Since I started my TCG journey with MTG last year, I quickly discovered that sealed and draft events are my favourite ways to play. From prerelease events where you get packs and build a deck to booster drafts where you open packs and pass them around, taking the cards you want, it’s so fun. Make your deck and play against people who made theirs.
Well, now that Lorcana is releasing in Aotearoa and Australia hot and fast, these game options are popping up. So I took the opportunity to go down to Bea DnD to play a sealed event to see what Disney Lorcana is like to play sealed.
What is a sealed event?
A sealed event is where you get given a bunch of packs. You crack your packs, make a deck, and then play against opponents. Prerelease events are the most common way to play these, but as we are playing catch up, we got six packs.
That means you have 72 cards to make your deck, and you then go head-to-head with other players in a mini-tournament. The higher you rank, the more prizes you can win. Most importantly, it’s casual as hell.
What is Disney Lorcana like to play sealed?
It’s an interesting one. There is a restriction built into the game where a deck can only be two colours. For sealed, this is removed so you can use whatever cards you want from your cards to build your 40-card deck.
This is a necessity as Lorcana has six colours, and so you wouldn’t have enough cards to make a deck. One thing though is that in other TCGs, having colour restrictions quickly lets you knock off some cards after you choose your colours. The flip side of this is that it lets you play with whatever synergies and character combinations you want.
Want a deck that synergises well to your favourite strategy? Go for it. Want one with just your favourite characters? Go for it.
The freedom did mean I was still sleeving cards at the start of my first match, as I was being indecisive. Everyone else was already sorted, so I can confirm it’s a me issue.
What about Into the Inklands?
This is the third Lorcana set, and this event is my first exposure to the cards. This one introduces some new mechanics, but the most interesting part is the new location cards. Location cards you play like any other card for their cost. But they have effects. Many will earn you Lore at the start of your turn, but other cards interact with them. This could earn you extra card draws, extra attack power, or much more. Your opponents can challenge and destroy them, though, so you have to get them out when you are ready to capitalise on their benefits.
This is definitely showing some depth, coming to the game hot and fast, and changing the way you may have used previous abilities. I will form a full opinion once I have played with the set some more, but so far I am liking it.
Where should you play sealed?
You can obviously buy a bunch of boosters and play with friends, but the best way to play is at a local game store. I went down to my favourite LGS, Bea DnD, and had a blast. The game seems to be bringing along a lot of longtime MTG fans who may have fallen off it but are being brought back in by their love of Disney.
I met a bunch of new people who were all delightful, and I had a blast playing with them. There were people lovingly singing their Disney songs, discussions about characters that some of us didn’t recognize, and so much more. With Disney Lorcana being a fun TCG that is based on franchises we all love, it brings collectors and TCG players together.
Should you play Lorcana Sealed events?
I rate the hell out of sealed events, and so far it appears to be a fun way to play and learn Lorcana. The benefit of these events is that the barrier of entry is so low. You don’t need to have spent money optimising a deck beforehand, because everyone starts at the same point. Best of all, the playing community around this game seems to be starting to be nice and strong, with a real focus on being friendly. Or that’s Bea DnD. Go check out your LGS and see for yourself!
So far so good for Lorcana. When Sealed is fun, this hopefully means Drafting will be fun!
