In the whimsical realm of Disney Lorcana, there are many mysteries and treasures that are waiting to be unravelled by the Illumineers. Since starting their journey through the story behind this amazing game, all the players have realized that every card and every set holdS some secrets and hints that are just waiting to be found. The identity of the first great Villain in the story, Ursula, was cleverly hidden in the cards since The First Chapter, for example, although this was just the start, as it dawned on us that there are many layers to the story of Lorcana and we just scratched the surface of it.
Considering this, I think it is very fitting that the upcoming 10th Set in Disney Lorcana, Whispers in the Well, is all about Mystery, Clues and Detective work. To be fair, everyone has been wondering since set eight about what secret will come to light next, and the main theme of the next set feels a lot like a Chinese box brain-tease. Has Ravensburger plotted a clear twist of the story? Or perhaps there will be a mystery wrapped around a secret and hidden in a locked chest? We had some clues of what is coming in the most recent Lorecast of course but perhaps it will be of help having an ally or a magic pet with the gift of foreseeing the future. Looking for it in the deep of a forest may be an idea, of course, if you do not have one or you lost yours, but please be cautious as a weird figure has been spotted hiding and moving in the bushes… Sneaking and peaking for clues may also work but you never know how the next chapter of the story will unfold, and what new characters will help the Illumineers on their Journey.
The first hints we had so far from Ravensburger are that our “Whispers in the Well” will take place in the Caverns at the bottom of the Illuminary and that the Whispers, unfinished glimmers, will play a major role in the story. You also have likely spotted the (not so) well hidden clues in the previous paragraph about the “The Black Cauldron”, the movie franchise that will make its debut in the new set releasing on the 7th of November. Black Cauldron was actually among the first Disney movies I ever watched at a cinema, therefore I am very excited to be able to reveal a card from this movie for the new set: “Munchings and Crunchings”.
Munchings and Crunchings is a Amber Item card illustrated by Marco Giorgianni and it captures the first encounter of Taran with Gurgi that is one of most iconic and funniest moment in the movie. Looking at the card, you can easily picture the moment Gurgi looks to its juicy treasure right after polishing it and before giving it back to Taran. However, the scene on the card is seen directly from Gurgi’s eyes with the artist managing to capture his large smile right before he gives back the (almost complete) apple to the main character of the story. I always found this moment to be quite memorable and very hilarious and I think the artwork on the card really manages to encase the soft and warm side of our little friend while also triggering the memories of what comes next in the movie.
In terms of Gameplay, Munchings and Crunchings is a 2-Cost Inkable Item with two main effects. The main active effect of the card allows the Player to heal up to 2 damages from a chosen Character by exerting the Item, while the second effect is a passive one that reduce the cost of playing any card named “Gurgi” by one. The first effect of this Item closely resemble Dinglehopper, a 1-cost item from The First Chapter that allowed to heal one damage from a chosen Character. Interestingly, both items are Common Amber cards with Dinglehopper being the 32th card in its set and Munchings and Crunchings holding the 33rd position in Whispers in the Well. Interestingly, Dinglehopper and, in general, items with healing effects have not seen much play in the past mainly due to pace of the meta-game pre-rotation and because Amber decks could have used “Rapunzel, Gifted with Healing” in order to heal Characters and draw cards. As Rapunzel was not re-printed I wonder if healing Items and Action may become more relevant in your decks, although we will need to see more cards from Whispers in the Well to see if this is the case.
The passive ability of this card is also quite intriguing. At the time of writing, only one other card featuring Gurgi has been revealed but we have already seen a lot of interesting cards in Whispers in the Well in particular from the Black Cauldron movie. I am so looking forward to see how this card can integrate into a thematic deck and how this can bring Gurgi to shine on the playing field! GOOD APPLE!!
