For some reason, I got to thinking, “Who is Lorcana’s main character?” and that led to quite a lot of internal and external debate as to who should be feted with such a title. I mean, somebody’s gotta be, right? So who should wear the crown so to speak? Now, the fine folks at Ravensburger (at least the “Disney Lorcana Narrative Team” would have us believe that their bespoke group of Illumineers including such completely non-memorable names as Shanzay, Martin, Venturo, “unnamed Mickey Summoner” and other “new arrivals”are the main characters (per the wiki at Lorcana.Fandom.com, as I had to look it up). There’s also a mysterious Curator, and some also mysterious “original Illumineers” that were all about gathering and collecting Lore. But come on, this whole Illuminary thing so far hasn’t exactly emerged as a great setting- it’s the Disney animation stuff we’re here for, not this goofball backstory.
So then what about Mickey Mouse. I mean, he’s kind of the ideal candidate right? He’s also got a bunch of cards and is always represented in every set. But most of his cards so far have been less than spectacular. But you still go “oh hey, Mickey!” when you pull them. And Brave Little Tailor was probably the first cards most folks saw and thought OK, yeah, maybe I might like this game. And Mickey Mouse – Detective is a stone classic that still sees play in Sapphire ramp decks. But nah, Mickey just ain’t got the moxie, I’m afraid.
Elsa makes a good argument for herself- she’s a modern princess, making her immediately appealing to younger generations of Disney fans and she has one of the all-time bangers out of the Disney songbook. Spirit of Winter was the first big chase card, and in the early days of the game was pretty much endgame when she dropped and pulled off that stunlock maneuver. She’s had some of the best art in the game, and her Enchanted still commands a whopping eight hundred bucks. But let’s be frank, Ice Surfer, Snow Queen, Gloves off and the other variants haven’t exactly set the meta on fire. Or ice, as the case may be. She was dubbed the game’s Charizard, but Charizard isn’t the main character, is he?
Moana, as I recently discussed in this column, has had some solid representation and like Elsa, she’s a modern princess without the whiff of dated ick that some of her peers subliminally carry. She’s super current, with a new hit film out and she’s been featured in accessories and as a marquee character. But here again, most of her cards haven’t really been super great or meta-defining, if we’re looking at that as a qualifier for main character status.
Now, Maleficient really, really wants to be the main character and bless her wicked heart she comes closest to it so far in this rather ridiculous discussion. Monstrous Dragon was a huge bomb in the game’s first couple of sets although she’s rarely played in “serious” decks anymore. She’s had a few really good cards, some awesome artwork, and god’s sake Diablo sort of manages to help prop up her candidacy. I’ve even come up with a “Maleficient Madness” deck I shared in this space that is all about Maleficient quite literally as a main character. But still- we’re not quite there.
Stitch- too doofy, although Rockstar was an early aspirant. I’d totally support Goofy for Knight for a Day and Super Goof alone- the dude is a great father and a true Renaissance man/dog. But maybe the “murder Goofy” meme raises too many questions? Donald Duck is a glorified sidekick, much to his chagrin, and isn’t really fit to lead due to anger issues. Ursula had her own set and starred in the co-op/solo game but how many times have we collectively vanquished her? The other princesses have ranged from game-defining to inconsequential, and virtually every Lorcana player would rank their favorite princesses differently. Robin Hood had a good run with some extremely solid cards, but like a lot of Disney’s output in the 1970s, he remains B-list. I love the Duckburg crew but there again, B-list. Same with Big Hero 6. Brother Bear never had a chance, and I believe that Treasure Planet awareness multiplied exponentially due to the game so now at least 400 people have seen it.
So we are left with only one viable option, and it’s something I’ve felt in my heart for some time. Lorcana’s main character is none other than Flynn Rider. Yes, that’s right, Flynn Rider. He’s been consistently the best, coolest, and most fun to play character in the game and the whole storyline is really just about how best, coolest, and most fun he is. My dude only has 4 cards in the game, but they are all great. If I’m playing Emerald or Ruby, I’m playing Flynn Rider. And since I’m usually playing Emerald, I’m usually playing Flynn Rider.
Charming Rogue kicked off my Flynn Rider fandom- a First Chapter classic, this smug card offers up a complete package at 2 ink. Quests for 2, has 2 Willpower, and when he’s challenged he effects a discard with Here Comes the Smolder. He was discard before discard was cool, and was the best early game control card in Emerald for a long time.
Rise of the Floodborn is where Flynn Rider really blew up though. Confident Vagabond was a good 1-drop with 3 willpower to give him a little more stamina, but the real Flynn to watch was His Own Biggest Fan, which remains my favorite card in the game. Shifts at 2 onto any other Flynn, he’s evasive, and he can quest up to four with his One Last, Big Score ability. The catch is that he loses a lore for every card in the opponent’s hand. Thematically, the idea is that you lower defenses and then Flynn drops down and steals all the lore. I love the art, I love the story this card tells, I love it all. And it’s the perfect complement to a discard strategy.
Ravensburger
Ursula’s Return saw the only non-Emerald Flynn, Frenemy. And it turned out to be awesome. The picture shows him running off with a sack of loot because, well, one of your characters with more Strength than each opposing characters has distracted them. And Narrow Advantage is a start-of-turn action. It’s one of the easiest ways to nab three lore in the game, provided that your Ruby build (and whatever color you pair with it) puts some big characters on the table. Since he’s only two ink, it’s not too difficult to drop him early and run out the door with some lore. And if you can buff his strength up- he can do this all day.
Ravensburger
I’m definitely looking forward to what the next set will bring for my boy, especially since he was completely ignored in a couple of sets. They owe him big time. I expect to see Flynn to become a marquee character, I want a His Own Biggest Fan playmat as well as an acknowledgement from the “Disney Lorcana Narrative Team” that yes, Flynn Rider is actually what this entire Lorcana story is all about.
Next time: An inside look at the Lorcana Challenge!
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