigawhale to help create enough breathing room to race across the finish line.

Watching the finals play out, you really get a feel for the strategic depth that Escape Land has to offer. The Action Point system and ability to summon Legends, offers a ton of flexibility and utility in a given turn - both players did this masterfully. The games were incredibly close and with the protection of the Fishpal effects, 2Lainz was able to claim his 2nd straight tournament victory in the third game of a finals I am sure all of us will remember for a long time.

The metagame in Escape Land continues to be developed - Josh's Dragon & Ghoulie build is bound to be a meta-defining deck for the weeks to come, and 2Lainz Fishpal & Snuggler brew can be used as a solid starting point for folks looking to combat it - where will the format go next? Be sure to stay locked in and check out the card database and deck building site to figure out which cards you'll play next!

Here are all the lists from the event:

1st Place - 2Lainz