Shop

Archazia’s Island - Top 10 Cards To Look Out For

Archazia’s Island just released at Local Game Stores last week, and with the widespread release just around the corner, we’re excited to see how the new set will shake up the metagame. Just as we did with Azurite Sea, we’re going to explore some notable cards in the upcoming set, and talk about cards you may want to pick up for your decks. Let’s get into it.

Picture of Alex Kivitz

Alex Kivitz

Picture of Alex Kivitz

Alex Kivitz

Picture of Alex Kivitz

Alex Kivitz

Double The Colours Double The Fun - Dual-Ink Cards

Probably the most exciting thing about Archazia’s Island is the introduction of Dual-Ink cards. These Dual-Ink cards have the restriction that you must be playing the two colours on that card to utilise them in your deck. For example, Lady – Miss Park Avenue is Amber and Emerald. To use her in your deck you must be playing an Amber-Emerald deck. This restriction is in place because many of the Dual-Ink cards are quite powerful with very strong effects.

Mixing and Matching

On that note, let’s take a deeper look at Lady – Miss Park Avenue. Lady is an un-inkable 5 cost 4/4 in Amber and Emerald that quests for 2 lore. She also has Shift 3; but what makes her so appealing is her ability Something Wonderful. When you play this character, you may return up to 2 character cards with cost 2 or less from your discard to your hand. Lady fits seamlessly into the existing “Lemon-Lime” aggressive deck archetype. The deck aims to flood the board with efficient questers like Cursed Merfolk, or Daisy Duck – Donald’s Date. What Lady does is help you refuel on cards so you don’t run out of gas too quickly, and hopefully give the much needed push to end the game.

Next up in the Dual-Ink lineup we have Mushu – Majestic Dragon.  Mushu is an Inkable 5 cost 4/4 Ruby-Steel character that quests for 1 lore and comes with two powerhouse effects. Intimidating And Awe-Inspiring says “Whenever one of your characters challenges, they gain Resist+2 during that challenge. And next, Guardian Of Lost Souls says “During your turn, whenever one of your characters banishes another character in a challenge, gain 2 lore”.  Already we see the potential for a Ruby Steel deck that focuses on Challenging other characters. Calhoun – Marine Sergeant and Goofy – Super Goof already laid the groundwork, and now we have the potential to go even higher. And unsurprisingly, Mushu also synergises really well with the next card on our list Mulan – Imperial General.

Mulan – Imperial General is the second piece of the Ruby-Steel challenge centric gameplan. An Inkable 7 cost 5/6 that quests for 2 and Shift 5 and Evasive makes it a very easy inclusion into this deck archetype. Being Inkable means it’s not a dead card in hand early in the game. Being evasive also keeps her safe from being attacked by most other characters, almost ensuring she gets to use her ability multiple times. 

Mulan says, whenever this character challenges another character, your other characters gain “This character can challenge ready characters this turn”. In a deck focused around challenging characters, removing the option for your opponents to keep their characters ready is quite powerful.

Continuing the trend of powerful Dual-Ink cards we have Pete – Space Pirate. Pete is an Inkable 6 cost 5/5 Emerald-Steel Character that quests for 2 lore. Pete’s ability Frightful Scheme says “While this character is exerted, opposing characters can’t sing songs and your Pirate characters gain Resist +1. 

Pete looks to be a powerhouse card in halting mainly the “Steel Song” archetype in its tracks. Not only does it have quite strong stats, but it can be shifted into Pete – Games Referee the turn after you play him. You can then quest with Pete right away, locking the ability to sing, and additionally he gives himself Resist +1, meaning he even survives Then Along Came Zeus – all in all, one of the bigger cards to be on the lookout for.

Sometimes Less Is More

Dual-Ink cards look like they’re going to be rocking the metagame on release, but while they have quite powerful effects, their lack of versatility can mean they’ll be forced into some awkward decks. Conversely, we have some very powerful new cards that are only single coloured as well.

Starting off the list to no one’s surprise, we have Tamatoa – Happy As A Clam. Tamatoa is an Inkable 6 cost 4/5 Sapphire character that quests for 2 lore, and has two absolutely bonkers abilities. Coolest Collection says “When you play this character, return up to 2 item cards from your discard to your hand”, and I’m Beautiful, Baby says “Whenever this character quests, you may play an item for free”. 

Blue item decks are probably among the more powerful decks in the current metagame and this kind of support will bring it up even more. Sapphire being able to accelerate the amount of Ink in their Inkwell could see Tamatoa come out turn 4 or 5. This makes a Lucky Dime on turn 5 or 6 very real. Additionally, being able to bring your items back means these decks can run less items and more cards to interact with their opponent or cards to further their own gameplans. There is no doubt that this is going to be a mainstay for item based decks to come.

