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Disney Lorcana’s seventh set, Archazia’s Island, officially released to local game stores on the 7th March 2025, and there were lots of new cards included to build decks around. The set introduced three new films into Lorcana’s ever-growing catalogue: Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats and Bolt. It also featured the next chapter of the Lorcana story: The visit to Archazias Island, with the story narrated on the 20 different art cards included in the packs, an amazing new feature immersing us further into the world of Lorcana. Several new mechanics were introduced including 70+ dual-ink cards and new ways for Floodborn characters to enter play, which led to some amazing new cards! So, here is my top ten cards to build decks around, that have me excited to play and open Archazia's Island.
10. Bolt – Superdog
How could I not start off this list with a new character introduced in Archazia’s Island, and one of my favourite characters growing up: Bolt. This adventure-loving super dog is an Amber/Steel dual-ink card that can shift for 3 and can exert to banish illusion characters. However, his main attraction is his ability to gain lore when readied, equal to the number of your other undamaged characters in play. Amber decks will often run healers like “Rapunzel – Gifted with healing” or “Julieta Madrigal – Excellent Cook” to draw cards and heal simultaneously which complements Bolt well. Pair this with “John Silver – Ship’s Cook“, who can prevent opposing characters from challenging upon entry, and “Kida – Protector of Atlantis”, who lowers the strength of all characters upon entry by 3, and your characters can stay damage free. The final piece of the puzzle is “Sven – Reindeer Steed”, who can ready Bolt when he is played, and add an extra lore for him being readied mid-turn for an extra boost. And although Bolt cannot challenge or quest, he can exert by singing songs up to 5 cost like “Along Came Zeus” or “A Whole New World” to add to Sven’s value and be able to be readied at the start of your next turn, or exert to banish any Illusion characters in play. In this deck, Bolt is doing what he does best: protecting his humans!
9. The Queen – Jealous Beauty
Another legendary card for The Queen but this time in Amythyst, and another type of card not yet seen in Disney Lorcana. The Queen costs 4 ink and when exerted it interacts with the opponents discard pile and adds 3 cards back to the bottom of their deck, gaining 3 lore in the process. If a princess card is returned, she gains you an extra lore. With Rapunzel, Ariel, Belle, Moana and Cinderella all having meta relevant cards, The Queen could yield many rewards if able to avoid damaging actions. Her 3 willpower puts her out of range of “Let the Storm Rage on”, and against Ruby decks her 4 strength also keeps her safe from “Brawl” and “Madame Medusa – The Boss”. This is not a card I predict will be seen in any Meta decks, but if pulled in a draft or a pack rush, it could cause some major issues for your opponent and lead you to victory!
8. Mirabel Madrigal – Musically Talented
Mirabel is a dual-ink Amythyst/Amber card which brings back songs of cost 3 or less from the discard pile whenever she quests. She can shift for 4 and synergises well with both the other Mirabel introduced: “Mirabel– Hopeful Dreamer”, who is a 3 cost, ‘Singer 5’ and ‘Evasive’, and the new song ‘The Family Madrigal’, which searches your top 5 cards for a Madrigal character and a song. Mirabel can help aggro decks draw lots of cards and gain lore quickly by returning cards like “This is my family” which gains a lore and draws a card upon being sung, ‘Friends on the Other side’ which draws 2 cards, or help with stopping the opponent from dealing withcharacters by recycling “Bare Necessities” and discarding their non-character cards in their hand. In no time your opponent will be out of answers to your full board and high questing ability – aggro for the win!
7. Mickey Mouse – Inspirational Warrior
This is the fourth legendary card Mickey Mouse has received and potentially the best one yet! If Mickey banishes a character in a challenge on your turn you may play any character card for free from your hand. This initially seems like a problem with Mickey’s low strength of 1, however this can be boosted with the new “Jafar – Aspiring Ruler” giving another character ‘Challenger +2’, or the classic “Merlin – Crab”, giving a character ‘Challenger +3’ upon entry and exit, who can both be played on turn 3. Another drawback for Mickey is his low Willpower, being able to be banished with just 1 damage, but the need for the opponent to remove Mickey can disrupt their early game, especially if not running Steel or Ruby. I like this card because it seems like an upgraded “Mickey Mouse – Trumpeter” which never had a chance of being a playable character (But I did manage to pull 6 of before finding a “Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood”… Yippee). The chance to play any character for free, especially in this case by turn three, seems like a fun way to panic your opponent early on, especially if that free card is a 9 cost “Goofy – Knight for a day”, good luck getting that off of the board!
6. Baymax – Giant Robot
Baymax – Giant Robot introduces another completely new ability to the game: Universal Shift, which means it can shift onto any of your characters for 4 ink. Restricted to Emerald/Sapphire with its dual-ink, it also fully heals whatever card it is shifted onto and can either do some immediate hefty damage with 5 strength, or quest immediately for two lore. This card can fit nicely into bouncing opponent’s characters Sapphire/Emerald decks with Tipo, who can do his job of ramping and then be buffed up. Baymax can then sing up to 6 cost songs to return opposing characters to their hand like “We don’t talk about Bruno”, or two characters returned if “The Muses – Proclaimers of Heroes“ are on board too. “Hiro Hamada – future champion” also combines well by drawing an extra card if shifted onto. Baymax is amazing for a draft thanks to its unique shift ability and doesn’t limit it to just the Sapphire/Emerald combination, so if you get passed it, keep it!
