Lorcana: Archazia’s Island Buyer’s Guide

Disney Lorcana appeals to several huge audiences: lifelong Disney fans, young kids who may not be into Pokémon or other similar games, or experienced trading card game (TCG) veterans who may be looking for something fresh. However, dipping a toe into this new world can potentially be daunting, especially for those with no prior background in this sort of game.

So, with the wide release of the game’s newest set, Archazia’s Island, this week, we’ve compiled this handy guide to steer burgeoning players, collectors, or gift givers in the right direction.

(If you’re wondering where to buy any of the Disney Lorcana products we’re about to discuss, be sure to check out local independent game stores in your own area. The official site has a store locator utility, which can help identify which stores in your neck of the woods carry the game; many will also host in-store events to play against/with other players, and buying local helps!)

Disney Lorcana: The Sets & Story So Far

First of all, some background. Disney Lorcana has been officially out since August 2023, and as of this writing, has seen five full-fledged sets:

1. The First Chapter (234 cards – August 2023)
2. Rise of the Floodborn (225 cards – November/December 2023)
3. Into the Inklands (232 cards – February/March 2024)
4. Ursula’s Return (225 cards – May 2024)
5. Shimmering Skies (223 cards – August 2024)
6. Azurite Sea (222 cards – November 2024)
7. Archazia’s Island (222 cards – March 2025)

While we know Lorcana‘s roadmap extends into at least 2026, Ravensburger has named the next two sets as well: Reign of Jafar, coming June 2025, and Fabled, in Q3 (likely September, if the pattern holds).

The numbers in the bottom-left corner of a card tell you that card’s number in its set (ie. 1/204), the language, and the set the card comes from (ie. a card marked “2” is from Rise of the Floodborn).

In Disney Lorcana, players are “Illumineers,” people gifted with powerful imagination who have been summoned to a magical realm called, well, Lorcana. At this realm’s center is the Great Illuminary, a reliquary of story from across all creation.

The goal of each game is to score 20 “lore” points. This represents the Illumineers collecting lore lost from the Great Illuminary for safekeeping.

To this end, Illumineers can summon “glimmers,” or recreations of characters, items, and locations from various different (Disney) stories.

The characters represented in these glimmers fall into three categories: Storyborn, or authentic representations closely related to their origins; Dreamborn, or versions of that character where the Illumineer has embellished their power or abilities; and Floodborn, versions of that character that have been changed in unlikely ways, influenced by a chaotic flood of magical ink.

The colour of the bar behind a card’s name can tell you about the personality of the glimmer at a glance. There are six colours of “ink,” and each represents certain types of personalities and values of the depicted glimmers:

• Amber: purposeful, patient, dedicated; community-focused, associated with organizations
• Amethyst: associated with the wondrous or magical; wizards and sorcerers, or people with special powers
• Emerald: flexible, never caught off-guard, quick-thinking
• Ruby: daring, fast, brave; warriors, explorers, and daredevils
• Sapphire: intellectual, creative, strategic; artists and inventors
• Steel: strong, imposing, armored, just plain powerful; brute force

Archazia’s Island introduces the concept of dual ink cards—cards that belong to two inks and incorporate elements of both. This will lead to some interesting new glimmers representing other sides of familiar characters, and unconventional card effects that surpass the potential of an individual color. (They must be used in a deck that uses those two colors, as decks are already limited to only two colors.) 

Disney Lorcana: Rarities Explained

Disney Lorcana cards are distributed in six different rarities in booster packs of 12 cards. Like most TCGs, these follow a familiar structure from least rare to most rare: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare, Legendary, and Enchanted. These rarities are displayed by symbols at the bottom-center of each card. The more sides the symbol has, the higher the rarity; Commons are circles, while Enchanted cards have a rainbow-tinted hexagon.

(If a card doesn’t have one of the regular rarity symbols, it’s likely a Promo card distributed at a special event, like GenCon or D23, or in a special product, like the Disney100 Gift Set.)

But just how rare are these Lorcana cards?

When you crack open a fresh booster pack, you’re guaranteed to pull six Common and three Uncommon cards, for starters. The next two cards can be either Rare, Super Rare, or Legendary, in any combination. The twelfth card is guaranteed to be a foil card, but it can be of any rarity from Common to Enchanted.

