Disney Lorcana, The first Chapter – Review

I must admit that when I first heard about Disney Lorcana, the Trading Card Game I was a bit sceptical. Trading card games are pretty expensive and committing to a whole new game from start is not a easy choice to make. As a seasoned TGC player, I was mainly wondering about what Lorcana will have to make it stand out from all others TGCs around. On the other hand, there was a very strong nostalgia component associated to a game that uses Disney Characters and I loved the idea to start this journey with my young son.

When the game first released in August 2023, I was still feeling quite floundered but I decided to give the game a try. My wife was not too surprised to be honest as she knows me very well but she tried to be supportive as my son and I got into “Booster pack opening” frenzy-mode. After playing the game for six months, I can definitely day that playing Disney Lorcana is really worth it and I wanted to review “The First chapter” set, to celebrate where it all started.

What is Lorcana and how do you play it?

One of the first aspect I love to learn about a new game is the type of setting and story that the creators invented for it. In this case, you can learn from the official website that Lorcana is an enchanted realm of imagination set in a distant dimension. At the centre of this realm lies the Great Illuminary, a amazing place created by the Curator to harness fragments of Disney stories and use to bring new characters and story to life through the use of magical Ink. At the very beginning, the halls of the Great Illuminary were filled with Illumineers, gifted apprentices able to use the Ink to summon Disney characters in form of glimmers and use to collect and preserve lore.

In the actual game, you therefore play as an Illumineer and your aim is to be the first to collect 20 lore. This can be achieved in different ways although the most common is to perform a “quest” action with your characters to gain lore. Some characters are very good at this while others can be better suited to “challenge” your opponents characters to “banish” them and slow your opponent progress. In addition, characters can also sing songs to trigger some powerful effects and use other special abilities. Almost all characters can perform any of this action although some can be very specialized thus more effective to pursue one or two strategies.

Another aspect to consider in the game is the need to use your cards very wisely. Every turn, you draw one card and you can then put one from your hand into the Inkwell. The more cards you have “inked” the more resources you have to play other cards including characters or actions. However, the more cards you play the less you have in hand to ink or play next turn thus having cards that allows to draw more cards is key to win the game. On the other hand, healing your damaged characters can be a good way to keep them on the board limiting the number of resources you need to spend every turn to have new characters in play.

Which cards are included in the First Chapter? The First Chapter of Disney Lorcana included 204 cards of different rarity, 34 for each of the six different Ink colours. Interestingly, the cards belonging to each colour have some general trait in common that support a certain type of strategy. For example, Amethyst (purple) is the only Ink colour in the first chapter with a consistent drawing ability. Best cards of this colours are the song

“Friends on the Other side” (to draw two cards) and “Maleficent – Sorceress” (draw one card when played). On the other hand, most of cards with the ability to heal your characters are Amber (Yellow). “Rapunzel – Gifted with Healing” is among the best cards you can have in your Amber deck as it allows the player to heal up to 3 damages and to draw a card for each damage you healed.

Among the other Ink colours, Ruby (Red) cards specialize in challenging your opponent characters, while Steel (Gray) characters have usually higher defence. Ruby also includes two of the best removal cards in the First Chapter: “Dragon Fire” that banishes a single character and “Be Prepared” that destroys all characters in play including yours. On the other hand, Steel includes a lot of cards to damage your opponents characters like “Fire the cannons”. “Smash” and the super versatile “Grab your sword” that deals two damages to each of your opponent(s) characters.

Finally, Emerald (Green) includes a lot of “Evasive” characters and abilities that force the opponent to discard cards while a lot of Sapphire (Blue) cards are item cards or have the ability to Ink additional cards each turn. In the first chapter, these two Ink colours are usually playing a support role to your strategies and messing up with your opponent strategy. Emerald for example includes “Kuzco - Temperamental Emperor” that has been the nightmare of most of my opponents with its special ability to be immune to actions and songs and the possibility to quest for 3 lore each turn. “Mickey Mouse – Detective” (sapphire) is another card I used a lot as it allows to add a card from your deck to the Inkwell when played.

Longevity of Disney Lorcana First Chapter cards

As mentioned at the beginning, the First Chapter was released in August 2023. While the game moved forward and we are now playing with the cards of the third set it is interesting to note that a lot of cards from the first set are still very playable with some of them being important staples of any deck. Among them we can surely count the mentioned Ruby and Steel removal cards (Be Prepared, Grab your sword) but we also have a lot of characters cards that are still played a lot.

A few examples include “Ariel – Spectacular singer” with the ability of singing songs of a cost up to 5 even if she only costs 3 and “Stitch – Rock star” that can allow a player to draw a card every time they play a character with a cost of 2. Both these cards are very important staples for a Amber/Steel deck that has been dominating the competitive events since day one. “Lilo – Making a Wish” that only costs one but can quest for 2 is another good cards that is played a lot .

“Flynn Rider – Charming Rogue” is a very good card in the First Chapter as he can quest for two lore and force the opponent to discard a card if he is banished in a challenge. However, he can also “Shift” (upgrade) into a Floodborn version of himself from The Second Chapter that can quest for up to four lore every turn. “Belle – Inventive Engineer” and “Jafar – Wicked Sorcerer” also have different version of themselves in Chapter 2 and 3 that can benefit from Shifting from their counterpart from the First Chapter.

Overall, the cards from the very first set not only have a high collectible value but they are still important in the current game.

Final thoughts on Chapter 1

Overall, The First chapter of Disney Lorcana is a great set and an amazing entry level in the new game published by Ravensburger. Although the sets and products are now very difficult to find, the First Chapter is still the one with the highest collectible value of the three sets released so far. In terms of gameplay, the cards from the First Chapter are also a great entry level for any new players looking to enjoy Disney Lorcana. In addition, a lot of cards from this set are still very playable with some of them being extremely valuable for competitive strategies.

That concludes our thoughts on Disney Lorcana – The First Chapter. Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts and tag us on social media @zatugames. To buy Disney Lorcana – The First Chapter click here!