With the second set of the Disney Lorcana TCG, Rise of the Floodborn, now in players’ hands, the Lorcana metagame has been shaken up by new Legendaries, Lore-generating Items, and a certain Disney mouse (but not the one you’re thinking). We’re still in the early days of Set 2 and players are continuing to innovate with creative new decks (looking at you, Mufasa Roulette), but what does all this look like from the other side? IGN spoke to Game Design Manager and Disney Lorcana TCG Co-Designer Steve Warner over email to hear about his reaction to initial fan-favorite decks, the relationship between card power and card rarity, the unexpectedly powerful Hiram Flaversham–Toymaker, and how Mufasa's brutal death scene in The Lion King inspired a fun new mechanic for the game.
Read on to hear what Warner had to say, but if you’re new to Lorcana and don’t yet know the difference between Lore, Ink, and Songs, check out our primer on the fun new game we enjoy so much.
Reflecting on The First Chapter
IGN: Before we get into Rise of the Floodborn, I'd like to take a quick moment to have you reflect on The First Chapter. The metagame quickly formed around Ruby/Amethyst Control and Steel/Amber Steelsong, and those two decks dominated the format. Was that about what you expected or did it come as a surprise?
Warner: There are always going to be things that catch my eye, but I think we had a good idea of how things would play out and what ink combinations might become popular, thanks to our dedicated testing team. We were not surprised that Ariel – Spectacular Singer combined well with other steel songs like Grab Your Sword. Once a set is fully released, far more people are playing it than we can match. I do think there is still a lot to explore, but I’m not surprised with how things turned out.
IGN: When I first looked at the cards in Set 1, I was surprised to see Be Prepared and A Whole New World because cards with those same effects were so strong in other TCGs that they wound up getting banned. It's no coincidence that the two best decks from the First Chapter format each feature one of these cards. Amethyst/Ruby uses the board wipe Be Prepared to control the board and Steel/Amber Steelsong takes advantage of A Whole New World’s effect where both players discard their hand and draw seven cards. Both of these cards have incredibly powerful effects to begin with, but when you consider they can also be sung for free, then they get even more nutty. Could you please explain your philosophy on having such powerful, meta-defining (and potentially problematic) cards in the game?
Warner: Song cards are a mechanic unique to Disney Lorcana TCG and play differently than other Action cards in the game. We expect people to find a way for powerful cards to work in their favor; it just makes strategic sense for players to determine how best to play their deck when building it – that’s part of the fun. We tested those cards quite a bit and felt like we landed on a design that plays well both on a card level and in the game overall.
Impactful New Cards From Rise of the Floodborn
IGN: Now let’s talk Rise of the Floodborn! We got our first new mechanic in Resist, which reduces the amount of damage a character takes by its Resist value. From my experience playing with it, Resist is surprisingly effective. Even +1 Resist is hard to deal with and can be a real roadblock when trying to remove characters via challenging, and if a character has +2 Resist (like Cinderella–Stouthearted) then you can forget about it! What’s the story behind introducing this new mechanic?
Warner: Resist is a mechanic we introduced to change the board up a bit with a slight adjustment to a card. Suddenly, it is a lot harder for Illumineers [players] to remove a bodyguard like The Prince–Never Gives Up by simply challenging it. Players will have to consider the new mechanic when building their decks, whether that’s by adding cards that deal directly with Resist, or strength-boost cards or something else. As decks and strategies change to account for the new mechanic, it could also change a number of other aspects of the game.
IGN: It's only a few weeks after the release of Rise of the Floodborn and there's already a new Set 2 deck taking the metagame by storm. I'm of course referring to the Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle Control deck that generates overwhelming card advantage with Hiram Flaversham–Toymaker. He's unexpectedly powerful because his draw effect can be used when coming into play, as well as when questing. Most cards of this nature are balanced by only allowing them to use their effect when questing, but Hiram Flaversham has the rare ability to use it when he's played. Could you please share your design process with Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker and your reaction to his initial popularity?
Warner: I think you are already seeing that although Ruby/Sapphire is a powerful combination, there are also other options available to players. Having powerful cards or decks can be fine as long as a single deck doesn’t have an answer for everything; there has to be counters that balance them out. Every player has a chance to build their own deck, be creative, and develop winning strategies; the game has been designed with that in mind. We’re excited to see what decks players come up with from here.
When it comes to card abilities, it's important to us that they reflect the character and story that inspired them. Hiram Flaversham is an especially skilled craftsman who’s said to be the best toymaker in London, so his artificer ability reflects that.
IGN: Easily the most delightful part of Set 2, for me, is the Merlin/Madam Mim (and Arthur) package. It's absolutely fantastic how the iconic wizard duel from The Sword and the Stone was recreated through a series of cards featuring the various animal forms the magicians take. Where that idea came from? Also, as we all know, Merlin wins the duel by becoming a germ, but there's no germ card for him to match Madam Mim's dragon card. Was there ever a card for Merlin–Germ in the design process?
Warner: The idea of the Wizard Duel was my co-designer Ryan Miller’s idea. He unabashedly loves the movie “The Sword and the Stone” and knew from the start that he wanted to recreate the iconic duel in Disney Lorcana TCG. It took some trial and error, but we were able to steer the design in a fun way to get it to the point that it is now.
As for versions not seen… we can’t do everything quite yet; we're only on the second set.
IGN: I always hear a collective gasp from the Lorcana community when a new Emerald card is revealed because that Ink focuses on discarding cards from the opponent’s hand. People who play card games know that card advantage is king, and if your opponent doesn't have any cards then they can't play the game, so discard is a particularly scary mechanic for card gamers. That's why the reveal of new Set 2 cards such as Prince John–Greediest of Them All and Daisy Duck–Secret Agent were met with much uproar. What is your design philosophy on Emerald and why did you decide to make discard one of its premiere identities?