NEWS: Lorcana Shimmering Skies

The Sea Witch has been vanquished: Let's Celebrate!

Fresh from the last Disney Lorcana Lorecast, we finally found out that Ursula, the Sea Witch has been defeated and all the glimmers she entangled freed from her control. Thanks to the efforts of all Illumineers, the magical realm of Disney Lorcana is finally free and what do you do to properly celebrate? Of course you throw THE best magical party inviting all the Disney characters you can imagine including a lot of new faces. However, the story of Disney Lorcana is far from been over as a portion of the Great Illuminary fell to the ground during the party leading to a lot of speculations on what will come next.

What we know for sure, is that some of the hints will be hidden in the next set planned to be released in August and we also know that it will be called “Shimmering Skies”. A lot more details will be revealed soon, but we have already seen some very interesting products during the live stream so let's summarize what Ravensburger is cooking for this new set:

· The Product line of the new set will include as usual Booster Boxes, Booster Packs and a Trove. The art of this set will feature Donald Duck, Vanellope von Schweetz and Maui. The Trove looks really nice with the new card dividers we saw in the previous sets and a set of damage dice with “glimmering effect”. So Shiny!!! There is no sign of the Gift set for now although we know that a new entry level product (Lorcana gateway) will release almost at the same time of the new set thus it is possible it may have taken the spot of the gift set. The set will also have its own two dedicated Starter Decks: the first one features Elsa and Ralf (Amethist/Ruby) and the second one features Scar and Kronk (Emerald and Steel).

· In terms of accessories, Shimmering Skies will have a lot of interesting new entries. First, two gorgeous playing mats featuring Mirabel from the movie Encanto and an amazing “Belle, Accomplished Mystic”. Both artworks are from the previous set and they are gorgeous! During the Lorecast we also saw Ravensburger has strongly improved their Binder products making them much larger and suitable to keep all the cards from your set safe. The art of the binders is really nice and they are definitely a much appreciated addition. Together with two new sets and card sleeves featuring Tiana and Aladdin, there will be also a new set of sleeves highlighting the Disney Lorcana TCG card back. I quite like this idea as it allows to have opaque sleeves suitable for a competitive tournament while also allowing to enjoy the beautiful art of the back of your favourite cards.

· In terms of Characters and movies featured in the set we finally see Wreck-it Ralph smashing into Lorcana with a lot of new cards. Today we saw two different versions of Vanellope von Schweetz , a 1-cost vanilla Amber with 2/2 and a Ruby version, “Random Roster Racer”, with Rush and the ability to gain Evasive during its turn. Of course this amazing racer would have had Rush.....

“Wreck-it Ralph, Demolition Dude” will also be a new card for the set and it will continue the recent trend of alternative ways to generate lore in Ruby decks. In this case, Ralph will provide 1 lore for every damage he has on him every time a player Ready-him. With a Willpower of four, I can see ways to use cards like “Teeth and Ambitions” and “Shield of Virtue” to gain some key Lore advantage.

Last card from the same movie that has been presented is the location, “Bad-anon, Villain support centre” that allows any Villain character at the location to exert to play any character with the same name for just 3 Ink.

· Together with Wreck-it Ralf, we saw a few new cards from Frozen and Frozen 2. The first one of the set is 5 Ink, Rush/Evasive Amethyst Elsa that can exert an opposing character when played. As this version of Elsa is taken from the second chapter of the beloved franchise, we also have one of her spirit companions, “Bruni, Fire Salamander”. Together with being super-cute, this little fella will allow the player to draw a card once it is banished. Last but not least, there will be a very interesting “Kristoff, Raindeer Keeper”. Its cost of 9 seems quite prohibitive for Amber but he get a discount for every song in the discard pile similar to Chernabog from set 3.

· Among the other cards introduced today, my main highlight is the song “You're Welcome” that largely overdue. Interestingly this song is designed for Emerald decks as it allows to shuffle a character, item or location back into the players deck to allow them to draw 2 cards. This song can be used offensively although I think the best way to benefit from it would be to banish your own characters, in particular those with “when banished” effects. There’s also a very funny shift Donald Duck (“Pie Slinger”) that can make all the opponents lose 2 Lore when played. Its main ability, however, allows him to gain 6 Strength if your opponent has 10 Lore or more transforming him into a 9/6 terrifying fighter. Way to celebrate the 90th anniversary of one of my most loved Disney Characters! Last card we saw today is a Steel Super-rare “Kronk, Head of Security” that allows a player to play a character with a cost of 5 or less every time Kronk banishes a character in a challenge.