Disney Lorcana – Archazia’s Island Overview and Impressions

The good folks at Ravensburger were nice enough to send over a few packs of the latest Disney Lorcana chapter, Archazia’s Island. Although I cannot review the entire set as I haven’t received my booster box yet, I can talk about what I’ve seen so far, and the positive changes I see them taking yet again with this release. Let’s not waste any time – let’s check out what’s new in the Archazia’s Island release!

The most obvious change to most people is going to be the dual-coloured cards. With this release, there are now a handful of cards that can be used in multiple different types of decks. The dual use cards provide a bit of flexibility for avid deck builders, and I enjoy when trading card games give that kind of flexibility. Obviously there needs to be some restrictions on what can be put into a deck, and I have found those restrictions a bit frustrating from time-to-time. Although I’ll need more time with these dual-coloured cards, I do see it as a positive expansion of the system.

Obviously, that’s a big and very noticeable change, but we’ve got new keywords and titles as well. Illusion characters are new in this set, bringing about some mystery and intrigue. This keyword will come into play – specifically with Jafar, for example – at various points in the game, similarly to when cards reference Floodborn.

Tied to illusion could be the new Vanish keyword, which banishes a character if they are the target of an action card. This is an interesting mechanic and would really hurt players with too many vanish cards if their opponent has an action heavy deck. There will obviously be benefits to balance this banishment possibility, although I would have to play a LOT more to figure out whether or not those benefits are worth it.

As always, the two new Starter Decks are a great way to get acquainted with some of the new systems, but as these are not curated decks, they will have some holes that are easily exploitable. We enjoy getting these each time as they allow us to try new ideas and concepts in a controlled environment – I would never use a starter deck against a custom deck, but two starter decks against each other is perfectly fine. Plus, these decks are a great way to get a lot of cards from this set rather quickly, especially if there are cards you already expect to use.

Overall, it is another great release for Disney Lorcana. The artwork, as always, is phenomenal, keeping Disney Lorcana at the top of my list of collectible card games. While other games have perhaps surpassed this one in terms of playability, I think it will be hard to beat the collectible nature of this one. As a collector first and a player second, I hope for the continued success of Disney Lorcana as I need more cards in my life!