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I am very fond of Christmas and one of the things I loved the most since I was very young is the wait for a new Disney movie to be released during the holidays. This year, a lot of Disney fans will have one more reason to long for the Christmas season as the new chapter of Disney Lorcana the Trading Card Game is set to release just at the beginning of December.
Considering how much hype there has been for the First Chapter set, Disney Lorcana Chapter 2 is definitely heading to be a massive hit. In fact, the Community has been chasing down hints on the new set and discussing possible content since the initial info released by Ravensburger on xxx. Considering we are just over 6 weeks from the release date of the set we would like to summarize what we know so far and what we may expect from the new set.
Set Information & Release Date
First thing first, Disney Lorcana Chapter two will have a nice name: “Rise of the Floodborn” booster box. All Lorcana’s characters have a subtype or archetype listed on their cards that is connected to Disney and Lorcana lore. For example, “Storyborn” characters are original Disney designs while “Dreamborn” characters are Lorcana’s take on these classics. “Floodborn” refers to characters that strongly deviate from Disney’s original designs like a Gaston “Intellectual powerhouse” and a Belle “Hidden Archer” that have exchanged their original roles.
Basing on the game lore, the six magical inks, were released in a mixed-up chaotic form, resulting in a mysterious flood which damaged the Great Illuminary. When Storyborn or Dreamborn glimmers encountered this mixed ink, they surged with a power that changed them, transforming them into Floodborn glimmers. I am sure more background will be available in the Illumineer’s trove booklet as previously done.
Disney Lorcana Chapter 2 will include 204 new cards and will feature characters and songs from The Princess and the Frog, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Zootopia, The Great Mouse Detective, The Jungle Book, and Raya and the Last Dragon. The set is due to release in local game stores on the 17th of November 2023 while all other stores will need to wait until the 1st of December 2023. The approach is similar to the one used for the First Chapter and it aims to promote local gaming. Together with the new set and the new accessories, Ravensburger will also issue a Disney100 collectors edition set, which includes four booster packs from the Second chapter and six cards alternate arts signed by artists from Walt Disney Animations Studios.
New Chapter, New Look... And New Accessories
Rise of the Floodborn range of products will be very similar to those already seen for the First Chapter. So far Ravensburger revealed the art for the booster packs that will feature Raya, the Queen of Hearts and the Beast. Merlin, and Tiana will also be featured on the booster box that will include 24 packs as usual.
We also know that there will be an Illumineer’s Trove, two Starter Decks, and two styles for playmats, deck boxes, and deck sleeves. Spoiler alert: both designs are very cool! All products will have similar content composition of those from the First Chapter and we are likely to see the release of new style for the portfolios too.
The two starter decks will feature the foil version of The Queen – Commanding Presence and Gaston – Intellectual Powerhouse (Amber/Sapphire) and Merlin – Shapeshifter and Tiana – Celebrating Princess (Amethyst/Steel).
As you may have noticed, there will be no Gift box this time as Ravensburger will release a special set to celebrate the 100 years anniversary of Disney. The set will contain 4 booster packs and six exclusive full art foil cards taken from both The First Chapter and Rise of the Floodborn. Each of these six cards will be an alternate art and will be signed by artists from Walt Disney Animations Studios making this a very collectible set.
New Keywords & Impact On Gameplay
A new TGC set would not be completed without the introduction of something new. In the case of the new Lorcana set, this will be done by adding a new keyword mechanic named “Resist”. Resist is a passive ability that reduces the amount of damage a Character card will take from any source. For example, a character with Resist +2 will ignore 2 damages for any attack, effect of spell that target such card.
The new mechanic is quite interesting as it will prevent characters to be banished by taking cumulative damage from low level characters with low attach power. This will also apply to some low cost removal cards like “Stampede” or “Fire the cannons” that will likely not be able to damage a character with Resist.
Sneak Peak Of Some Of The New FloodBorn Cards
As TGCs are all about cards, I left the best part for the end and now it is finally the time to have a quick look into some of the the new cards revealed for Rise of the Floodborn. I have limited the list to just a few interesting cards as new cards are revealed periodically and this preview is mainly meant to give an idea of what to expect from the new set.
Cinderella, Stouthearted (Steel, Super Rare; cost 7) is a character with a Strength and Willpower of 5 that can shift for 5 on top of another character named Cinderella. This version of our beloved Disney Princess will pack quite a punch considering she has a resit +2 together with a native willpower of 5. Her passive ability will also allow the Stouthearted to challenge ready characters as far as a song is played in the same turn. Did I mentioned she can also quest for 3 lore?
The Queen, Commanding presence (Amber, Super Rare; cost 5) is a character with a very interesting support role. When questing for 2, her active ability allows one chosen character to lose 4 strength while another one will gain the same amount. I can not wait to see my Heihei becoming an hero and surviving after taking down a strong character...
The Sorcerer's Spellbook (Amethist, rare; cost: 3) is a item that can be exerted to gain 1 lore at the cost of 1 ink. This item together with a few other cards in the set (like Cogsworks) will provide a new way to gain lore other than questing ideally increasing the strategic depth of the game .
Cogsworks, Talking Clock (Saphire, uncommon; cost: 2) is a character with Strength 2 and Willpower 3. Its passive ability allows all reckless characters to be exerted to gain 1 lore making those characters more versatile and preventing them to get banished by been forced to challenge a character.
Cogsworks, Grandfather Clock (Saphire, Super Rare; cost 5) is a character with Strength 2 and Willpower 5 that can shift for 3 on top of another Cogswork character. Once in play, all other player characters gain Resist +1 making them much more difficult to remove. Considering the Grandfather Clock also has ward this card can be a great staple for any blue deck.
Final Thoughts
I am sure the new Disney Lorcana set will make everyone talking about it a lot as more and more information will be revealed as we near the release date. Basing on the cards revealed so far, the set seems to focus on providing alternative strategies to gain lore while making more difficult to remove some characters.
It is likely these hard to hit characters will become focal part of new strategies although, considering this is only the second set of Disney Lorcana, most of the cards issued in the First Chapter will probably still be useful to support the newly released cards. It is highly probable that we will found out more interesting details of this set before it fully releases and we all have the chance to enjoy this game further. In the meantime, more information can be found by visiting the official Lorcana website First Look - Rise of the Floodborn | Disney Lorcana by Ravensburger.
Considering how much hype this Rise Of The Floodborn set will be it is also recommended to pre-order the products you love the most from Zatu till stock last to make sure you can join the fun since the very first day!