Whispers in the Well is the 10th set of Disney Lorcana the Trading Card game, and it is the first actual core set released after the rotation that started with the release of Fabled at the end of August. Fabled was designed to bridge the Illumineers into the new Set Rotation, and it was therefore largely composed of re-printed cards while “Whispers in the Well” includes pretty much only new cards with the only two cards from older sets being re-printed here with a new artwork.
As you may know, the name of the set is directly connected to the new chapter in the story of the magical realm of Disney Lorcana. The story brings the Illumineers right beneath the Great Illuminary into the cavers of the Inkworks where all the magical Inks used to summon Glimmers flow together. While exploring these caves, our heroes encounters the Whispers, Glimmers only partially created. In the actual game, these cards have a new ability, “Boost”, that allows the Player to put a card underneath them in order to trigger an ability or a bonus. These new Glimmers are also easy to spot visually has they all have a new frame on their card that looks like a piece of parchment paper (and that looks amazing in the foil version).
The new set also introduces the ability “Alert” that allows them to challenge Evasive Characters and a new classification, “Detective”. This creates a nice connection between the gameplay and the narrative considering the new set is themed around the mystery behind the torn pages floating in the Well and the Whispers.
With so many interesting new cards and so many new mechanics, Whispers in the Well is bound to make waves among all the players and shake up the competitive meta-game. Where should you start your investigation and your new adventure? Personally, the best place to start your new set collection is as always the Illumineer’s Trove. The team at Ravensburger has graciously allowed me to take a peak into Whispers in the Well Illumineer’s Trove ahead of its release and to share with you all the exciting treasures it features including some nicely themed dice. Curious to see what else I found inside? Let’s lift the lid and have a look….
Catch your Clues – Treasures in the Trove
The Illumineer’s Trove is designed to provide Players with all the accessories needed in order to start playing, including eight Booster packs to start or increase your collection of Disney Lorcana cards. Moreover, each Trove can be used as a very a cost effective storage solution for all your cards as you can read in this dedicated feature. This is quite an important aspect as the Trove’s Box features always beautiful artwork box themed as the set it belongs to. Each Trove also comes with with two large dividers to store the cards across two rows and with six cardboard dividers to separate them by Ink colour.
In the Whispers of the Well Trove Ravensburger picked as usual a notable character for each Ink colour to be featured on each of these dividers and therefore you can use Simba, Demona, Megara, Beast, Daisy Duck and Robin Hood to keep all your cards tidy and organized.
In terms of Accessories, the Trove also includes 6 Ink-themed damage-counter dice and a Lore counter. The 6 dice are quite peculiar as they light up in the dark to fit the spooky-adventure theme of the set. The Lore counter is a major highlight for me in this set as it feature the eerie version of Ariel from the set artwork. Ariel is not only a great Character to have on the Lore counter but it is quite iconic for this set being the very first Whisper we saw when Ravensburger revealed the main artwork for this set.
Last but not least, the Illumineer’s Trove also comes with 8 Booster packs, that are a great way to start of fuel your journey in Disney Lorcana. Each of these packs features 12 cards of which 6 are commons, 3 are Uncommons, and 2 are Rare or above. The last card of each pack is a foil version of a card of any rarity including the new Iconic and Epic cards. Each pack also includes a special puzzle art card that in this set takes the form of transcript of the Case Judy and Nick are working on. What story would these clues and transcript tell us?
To Trove or not to Trove?
Overall, I think the Illumineer’s Trove is always a great way to start exploring a new set. When it comes to Whispers in the Well, this is even more exciting as the set is themed around mysteries, adventures and dark caves and opening the Trove feels a bit like opening a treasure chest within a dungeon. The choice of having a full artwork on the lid of the Trove is also quite interesting as it really makes this little box stand out much more.
Components, artwork and accessories apart, the best part of opening a Trove is obviously to see which cards you will pull from it. Out of its 8 packs, a Trove will in fact provide a total of 96 cards including 48 Commons, 24 Uncommons, and 16 Rare, Super Rare or Legendary plus 8 foil cards of any rarity including a chance to get Epic, Enchanted or Iconic cards. Considering the packs in the Trove seems to be randomly assigned, sometime Players have more luck with the pulls from those eight packs with respect to the one you can have by opening a Booster Box although this is not a rule and the pulls are not guaranteed. In my specific case the pulls were not bad at all as I found one Legendary “Rapunzel, Ready for Adventure” and my first Epic of this set, “The Horseman Strikes”. I was particularly excited about this card as I was not aware that the set would feature also “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. I felt like this was already a mystery within the set and a great way to set the mood for the upcoming Halloween night.
Disregarding my specific case and the cards you may or may not pull, I personally love the Illumineer’s Trove and I think it is likely the most successful product designed by Ravensburger team. In terms of pure economic value, 80% of the cost of the Trove is justified by the 8 booster packs while the accessories and the box itself are well worth the remaining commercial price of this product. Obviously, wise players can get even more value for their money by purchasing the Trove below RPP on Zatu… in addition, the Trove has a lot of value for any players as it provides new accessories at every set and a very efficient way to store all your bulk cards making it a must for every Lorcana Player.
That concludes our thoughts on Disney Lorcana Whispers in the Well – Illumineer’s Trove. Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts and tag us on social media @zatugames. To buy Disney Lorcana Whispers in the Well – Illumineer’s Trove today click here!
