The new Disney Lorcana Hyperia City set is finally released, and with it a new version of the 2-Player Starter Decks. This new Starter Deck box includes everything you need in order to start playing Lorcana, including 60-card decks, two deck boxes, damage counters, and lore counters. In case you are wondering: I keep using plural for the contents as this box is designed to allow two players to start playing the game right away.
The design of this Starter deck box is actually pretty new as originally Ravensburger was releasing two different Single-Player started decks every set. This approach, however, stopped right after the first card rotation and we had to wait until set 12, Wilds Unknown, in order to try the newer 2-Player Starter deck. As a result, the newer Starter Deck just released is actually only the second version of this new design.
I am a big fan of Starter Decks in general and I was very curious to see how the newer product will compare to the previous one and, in general, how good it will be. Luckily for me, the great team at Ravensburger helped quenching my curiosity and sent me a copy of the new Hyperia City 2-Players Starter Deck ahead of the release date in order to start enjoying it. I couldn't be more thankful to the team as I couldn't wait to start playing with the new set and new mechanics. I am very happy to report the decks are AWESOME as usual but do not just trust me and see for yourself in the next few paragraphs...
Every hero needs a worthy opponent – Contents
Hyperia City Two Players starter set includes two ready-made 60-cards deck, 17 cardboard damage tokens, 2 Deck boxes, 2 cardboard lore tracker and 1 rulebook. Each deck is based on two Ink colours and it features one Legendary card of the main character shown on the cover of the product and on the cardboard boxes. These featured characters can be pulled also from Booster packs in foil and non-foil version but it is important to remind that the ones included here have a special Rainbow foil treatment that can only be found in this product. This treatment also apply to one key Super-Rare card providing four very collectible cards that can only be sourced in this product.
The first of the two decks, Technically Terrific, is an Emerald-Sapphire deck largely focused on Characters from the Sword in the Stone. The key Characters of this deck are “Madam Mim, Resourceful Trickster” and “Merlin, Profoundly Curious”. Interestingly, only three cards in this Starter deck are not from set 14 (one from set 10 and two from set 13). The second Starter Deck, Madcap Whimsy, is a Amethyst-Steel deck featuring tons of characters from Disney Sword in the Stone. The two featured Characters are “Madam Mim, Resourceful Trickster” and “Merlin, Profoundly Curious”. With respect to the first deck, this one includes still three cards not from set 14 but they all come from set 13. I think having these deck largely made of cards from set 14 is pretty reasonable considering Hyperia City introduced a completely new mechanics and I appreciate that Ravensburger only picked a few that actually suit the design of the Decks quite well.
In terms of components, these new Starter Decks are pretty identical to the previous ones. The only real exception is the inclusion of 10 Ink Drop tokens to support the new mechanic. As a result, the damage tokens were actually reduced to just 7 but they have been cleverly updated to show a “1” on one side and a “3” on the other side. I feel adding also a few damage dice in the starter deck box would likely be the best option as I always find the cardboard damage counters to be quite flimsy although they fit their purpose..
Looking to the rest of the content, I quite like the deck Boxes and the two cardboard Lore trackers as I think they make quite easy to get right into your first few games.
It is time for a Magical Duel – No disappearing allowed!
The first of the two decks. Madcap Whimsy, is a great Purple-Steel deck with a solid midrange tempo strategy. In other words, this deck is designed to establish an early board presence and then to put pressure on the opponent by interfering with their strategy and by generating Lore steadily.
Madcap Whimsy early games includes a few good options like “Madame Mim, Bauble Chaser” and “Arthur, Novice Blacksmith” and “Marie, Caught in the act”. However, Marie is only efficient if you go second and your opponent played a Character with 1 Willpower while Arthur should be played on turn 2 in order to use its ability (unless of course your opponent managed to get you an Ink drop right on their turn one).
The same reasoning applies to the 1 and 2 cost locations “Merlin's Shop and Smithy, Magical Market” and “Central Station, Transportation Hub”. I think both these cards are pretty good in the Starter decks but they should be played only if you can move a Character there right after playing them as they are unlikely to stay on the board for very long considering their low Willpower. However, managing to use them repeatedly can be awesome as they generate cards, Lore and Ink Drops just by moving a character there.
After the first few turns, this deck will then shine with a wide range of great mid-game options. Among the options, “Archimedes, Messenger Owl” provides a good 3/2 Character with rush that also generates a Ink Drop when it is banished, while “Napoleon, Patient Watchdog” can take care of any Evasive with its 5/2 and Alert. “Sir Pellinore, Tougher than it looks” is also a great option on turn three as he can put pressure on the opponent and generate one Ink Drop every time it banishes a Character in a Challenge which help establishing early board control. The earlier versions of Arthur and Merlin are also very good choices to play on turn three: Arthur synergises with the Locations in this Deck by moving for free at a Location when played and generating one Ink Drop while Merlin generates the same resource if played one Arthur is already in play. Merlin also has a 4-cost uninkable version that generate an Ink drop on play and a card every time he quests (for two Lore).
