The Best Lorcana Decks, Ranked
Read Time:11 Minute, 7 Second
Lorcana, the Disney/ Ravensburger trading card game, has enchanted fans since its release last year. With five card sets currently on the market and the sixth, Azurite Sea, on the horizon, it’s a good time to talk about the best Lorcana starter decks out there.
If you’re new to Lorcana, you may want to check out our earlier article to get the full run-down on mechanics and how to play. But here’s a quick recap. Lorcana decks are made up of character, item, action, and (in more recent releases) location cards with different costs, effects, and abilities. There are multiple different versions of the character cards, which vary in stats and abilities. Card costs are paid with ink, which you accumulate by placing cards in your inkwell. The game’s objective is to gain lore, which you do by questing with your characters. The first player to reach 20 lore wins.
Lorcana Ink Types
Lorcana has six inks: amber, amethyst, emerald, ruby, sapphire, and steel. Decks are made up of two inks. Every ink type has a mix of heroes and villains, and characters will appear in different forms in various ink types. However, these cards will have different abilities and stats that support different play styles.
Depending on your style and strategy, some inks may suit you better than others. Here are the characteristics of the Lorcana inks.
- Amber: amber cards tend to be supportive cards and often have abilities and effects related to healing or protecting other cards.
- Amethyst: Disney characters who are known for their magical powers tend to make up amethyst decks. These characters’ abilities are extremely powerful and can give players an edge as the game progresses.
- Emerald: emerald cards typically offer abilities that can confuse or wrong-foot your opponents, such as forcing them to banish cards or allowing you to pick up cards from your banished pile or deck.
- Ruby: ruby cards will suit those who like to keep their opponents under pressure. These cards may have the ability to challenge your opponent’s card as soon as they’re played or inflict more damage in certain situations. Ruby cards support an aggressive playstyle and allow you to hit your opponent fast and often.
- Sapphire: these cards are perfect for strategic players. Sapphire cards allow you to build complex strategies that unfold slowly over time.
- Steel: where ruby cards facilitate fast and frequent hits, steel cards hit hard. These cards are typically defensive and powerful. Steel is the best ink for players who want a straightforward path to victory with the help of strong cards.
How Do You Choose A Lorcana Ink?
Every starter deck has two ink types. It’s important to choose ink types that complement each other. We can broadly divide the ink types into two categories. Amber, emerald, and sapphire can be described as support inks, while amethyst, ruby, and steel are offensive inks. For first-time players, having one ink from each category can be a good idea. The First Chapter starter decks were the first three decks released and you can see that they have the same/balance.
Later releases mix the ink types differently, meaning some decks are built for attack and some for support and defense. More experienced players can use these decks to perfect their play strategies.
The Best Lorcana Decks, Ranked
Now for the main event: the best Lorcana starter decks, ranked.
1. The First Chapter: Amber/Amethyst – The Heart of Magic
Despite being one of the first decks released, The First Chapter: Amber/Amethyst remains the best. The deck is packed with great cards, many of which have low ink costs. The best strategy is to go wide and keep going – “Quest early, quest often” really works here. Flood the board with cards and leave your opponents rushing to catch up with you.
2. Rise of the Floodborn: Amethyst/Steel – Might and Magic
Rise of the Floodborn: Amethyst/Steel is a little hard to rank, but overall it lands high on the list thanks to its fantastic cards. It’s a starter deck that is crucial for those building out amethyst and steel decks. Played by itself, it can suffer from a lack of strongly defensive characters and very limited opportunities to draw extra cards. Its potential as a bounce deck wins it second place in our ranking, meaning that with a combination of Merlin and Madam Mim cards, you can play the same cards again and again to get free lore, draw free cards, and more. However, this perfect combination doesn’t show up often enough to be a guarantee, making it a difficult starter deck.
3. Ursula’s Return: Sapphire/Steel – Stand Together
This is a solid starter deck featuring a strong combination of ink types. It offers a simple but effective strategy, with loads of potential for upgrades from booster packs and other sapphire and steel cards. With lots of hero cards and actions that optimize them, Ursula’s Return: Sapphire/Steel lays the groundwork for phenomenal steel and sapphire decks. However, it has practically no card draw mechanics, making it a frustrating experience if you find yourself lacking in ink and playable characters.
4. Into the Inklands: Amber/Emerald – Dogged and Dynamic
Easier to play and with some great cards, Into the Inklands: Amber/Emerald is another deck that allows you to flood the board early on and force your opponent to react. This time, you’re overwhelming your opponent with Dalmation puppies, which makes the game all the more adorable. The Inklands starter set focuses on introducing players to new mechanics such as locations, and unfortunately is a little unbalanced as a result. That said, Dogged and Dynamic is a great choice for anyone interested in building an emerald deck and offers a good chance of a win against other starter decks.
