After a break during the last set, Ravensburger has finally brought us a new Starter Set and this time it is designed to be a 2-Players one. This product is a new one and it includes everything you need in order to start playing Lorcana: decks, deck boxes, damage counters, and lore counters. The best part is that every item is double, giving the opportunity to two players to start playing the game right away.
This is quite a change in the way Starter Decks are managed in Lorcana and Ravensburger confirmed they will not release Single Player Starter Decks going forward. In addition, the Two Players Starter Set will not be set-dependant but new ones will be released every 6 months offering the possibility to create special and thematic ones in the long run.
I was quite excited to see how this new Starter set will look like and I am super glad Ravensburger shared one with me ahead of the release date. I couldn't wait to open the box and see what these starter decks can offer to new and experienced Player. If you are curious too, let's get started (no pun intended).
After a break during the last set, Ravensburger has finally brought us a new Starter Set and this time it is designed to be a 2-Players one. This product is a new one and it includes everything you need in order to start playing Lorcana: decks, deck boxes, damage counters, and lore counters. The best part is that every item is double, giving the opportunity to two players to start playing the game right away.
This is quite a change in the way Starter Decks are managed in Lorcana and Ravensburger confirmed they will not release Single Player Starter Decks going forward. In addition, the Two Players Starter Set will not be set-dependant but new ones will be released every 6 months offering the possibility to create special and thematic ones in the long run.
I was quite excited to see how this new Starter set will look like and I am super glad Ravensburger shared one with me ahead of the release date. I couldn't wait to open the box and see what these starter decks can offer to new and experienced Player. If you are curious too, let's get started (no pun intended).
Every hero needs a worthy opponent – Contents
The Two Players Starter Set includes two ready-made 60-cards deck, 13 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 Super rare cards of the main character for each Ink colour. These featured characters can be pulled also from Booster packs in foil and non-foil version but the ones included here have a special Rainbow foil treatment that can only be found in this product. In addition, each Starter deck includes four Rare cards and a mix of common and uncommon.
The first of the Two Starter decks, Playful teamwork, is an Amber-Emerald deck largely focused on Toy story Characters. The key Characters of this deck are “Buzz Lightyear, On The Way” and “Jessie, Lively Cowgirl”. Interestingly, there are only cards from set 12 in this Starter Deck. The second Starter Deck, Daring Heroes, is a Amethyst-Ruby deck featuring “Jack-Jack Parr, Incredible Potential” and “Mrs. Incredible, Super Stretchy”. With respect to the first deck, this one includes 16 cards from set 9, 10, and 11. I found this choice quite interesting and I appreciate that Ravensburger managed to keep only cards that will soon be in rotation in this deck.
In terms of components, I think the Starter Deck has pretty much everything the Players will need to enjoy their Decks. The deck Boxes are quite handy for new players as they help store the cards properly without the need to invest in any additional product right away. I also like the set includes two cardboard Lore tracker as it offers a very simple tool right from the start. I think Ravensburger should consider to include some sleeves in this Starter decks at one point to protect the cards. As they are, the accessories are focused to allow Players to have a feeling of the game but they do not provide much insights into the collectible aspects of the game and I think future version of the these Starter Deck should have some more focus on showing both aspects of the TCG.
Playful teamwork deck strategy – You got a Friend in me
Looking to the card list of Playful Teamwork Deck, it is pretty clear that this Amber-Emerald Deck aims to flood the board quickly. In order to achieve this strategy the deck relies strongly on the synergy between the Characters from Toy Story and their abilities to play additional Characters and to draw cards to refill the Player's hand. “Woody, Leader of the Toys”, for example, can look for another Character or for “Andy's Room” Location when Played. This last one is a pretty useful tool as it does not only provides a Lore each turn but it also increase the Willpower and the Lore of one single Character that moved there. “Lenny, Toy Bionoculars” can be a great option to have there as it can ready himself and quest for two every time an action is played. Having a Character at this location can also help setting the scene for “Chip, Team Player”, a 6-cost character that can quest for 2 every turn and allow the Player to draw a card on play if there is another Character with a Willpower of 4 or more.
Two more key cards in this deck are obviously “Buzz Lightyear, On the Way” and “Jessie, Lively Cowgirl”. Buzz and Jessie main abilities are both triggered when the Player spend 2 or less to play a card or a Character and they can help protecting your Characters by either reducing the Strength of an Opponent Character or dealing a damage to them. Jessie's other abilities also get you a card if you have two or more other Toy Characters in play while Buzz allow you to draw and discard a card if you paid 2 or less to play a non-character card.
Singing a song is likely the best option to trigger these abilities and this deck includes actually two very good ones to use. The first one, “Strange Things” stop two chosen Characters from Questing in their next turn and it allows the Player to draw an additional card. “This Growing Pressure”, has the exact opposite effect preventing a Character from Challenging while also providing a card.
Protecting your cards from being challenged and banished is pretty important in this deck as you need a large board to benefit from most of the abilities of the Toy Characters. “Rex, protecting Dinosaur” is a nice 2-cost Bodyguard that can be played pretty early while you are building up your board. “Bo Beep, Caring Shepherd” is also a good card to play as it turns every card named Woody into a Bodyguard to protect your board further. Last but not least “Merida, Gifted Archer” has a very useful passive ability that deals one damage to any challenging Characters as far as she is exerted.
