Early preview of Disney Lorcana Whispers in the Well: product range and box opening!
Fabled, the 9th set overall, and the first set released after the rotation, has been a very fun one. It allowed new Players to get their hands on great reprinted cards, it marked the beginning of a new era where most of the cards from the first four sets cannot be used, and it features a few great cards that strongly impacted the competitive games (yes, Dumbo included). However, Fabled was not designed to stay here too long as we are already looking forward to the 10th set of Disney Lorcana, “Whispers in the Well”.
The new set is almost upon us, and there is a lot of excitement for this release including new mechanics, new franchises, new Iconic cards and, most importantly, it will progress the story of Disney Lorcana! If you watched the most recent Lorecast (and the newspost published on Zatu later) you know that story of the new set takes place underneath the Great Illuminary where our heroes are exploring the Well where all the Magical Inks flow together. Here they encounter the Whispers, Glimmers only partially created. In terms of Gameplay, these cards that all have the ability “Boost” that allows the Player to put a card underneath them in order to trigger ability or bonus. The new set also includes cards with the ability “Alert” that allows them to challenge Evasive Characters. The addition of this new ability is pretty important considering how difficult it has been dealing with Evasive Characters after Set Rotation took out a lot of removal cards.
The other new addition to the world of Disney Lorcana is the classification “Detective”. As you may have noticed, the new set is largely focused on the mystery behind the torn pages floating in the Well and the Whispers. This theme is taken forward on the art cards added to the set that this time are a puzzle of clues to help re-build the story behind the Whispers and not a beautiful artwork.
I would also not exclude that more hints and clues are hidden in the artwork and flavour text of the cards as the masterminds behind this amazing game did this multiple times in the past sets. Would the new Villain be hinted to in the cards as we saw before for Ursula? Or this time we will see more clues about how the story will unfold in the future?
While I am very excited for the new cards and the new mechanics, I am really looking forward to check out all the cards for clues and to start my own investigation. Luckily for me, Ravensburger perceived my excitement and sent all the products from Whispers in the Well ahead of the release next week. I am very grateful for having again the opportunity to share a first look to what Whispers in the Well has in store for all of us. Spoiler alert: I found an amazing card in the Booster Box!!!
Jasmine Playmat and Illumineer’s Trove
As I did previously, the first item I want to review is the Playmat based on the Enchanted “Jasmine, Steady Strategist” from the set Fabled. The artwork of this card, illustrated by Viv Tanner is very not just breathtaking but I think it is among the most whimsical ones ever created for the game. I love how Jasmine looks strong in this card almost echoing her shouting she “is not just a prize to be won”. The Illusion of Raja is also beautifully rendered on the card and the two Characters seem to merge together. Jasmine’s love for Raja clearly shows on the card in contrast with her strong will and stance. Honestly, Ravensburger could have not picked a better artwork for a Playmat!!!
The Illumineer’s Trove for is another amazing product with ton of value as usual. The full artwork of the Whispers in the Well set featuring Mickey and Ariel looks amazing on the lid and the darker colours are a nice change with respect to the lighter coloured ones we had recently. As usual, the Trove comes with eight Booster packs, 6 damage dice, 6 card spacers featuring cards and Characters from the set and a Lore Counter. The accessories of this Trove are again a bit special as the dice actually shine in the dark! Considering the set takes place in the caverns behind the great Illuminary, these dice will definitely be of help during our quest by shedding some light on the mysteries we will find there.
Opening the eight packs from the Illumineer’s Trove was not disappointing as usual. I always found that the eight packs included in the Trove are almost enough to justify the price of the Trove itself making the accessories and the box a sort of a pleasant bonus. Most important, I always feels that the packs in the Trove has somehow better pull rates that those in a Booster Box. Obviously, it is not the case and the cards are completely random but nevertheless, out of the eight packs I managed to pull one legendary, 4 Super Rares and, most important, my first Epic card for this set: “The Horseman Strikes”!!! This card was a big surprise as I was not expecting to see Characters and locations from the “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. This is likely one of the many secrets to discover in this set and it was a very pleasant surprise. Most important, I loved pulling this card from the set at this time as Halloween is closing upon us and I just finished planned how me and my family will celebrate this year. What a great start for the set!
Amber-Emerald and Sapphire-Steel Single players decks
As any new Disney Lorcana set, Whispers in the Well comes with two Single Player Starter Decks: On the Case (Sapphire-Steel) and Spectacular Spectres (Amber-Emerald). In both cases, they come with a 60-card deck featuring 2 foil cards, a paper playmat, 12 cardboard tokens (11 for damage and 1 lore tracker) and a small booklets with the game rules and some strategic guidance. Considering the new set introduced new mechanics and new keywords, these Single Player Starter Decks are pretty handy to have as they can help Players to get used to the changes and to prepare them to build their own new decks. All the cards included in these decks are also from set 10 meaning these are all new cards you would likely want for your set collection. However, the two decks have a very different build and focus.
