Disney Lorcana closes out the year with another set, Whispers in the Well, which has an early release on November 7 at your local games stores followed by a wide release on November 14. This new set will be the tenth for the popular Disney card game in a little over two years since it initially premiered. Alongside the full set release, Lorcana will again have accompanying starter decks: a Sapphire/Steel deck featuring characters from Robin Hood and Zootopia, and an Amber/Emerald deck featuring characters from the Lion King and Hercules. With every set, a new mechanic gets revealed, but we also get some pleasant surprises from the deep Disney library, like A Goofy Movie from the previous expansion. This time around I was ecstatic to see Gargoyles from the ‘90s animated TV series make an appearance. With new characters introduced into the card game and alongside a new mechanic, these new starter decks give a good sneak peek into what the new meta could be.
Right out of the box, both starter decks have a good mix of cards that dictate each deck’s playstyle, but one deck seems to have better synergy than its counterpart after playing some matches with both. The Sapphire/Steel deck is by far the most consistent of the two, which may also just be a product of the colors of the deck. With that said, the Detective classification of cards in that deck really puts in the work as well. Outside of Sapphire’s tendency to ramp ink or mana quickly, or the ability to filter through a deck, there are a handful of similar bonuses from just having Detective cards in your deck. For instance, there’s a Judy Hopps card that allows the player to look at the top three cards of their deck and reveal a Detective character to then put in their hand. That’s amazing for a card game that normally lets you draw only one card at the beginning of a turn. If Judy Hopps can stay on the field, that’s great value. Another Detective card is Basil, who gives himself Resist when another Detective is played. Resist is an attribute often seen in the Steel color, so it’s interesting seeing the Detective synergy work in that regard too. Overall, the toughness of the cards in this Detective deck alongside the ramping and filtering makes this deck the standout of the two. If players want a budget deck for the next set, this Sapphire/Steel deck might be a good foundation that could use just a bit of tweaking.