5. Shimmering Skies: Emerald/Steel – A Roaring Guest List
Shimmering Skies: Emerald/Steel is another good starter deck to ease new players into the game, although it requires more strategizing than other starters. Because it’s so focused on dealing damage to your opponent and offers some great card combinations to maximize it, familiarity with the cards will help you win against many of the other starter decks. However, it’s not the best choice for higher levels, as your strategy won’t pay off if you don’t get the right combinations. It’s best played aggressively but carefully, which can be a tricky balance to achieve.
6. The First Chapter: Emerald/Ruby – Daring and Deception
Daring and Deception is the most difficult of the First Chapter starter decks but also one of the most satisfying decks to play with. It includes cards that will drive your opponent crazy, whether because challenging certain characters allows you to draw another card or because you can remove their lore. Unfortunately, a lot of the cards have a high cost that will limit when and how you can use them. It also doesn’t have many of the essential emerald and ruby cards for building out those decks. All in all, it’s an extremely satisfying deck to use against other starters but may limit you when you’re constructing your own decks thereafter.
7. Shimmering Skies: Amethyst/Ruby – Ready to Let Loose
Shimmering Skies: Amethyst/Ruby features one of Lorcana’s most powerful ink combinations to date and has some great cards to show for it. Amethyst and ruby pairings are popular among tournament players, however, the starter deck itself doesn’t have as strong a strategy as you might expect. There are lots of moving parts, not least lore removal and location-focused play, that don’t fit together all that well. That said, it has some cards that are valuable in a competitive deck and it’s a reasonable choice when playing against other starter decks.
8. The First Chapter: Sapphire/Steel – A Steadfast Strategy
A Steadfast Strategy is, unfortunately, not steadfast in wins. It relies heavily on drawing the right cards to fuel your inkwell so you can play the high-cost cards that will win you the game. If this happens, you’ll have a lot of fun winning. However, if you draw those high-cost cards first, you’ll face a slow and frustrating defeat. That said, it contains some essential cards for constructing your emerald and sapphire decks, so it’s not to be missed if those inks are your focus.
9. Rise of the Floodborn: Amber/Sapphire – Tactical Teamwork
This deck has some great card combinations that will help you gain control of the board and build lore early on. However, it doesn’t offer much protection from evasive actions or banishing, making it a weaker deck when playing against ink combinations such as emerald/ ruby or amber/ amethyst decks. Card draws are also limited, meaning you may be at risk of running out of playable cards faster than your opponent. It offers some good cards for building out an amber or sapphire deck, but overall it isn’t the best if you’re interested in a competitive build.
10. Ursula’s Return: Amber/Amethyst – Madrigal Magic
Ursula’s Return: Amber/Amethyst contains useful cards to add to existing amber and amethyst decks but doesn’t pack much of a punch as a starter deck. Where amber/ amethyst is typically a fast and aggressive ink combination, this deck doesn’t play to those strengths. Certain cards work well together but even then their combined power is limited and they don’t have the same synergy with some of the best cards. It’s a deck that doesn’t stand up well against upgraded decks and won’t serve you in a competitive situation, but if you’re looking for a fun set-up that features your favorite characters from Encanto, it’s worth getting.
11. Into the Inklands: Ruby/Sapphire – Plenty of Pluck
The weakest Lorcana starter deck so far is Into the Inklands: Ruby/Sapphire. While the ruby/sapphire combination is used in many competitive settings, this deck supplies relatively few of them. A lot of the cards are hard to play and even harder to keep on the board long enough to benefit from strong card synergies. It’s a deck that can be fun if you get all the right cards – but that’s pretty unlikely in most games. Overall, there aren’t many cards in it that will be useful in building ruby or sapphire decks.
Azurite Sea
Azurite Sea, the sixth Lorcana starter set, is due to be released at local retailers and select Disney parks later this month, with widespread release on November 23, 2024.
The two starter decks are emerald/sapphire and amber/ruby. Early reviews indicate that the emerald/sapphire deck will focus heavily on strategy surrounding “inventor” cards. It also includes some great mechanics to allow you to gain lore, protect cards in play, and search your deck for the cards you want. The amber/ruby deck appears to make the best use of location cards, as well as other abilities and effects that help you make the most of your pirate deck.
Predictably, the emerald/sapphire deck will likely suit players who prefer strategizing, while the amber/ruby deck is great for a faster, more aggressive style. It’s too early to know how the decks will fit into competitive play, but so far the ink combinations hold a lot of promise. Azurite Sea also features gorgeous artwork that will delight any Disney fan.
Final Thoughts
With so many decks and ink combinations to choose from, Lorcana leaves the field wide open for players to explore and experiment with different styles and strategies. When cost becomes a factor, however, it’s good to have an idea of the kind of game you want to play. Whether you favor the aggressive approach of amethyst, ruby, or steel, or the supportive effects of amber, emerald, and sapphire, there are plenty of starter decks that will help you build your skills – and your deck – going forward.
Do you agree with the ranking of the Lorcana starter decks? Let us know your thoughts and what deck is your favorite. And don’t forget to sign up to our email list to get Finds of the Week and our free newsletter, PopPulse Digest, delivered straight to your inbox.
This article contains links to external sellers and affiliate marketing. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying sales.
