A new chapter of Lorcana is coming online and will be available in hobby stores soon!

We’ve been bringing you coverage of the latest chapters of Lorcana, and it’s time for the newest edition! On August 9th, you’ll be able to find the new chapter at hobby stores and soon after, on August 23rd, you’ll be able to purchase the cards on Amazon, Disney Store, and many other locations. We grabbed a set ahead of their release to bring you all the new info on these new cards before they hit shelves, so buckle up, because we’re taking you through the story of Lorcana!

What is Lorcana?

Since August 2023, Disney and Ravensburger have released four collections of this trading card game — The First Chapter, Rise of the Floodborn, a Disney100 collection, Into the Inklands, and Ursula’s Return. Now, another chapter is on the horizon — Shimmering Skies! The game combines the thrill of strategy with the whimsy of Disney storytelling.

The story goes that players are “Illumineers” who have landed in a new realm, Lorcana. You must go on quests to search and find the “lore” that was spread out during Rise of the Floodborn when a flood of mixed ink was accidentally unleashed. Your goal in the game is to collect 20 lore (points) before the other players. Your quest to gain lore and challenge your opponents to slow them down.

Put simply, the game is a race to get 20 points by using the actions, songs, and characters that are on each card. You can challenge your opponent and eliminate (banish) their cards that are in play to limit their opportunities to gain points. It’s a game of strategy with a bit of luck of the draw.

‘Shimmering Skies’

After all the challenges, journeys, and adventures of our favorite characters, they’ve gathered at the Great Illuminary to celebrate! But in the middle of the party, something new arises in the sky. That is where we begin the story of Lorcana: Shimmering Skies.

This new chapter introduces two new starter sets with new characters, actions, foil cards, and locations. The first new pack in the Amethyst and Ruby starter set that features Elsa and Wreck-It Ralph (who is new to the game!).

You’ll find Elsa and Wreck-It Ralph foil cards in this set. Both of these cards will bring you much-needed help with your strategy.

What’s really exciting are all the new Wreck-It Ralph characters that are included in the new deck! You’ll be able to play with Vanellope and her racing friends. The racers vary in their strength and abilities, but each will serve a purpose in your game.

Since Into the Inklands, we’ve seen location cards come into play with new ones introduced in each consecutive chapter. In the Amethyst and Ruby deck, you’ll get to play in The Library. If your character is banished while in the library, you may draw a card. This is an awesome advantage for a location card!

A new action that I am particularly fond of is the Glimmer vs. Glimmer card!

The second starter deck in Shimmering Skies is Emerald and Steel featuring Kronk and Scar. In a way, these two new decks are pairing up Heroes vs. Villains! While not all the characters in the Emerald and Steel deck are Villains, many are and the new Glimmer vs. Glimmer action in the Amethyst and Ruby deck continues the theme.

In this set, you’ll get foil Scar and Kronk cards. While Kronk can’t be used as ink, his is certainly as strong as he looks with a strength and willpower of 6 each.

You’ll also find new characters such as Yzma and new actions like Night Howler Rage in this deck.

The new location in the Steel and Emerald deck is The Rainforest! The ability associated with this new location is interesting — “Opposing damaged characters gain Reckless.” This means that your opponent’s damaged characters will not be able to quest, and they must challenge if they are able.

This new chapter brings some interesting twists and turns! If you want to find out more, you’ll need to be sure to grab it as soon as it comes out on August 9th and August 23rd online.

Game Play

To play the game, you need your own deck of 60 cards. You can use one of the starter decks or mix-and-match cards from any of the different chapters. If you’re going for strategy, you can design a stacked deck of masterful items, characters, locations, actions, and songs. You do not need The First Chapter, Rise of the Floodborn, Into the Inklands, or Ursula’s Return to play the game; the new Shimmering Skies cards can work independently. You can also get booster packs that give you an additional 12 cards to help you customize your deck! New booster packs will be available for Shimmering Skies.

10 Steps for Playing Lorcana

Setting Up

1. Determine the first player by flipping a coin, rolling a die, or so on.
2. Shuffle your deck. You can only have 60 cards in your deck.
3. Set your lore tracker to 0.
4. Draw 7 cards for your starting hand. You can look at the cards in your hand, but not anyone else’s hand!
5. Alter your starting hand if you choose.

Beginning Phase of a Turn

1. Ready — Ready your exerted cards by turning them upright. (Exerted cards were used the previous turn which means they end up sideways.)
2. Set — Check for effects that happen at the start of your turn and follow their instructions.
3. Draw — Draw a card from the top of your deck. The first player skips this step on their first turn.

Main Phase of a Turn

1. Once per turn, you can put a card facedown into your inkwell at any time. (Your inkwell is basically like your bank and ink is the currency.)
2. You can take any actions listed below, any number of times, in any order you want. This allows you to take full advantage of what your cards do in combination with other effects.
   • Play a card. You must pay a certain amount of ink for your character to be played, but you have to wait for the “ink to dry” (your next turn) before you can use their abilities (unless the card specifies differently.)
   • Use a character ability that doesn’t require them to exert. (Exert means turn sideways and be in position to be attacked by opponents.)
   • Use an item ability.
   • Use a location ability.
   • Quest
   • Challenge an opponent’s location or exerted character.
   • Use an ability that requires them to exert.

There are detailed instructions for these steps in the quick start rules book that you get with a starter deck.

We can’t wait for you all to get your hands on this new chapter! Overall, the game of Lorcana is a lot of fun for 2 or more players. We recommend giving it a try!

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Do you play Lorcana? Let us know in the comments!

The post FULL REVIEW of Disney’s NEW Lorcana: Shimmering Skies Card Game — Coming Soon! first appeared on the disney food blog.