5. Shere Khan – Infamous Tiger
Discarding your entire hand after playing a card does not seem like a sensible play, however in the right scenarios this could be a game-changer. Shere Khan has 4’s across the board in his un-inkable cost, strength, willpower and lore. To some, playing this card seems like a bad move but combined with “Clarabella – Light on her hooves”, you may be drawing more cards than you already had, depending on your opponents hand size. Then it is a big problem for your opponent who cannot remove it without a “Be prepared”, “Along Came Zeus” or a combination of actions due to its high stat-line and readiness. Even in a draft or pack rush, it could be your final card in hand so have no drawback and a tough card to remove – infamous tiger indeed!
4. Cinderella – The Right One & The Glass Slipper
Cinderella and her glass slipper, a tale as old as time (oops wrong movie!). The glass slipper has the ability to find a princess character when banished, so long as you have a prince character to exert, and of course you will be retrieving “Cinderella – The Right One”, who can put the discarded glass slipper on the bottom of your deck to gain you three lore. Sadly, you can only play two copies of the glass slipper (very fitting), however there are a few cards that can help you shuffle your deck to potentially bring it back to your hand like “Alma Madrigal – Family Matriarch” or “We know the way”. This paired with a “Bruno Madrigal – Undetected Uncle”, who gains 3 lore if you can name the top card of your deck, could be a fun way to gain lore in addition to questing. And after playing Cinderella, she still quests for 2 lore the following turn to add to her value, and can be protected by her bodyguard “The Prince – Vigilant Suitor”. I love it when the theming comes together!
3. Thunderbolt – Wonder Dog
Finally, a puppy deck can be made with 7 different puppy cards! And to top it off, “Thunderbolt – Wonder Dog” can shift on top of any ‘Puppy’ for just 3 ink to protect with ‘bodyguard’ and a hefty 7 willpower and 3 strength stat line. The new shift ability ‘Puppy Shift’ means Thunderbolt can be shifted onto any previous puppies and the new ones introduced in the set: Lucky, Pepper and Freckles. This creates a problem for your opponent, who cannot target a shift target for him if there are multiple puppies on the board. His strength of 3 also helps him avoid a turn 3 brawl, and by the time madame medusa is available he would have done the job of protecting his puppies. And finally, in a draft you don’t have the problem of a lack of shift targets with all the puppies available. All in all, it allows for a super-fun 101 Dalmatians deck to be built or be a real problem in Archazia’s Island drafts with puppies galore!
2. Te Kā – Elemental Terror
When I first pulled a copy of this card, I was shocked at its stat-line and never-ending positives: The joint highest cost and clear highest Strength and Willpower of any character, it can shift for 7, it is inkable, it has an inkable shift target AND a useful ability; what’s not to love, but also be terrified of facing! Removing an opposition Te Kā is a tough ask without multiple actions, a “Be prepared”, or losing a lot of characters yourself. And with Meta relevant cards like “Elsa – Fifth Spirit”, exerting opposing characters to banish them with Te Kā’s other ability is not a tough ask. It pairs especially well with the new action “Magical Manoeuvres” which returns a card to your own hand and exerts an opposing character. I have always wanted to make a deck around “Maximus – Team Champion”, who can gain 5 lore if you have a character with 10 strength or more in play at the end of your turn, and finally I have my chance! If I can make it work, good luck to anyone that ever comes up against it; you have been warned!
1. Mushu – Majestic Dragon
A fan-favourite character that was seemingly forgotten was finally released as “Mushu – Majestic Dragon”, and boy was it worth the wait! A character that gives all other characters ‘Resist +2 when challenging’, and ‘gain 2 lore for banishing a character in a challenge’, could be exactly what the Ruby/Steel colour combination needed to kick-start their rise to glory. We saw” Calhoun – Marine Sargeant” become a staple in most Steel decks due to its ability to gain 2 lore for banishing opposing characters in a challenge, well that could be 4 lore with a Mushu on board, with the same true for “Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood”. Combined with “Medallion Weights” or “Queen of Hearts – Sensing Weakness”, constant challenging of opponents can draw you cards too. And if your opponent is refusing to exert their characters don’t worry! “Namaari – Morning Mist” and “Li Shang – Newly Promoted” can challenge ready characters, and “Mulan – Imperial General” can allow your other characters to challenge ready characters if she has challenged a character this turn. The possibilities are endless! I truly hope Mushu makes its way into tournaments and shakes up the Meta but regardless, I love this card and, in my opinion, it is the most fun card released in Archazia’s Island to build a deck around. It definitely didn’t hurt that it was Mushu too, who doesn’t love Mushu!
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