As someone that was around when Magic: The Gathering first released, I recall when Wizards of the Coast/DCI started restricting the use of certain cards in deckbuilding. Granted, it was still very much a Wild West sort of atmosphere for TCGs then and many casual players either had no idea that some cards were limited to one per deck or outright banned. Cards that were knocking the game out of balance, like the fabled Black Lotus and Mox stones as well as weirdo cards like Time Vault and Rukh Egg were wisely restricted. There was some waffling- I remember that my beloved Icy Maniuplator was restricted and then not. But then, when the Legends set came out, something interesting happened. All cards that were keyworded “legends” were restricted, because it only made sense for you to have one Nicol Bolas out, yeah?
Wizards of the Coast
But that was all 30 years ago, and now here we are with Lorcana- a game still, despite heading into its fourth set, in a formative phase. And increasingly, after playing in competitive leagues and tournaments as well as on Pixelborn where money and availability do not factor into deckbuilding, I’m beginning to think that it’s time for a restricted list. Playing against some of the top meta decks and seeing how quite frankly abusive they are to the rules set and opponent, I’d love to see some strictures placed around certain cards. Not only would this shift the game toward a broader, more diverse meta but it would also make competitive decks more accessible. When you don’t need four Ursulas, four Robin Hoods, and Four Sad Beasts (that’s like $400 of cards right there) you can be more creative with decks and use more of the cards in the set. This is not a popular opinion and in fact I fully expect to take a lot of flak for it, including plenty of “git gud” notices from the TCGbro contingent.
So, armor up, here are my selections for what needs to be restricted.
All Legendaries. Period. You heard me right, every Legendary should be a limit one card. This makes getting them into your hand and playing them much more of a central strategic point. It makes having to sacrifice one to ink a much harder choice. This restriction would encompass a lot of cards that in my opinion adversely affect the metagame as it stands today. Many Legendaries, such as Elsa, Spirit of Winter and Ursula, Deceiver of All are profoundly powerful and really ought to be a one per deal. Some other Legendaries aren’t nearly as impactful (ahem, Gantu), which might be problematic. Moving forward however, this would allow the developers to focus on making the Legendaries more epic and more consistently impactful with more interesting synergies and possibilities abound. And, as stated, this would also ease the desire for players to collect 4 copies of a $50 card. These are Legendaries as they should be extremely rare but massive when they do appear. This is what Magic intended with their Legends back in the day, and I’d love to see it now.
Be Prepared. This is the card that really got me thinking about what should be restricted and given that this card is a turn 7 hard reset that you will almost always face in a matchup with Ruby, it’s predictability is really its only drawback. A full board wipe is a powerful thing that can also backfire, but when you’ve got three more in the deck it just gets a little ridiculous. I’ve seen too many games decided by not one Be Prepared, but multiples going off. This disrupts the flow of the game and often causes games to drag on longer than they should. It is a great card, don’t get me wrong- but one is enough.
A Whole New World. When this card first emerged, everyone was calling it Wheel of Fortune because it does the same thing that the MTG card does- discard your hand, redraw 7. Like Be Prepared, this can be a hard reset that potentially impacts both players negatively- or positively. Since it’s a net gain in terms of cards for both players, Wheel of Fortune has been restricted in MTG since 1994, and it needs to be restricted in Lorcana in 2024.
Madam Mim, Fox. Quite possibly the most annoying card in the entire game not only because it’s cheap/inkable 4/3 Rush that can clear almost anything played in the first four turns of the game, but also because her Chasing the Rabbit ability is both overpowered and time-consuming. At only three ink, this card is such a powerhouse in decks that rely on bouncing cards back and forth from the hand, such as the Merlin Goat which stacks up lore like crazy. I think the developers may have thought the requirement to banish Madam Mim or return another character to hand was more of a drawback than it is, and with a deck full of these cards and other Amethyst cards from Rise of the Floodborn it’s just out of control. Restricting these cards would lead to less Amethyst match-ups where the other player is flipping cards into and out of play for most of the game time. Played correctly, this whole combo has some of the same problems that MTG’s Timetwister did, where the player takes another turn. One time is fine. But Madam Mim is a card that can functionally wind up being played many more than four times, which is why this card is heavily present in meta decks.
Hiram Flaversham, Toymaker. At first glance, this card doesn’t seem like it breaks much. However, with its 6 Willpower and Artificer ability, it can be diabolically hard to shift for a card that only costs 4 and gives the opponent a ridiculous amount of card draw- especially under the Ward of an Aurora or Cogsworth. It’s true that he a) needs to banish an item and b) has to be played or quest in order get the card draw, but the abundance of cheap items and the relative ease of accessing this ability makes it a candidate to be restricted. Sapphire deck players often find themselves with huge, imbalanced card advantage that is especially good for ramp decks using Fishbone Quills or Belle, Strange but Special to squeeze out extra ink. Here again, having one is a great strategic asset. Having four is borderline abusive. And that’s why this is such a popular card in the meta right now- he’s disruptive and with more and more items available each set, he’s gonna get worse.
There are others that have blanket effects that can be difficult to counter like Cogsworth, Grandfather Clock and direct removal options like Lady Tremaine, but I’m not sure that those have set off my “restrict this sick filth” trigger like the above have. The problem with all of this is that opinions will undoubtedly widely vary, but more significantly that Ravensburger has not built in any way to make restricted cards easily identifiable if they were to go this route. Unless they just restrict all the Legendaries, which I’d love to see. I know TCG Doctrine, especially as practiced by the TCGbros, is that moar power is moar better and that these games are often hyper competitive and require moar power to be the very best but Lorcana would greatly benefit from a greater sense of balance and equity. Making the competitive game more accessible and less dependent on a few key cards could surely help.
Next week- Ursula’s Return!
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.
