New Product visuals and what to expect
The release of Fabled at the very end of August marked the start of Set Rotation in Disney Lorcana as well as the beginning of the third year and of a new competitive season of our loved Trading Card Game. However, Fabled set did not progressed the main background story of Lorcana Realm that is still on hold after the arc that led our Illumineers to face Jafar on Archazia’s Island. This aspect is quite important as Disney Lorcana is fun not only because of the great mechanics and loved Disney Characters but also because it features a deep storyline that kept evolving and getting richer set after set.
As you may know, in Disney Lorcana the player takes on the role of an Illumineer who is tasked to gather the lost Lore of Lorcana. In their quest, the Illumineers are supported by Glimmers, magical manifestations of Disney Characters, Items or Locations that are summoned using magical Ink.
All the cards in Lorcana are essentially Glimmers although they may belong to different types. Illusion Glimmers, for example, were the last one to be introduced in the seventh set (Archazia’s Island) but we will soon see a new one in the upcoming 10th set. In fact, Ravensburger already spoiled that the “Whispers” mentioned in the name of the set are a new type of “partially-formed Glimmers” that the Illumineer’s will encounter in the “depths of the Great Illuminary”.
Players spotted some of these new Glimmers on the product line-up for the new set and they noticed these cards have a new style of card border that reminds the pieces of parchment we saw in the artwork for the set. Together with a new style, at least some of these cards seem to have a new ability named “Boost” that some players were able to decipher from the images of the Single Players Starter set. While we will need to wait a bit longer to see some Official preview of these cards, it seems that the Boost mechanic will allow Players to pay a certain amount of Ink (for example one in case of “Boost 1”) to put a card from the top of their deck underneath the Whisper to trigger one off abilities or to provide an increase to the stats of their Character. At a first glance, this ability feels like an improved version of the “Shift” ability and the new “Mickey, Brave Little Prince” from the Fabled set is an example of how efficient this strategy can be once the new set releases.
Together with evolving the gameplay mechanics, Ravensburger teased that the new glimmers will play a role in driving the story of Lorcana further. At the moment, nobody actually knows where the Whispers come from or what is their purpose thus Whispers in the Well will focus on unravelling this mystery. In fact, the main artwork revealed for the set showed Mickey investigating for clues while the Lorcana Website has been updated to remind the players to “Grab your magnifying glass and follow the whispers.” In fact, this set will also introduce the “Detective” Glimmers as “it will take a team with a cunning mind, an observant eye, and a playful attitude to solve the mysteries that await you below.”
The first two of these new Glimmers are Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps from Zootopia, that are returning again to Lorcana and this time just in time to align with the release of Zootopia 2 in late November. I would not be surprised to see more characters from the new movie getting their own cards in this set and I hope Ravensburger is considering to release a promo card similar to the one previously done for Moana 2.
Judy herself will be featured with a new Whisper Robin Hood in the Sapphire-Steel Single Player Starter deck while the other Starter Deck, Amber-Emerald will showcase two new Whisper Glimmers, Simba and Megara. Unfortunately, we will not have a Starter deck based around the Gargoyles franchise that will debut in this set but I am sure there will be plenty of these cards in the decks anyway. In fact, Demona from Gargoyles is featured in the Booster packs and boxes together with a Daisy Duck dressed like a Detective or an explorer, and what seems to be a Whisper of Gaston. These three characters will also appear on the Illumineer’s Trove although the lid will have the main Mickey/Ariel artwork for this set.
Finally, the two playmats of the set will instead depict the Legendary version of “Mickey Mouse, Brave little Prince” and the Enchanted version of “Jasmine, Steady Strategist”. Both artwork are stunning pieces of art and it would be very challenging to not get them both when the set releases on the 14th of November with the pre-release being set on the 7th of November. As usual, Zatu will open the pre-order pretty soon and I would strongly consider to secure your products as early as possible as I am pretty sure this set will fly off the shelves very quickly. Make sure to stay tuned on our blog as we will soon start hearing more about this new set and the cards featured in it!
