Lorcana Shimmering Skies accessories review

Now that Aotearoa and Australia are caught up with the world of Lorcana, this means we finally get to enjoy the suite of Lorcana products that come with a new set. This means you can properly kit out your games with playmats and sleeves, as opposed to having to reuse your MTG gear. I have been chomping at the bit to take them for a spin, and now I have!

If you are new to TCG’s, you may be wondering what accessories you need, so I’ll cover that too.

Playmats

Playmats are one of the things that new players overlook but are useful for playing TCG’s. In short, it creates your playspace as opposed to the area on a table. This is especially useful when you are playing at a LGS, where heaps of players are side by side. It also makes it easier to pick up your cards, and when it comes to drafting, having the piles of cards on the edge of your playmat are way easier to pick up.

So they are incredibly practical and enhance your game experience, but also, their added flair adds to your game space. I have used my Bea DnD-branded one for all my TCG’s for a year and love it. It adds some style no different to the clothes you wear, and a lot of us are playing Disney Lorcana because we love Disney. So a Lorcana playmat makes sense. This set gives you the option of an Encanto one that has Mirabel in front of the house and a crowd, or Belle, who has the art from the Belle – Accomplished Mystic card.

They are both gorgeous designs, and the mat itself has a nice fabric finish on it that feels fantastic to play on. At $35 to $40, it is easily worth the price!

Lorebook (a.k.a. Card folder)

Since in Lorcana the cards are the game’s lore, the card folders are called lorebooks. This is mildly annoyingly vague, as I half expected it to have the game’s story in it. But now we know it is a card folder; let’s get stuck in.

If this is your first card folder, you may be wondering what to use it for. Well, there are two main things players use them for. Some use it to store their rares that they want to protect; on top of being protected in general, it means you can take them to stores for trading cards with other players. Me? Well, I use them for the cards I think look the coolest and want to keep. In the case of Lorcana, I have stored the ones with art I like or from my favourite movies. So my lorebook has filled up fast with beautiful cards. 

The folder itself is solid. It is a cheaper folder with a hardish cover front, holds 252 cards, and uses an elastic strap to keep it shut. In the price range of $35 to $40, it is reasonable, and they have some awesome designs on the covers. My favourite is the one with the card back style. Keep in mind these types of card folder stuff can get in the top, so you still need to be careful with it bouncing around in your bag. There are better card folders out there, but they are a lot pricier.

Card sleeves and deck boxes

You can pick up card sleeves for $15-$20 and the deck boxes around the $10 mark. Card sleeves seem a little unnecessary at first, but they are absolutely crucial to your play. The most important thing they do is protect the cards themselves. If you have a deck that you shuffle regularly, like the heaps you will even in a couple of games, your cards bash against each other and get damaged. Also, since cards can be marked stealthily, you can’t play a constructed game without them. The biggest benefit outside of the above is card sleeves, making shuffling easier and holding your cards more comfortable. And again, add some flair to your games alongside your mat.

There are some crap ones out there that have terrible edges or a bad plastic feel, so I wanted to see how the official Lorcana ones went. A box of Lorcana sleeves has 65 sleeves, which is slightly less than many other card sleeves but enough for a full deck and a few spares. They are thin, which is handy for shuffling, and they have a matte finish. On the whole, they are super comfy to use and shuffle after you have used them a couple of times. It will be interesting to see how they stand up over time, as I had heard mixed reviews for previous sets, but thus far I am happy. The shimmering skies releases include a Tiana back or an Aladdin back. Both look dope and add some fun flair.

They aren’t the cheapest though for 65 sleeves given you can get 100 sleeves for the same price or cheaper in other brands.

The deck boxes are a simple plastic box that is reasonable for the $10 mark. I am not the biggest fan of plastic deck boxes as they don’t always stand up for too long. As far as build quality goes, they are easily as good as the Ultra Pro ones. So for $10, I am happy with these. The Shimmering Skies release includes the same design on the card sleeves, which is super cool as you can have one of each or both the same.

Should you get some Lorcana accessories?

Absolutely. If you don’t have card sleeves or a playmat, you need these for playing at your LGS. When it comes to sleeves, they haven’t knocked off my preference for Dragon Shield sleeves, but they are awesome. The playmats are fantastic, the deck box is fine, and the card folder is decent value for the price.

In short, you will be happy with any of these purchases.