With Disney Lorcana’s third expansion, Into the Inklands releasing at the end of the month, IGN is excited to exclusively preview two Legendary rare cards featuring classic Disney villains. The Lorcana trading card game only releases a select few Legendary cards each set, identified by the gold emblem at the bottom of the card, and they always pack a punch with unique, game-changing effects. This time around, Aladdin’s Jafar and The Little Mermaid’s Ursula are getting the premiere Legendary treatment. Maybe it is good to be bad, after all.
Jafar Strikes Fear Into the Opponent
First up is Jafar – Striking Illusionist, whose Power Beyond Measure ability is exactly as described. Traditionally we’re used to seeing Jafar get extra magic power from Genie, but here he’s been transformed into a Floodborn, which is Lorcana’s name for classic Disney characters that have been turned into a twisted variant by a flood of magical ink (more on Lorcana’s lore here!). The new look is quite striking, indeed.
One of the defining traits of Amethyst (purple) is drawing extra cards, so Jafar’s ability to generate one Lore (victory point) per extra card drawn is particularly dangerous. It’s not uncommon for Amethyst to draw one to three extra cards per turn, and a player only has to reach 20 Lore to win.
Importantly, there is the condition that Jafar must be exerted (tapped) for the ability to activate, and normally you have to wait one turn to do that while his ink dries (Lorcana’s version of summoning sickness), but there is a workaround. If you shift him into play on a smaller Jafar whose ink is already dry, you can sneakily surprise your opponent. If that’s not an option, Jafar will have to survive one turn before his power can be utilized. That’s a tall ask when the board wipe Be Prepared is one of the most popular cards in the current format. Barring that, his Evasive attribute will keep him protected from most attacks, and his five willpower will keep him out of range of most chip damage cards such as Grab Your Sword and Smash.
If Jafar does get a chance to trigger, then he’ll provide an opportunity to run (or perhaps slither) away with the game. It’s not uncommon for Amethyst decks to run four copies of draw cards such as Friends on the Other Side, Merlin – Rabbit, Maleficent – Sorceress, and/or Ursula – Power Hungry, so it wouldn't be hard to rack up several Lore in a flash.
Ursula Is a Deceiving Diva
Our next reveal is Ursula – Deceiver of All, which features an Ursula who appears to have dyed her hair and taken up a singing career. Singing is a particularly powerful mechanic in Lorcana because it allows you to tap a character with equal or greater cost as a Song card and play it for free. Being a Disney villain obsessed with singing (and stealing other people’s ability to do so), it should be no surprise she has an incredibly powerful singing ability.
(Side note: this is Ursula's second Legendary card!)
Her ability What a Deal essentially lets you sing the same song twice in a row, which has all sorts of combo potential. It is notable that she costs three ink and therefore is limited to using songs that cost three or less, but she just happens to be an Emerald (green) card, and that’s a color with a handful of cheap, useful songs.
Getting to play Mother Knows Best twice could clear the opponent’s board if they’re not playing a deck that goes wide. Doubling the effect of Sudden Chill will force the opponent to discard two cards instead of one, making that song a much better deal creating a two-for-one advantage. Using her ability with Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo allows you to play a character twice in one turn, which could be devastating to the opponent if you’re replaying the likes of Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy to rack up big damage on their board or Lucifer – Cunning Cat to make them discard two actions or up to four cards, which very may well be their entire hand. That’s only considering a few options, and there are likely plenty more the Lorcana community will cook up.
Look for these cards and more when Disney Lorcana: Into the Inklands releases in hobby shops on February 23 and at mass market retailers on March 8.
The new Lorcana TCG set will feature Disney properties such as DuckTales and Treasure Planet for the first time.
Prepare yourself for the first-ever Disney Lorcana World Championship in 2025 and both regional and national qualifying tournaments in 2024.
Check out our primer on Lorcana for more information on how to play.
And read our interview with one of the designers of Lorcana talking about game balance, new mechanics, and how they came up with an unbelievable ability for Mufasa.
