Hello folks! Some time back we took a look at Disney’s latest entry into the TCG sphere, Lorcana. And now we’re going to be returning for a look at the third wave of this game, Into the Inklands. Specifically we’ll be looking at the cards included in the two starter decks for the wave, and let me tell you, it was actually really tricky to trim this down to just ten!
But before we can go too deep, let’s talk about the new type of card that got added!
Location Location Location
Yes, Into the Inklands brings a whole new kind of card to Lorcana!
Locations are ways of producing passive amounts of Lore for you (as a reminder, the goal of Lorcana is to be the first to get twenty Lore points), and can also provide benefits to characters located here. For example, as shown above, a character defeated while at the Motunui location is not removed from the game. Locations can be removed however, so one needs to be careful of that.
It does take points to move characters (for example, only one character can be moved to a single Motunui location per turn), however said points are unique to the Location, and not tied to your store of Ink, so moving characters doesn’t impact how many characters you can actually play.
Now then, on with the list!
Top 10 Cards Of Into The Inklands (The Starter Decks)
10) Kida-Atlantean
…look, some cards are here for personal reasons. This is not the best card in the deck. It’s not even the best Kida card in Lorcana (she has three). For a one cost Character (the number in the top left is how much Ink it costs to play her) she’s a solid enough choice. But mostly she’s here because they put the Atlantean language on her card. Disney hired the guy who created Klingon to put that together, and because Atlantis The Lost Empire (an admittedly quite problematic movie) bombed they basically never do anything with it. So, I’m putting it here at the bottom of this list, because what is a Disney TCG if not a chance to be really excited and nerdy about Disney characters and films?
9) Simba-Scrappy Cub
So this Simba card…is not especially powerful, particularly when compared to the other Simba cards in Lorcana. With only one strength and one willpower he’s not going to help you get an opponent’s characters off the field. However, he can get three pieces of Lore for you. Out of the two Into the Inklands starter decks, only two other characters can get three or more lore per turn, and they’re both quite costly to play. Meanwhile Simba is one of the cheaper cards, at only two Ink to play. Admittedly he’s likely only going to manage to get one batch of Lore before being taken off the field, but when you’re only trying to get to twenty points, three can make a big difference.
8) Cubby-Mighty Lost Boy
Cubby is a bit of a tank, which already puts him on a good footing in Lorcana, but more importantly to his placement on this list is his ability. Whenever you move him to a location, Cubby gets three points of strength. There are very few cards in this game that can take more than one hit from a 6 attack Character, and none that can just shrug it off like it was nothing. The majority of Characters in Lorcana can either take a hit or deal a hit, not both, so while Cubby loses points for this being conditional, he still earns a spot on the list.
7) Moana-Undeterred Adventurer
There’s actually quite a few good Moana cards in Lorcana, but I’m picking her Undeterred Voyager variant for this list due to her effect. This version of Moana can only be attacked by other characters who are labelled as ‘Evasive’, and let me tell you right now, that is not a particularly common label in Lorcana. Most other characters with Evasive could either do serious damage to her or even destroy her, but that relies on your opponent having such a character already out on the field or being able to get one out. And in the meantime, you can have your Undeterred Voyager out collecting Lore at a steady clip.
6) Peter Pan-Lost Boy Leader
This particular version of Peter Pan is, once again, here for his effect. The Lost Boy Leader, when moved to a location, automatically nets you the amount of Lore that location is worth. That is not a bad little effect, and every bit of Lore helps. However, the most amount of Lore a location can be worth is two points, and since this Peter only nets you one point himself that means he can’t get a ton. Not nothing…but not a ton. And his strength and willpower are just okay, making him a useful card, but unlikely to be a game winner.
5) Nani-Protective Sister
Like Cubby earlier on this list, Nani is a tank designed to take hits. Unlike Cubby, she does not have an effect to gain her more damage dealing power. What she does have, however, is the ability to force your opponent’s characters to attack her. There are very, very few cards that can deal six damage in one hit, meaning Nani is going to be able to farm for Lore and defend your weaker characters for at least two turns (combined with the Simba earlier on this list, that could potentially net you ten points of Lore in a turn, provided you manage your Ink right to get them out at the same time). Not invincible, but significant. The only reason she’s not higher up on this list is because there’s a better version of this card coming.
4) Scrooge McDuck-Richest Duck In The World
So, immediately Lorcana wins major points for basing their Scrooge off of the 2017 Ducktales reboot. But, more importantly, Scrooge gets here because he’s just doing a lot. First, he’s a moderate tank, it’s going to be a bit tricky for your opponent to get a card on the field that can easily remove him. Secondly, he’s able to attack Evasive characters, which, as previously discussed, is not a common ability. And finally, when he defeats an opponent’s character he allows you to play a free item card. In a game like Lorcana, where the resource economy balance is everything, any card that can let you do something for free is worth investing in. The only reason he’s not higher on the list is because he’s so balanced (not the best strength, not Evasive all the time, only gets one Lore point).
3) Helga Sinclair-Vengeful Partner
Okay, so, this is, admittedly, not the strongest card. At only one willpower, even the benefits of the cards that strengthen willpower (defense) will only do so much. However. There is one thing that Lorcana doesn’t have a ton of, and that’s removal options. Any card that attacks the Vengeful Partner version of Helga will automatically be removed from the field after defeating her. Meaning that if you can stack your field right, your opponent is going to have to either let her remain on the field, gathering you Lore points, or sacrifice a character they could have been using to do literally anything else to get her off the field. And that’s without considering the combos you can work with her, or the more powerful version of Helga that gets cheaper to summon if she’s on the field (said more powerful version of Helga is not in the starter decks, so not on this list).
2) Pluto-Determined Defender
Remember back with Nani how I said there was a more powerful version of her thing? Here we are. Now, the Determined Defender is pricey, but if you can get one of the much cheaper Pluto cards on the field he becomes more reasonable. He does as much damage as Nani and gathers as much Lore as her, but he has two more points of defense than her and, most importantly of all, he heals. See, in Lorcana damage lingers. If a character with three strength attacks a character with eight willpower, then the next turn the defending character will only have five willpower. Except for this version of Pluto, who’ll recover some of that back. Of course, it’s perfectly possible for your opponent to have enough characters to do eight or more points of damage in a turn, but it’s not easy, and it gives the Determined Defender Pluto a solid leg-up as a mighty wall for your field
1) Dragon Fire
The only action card on this list (indeed, the only non-Character card on this list) Dragon Fire is here for the same reason Helga is here. Removal is not common in Lorcana. And unlike the version of Helga up above, Dragon Fire is targeted removal. While pricey, Dragon Fire can remove every other card listed above. There are character cards that can resist this, however they’re all either so weak you wouldn’t want to waste the card on them anyway or only good when paired with a specific other card and so aren’t the most reliable. The tanks, the Evasive characters, all fall before Maleficent’s Dragon Fire.
Images courtesy of Ravensburger and Disney
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