If you are living in Australia or Aotearoa, then the last few weeks have changed a lot in the Lorcana space. We went from enviously not having access to the cards to getting a set every couple of weeks. Well, the third set, Into the Inklands, isn’t available; it’s a massive step up for Disney Lorcana.
What are the Inklands, and how do we get in there?
Annoyingly, the story of Lorcana is hard as hell to follow. After Rise of the Floodborn, the story isn’t being published on Ravensburger’s website anymore. There is a trailer and some flavour text on cards, but otherwise I have struggled to get my hands on it.
What we know is that there was an explosion of ink, and our illumineers are trying to find a bunch of artifacts. Looking at the trailer, it seems like Tinkerbell has found King Triton’s trident. At this point, I am lost in the story. But let’s be honest, we are here for cool cards and a fun game. And this is where Into the Inklands kicks ass.
What is new in Into the Inklands?
The big change here is location cards. A location card you drop onto the field sits there with a defence stat and the cost to move one of your characters there. And that’s not where this ends, my friends.
Some of the locations have a lore counter, which earns you some lore every turn; this alone can be ruthlessly powerful. I have lost many games where there were locations out and I was too focused on trying to collect lore that my opponent built too much momentum up.
Not all of them earn lore this way. Others can offer additional effects. Some offer giving your characters rush when they are there, buffing their defence stats, or giving them additional lore when they quest. Pride Lands is one of my favourites, and not because I am a massive Lion King fanboy. Characters get +2 defence while they are there, and if you plop a prince or king there, then characters cost less ink to play. It’s dope as hell, and also, The Lion King rules.
These locations make a real difference to the game because you may have to deal with them to slow your opponent down, and it makes the game different. My usual aggro strategy doesn’t work as well when their lands are ramping their aggro up.
How about the characters?
There are a whole lot of new additions here. A big one is the inclusion of Peter Pan and a whole bunch from his movie, but much bigger than that is Ducktales. Yes, you read that right, frickin Ducktales. Huey, Dewey, and Louie all have cards. Not them; Webby Lena and Scrooge have cards, and even better, there are three Magica de Spell cards, which all look dope as hell.
Of course, there is also a massive selection of other characters from Disney movies, but Ducktales, there are frickin Ducktales cards, people.
So how can you play Into the Inklands?
As with the other sets, you can pick up Booster Packs or Starter Decks. A Booster Pack comes with 15 cards in it. Picking them up is pretty fun because you can crack a pack and enjoy what mysteries are in them. Cracking packs for cracking packs is fun as hell, but be careful; you can spend far too much money on them. Not talking from experience.
The best way to enjoy cracking these packs, though, is by playing a sealed or booster draft game. Here you and a bunch of people crack packs, make decks, and play some games with the decks you made. The best way to play these kinds of games is down at your local game store (LGS). Well, my LGS anyway!
If that sounds far too intimidating, then you can try out the Starter decks. There are two for Into the Inklands: the Ruby and Sapphire and the Amber and Emerald Deck. If the colours are confusing at this stage, then grab the one that has the main characters you like. Amber and Emerald are led by Peter Pan and 101 Dalmations, and Ruby and Sapphire is led by Moana and Scrooge McDuck.
Both are pretty similar in power, so grab the one you like (or both to play against a friend) and jam some matches. Coming with a booster pack included for a cost of $32 each, these are still great value.
Should you check out Disney Lorcana: Into the Inklands?
Into the Inklands has been a massive step up when it comes to gameplay for Lorcana. The locations have added a surprising layer of depth to the game. There is still a small gap in gameplay that could be filled with the ability to try defending locations, but so far I am starting to love this game. It hasn’t topped the list as my favourite TCG yet, but there is a lot to love here.
Into the Inklands is a massive step forward for Lorcana. We are really starting to see the game this could become!
