Summary
With the game being in an interlude between the end of the North American Continental Championship and the launch of the Archazia’s Island expansion in March of 2025,Disney Lorcanafans may have to check out the current Set Championships for a chance of winning Scar cards and playmats or simply wait for news. Despite this, Ravensburger recently revealed thatDisney Lorcanawill add dual-Ink cardsin Archazia’s Island, which is a big announcement for the TCG. Dual-Ink cards were easy to see as the next step forDisney Lorcanasince the official art for Archazia’s Island includes multiple characters with two main colors. Yet, while this is a big addition, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good one.
The current meta forDisney Lorcanadoesn’t favor some color combinations much, with only one or two deck archetypes available for them, and often not getting great tournament results. For example, Amber/Emerald decks are mostly focused on discarding the opponent’s hand, but Emerald/Steel decks arguably do the same thing better. Dual-Ink cards have the opportunity to change things, as a few very powerful dual-colored cards can easily shift the meta standing of a given deck, but at the same time, they can be a bit underwhelming.
Disney Lorcana’s Dual-Ink Cards From Archazia’s Island Explained
The concept of dual-colored cards in TCGs is not new, and games likeMagic: The Gatheringhave an impressive portfolio of this. UnlikeDisney Lorcana, where players are limited to having up to two Ink colors in their decks, aMagic: The Gatheringdeckcan have any number of colors - be it a fully colorless deck or have all five colors in it. What follows is thatDisney Lorcana’s dual-Ink cards inherently decide a given deck’s colors by themselves, which can prove to be a double-edged sword for their implementation in the game.
In fact, unless there are other special rules forDisney Lorcana’s new type of cards fromArchazia’s Island, all a dual-Ink card will do is exactly that - determine a deck’s colors. There are no inherent benefits to having two specific colors in a deck outside of those colors' commonly used gimmicks - so Inking more cards for Sapphire, drawing more cards for Amethyst, having more Singer characters for Amber, and so on. As such, dual-Ink cards should pack much more of a punch than a pre-determined color identity, possibly featuring particularly strong effects for their respective colors. The cards revealed so far include:
It’s worth noting that the newly revealed Iago - Giant Spectral Parrot is not a dual-Ink card, but it comes with a new keyword from Archazia’s Island called Vanish.
Why Disney Lorcana’s Dual-Ink Cards May Be Mixed Bags
These Belle and Beast cards come from one of theStarter Decks forDisney Lorcanain Archazia’s Island, and the same holds true for a different deck that includes both Jafar and Iago. Given that these are just three dual-Ink cards, it’s safe to assume that there will be more in Archazia’s Island - possibly five per color combination, one per rarity from Common to Legendary.
The only fully readable card among these is Belle - Mechanic Extraordinaire, and while it’s a strong card, it doesn’t seem as impactful as one may think from anew gimmick inDisney Lorcana. The concept of dual-Ink cards is great in theory, but unless they have incredibly powerful, even unique effects, they won’t be as much of an “auto-include” option for any deck. For example, the new Belle and Beast both play around Items, which is a good thing for Ruby/Sapphire decks, but it doesn’t mean that this will be the best way to play this deck moving forward.
It’s early to say whether dual-Ink cards will be great or otherwise, but from what has been shared, they don’t seem strikingly powerful for their restrictions. A fun concept could be to allow dual-Ink cards in any deck that uses at least one of its colors instead of both, bringing some of the interestingDisney Lorcanacard ideasfrom one color to a different color combination. Ultimately, fans will have to wait and see until more of Archazia’s Island is revealed.
Disney Lorcana
As an Illumineer, you’ll wield six magical inks to summon glimmers of Disney characters. Glimmers can appear as familiar friends or in fantastically reimagined forms. Recruit glimmers to your team as you travel through the realm of Lorcana.
