Intro to Lorcana
Disney Lorcana, or Lorcana, is a trading card game that is being released in fall 2023. The game is a collaboration between Ravensburger and The Walt Disney Company. In Lorcana, players act as an Illumineer and assemble a team of Disney characters using magical inks. The game is set in the magical world of Lorcana, which is a combination of the words “lore” and “arcana”.
Lorcana features Disney characters from across the company’s film history, including obscure classics and characters from forgotten movies. The first set of promotional cards for Lorcana included characters like Mickey Mouse, Stitch, Elsa, and Captain Hook.
Lorcana is expected to compete with other popular collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Understanding the Basics of Lorcana
In the Disney Lorcana trading card game, players use magical ink to summon “Glimmers” (copies) of Disney characters to help them collect “lore” (victory points). The first player to collect 20 lore wins.
Players take turns drawing, playing cards, and taking actions. They play characters, actions, and items from their hand and choose whether to “quest” for lore with their glimmers or challenge their opponents.
There are three types of cards in the game: characters, items, and actions. Character cards have between 1-4 Lore symbols on them. Players collect those Lore automatically when a character quests, which also exerts them.
Players can also play items which give you special abilities like removing damage from characters, or playing action cards which give you a one-time use like cycling through some cards.
To build a deck in Disney Lorcana, players must follow three rules:
- The deck must contain at least 60 cards
- The deck may only contain cards from one or two Ink types
- The deck can only have up to four copies of a single card
How to Get Started Playing Lorcana
Basics of How to Play Lorcana
To start playing the Lorcana trading card game, you can:
- Shuffle your deck and place it face down on the draw deck
- Set your Lore counter to 0
- Draw seven cards into your hand, keeping them hidden from other players
- If you’re experienced, you can discard some of the cards and reshuffle your deck
- The first player goes first, and then you go in clockwise order
- During the beginning phase, players ready their cards and draw a card from their deck
- During the main phase, players can place a card into their inkwell
- To play a card, pay its cost in ink and place it face-up on the table
- There are three main types of cards in Lorcana: characters, items, and actions
- Songs are a special type of action card with an alternative cost
- The goal is to be the first to collect 20 lore
- Two or more players (up to four) take turns drawing, playing cards, and taking actions
Where is Lorcana available to buy?
Disney Lorcana will be sold at your local games store and your favorite online stores. We’re also expecting Disney to pack shelves at places like Walmart or Best Buy but will also be available at shopDisney starting September 1st!
We know there is going to be Booster Pack, Booster Boxes, Treasure Troves and Starter Decks for players to buy.
What are in Booster Packs for Lorcana?
A Lorcana booster pack contains 12 random cards from Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter. Each booster pack contains 6 common cards, 3 uncommon cards, 2 rare or higher cards, and 1 foil card.
MSRP: $5.99 USD
What are in Booster Boxes for Lorcana?
A Lorcana booster box contains 24 booster packs. Each booster pack contains 12 random cards from Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter. Which each booster pack contains 6 common cards, 3 uncommon cards, 2 rare or higher cards, and 1 foil card. Buying a booster box does not guarantee you every card in The First Chapter.
MSRP: $143.76
What is in the Illumineer’s Trove?
The Disney Lorcana Illumineer’s Trove is a collectible set that includes:
- Storage box: A full-art storage box
- Deck boxes: Two full-art deck boxes featuring Aurora and Mickey Mouse
- Booster packs: Eight booster packs
- Player’s guide: A 50+ page, full-color guide printed on thick and glossy paper
- 15 Damage Counters
MSRP: $49.99 USD
What are in the Starter Decks?
The three starter decks: Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter Amber & Amethyst Starter Deck, Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter Sapphire & Steel Starter Deck, and Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter Emerald & Ruby Starter Deck each contain
- One ready-to-play game deck that includes a set of 60 cards in two of six “inks” — Amber and Amethyst, Emerald and Ruby, or Steel and Sapphire
- Each deck includes 2 foil cards of the characters on the front of the packaging
- 1 booster pack of 12 random additional game cards
- 11 damage counters
- 1 tracker token
- 1 paper playmat
MSRP: $16.99 USD
What is in the The First Chapter Gift Set?
Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter Gift set includes the following:
- Includes two oversized, collectible foil cards and two regular-size playable foil game cards of Mulan – Imperial Soldier and Hades – King of Olympus
- 4 booster packs
- 2 Lore tracker tokens
- 32 damage counters
MSRP: $29.99 USD
Lorcana Card Types Explained
In the Disney Lorcana trading card game, there are three types of cards in a deck: actions, items, and characters.
Actions give you a one-time advantage and then are discarded. Items are cards that remain on the table one played, and have a variety of effects. Some of these you can manually activate on your turn. Characters can be sent on quests and into challenges, and some have special abilities.
Cards are also divided into six color-coded categories: Emerald, Ruby, Steel, Sapphire, Amber, and Amethyst. These categories are based on the origin of the character pictured and their role in the story.
Lorcana Rarity Types Explained
Disney Lorcana has six different rarities available in boosters and decks from the main set. There are also promo cards that will be available at local play events, expos, and conventions.
The six rarities are:
- Common: A gray circle
- Uncommon: A white book
- Rare: A bronze triangle
- Super Rare: A silver square
- Legendary: A gold symbol
- Enchanted: A special foil that is only available for this rarity
Every card in Lorcana can be either a foil or a non-foil card, except for the Enchanted rarity, which only comes in a special foil. Enchanted cards are the rarest cards you can find in Lorcana Booster Packs.
Lorcana Pull Rates for Each Rarity
It is important to remember that pull rate numbers are estimates only, and each person’s experience will always vary with what cards they can find for themselves. Common cards are not included on this list, as there will be a guaranteed six Common cards in every booster pack. The rate of Common foil cards is unknown now.
Rare
- Rare – 1 in every booster pack (estimated)
- Super Rare – 1 in 2 booster packs (estimated)
- Legendary – 1 in 5 booster packs (estimated)
- Rare Holofoil – 1 in 8 booster packs (estimated)
- Super Rare Holofoil – 1 in 22 booster packs (estimated)
- Legendary Holofoil – 1 in 50 booster packs (estimated)
- Enchanted – 1 in 72 booster packs (estimated)
Lorcana Game Mechanics and Strategy
In Disney Lorcana, players try to be the first to gather 20 “Lore”, a magical resource that contains Disney stories. To do this, players use magical ink to cast glimmers of Disney characters, items, songs, and actions.
To “quest” for Lore, players “exert” their characters, which means turning them sideways. Exerted characters produce Lore and become “exerted” until the next turn.
Players can also challenge their opponents’ characters to slow their progress. Only exerted characters can be challenged.
The first player to get to 20 Lore wins the game.
To build a deck in Disney Lorcana, players must follow these rules:
- The deck must contain at least 60 cards
- The deck may only contain cards from one or two Ink types
- The deck can only have up to four copies of a single card
Differently named variants of a given character are different cards.
Wrapping Up
That’s it for the Beginner’s Guide to Lorcana! Disney Lorcana is scheduled for two releases, the first on August 18, 2023, and the second on September 1.