Though we’ve now seen quite a bit of Disney’s upcoming trading card game Disney Lorcana, we still haven’t seen even a fraction of the cards coming in the first set, The First Chapter. We might know all about inks, Lore, exerting, and challenging, but today we get to see a few more of the characters we’ll be doing it all with.
Today’s reveals look at six of the animal companions from across the Disney canon. From a very helpful cat to a very unhelpful parrot, here are six cards you’ll be able to play with when Lorcana arrives in stores starting August 18.
Animal Sidekicks
Though we’ve already seen a few themes spring up across Lorcana, from multiple Mickey Mouses, and a lot of Princesses, to an unexpected Broom archetype, one theme many likely wouldn’t immediately think of are the various animal sidekicks of Disney.
The First Chapter will have a focus on these sidekicks across all six Inks, including our four exclusive reveals today:
- The Amber card Timon, Grub Rustler from The Lion King
- The Steel Cerberus, Three-Headed Dog from Hercules
- The Ruby Sergeant Tibbs, Courageous Cat from 101 Dalmatians
- The Emerald Iago, Loud-Mouthed Parrot from Aladdin
We won’t know the full power of these cards until their mechanics are revealed closer to launch. There are a few interesting things to point out, though, such as Timon having the ability to remove damage from a character when he enters play, which seems good for his single Ink cost.
We can also see Sergeant Tibbs costs one Ink to play, but has two Strength, or how much damage he can deal when challenging or being challenged. This puts him above average for one-cost characters, and gives the already-revealed Flounder, Voice of Reason a run for his money.
Of course, Cerberus is highlighting the simple playstyle of Steel, the ink focused on big characters with high Willpower stats. He costs a lot more than the other cards revealed, but in exchange, you’re getting a good beater who can tank a lot of damage in challenges.
Iago is the one we know the least about here, but it’s still interesting that he’s an Emerald card, while Tibbs is the Ruby one. Emerald is the Ink that cares about recursion the most, so maybe his ability will reflect his thieving nature in the movie more than ruby would represent his fiery personality.
According to Ryan Miller, brand manager and co-designer for Lorcana, companions were a key part of the game right from the get-go, saying “We had to choose our characters carefully for the set, but one thing we knew from the start is that animal sidekicks were absolutely going to be in the game!”.
As for which companion he would personally want on his side, Miller went with a different character from the ones shown off today, choosing the bird-brained Hei Hei from Moana, because “even in the darkest moments of an adventure, he could make me laugh.”
Pascal, Rapunzel’s Companion And Flounder, Voice Of Reason
While we won’t see exactly how Iago, Timon, Sergeant Tibbs and Cerberus play until closer to launch, we’ve already been shown Pascal and Flounder. Surprisingly, for such little critters, they may have a bigger impact on the game than you’re expecting.
From The Little Mermaid, we have Flounder, Voice of Reason. Though he doesn’t have any fancy abilities, this Storyborn Ally has a great cost-stat ratio, only requiring one Ink for a 2/2. While he’ll only quest for one Lore, his two Strength makes him a good way to clear out early-game threats, or just throw into the Inkwell if you draw him later on.
Next, from Tangled, is Pascal, Rapunzel’s Companion. Like Flounder, Pascal only costs one ink and quests for one Lore. However, instead of the above-average stats, Pascal is a 1/1 that gains Evasive whenever you have another character in play. This makes him a risky turn-one play, but get him out alongside anything else and he’ll likely be able to quest for a few Lore before your opponent finds a way to banish him.
Disney Lorcana will release simultaneously in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany and beyond, with local game stores on August 18th and to mass retail on September 1st.