Enchanted cards are all holofoil variant cards with unique, borderless artwork, and their collector number is higher than the total number of cards in their set. For example, the Enchanted variant of “Belle—Strange But Special” from The First Chapter is numbered 214/204, and features a more dramatic take on the original card’s art.

Just how rare are Lorcana‘s Enchanted cards? Based on reporting and calculation done independently by sites like CardGamer and LorcanaPlayer, it’s estimated that Enchanted cards are pulled in 1 of every 72-96 packs, or 1 per case (1 per 4 boxes of booster packs). This rarity makes them undoubtedly the most valuable Lorcana cards—as of this writing, they’re valued at anywhere from $150 to $850 each!

Now, on to the various products themselves!

Disney Lorcana: Illumineer’s Trove

Every TCG has a box set option, and Disney Lorcana is no exception. If you’ve played other games before, you may have bought an Elite Trainer Box for Pokemon Trading Card Game, or a bundle/”fat pack” from Magic: The Gathering. The Illumineer’s Trove is Ravensburger’s take on this effective product type.

There’s an Illumineer’s Trove offered for each of the seven sets so far, consisting of:

• a full-art storage box with two dividers
• 8 booster packs
• 2 deck boxes
• game tokens

The other contents of each Trove have varied somewhat by set. The First Chapter and Rise of the Floodborn‘s box sets included a player’s guide with a visual checklist of all the cards in their set, but the format changed for Into the Inklands and Ursula’s Return, which offer 6 card dividers and a spin-dial lore counter instead of the booklet. The Shimmering Skies Illumineer’s Trove continues this trend, with color-themed dividers and silver d6 dice.

Though the Illumineer’s Trove feels diminished without the guidebook, it’s still a perfect offering, especially at a MSRP of $49.99 USD. Ideally, the box set would include the book, dividers, and lore counter at the same price, but nonetheless, I heartily recommend Lorcana‘s Illumineer Trove box set to any collector or player. Just like its equivalents in other TCGs, it’s helpful to have a storage box for each set, and the price per pack is a good deal.

Pros: a great way to store and sort cards; handy accessories; good price per pack; great for collectors or players alike, and makes a great gift; the most bang for your buck even on repeat purchases

Cons: newer sets are lacking the visual guidebook; highly sought after by resellers

Disney Lorcana: Gift Sets

Speaking of gifts, Disney Lorcana has offered two different “Gift Set” bundles. At a MSRP of $29.99 USD, they include:

• 2 oversized foil cards
• 2 playable foil cards
• 4 booster packs
• 32 damage counters
• 2 tracker tokens

(These products were connected to The First Chapter and Into the Inklands, and contain booster packs of the corresponding set. A special Disney 100 box set launched alongside Rise of the Floodborn, taking the place of its Gift Set; this included 4 Rise boosters and 6 alternate art cards.)

The oversized cards are a fun collectible, but aren’t useful for actually playing Lorcana itself; similarly, the damage counters are small, flimsy cutouts that are rone to getting lost. Each of the tracker tokens coordinates to one of the star characters, which is a nice touch.

However, if you’re looking for a gift for someone who loves the characters featured on those jumbo cards (Hades and Mulan for First Chapter, Stitch and Tinkerbell for Inklands), the Lorcana Gift Sets make a great present. You know they’ll get the featured promo cards, at least.

Pros: great for fans of the featured characters; guaranteed foil versions of rare/super rare cards

Cons: not the most cost-effective option to buy packs; oversized cards and small counters aren’t very useful

Archazia’s Island: Lilo Gift Set 

The gift sets have made an adjusted return with the seventh set, Archazia’s Island. This new package comes with an alternate art promo card of Lilo—Escape Artist and a matching deck storage box. Inside that box are five random Disney Lorcana booster packs drawn from sets 2-6, and three card dividers. 

For a MSRP of $29.99 USD, this is a pretty good deal—though, even I there’s a live-action remake coming, there’s already been plenty of Lilo & Stitch promo items thus far, and the name is a misnomer, since there’s no actual Archazia’s Island in the gift set.

Disney Lorcana TCG Costco Bundle

Just in time for the new set’s arrival, this Costco-exclusive bundle is a perfect way to start playing and/or collecting Disney Lorcana.

