The Ink Table Podcast Episode 6: "Island of Duality"
Welcome to the Island of Duality
With only a few weeks left before the release of Lorcana’s 7th set, Archazia’s Island, we are dropping anchor and waving goodbye to the Perilous Maze that was the Azurite Sea. This next set is due to release at Disney Parks and Local Game Stores on March 7th, before later coming to big box retailers on March 21st. Archazia’s Island is not just the name of the next set, but the location in which the story of Lorcana will next unfold.
The previous set saw our main Illumineers and their glimmers following a mysterious map, that happened to point towards a location known as Owl Island. We know now that Owl Island and Archazia’s Island are one in the same. It’s on this island that we meet Archazia, a giant owl and an ancient illumineer who both holds the knowledge of using Dual Ink and guards a legendary forge used to craft powerful artifacts. While we learn from Archazia how to wield Dual Ink, a dark force works in the shadows. A particular Jafar glimmer has his eye set on putting the pieces of the Hexwell Crown back together and claiming the island as his own.
Welcome to your first look at this island. A place in which duality will be tested. A place where we learn to balance contradicting forces and learn to mix our paint, creating and crafting masterpieces beyond which was previously thought possible. And a place where the forces of light and darkness, good and evil will once again clash. So, join us around The Ink Table as we discuss some of the cards revealed from this set, play another round of Disney Trivia, and predict the future of Lorcana
Cards You Should be Prepared to See
To this point Ruby/Saphire has consistently been one of the most dominant decks in the competitive scene. Probably why it was the most used ink combination at the North American Championship. Most of these competitive decks revolve around using items with Hiram Flaversham to draw cards, and a combination of Ice Block, Brawl, and Sisu to remove opponent’s characters.
While this combination has been fatal, many players have found ways to combat it by playing cards that increase their characters strength. Saphire Coil makes this harder to accomplish by removing 2 strength from characters, in comparison to the 1 removed by Ice Block. This card is also inkable whereas Ice Block is not. Its safe to assume then, that players will be making this switch.
One deck archetype that never seems to disappear is the Aggro deck. In a game that is won by being the first to get to 20 lore, this type of deck can accomplish that the quickest.
While Minnie Mouse, Storyteller does not quest for any lore on her own, her Gather Around ability has the potential to allow her to quest for multiple lore every turn. This stackable ability gives her 1 lore for every character you play in a turn. Using this ability late into a match, when you should have plenty of ink, or combined with cards like Lantern, it is possible to play a bunch of 1 and 2 drop characters allowing Minnie to quest over the finish line.
Another Lorcana staple that has been around since The First Chapter is the Steelsong deck. This archetype utilizes characters’ abilities to sing songs, allowing board control while maintaining ink to spend on more characters.
Pepa Madrigal, Sensitive Sister is a great addition to these decks while only being a common card. Her ability will allow the owner of this card to passively gain 1 lore every time they sing a song. In decks that have the potential to sing multiple songs in a single turn, this card will allow for quick lore gain, especially when combined with Sleepy’s Flute.
A different variation of the Ruby/Saphire deck that has made its way onto the scene during this previous set, was one based around heavy use of actions. Maui, Half-Shark has really been the one to lead this charge. He has two super powerful abilities. The first allows you to passively gain 1 lore anytime you play an action. The second allows you to return an action from your discard whenever he banishes another character; easily done with a stat line of 7 strength and 5 willpower.
Ratigan, Nefarious Criminal is the perfect complimentary piece to the shark. They share the same ability that gives passive lore when an action is played, although Ratigan has to be exerted for it to work for him. But you could easily have Ratigan sing a song with Maui on board, gaining 2 lore, then have the shark banish a character to return that song from your discard, and hard cast it to gain another 2 lore.
It has been well documented that we at The Ink Table Podcast have a fondness for Amythest as an ink. Not only are its glimmers mysterious and whimsical but provide well balanced tech cards that can do it all. Two of the biggest things Amythest cards do are produce card draw and produce passive lore gain when certain characters enter play.
In the past, many meta decks have included the package of the 4 cost Merlin, rabbit to draw cards and Merlin, goat to gain lore, when they enter and leave play. Azurite Sea gave us the 3 cost White Rose that gives a lore when you play her. But Archazia’s Island has now given us an even cheaper way to gain a quick unaccounted-for lore in the song This is My Family. Even as an uninkable, a two-cost song that allows you to gain 1 lore and draw a card will easily fit into midrange and aggro decks alike.
To this point Ruy/Steel has mostly been an ink combination left to those playing pirate themed decks. But one truth about those pirate decks and these inks in general is that they make for super aggressive play. These decks benefit from challenging and controlling the board.
Enter the new dual ink Mushu, Majestic Dragon. This card not only gives resist +2 to your characters when they challenge but also gives 2 passive lore when you banish a character in a challenge. Only a few other cards have this secondary ability, but if you can find a way to get them on the field at the same time it could be lethal. Imagine having a Calhoun or Floodborn Robinhood in play alongside Mushu, leading to a combined 4 lore from banishing a single character in a challenge. Throw in Sher Khan to gain an extra lore just for challenging, and you may never need to quest again.
The Rise of Emerald/Saphire
One particular ink combination we have our eyes on this next set, is that of Emerald/Saphire. There are quite a few new cards, some utilizing the new dual-ink mechanic, that seem to set this deck up for success. A typical Saphire deck would want to ramp early at the cost of having characters on the board, in order to get their heavy hitters out quicker and to set up late game victories. This deck, to an extent, does the opposite. It relies on putting characters out early and setting up lines in order to use the shift mechanic of Floodborn characters.
Yokai, Intellectual Shemer allows characters to be shifted for 1 less. Hiro Hamada, Future Champion allows card draw when shifted onto. Hiro Hamada, Armor Designer gives two powerful abilities in Evasive and Ward to your Floodborn characters that have been shifted, including himself. Baymax, Giant Robot gives us a brand-new ability in Universal Shift, that allows him to be shifted on top of any of your characters. With a shift cost of 4, a perfect gameplay line is set up by playing Yokai on turn 2 and shifting Baymax for 1 less on turn 3.The action card Return of Hercules will allow you to play one of those costly Floodborn characters for free. And the new Ink Geyser will keep opponents’ inkwells in check, while leaving you in a good place to continue the shifting strategy.
Cards We Are Excited About
While Preston loves this new Merlin card as it makes the perfect shift target for Merlin, Intellectual Visionary in his beloved Blurple deck; Dylan sees it as an easy way to ramp when combined with the location Merlin’s Cottage or the item Aurelien Gyrosensor. The crew also discusses the train that the clairvoyant Merlin can see in the card’s art, and how similar it is to that of the one on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Could this be a hint towards something we will see in Fabled, or even the inclusion of Disney Park properties being included in the world of Lorcana?
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