Iago – Giant Spectral Parrot is the next expected powerhouse on our list. Iago is an Inkable 4 cost 4/6 that quests for 1 with Evasive. Iago also features an all new ability called Vanish. Vanish reads “Whenever an opponent chooses this character for an action, banish them”. So you don’t need to do much to remove Iago, but then why do we have him in this list? The thing is, because Iago has such high stats and Evasive, your opponent almost has to deal with him, as there isn’t much in the game that can trade favorably into Iago, and especially not on 4 ink. 

Additionally, if they don’t deal with him, he will put on some serious pressure on your opponents. And if they do expend resources in removing Iago, that’s resources they now can’t use to further their own game plan. Pair this with the new Jafar – Newly Crowned and you have quite the powerful recurring threat.

Scrooge McDuck – Resourceful Miser is an Inkable 4 cost 4/4 Sapphire character that quests for 1. If Steel-Song has taught us anything, playing cards for free is very powerful. Scrooge’s first ability allows you to exert 4 items you control to play him for free. Then when you do play him you can look at the top 4 cards of your deck for an item card and add it to your hand while putting the rest of the cards on the bottom. Just like Ariel – Spectacular Singer can search the top four cards of the deck for songs, Scrooge comes in and finds more of what your deck wishes to play. This coupled with the Tamatoa – Happy As A Clam will really drive up the consistency of Sapphire item decks.

On the topic of playing cards for free, we have a brand new Belle in Sapphire, Belle – Apprentice Inventor. Sapphire really is getting some great new tools. Belle is an Inkable 3 cost 3/3 Sapphire character that quests for 1. Her ability “What A Mess” reads “During your turn, you may banish chosen item of yours to play this character for free”. A Sapphire player on turn one can easily play an item like Pawpsicle for 1, draw a card, then destroy the item and develop a 3/3 immediately. Belle can then sing three cost songs like Friends On The Other Side or Let The Storm Rage On. Not only that but having a well stated minion on board in an ink colour known for going for later game game plans is great when facing down decks that quest very aggressively. This card may only be common, but the potential of this card is quite high.

In Lorcana, it’s quite difficult to interact with your opponent when it’s not your turn. What that means is that being able to deal with problems on their turn has the potential to be quite strong. Bagheera – Guardian Jaguar does that a little bit. While it is not any targeted removal, he has quite a strong ability. Bagheera is an Inkable 5 cost 4/3 Steel character that quests for 2 and has Bodyguard. During an opponent’s turn, when this character is banished, deal 2 damage to each opposing character. This is almost like a delayed Grab Your Sword on a stick. Having Bodyguard makes it almost impossible to ignore while still targeting other characters on your board, and if we see more aggressive decks come to the forefront we may see Bagheera rise in the metagame as well.

Rounding out our top ten is the first Legendary Action seen in Lorcana. The Return Of Hercules is an Inkable 5 cost Emerald action that says “Each player may reveal a character card from their hand and play it for free”. Against aggressive decks, they are likely to have low cost characters to play. If you are playing a discard focused deck your opponent may not even have cards to reveal. Additionally, we are seeing a lot of end game high-cost characters come out to play in this set, and this could be a way of turning on those gameplans a lot earlier. 

I personally like that this card is Inkable as well as a single Ink colour. The Return Of Hercules can easily be slotted into the deck without having it be stuck in your hand, and can offer versatility and niche gameplay interactions in the early to mid game. Bringing out a Sisu – Empowered Sibling three turns early, or even a turn before you can shift it can be devastating. If your opponent has a lot of damaged characters, Prince Phillip – Vanquisher of Foes does a similar job banishing all opposing damaged characters. Pair this up with a Chief Bogo – Respected Officer that’s already on the field and you have quite the nasty combo.

These cards and so many more have so much potential. With the release of Archazia’s Island at local game stores last week we are already excited to see how everyone will utilize these new cards! Does your top 10 differ from ours? Let us know what your top cards are and how your release went on our socials!

Lorcana Newsletter

Want to stay updated on all of our Lorcana tournaments and community gatherings? When you sign up to our newsletter, you can select Lorcana and you will only receive our Lorcana related newsletters. 

To the newsletter sign up.

Read More Disney Lorcana Articles

Keep In Touch

Instagram Tiktok Discord Twitch X-twitter Facebook-f

Subscribe to our newsletter and stay up to date with all your favourite events!