The first one, “On the case” is a Sapphire-Steel deck strongly focused on the new Detective cards. this Deck features the new “Judy Hopps, Uncovering Clues” that allows the player to take a Detective Characters from the top three cards of their Deck on play and upon questing. The Whisper “Robin Hood, Ephemeral Archer” is also featured in this deck together with its ability to deal one damage to up to two Characters once he quests and assuming the player previously placed a card beneath him using his Boost 1 ability. The second Single Player Deck is an Amber-Emerald Deck called “Spectacular Specters” and it includes more Whispers Characters and a few cards that can enhance their abilities. The main star of the show is “Simba, King in the Making” that allows the players to play a Characters from the top of their deck at the cost of placing a card underneath Simba for a cost of 3. “Megara, Secret Keeper”, on the other hand, is an early game card with a cost of three that gains the ability to force the opponent to discard a card when she is challenged once boosted with a card underneath it.
Together with these very nice cards to have, it is also important to remember that all foil cards from the Starter Decks have a Rainbow foil pattern that is unique to these products and thus is not the same of the one used on the foil version of these cards you can pull from the Booster packs.
In terms of Gameplay, the two decks play very differently. “On the case” Starter deck includes almost all the new Detective cards released in Whispers in the Well together with a few of the newer Whispers cards and their efficient Boost abilities. The new Detective cards are the core of the strategy considering almost all their abilities target or require another Detective card in play. As such, bringing new Characters to the playing field every turn and keeping a wide board is mandatory in order to chain all the Detectives’ special abilities. Obviously, Players will need a steady card draw and to control the opponent’s board in order to make this strategy successful. Nick Wild is likely the best card you can have in play as it allows the player to draw a card every time one of their Characters banishes another Character in a challenge. The new items “Ink Amplifier” and “Ink Runner” can provide a good help in this direction as well as the new action “Putting it together” or “Helping hand” from set six.
“Spectacular Spectres“, on the other hand, features a larger number of the new Whispers and therefore is designed to exploit their Boost mechanics to the fullest. This makes this deck quite good for any Players looking to test the new mechanics and even more interesting for new players as it offers a straightforward way to experience everything Disney Lorcana can offer.
Basing on the card list, the Deck engine is strongly aimed to get your Whispers cards on the board and to place a card under them in order to active their full potential. With this in mind, Spectacular Spectres includes a few way to discount the cost to boost your Whispers like Emily Quackfaster, “Blessed Bagpipes” and “Recovered Page”. All the effects of these cards, however, trigger only on play thus the corner stone of your strategy should actually be the Floodborn ”Scrooge McDuck, Cavern Prospector” that has a passive ability which allows the Player to put a card under every Character with Boost right after they are played.
I think both Single Player decks are quite interesting for two different reasons. “On the case” is a thematic deck that can be a very good starting point for anyone new to the game. It also offers a ready-made and super-fun deck to use for a casual thematic game night. “Spectacular Spectres”, on the other hand, is designed to introduce the new mechanics and keywords to any player. The engine of this deck requires a bit more learning but it also provides a good way for Players with a bit more experience to enjoy everything Lorcana can offer. If you are interested to learn more about these Decks, a more detailed review of each deck strategy and content is provided at the links above.
And finally… Whispers in the Well Booster Box opening
Opening the first Booster Box of Whispers in the Well has been great. With respect to Fabled where the large majority of the cards were reprints, (almost) all the cards you can pull from the Booster Packs in the 10th set are new. Even if I followed all the previews online and kept up with the releases, every card I get from each pack felt completely new and it was amazing to look closer to the artwork. It was also the first time I had a chance to admire the foiled version of the Whispers cards and how amazing and different it look.
The best part of opening my very first box of Whispers in the Well is that it came with an Enchanted “Goliath, Clan Leader”. I think this Enchanted is quite particular with respect to other similar cards from the set as it is quite dark and the artwork is fully focused on a magic book emanating purple energy. If you have seen the series, you can imagine that the book on the card is the magical book “Grimorum Arcanorum” that David Xanatos uses to awaken the Gargoyles after their thousand years of slumber. The energy emanating from the book lights-up Goliath figure and it brings back to memory the opening quotes from the series:
“Stone by day, warriors by night, we were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect, frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years. Now, here in Manhattan, the spell is broken, and we live again! We are defenders of the night. We are Gargoyles!”
