Since first being revealed at the D23 Expo earlier this year, gamers have been clamoring to learn more about Lorcana – Disney’s first major foray into the trading card game (TCG) market.
The game’s initial reveal left us with a handful of cards, but no other insights into how the game would be played. From the design of the cards, many speculated that Lorcana would function similarly, at least mechanically, to Magic: The Gathering.
Each card appeared to have a number combination indicative of some sort of power and toughness, a color identity (now known as “Ink”), and what is assumed to be a casting cost in the top left. Additionally, cards possess typelines (for lack of an official term) that denote faction and more. Cards like Mickey Mouse (seen above) for example, have a typeline that reads “Dreamborn – Hero”, whereas Maleficent is “Storyborn – Villain – Dragon”. With only seven cards currently revealed, four typeline designations appears to be the maximum a card can have at this time.
Lastly, each card has keywords and abilities that give hints at in-game mechanics. So far, these keywords include:
- Evasive
- Challenge
- Banish
- Shift
- Exert
Since the games’ reveal, information has been sparse to say the least, but in the last few weeks, the official Lorcana Twitter account has been slowly releasing more information, starting with the game’s equivalent of mana/energy sources – ink.
In Lorcana, there are six inks: Amber, Amethyst, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, and Steel.
Players (referred to as Illumineers in this space), will use these inks to summon their Disney characters as “glimmers”. For the glimmers above, Mickey Mouse and Maleficent are both aligned with Ruby ink, Captain Hook with Steel, and Cruella De Vil with Emerald, while Stitch and Robin Hood (seen below) are aligned with Amber and Sapphire, respectively.
Despite the limited information, fans have been actively engaging with Lorcana‘s social media accounts and asking all sorts of questions. While most questions are being met with “we’ll answer that soon”, one user, YouTuber Nive’s Nerd Corner, evidently asked the right question, which developer, Ravensburger, answered — How many inks can I have in my deck?
Deckbuilding in Lorcana will allow Illumineers up to two inks per deck, making for 36 possible ink combinations. How these ink combinations interact, synergize, and if there will be multi-ink cards similar to Magic’s gold cards currently remains to be seen.
Lorcana’s debut set, The First Chapter, is slated for Fall 2023.