Set 7 for Disney Lorcana is coming in fast but definitely not loose, as it is shaping up to be another solid set with possibly a few meta-shaking tricks up its sleeve. We’ve already talked about the introduction of dual ink cards here in this space and I am hoping that these point the way to new deck archetypes while also inspiring players to dig deep into their collections and look for new ways to play old favorites or dust off seldom used cards that have newfound value. I am a little concerned that the things that look impactful now may not wind up making a huge difference in competitive strategies and concepts (such as what has kind of happened with Locations, Sing Together, and some of the card keywords) but I think casual players are going to be eating well with the new cards.
The big debuts for this set are somewhat muted, in my opinion. Lady and the Tramp, Bolt, and The Aristocats make their debuts making for a pretty pet-heavy theme for the set. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lady and the Tramp and The Aristocats. Bolt is…somewhere around Brother Bear I guess. We’re at the stage where the really big, marquee Disney characters are all pretty much in the game, we’re onto the B-tier, and I’m totally fine with that- in fact, I’ve used this column to lobby for even more obscure and uncommon characters and settings. Oh, and Mushu (from Mulan) is finally arriving- he’s a somewhat culturally controversial character and it was sort of up for debate whether he would or should come to Lorcana. But here we are.
I’m not sure that these additions will cause the excitement that Duck Tales, Princess and the Frog, or even Big Hero 6 fired up. And they certainly won’t thrill like The Goofy Movie would. But with that said, my long term goal of building a couple of Disney Pet decks is looking more and more viable. There’s a lore reason, according to Ravensburger for the pets as apparently Archaiza’s Island has a bunch of them along with an “ancient secret” which…I dunno, maybe it’s a discount code for Chewy.com or something.
The Enchanted category is looking pretty decent if you are one of those folks like my friend Neuromorph that pulls them from packs like he’s made a deal with Hades. Tamatoa – Happy as a Clam is widely tipped to be the big money chase card, and he’s both really great looking and a great card to boot. Hiro Hamada – Armor Designer is giving Dragon Ball Z vibes with his artwork but I’m really interested in his You Can Be Way More ability, which introduces a new concept- giving bonuses for Floodborn cards that have a card under them. Neat! I love the art for Devil’s Eye Diamond but a) it’s probably not the best card and b) The Rescuers might be the only Disney animated film I hate. Restoring Atlantis looks amazing and seems pretty decent- shutting down challenges until the start of your next turn.
We’ll get more into the cards of Archaiza’s Island in the coming weeks, after I’ve had a chance to play with some of them. But I will say in advance that the dual ink Ink Geyser, which brings land destruction to Lorcana, may be a very, very interesting prospect. And I absolutely love the new Donald Duck: Flustered Sorcerer that is the first card to change the victory condition- he sets it to 25 and comes in at 7 ink, which is going to make those photo finish games quite interesting. The new Illusion keyword, which features in one of the starter decks and is only on three cards so far, seems a little undercooked- but it may just be a sort of preview for more to come.
As for the release, it’s pretty much what we’ve come to expect with the usual starter deck pair, this time with Belle and Beast in one (imagine that) and Iago and Jafar in the other. The latter may be setting up Jafar to be the big villain of the next few releases as Ursula was for a while. There’s an Illumineer’s Trove of course, which always makes me think of how people used to practically treat these like gold. New to this release is a Lilo Gift Set, which comes with an exclusive Lilo- Escape Artist promo card, a small storage box with dividers, and “five assorted booster packs” which may be anything from sets 2 through 6. This is a really fun idea and possibly a good option to run a little booster draft. Sleeves and boxes are Cinderella and Ursula, again using artwork from past sets. Pirate Tigger and the whole Big Hero 6 team are coming on the playmats, which will as usual likely be in short supply. I’m thinking the Tigger will be the prize pick there.
So good things coming, lots more Lorcana fun to be had and a good indication that the game isn’t running out of steam any time soon. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll see what goes on in the meta and what the big money cards turn out to be (protip- that Tamatoa is going to be huge whether Enchanted or not), and I’ll be drafting up my Pet deck- bet.
Next time: The Eve of Destruction!
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