I always found this opening to be quite powerful and evocative and I am amazed I managed to pull this Enchanted card!!! In terms of statistics, my very first Whispers in the Well Booster Box brought also two Epic cards, four Legendaries, 12 Super-Rares and, of course, a lot of Rares. “Hades, Looking for a deal” is likely the most interesting Legendary I pulled, in particular considering how much I love Amethyst. This Hades come with decent stats and the ability to draw 2 cards on play unless the opponent put chosen character to the bottom of their deck. Essentially, once Hades is played, you can pick any Character and force the opponent to choose between removing that card from play or allow you to draw two cards. I can imagine this to be quite handy in both Amethyst Sapphire and Amethyst Steel although it may also bring some very useful support to other Amethyst based decks.
“The Headless Horseman, Terror of Sleepy Hollow” is also a very interesting card considering its ability to banish a Character with 2 or less strength. I can see this card to be quite effective in Ruby decks considering it can add a bit of the card removal they used to have before Set Rotation. I can definitely think of a lot of pesky cards this Headless Horseman will gladly remove from play including a certain Daisy, Elsa and a guy that goes by “Genie”…. Talking about Ruby cards, “Hercules, Mighty leader” also caught my attention considering his ability “Ever Vigilant” that prevents any damage other than that coming from Challenges to him and to all other heroes. This ability cannot avoid Hercules to be directly banished unfortunately but it can make difficult dealing with an Hero deck. Interestingly, Whispers in the Well brings also back “Dragon Fire” as a reprint likely to balance this type of cards.
Among the Super Rare cards, I think the most notable two are “Lady Tremaine, Sinister Socialite” and “Scrooge McDuck, S.H.U.S.H Agent”. Lady Tremaine is a great Whisper cards that can play an action with a cost of 5 or less from the discard when questing as far as you placed a card underneath her in the same turn using her Boost 2 ability. This ability can be used to actually gain two in particular if you are playing Emerald-Ruby. First, you can Boost Lady Tremaine for only 2 in order to gain two Lore, and play a song for free like “Be King undisputed” etc. However, if you Boost this Whisper a couple of times you can also sing “Mother Knows best” on her (before or after using her ability) to bring back Lady Tremaine AND the cards underneath her transforming your Whisper in a drawing engine.
Scrooge, on the other hand, can fit perfectly in an aggro deck, in particular in combination with Amber cards. Its first ability (draw a card and discard a card) can suit perfectly the Aggro deck style as it allows the Player to filter through their deck or to discard cards like “Lilo, Escape Artist” that can be played back later. Scrooge’s ability to come back to hand when challenged can also be quite interesting as it may force the opponent to banish in a different way or to lose time challenging him. Not too bad, considering our loved S.H.U.S.H. agent quests for two and only costs 2!
Last but not least: what about the puzzle art card in this set? Whisper in the Well interestingly does not come with a proper puzzle art as I mentioned early. It is a bit of a shame for me as I always loved to have some cool puzzle art to show in the first page of my binders but I quite appreciate Ravensburger’s effort in getting something different in each set. In this case, each booster pack will have a lore-card with transcripts of the case file Judy, Nick and the detectives are working on. The story that comes out from putting together all pieces and evidences in those transcripts is pretty fun and I bet we can find some hidden clues on the story of the Whispers there but I don’t want to spoil the read to anyone…
Final thoughts
I think overall Whispers in the Well will be a very fun and exciting set full of amazing cards. After Fabled and the set rotation, it is great to see a set full of new cards, and new mechanics to bring fresh energy to the game. Most important, I love how the narrative aspect of the game are tangled with the card mechanics and how the artwork on them is strongly designed to match both aspects. I found that having a different frame for the Whispers makes the cards look nice on your playmat but it also works as a visual remind of the special abilities of these cards. I also loved the small stories behind some cards like Hen Wen and its action and how the flavour text on the new cards is already hinting to the the next chapter of the story. I found a few clues to some major event that may happen next summer and I look forward to put all the cards together and try to spot more hints on them. Am I overthinking it? Not at all!
In terms of gameplay, I think Whispers in the Well will bring many new opportunities and shake-up the current meta-game. Boost will definitely offer a lot of fresh options as well as the new “Alert” keyword that surely will prove useful to counterbalance the large amount of Evasive Characters we saw in some type of decks. Decks that were designed to exploit for example Dumbo and, in general, Amethyst decks for example will need to consider the risk of facing Alert characters. On the other hand, Amethyst decks also received a lot of new support including a Demona card that is already expected to become a staple due to her great abilities.
We also saw a lot of new Emerald and Ruby cards and a great number of good items and locations for Sapphire and Steel. Basing on a very early impression, I think all different Ink colours actually received a very good level of support and a many good cards designed to enhance the gameplay of that particular colour. This also means that we will have countless options to come up with new and exciting decks: deck building mode on for everyone!
