The Ink Table Podcast Episode 22: "As the Snow Thaws"
The Last Days of Winter
The sweet scent of hot chocolate still lingers in the chilling air. Children warmly bundled, laugh and play in the streets. A flurry of snowballs passes between them. The entire scene shines and glistens, as the sun breaks through puffy grey clouds.
Beneath their feet, a wet slush splashes. Winter has yet to pass, but things are heating up. Little do they know that their ammunition is fleeting. Each snowball could be their last…as the snow thaws.
Welcome to The Ink Table, where we are recapping our Disney Lorcana Winterspell prerelease weekend, our pack opening experience, and some critical feedback we believe will improve the game for all Illumineers.
Notable Pulls
Disney Lorcana’s 11th set Winterspell released at local game stores on February 20, 2026. The team was excited to get their hands on some of the new products and have made it a point to share their pack opening experience with all of those who have pulled up a seat. Probably the most notable pull was the Iconic Moana - Curious Explorer pulled by Preston. Check out the provided short to see the team’s reaction to this card.
We also once again took the time to meet-up and record a few unboxing videos. We have a dedicated playlist on our YouTube channel where these videos will be rolling out. Be sure to check them out (and give them a like) to see everything we pulled in what was the best case we have ever opened.
Pre-Release FUN
Out of the 11 previous pre-release events we have participated in, this by far was the most fun. Our experience compared to that of other Illumineers probably looked a bit different. We are extremely thankful to have been given the opportunity to represent our home LGS in a special Winterspell themed decorating contest that their distributor was hosting, that ultimately turned into a wonderful Winter themed celebration. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling, snow globes showcased cards from the newest set, oversized cards adorned tables, original film posters related to some of the games newest franchises hung on the walls, and the sweet scent of hot chocolate filled the room with warmth and love. We actually constructed an entire hot chocolate stand where any passers-by or LGS attendees could grab a cup for free.
Sealed MVPs
Each set, after attending sealed events at both our home LGS and their sister location, we always take the time to discuss some cards that stood out to us while playing the limited format. We enjoy doing this, as it may give the spotlight to certain cards that may not see the same level of play in traditional Core Constructed or Infinity matches.
The first card we would like to spotlight is 4 cost Amber card Sarabi - Protecting the Pride. This is the first Sarabi card we have seen in Disney Lorcana. She only quests for 1 and her 4 strength/4 willpower is a pretty basic stat line for her cost. But the thing that makes this card interesting is its ability Fearsome Snarl. This ability allows you to exert Sarabi in order to reduce the strength of an opposing character by 4 until the start of your next turn. This strength reduction opened up multiple gameplay avenues. By reducing this strength, you are able to freely challenge that opposing character without fear of your own being banished and maintaining a board presence. And in scenarios where you are more concerned about questing over challenging, the strength reduction opens up opportunities to freely quest without fear of the opposing character banishing yours on their turn.
The second spotlighted card is Rapunzel - Ethereal Protector. This is an uninkable 3 cost Steel card, and happens to be a Whisper type glimmer. This special glimmer type was first introduced in set 10, Whispers in the Well, and continue to appear in the latest set. Each one of them have a special Boost ability that sees you taking the top card of your deck and placing it under the Whisper in order to get special benefits. It cost 2 ink to “Boost” Rapunzel. When a card is under her you can activate her ability CLONK!. This makes it to where a chosen opposing character can’t challenge until the start of your next turn, when a “Boosted” Rapunzel quests. Similar to Sarabi, we found this to be a great way to protect your characters while allowing you to freely quest.
The final pick is a card we believe actually will appear in some more competitive trending decks, and that is Lilo - Bundled Up. While only having 1 strength and 2 willpower, the fact that she quests for 2 combined with her ability makes it a great card. Her ability Extra Layers makes it that your opponent must deal damage to her twice, essentially wasting time and slowing them down, as the first time she would take damage, she takes none instead.
Unfortunate Miscuts and Misprints
After the excitement of opening boxes of new product comes the tedious job of sorting cards. And unfortunately, while sorting our cards we came across many that were damaged. This is a recent trend that has popping up everywhere online. A multitude of Illumineers have noticed strange instances of cards coming out of new packs damaged or completely miscut. The images provided are cards directly belonging to the team, that have suffered the same fate.
Many of the cards impacted include foils, Legendaries, Epics, and even an Echanted, in which the majority of have higher market values than the packs they were pulled from. We share our thoughts on this subject in the podcast clip that can be found below. But the important information we want to provide is that Ravensburger does offer a replacement policy (https://brand.ravensburger-group.com/d/e1vhRSQ7WeNy).
Its important to note that only cards Rare or higher rarity are eligible to be replaced. Damaged or missing cards in packs purchased on Amazon and those received through participation or prizing in Organized Play are also not valid to be replaced. In order to open a replacement investigation, you must have a photo of the damaged cards (with a handwritten note that includes your name and the date), a photograph of the receipt that includes the store name where you purchased the product, and the batch ID found on the back of the product’s packaging. But you only have up to 7 days after the purchase is made to file a report.
For the time being, we encourage all Illumineers to hold on to their receipts and product packaging until they thoroughly look over their cards. And if you have also fell victim to laxed quality control, don’t be afraid to use the replacement policy. It can be used to trace back factory errors and hopefully provide feedback that prevents instances like this from happening as often.
Let’s Talk Lore
Our YouTube channel is filled with a plethora of Disney Lorcana content. We already have our regular Podcast episodes, unboxing videos, and even some IRL coverage from places like our LGS to Gen Con. As our channel and community continues to grow, we want to find even more ways to provide unique and creative content. One way in which we are doing that is through our latest video series titled Let’s Talk Lore.
This series, hosted by me, is our way of showcasing our love and excitement for the overarching story and lore told from set to set throughout the Realm of Lorcana. The Ravenburger Narrative and Art teams do a fantastic job of taking original Disney characters and franchises and twisting them into Dreamborn and Floodborn versions, that beautifully pay ohmage to the original while telling their own unique story. This is done through art, ability names, and flavor text. Many Illumineers take all of this for granted or don’t even know that a story is being told. That’s what this series is all about. We want to cover key story moments in real time as the sets are being released.
The video below is the first in this series. It covers the unique way that Ravensburger is retelling the familiar story of Frozen to explain what has caused the Realm of Lorcana to be blanketed in a magical snow during Winterspell.
New Rarities
During the Disney Lorcana themed activities at the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts, an announcement was sneakily placed within Collection Guidebooks used by parkgoers during the event. There was a special page dedicated to showing off the different rarities that can be found. And there was a section covering “special edition cards” that have unique promo symbols on them. Many of these we have seen before. The regular promo logo has been around since The First Chapter. The Magical Places logo can be found on cards that were distributed within the Disney Parks. The Film symbol was first seen on promos given out during opening weekend screenings of Zootopia 2. And even the Cruises logo made a brief appearance (and could return in the future) on specific Disney Cruise voyages.
With that being said, there are two new symbols that we have yet to see. The first is the Puzzles logo. We have received Lorcana themed puzzles in the past. We have even received some that came with promos in the past. But these promos had the traditional Promo symbol on them, not the Puzzles symbol. And the last new rarity is Publishing. Only recently has Ravensburger been releasing products such as the Official Collector’s Guides. And currently it seems there will be other books published by the official Narrative Team in the future. It is very likely that some of these future products will be where we first see these new Publishing Promos.
