First steps in Lorcana.
The new Lorcana Into the Inklands expansion is upon us and many new players have asked me interesting questions which I will answer in this article. The premise I address to everyone is certainly to understand whether you want to approach the game in a competitive or purely recreational way. For now I will address the newbies.
What products do I need to purchase to start playing?
In case you have the opportunity to play with someone at home, the first purchase I recommended new players make was the starter deck . These pre-made decks have a perfect ratio of inkable and non-inkable cards to ensure a smooth and easily understandable game for everyone. Inside them you will find an additional package with which you can enrich the deck, damage markers, the basic rules and a paper playmat that will allow you to understand the game zones. There are three starter decks for First Chapter and two for Rise of The Floodborn . I personally tried all five, the most fun was undoubtedly Amethyst-Steel from Rise of the Floodborn . Inside there are cards that are widely played in the current metagame .
What events can I do to improve myself as a player?
Once you have learned the basic rules of the game, you can increase your skills at local events organized by your trusted store, where in addition to the starter decks you can also find other Lorcana products to increase your card collection.
Local shops organize monthly leagues at the end of which you can receive rewards based on your ranking.
The alternative to the paper game is the Pixelborn platform for PC. It is completely free and can allow you to play a good number of games in a short time.
Which deck should I build for local tournaments?
The advice I would like to give regarding this topic is certainly to build a deck that manages to entertain you regardless of the result. For novice players, the right decks to build must have an aggro strategy, short for aggressive strategy . The latter is nothing other than the deck's ability to reach the 20 lore required to win the game as soon as possible. But be careful! Many misunderstand these decks by thinking that they are simple to play, in reality, as in all collectible games, they require very careful management of resources and accurate calculation, turn by turn, of lore .
The real reason why I recommend them is because regardless of what our opponent plays, aggro decks proceed quickly with their own strategy, not caring too much about the moves that happen in front of us. Amber-Amethyst is currently the best aggro deck in the metagame .
You will find many lists online and the wisest choice is to rely on the construction done by more experienced players. Nothing prevents you from giving space to your imagination, but some mathematical criteria, such as the relationship between inkable and non-inkable cards and between characters, actions /songs and items , must be respected.
How can I get the cards I need to build my deck without spending too much?
A playful and fun aspect is certainly that of opening packages to look for the cards we need. On the other hand, this involves significant economic efforts despite Ravensburger, the manufacturer of Lorcana cards, making a great effort to reduce costs and make the game more accessible to everyone.
The best solution therefore remains to purchase cards individually on specific sites, paying the right attention to their reliability. On many platforms we risk running into non-authentic cards.
Personally, I love what in jargon is called 'unpacking'. Opening an entire booster box of 24 packs of Lorcana represents for me a moment of pure and genuine fun.
What game formats exist?
Even in Lorcana, as in other collectible card games, there is the possibility of playing other formats in addition to the Constructed format we talked about before. There are three other modes of gaming experience and they are: Draft , Sealed and Preconstructed . The latter are included in the term " Limited ", since they can be played with a specific expansion (for example First Chapter ).
A Draft tournament requires a minimum of 4 packs of the chosen expansion each, and players take turns selecting, or "drafting", cards from previously unopened packs to form their card pools . Below I have selected the draft mechanism for you directly from the official Lorcana rules.
“After taking the first pack, each player opens it, selects a card to add to their pool, then passes the remaining cards to their left. He then collects the cards that are passed to him from his right, from which he selects a card again and then passes the rest of the cards to his left. Card selection continues in this way until all cards in the pack have been dealt. The direction of the passage is reversed with each new sachet: for the second one you pass to the right, for the third to the left, and so on. Once all the packs have been "drafted", the cards selected by each player become his pool for building the deck" .
In a Sealed tournament, each player receives six sealed packs of the same expansion, with which to build their own deck of at least 40 cards and without ink color limits.
In the Preconstructed format, players receive a random starter deck and can modify the cards in their preconstructed deck with the booster pack contained inside, maintaining the two colors of inks. The deck must be 60 cards.
Personally, I love Limited formats, because having an even smaller amount of resources requires a search for interactions between the selected cards, which can lead to small advantages and consequently to winning the game. There are so many possible combinations that you will never get bored of playing.
Conclusions.
Lorcana therefore turns out to be a convincing and attractive game thanks to its simplicity and immediacy of understanding. The setting of the Disney world combined with brilliant illustrative choices has already won over many generations who grew up with its timeless classics. I completely fell in love with this game and can't wait to face the next challenges in the competitive world. And you, dear reader, what are you waiting for?