Available at Costco in Canada for $49.99 CAD, this bundle comes with 2 Into the Inklands Starter Decks (including a booster pack each), 4 additional The First Chapter Booster Packs, and a bonus Mickey Mouse—Pirate Captain promo card. 

Disney Lorcana: Starter Decks

Starter Decks are, by far, the easiest way to simply pick up and play Disney Lorcana. These premade products are ready to play out of the box, a 60-card deck including 2 foil cards of the featured characters on the packaging. These typically have a simple theme—as seen in Shimmering Skies’ decks, it could be something mechanical like the Emerald & Steel deck, which encourages challenging the other player’s glimmers, or something thematic, like the Amethyst & Ruby deck which introduces Wreck-It Ralph’s evasive kart racers.

Like any premade deck from a TCG, these decks can be a little less than ambitious. However, more seasoned players might enjoy using them as a starting point, and supplementing them with other cards from their collection. They’re also a handy way to quickly hop into a game without stressing over building a deck from scratch, or simply seeing what a new set has to offer.

At a MSRP of $16.99 USD, Lorcana Starter Decks also include a booster pack from the associated set.

Pros: a ready-made deck, perfect for quickly hopping into a game; easily customizable; good value

Cons: may be a little too simple for advanced players

Disney Lorcana Illumineer’s Quest: Deep Trouble

If you’re looking for a more exciting way to play, Ursula’s Return has swapped the Gift Set for a new “Illumineer’s Quest” product—an “experience” where players join forces to oppose an incredibly powerful Floodborn glimmer of Ursula herself.

Disney Lorcana can easily be played by more than two people, and Deep Trouble makes this abundantly clear. Anywhere from 1 to 4 players can take part, playing against a deck of cards that represents Ursula.

Deep Trouble contains a 50-card Ursula scenario deck (distinguished by a different card back), two 60-card Disney Lorcana decks, 2 oversized and double-sided battleground cards, a paper playmat, and a plethora of unique tracker tokens. Should the Illumineers succeed, there’s also a super-secret Victory Card for them to open to see the final outcome.

At an MSRP of $59.99 USD, Deep Trouble has all the makings of a family game night—simply grab two more decks, like the Starter Decks, and see if you can overcome the dastardly sea witch’s plans. A similar challenge called Palace Heist will be offered with the next set, Reign of Jafar.

Pros: a unique, non-competitive playing experience; highlights the larger multiplayer side of the game; also, offers an option for solo play

Cons: assumedly limited quantities will make this hard to come by at a decent price

Disney Lorcana Gateway

For those looking for a simple, guided method of learning how to play Disney Lorcana, Ravensburger will be offering a new box set called Gateway, currently scheduled to go on sale August 9, 2024.

Gateway comes with two 30-card “basic” decks, a game board, and a rulebook that should walk players through a simple game. As they progress through the tutorial, they’ll be awarded with additional cards to add to their deck, until both players have a full 60-card deck… and hopefully, a working knowledge of the game’s rules.

Given the potentially younger audience of Disney Lorcana, Gateway seems like a perfect way for aspiring players to pick up the game, and for their parents to learn it alongside them. And at an MSRP of $24.99 USD for two decks and a unique gameboard, the price is definitely right.

Pros: a guided experience for newcomers to learn the game, or for veterans to teach new players

Disney Lorcana: Booster Packs

Of course, you can simply buy individual booster packs at many retailers without all the extra bells and whistles. Buying multiple Illumineer Troves or Gift Sets gets redundant, unless you want to continue getting the various dividers, tokens, and promos. Individual boosters retail for $5.99 USD, and tend to be the most readily available Lorcana products.

Official Disney Lorcana Accessories

Once you’ve gathered your cards and built your deck, there are other options out there to help add some colour to your collection. Ravensburger offers deck boxes, card sleeves, and playmats alongside each Lorcana set, featuring highlights from its original art. These are purely optional, and there are plenty of cheaper generic options, but if one of these items suits the cards in your favourite deck, it’s fun to coordinate.

Unfortunately, the playmats in particular seem to be produced in incredibly small numbers, making them one of the more sought-after Lorcana products—and therefore, inflated on the reseller’s market.

Pros: adds some flair to your playing space and/or collection, especially if coordinated with the cards

Cons: very hard to come by at retail, and inflated by resellers; more expensive than generic TCG accessories; limited character options

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