Among the other most notable cards in this deck, it is worth noting the two Traveler Glimmers “Donald Duck, Distracted Traveler” and “Pluto, Vigilant Traveler”. Pluto helps in keeping your opponent at bay by reducing the Strength of an opposing Character by one while Donald forces them to discard a card. In both cases, these ability are triggered every time the Traveler quests and if they played another character in the same turn. “Lord Macguffin, Clever Swordsman” is also a very handy 5-cost card that can deal 3 damages on play to a chosen damaged Character. Considering all these three cards need five Ink to be played, having “Hamm, Piggy Bank” in play can be quite handy and it can be exerted in order to pay one Ink less for the next Character that is played.
Daring Heroes Deck Strategy – “It will be bold! Dramatic! Heroic!”
The Amethyst-Ruby deck included in the Two Players Starter Set is a very classic take on this colour combination that fully build on the Super Characters. The core strategy of this deck is to control the Opponent board by Challenging while progressively building up advantage. In order to achieve this result, Daring Heroes includes a good range of Characters with Challenger, Rush and Evasive. Among them you can find some nice new Characters like the 4-cost “Elinor, Bespelled Queen” with her Challenger +2 and a basic Strength of 3, or the 5-cost, 6/5 “Dash Parr” with Rush, as well as old friends like “Rabbit, Fed up” from the Winterspell set. The Deck also includes the 1-cost “Mushu's Rocket” in order to give Rush to any of your Characters.
In order to optimise the efficiency of your Characters, this starter decks also includes a number of ways to exert opponents Characters and to ready yours multiple times. “Frozone, Super Cool”, for example, has Rush and he can exert chosen Character on Play as far the Player has another Super on the playfield. The new Traveler Glimmer “Daisy Duck, Trendy Traveler”, and the previously seen “Goofy, Marley's Clumsy Spirit” and “Lefou, Instigator”, are instead good examples of ways you can use your Characters twice (or more very turn). In fact, there are plenty of options in this Deck to use and re-use your Characters multiple times.
Among your Characters, the Super ones are definitely the most flexible ones and this deck offers plenty of synergy to use them to their best. The two key Characters featured in the deck, “Jack-Jack Parr, Incredible Potential” and “Mrs. Incredible, Super Stretchy” are the most versatile ones considering they change and increase their abilities every turn. Mrs. Incredible, for example, can quest for one Lore more or gain evasive every turn depending on the Player choice while the effect of Jack-Jack ability is purely random chaos. I love that this Deck also includes a Super Villain like “Negaduck, Public Enemy Number One” as his ability is pretty handy to slow down your opponent. Interestingly, the same effect can be achieved using the new Action “Hero Work” that allows also your Hero to gain one Lore and to make the opponent to lose one Lore when Challenging.
Talking about Super, we cannot forget to have “Edna Mode, Fashion Designer” in the Deck in order to allow the other Super Characters to quest for one additional Lore when Edna quests. More important, Edna can send back to the Player's hand the item “Super Suit” in order to draw a card. Playing Super Suit is pretty useful in this deck in order to gain one Lore if you have a Super in Play thus recycling this item can be quite handy. “Mirage, Super Recruiter” also benefits from having another Super in play in order to draw a card. And if you are really in need of more card draw you can always take back to hand a Super in order to draw two cards using the action “Super Relocation Program”.
“Everyone is Special” – Final thoughts
I always find Starter Decks to be a great product in most TCGs and I particularly enjoyed all the Disney Lorcana that Ravensburger produced so far. I think moving to a Two Players Starter Set is a great idea as it offers the same advantages of a Single-Player deck with the added bonus to be able to start playing right away with your friend(s). In addition it offers every Player the possibility to try alternative strategies right off the box that is a big advantage for Player that just started playing Lorcana.
In terms of Gameplay, the two Decks provided are well balanced and they include some good cards and mechanics. Excluding perhaps the Boost one, the Decks have a good range of keywords and abilities and they include Item, Songs, Actions and Locations making them a very good way to show what Lorcana can offer. Personally, I would have loved to have a few more copies of the Rare and Super-Rare cards in these decks as having only one copy of each can take away a bit of excitement from the game. Another aspect I would love to improve is the Gameplay/Strategy tips session of the “Quick Start Rules”. In the past Single-Player decks, this section was quite consistent but in this one there is just a single page per set. I would consider having a bit more strategic/practical hints in future ones in order to support new Players a bit more.
In terms of quality of the components, I think this is also one of the most successful re-branding Ravensburger has done in Disney Lorcana product line. The set is a very solid product with a good range of accessories and a very good value. When I first heard about the Two Players Starter Set I though I will miss the Booster Pack that usually comes with the Starter decks but I think removing it was a good idea. While I loved the excitement of pulling new cards from the Booster, I think new Players may get very confused by having random cards and to see Ink colours they cannot play in their deck.
Overall, the Two Players Starter Set is a very good product and it has great potential, in particular for new Players and anyone who enjoys playing Lorcana casually. I am very grateful to Ravensburger for sharing these products with me and for giving me the opportunity to review them ahead of the release. I really enjoyed playing these decks and I cannot wait to work a bit on how these can be improved in order to make them more competitive or more thematic. I will be looking to share this with you all on Zatu later on but, in the meantime, it will be great to hear your thoughts and impressions on this Starter set on our social media @zatugames.