Both Arthur and Merlin can then be shifted late game for amazing advantages. The 7-cost Merlin, Ink Drop Tinkerer” is a 6/8 Characters that quests for three and generates one or two Ink drops on Play depending if he was played directly or using Shift. “Arthur, Jousting Knight” is also able to generate Ink Drop together to get the Player to draw a card every time he banishes another Character in a Challenge. However, the real winner in this deck to me is “Madam Mim, Resourceful Trickster”. Playing Mim will cost 8 Ink but will gets you two cards right away if you used any Ink Drop to play her. The draw power this card brings out is insane as Mim's passive ability allows the player to get a card every time they use Ink drop.
“You can be WAY more!” - Inventive geniuses at work
The second of the two Starter Decks, the Emerald Sapphire “Technically Terrific”, is very different from the first one. Instead of a mid-range tempo, this deck leans more into late-game control relaying heavily on item synergy and ink-drop conversion. The overall deck may feel slower than the Amethyst-Steel one at first but it is far more interesting if you like a combo-oriented gameplay.
In order to achieve this result, you first need to setup the scene by playing cards like “Honey Lemon, Endlessy Curious” to discount your items cost upon questing, “Don Karnage, Khan's Courier” or the 2-cost “Gogo Tomago, Extreme Tester” that can quest for two Lore and helps you generate Ink Drops when she is challenged. The main aim is to be able to play for free the 1-cost items “Blinding Chem Ball” or “Prototype Chem Ball” using Honey's ability in order to banish them when needed.
Most of the items in this deck can provide a bonus to a chosen characters as well as generate one Ink Drop when they are banished. However, keeping them on the board can be much more rewarding as they can allow “Hiro Hamada, Pioneering Inventor” to quest for one additional Lore or grant 2 Ink Drops right when “Baymax, Lab Assistant” is played. Most important, the ability of these items also triggers when they are banished using “Honey Lemon. Testing the Limits” ability” providing a bonus to a character, a card and 2 Ink-Drops in total. Much better than banishing them directly by paying a cost of 2....
A key step ahead on this deck strategy requires to shift Baymax and Don Karnage as soon as possible. The 7 cost “Baymax, Amped Up” can be shifted by paying 2 Ink Drops and provide a massive way to ramp your Inkwell by adding cards to your Inkwell from your deck instead of generating Ink Drops. Together with fuelling your strategy, having a wide Inkwell works perfectly with “Minnie Mouse, Urban Visionary” that can quest for three Lore and allows the player to bring back to hand a card of choice from the Inkwell.
“Don Karnage, Debonair Pirate”, on the other hand, can provide a strong control by dealing one damage to all opponent characters on play while also reducing the Lore value of each damaged Character by one. Considering it only costs 4 to play him and his good stats, this version of Don is definitely destined to become a good Emerald option also in competitive decks.
Hyperia City 2-Players Starter Deck – Final thoughts
As you may know, I am quite a fan of Starter Decks and I usually enjoy all the Disney Lorcana ones that Ravensburger produced so far. I also find the new 2-Player design to be quite fun and accessible, in particular for any new player that wants to give Lorcana a try without committing too much to it right from start. In this case, the new Hyperia City one is also pretty good to get the ropes of the new Ink Drop mechanic and to understand how this impact the gameplay of Disney Lorcana.
In fact, both Starter decks showcase the new Ink Drop mechanic beautifully, and they are well designed to demonstrate some of the ways the different Inks interact with this new resource. I know it may seems obvious but I found quite interesting how each Ink colour identity expanded to cover both the gameplay and the way the drops are generated and used. Combined to the normal gameplay of the different Ink colours, this new mechanic both strengthen their identity while opening more possibility for strategic planning.
As a result the two Starter decks have the familiar gameplay of the colour combination you may already know from past games while also providing new options and new strategies to enjoy. For example, your game style may be more inclined to try first the mid-range tempo of Amethyst-Steel or the control-oriented strategy of Emerald Sapphire. However, the Ink Drops mechanics add more options to both these decks making them different from the ones you are used too. Personally, I think the new mechanics add more fun to the game and I am looking forward to see how this will impact the meta-game.
In the meantime, I quite enjoyed trying these decks out and I am quite excited to see if they can be a good start for some fun and competitive decks to play this season. In the meantime, please share your thoughts, impressions, and any interesting strategy you are considering for this set on our social media @zatugames.
