Disney Lorcana’s next set remakes the world in an iconic villain’s image, as Jafar has taken over Archazia’s Island and looks to cement his rule in Reign of Jafar. As is tradition, Reign of Jafar launches with two new starter decks, featuring the combos of Amber and Amethyst and Ruby and Steel. These decks have a host of powerful cards at their command, including Tiana, Bruno Madrigal, Mulan, and everyone’s favorite blue alien troublemaker Stitch. ComicBook had the chance to put the new starter sets through their paces, and while there is one set that I tend to favor over the other, this is easily the best Lorcana starter deck combo in recent memory.
Before we get into the specifics of each starter set, let’s take a look at the franchises that are most heavily featured. Obviously, with Jafar being the marquee villain, there are some other Aladdin characters in the mix, but the set is more heavily made up of Encanto, Bambi, Mulan, and Lilo & Stitch. There’s also a healthy amount of other characters in the mix though, including Minnie Mouse, Clawhauser, Tiana, Friend Owl, Pinocchio, and Captain Hook. Now let’s get into the nitty gritty.
Reign of Jafar Amber / Amethyst Starter Deck
The Amber Amethyst deck didn’t take long to make an impression on me, as not only does it feature a host of Encanto characters, but it’s also a wonderful showcase for the singing mechanic and how useful and powerful it can be with the right combinations of cards.
This deck really hits its stride in the 3-cost range, as cards like Pepa Madrigal and Clawhauser will continue to pay off with useful abilities as the match goes on and you add more singing characters and actions to the mix. Clawhauser has the Bodyguard ability to protect other low-health characters, but he also counts as 4 towards singing songs and has 2 Quest to boot. Meanwhile, Pepa allows you to gain 1 lore whenever one or more of your characters sings a song. Having one of these characters on the board also allows you to use key actions like Trials and Tribulations and This Is My Family, which both cost 2 and allow you to hit an enemy character with -4 strength or gain 1 lore and draw a card, respectively.
[RELATED: Darkwing Duck is Finally Coming to Disney Lorcana, but When?]
The deck’s 4-range provides several tactical options, including bringing a 3-cost character into your hand when you sing a song (Antonio Madrigal), removing up to 3 damage and readying a character (Try Everything), getting +4 strength while challenging (Druun), or stopping an enemy character from readying next turn (Bruno Madrigal). You’ve also got Tiana, who not only counts as a cost 6 in singing songs, but then whenever you play a song, each opposing character gets -1 strength until the start of your next turn.
Singing and actions are also powerful moving into the late game, with Alma Madrigal and Bruno Madrigal’s Dual Ink cards providing welcome boosts to the characters on the field. Once per turn, Alma can ready characters whenever one or more of them sing a song, and as for Bruno (Singing Seer), whenever he sings a song, you may draw a card for each character you have in play. That leads us to the 9-cost Fantastical and Magical action and song, and if you can gather 9 total song cost to activate it, you can draw a card and gain 1 lore for each character that contributed to singing it. In the late game, that can be huge, so while it is a heavy cost, it could well be worth the price.
This set was simply a joy to play, and rewarded experimentation and changing up strategies on the fly. While it’s rare you’ll have many of these cards on the field of play at the same time, the changing combinations still felt powerful if you could adapt and apply resources in an efficient way. I also found myself using more of the higher-cost cards than I typically do in a starter set, simply because of how the cheaper cards directly boost or funnel into the higher-cost cards in the set, making patience and timing even more important.
Reign of Jafar Ruby / Steel Starter Deck
The Ruby Steel deck switches things up and takes a much stronger focus on challenges and manipulating the field of battle, and the contrast works extremely well compared to the song and action-focused Amber and Amethyst starter deck. While the 3-cost range is strong, it’s actually the 1, 2, and 4-cost ranges that stand out the most in this deck, allowing players to get more characters into the action early and then boost their forces in the mid-range game.
Depending on how things shake out in terms of your opening hand, you will have two fantastic characters to choose from in the early turns, including Captain Hook and Mulan (Disguised Soldier). Both only cost 1 ink, and while Captain Hook gets a +2 Strength when challenging, Mulan allows you to draw a card and then discard a card when played. Later turns will be a perfect time to use 1-cost options like Light The Fuse and The Sword of Shan-Yu. Light The Fuse lets you deal 1 damage to a chosen character for each exerted character you have in play, while The Sword of Shan-Yu has you exert a character to then ready another chosen character. With their low cost, these become evergreen options for the whole game.
The 2-cost range is great as well, featuring cards like Grandmother Fa, which not only has 2 Quest attached, but questing with that card also allows you to give a chosen character of yours +2 strength. The Quick Shot action is also useful, dealing 1 damage to a character and allowing you to draw a card, and Thumber then gives a chosen character +3 strength on your turn.
The 3 and 4-cost range offers some of the most exciting cards in the deck, though, starting with Prince John’s rather incredible 5 strength and 5 willpower. He does take 1 damage when an opponent plays a character, but it’s still immensely worth playing him, even if he only lasts 2 turns. The Matchmaker is useful as well, removing a lore from an opponent whenever she challenges another character, and then Stitch (Alien Troublmaker) allows you to draw a card and gain 1 lore whenever he banishes another character in a challenge. As for Mulan (Charging Ahead), not only does she have evasive, but she can also challenge ready characters.
As for the high-cost tier, there’s the 6-cost Mushu (Your Worst Nightmare) is a brilliant addition, as whenever you play another character, he gives them Rush, Reckless, and Evasive during that turn, and that’s on top of his 2 Quest on his own. There’s also Atitaya, who comes in with 7 and 7 and boasts 3 Quest, balancing out the 7 cost. There’s also the possibly battlefield-shaking Beyond the Horizon, which costs 7 and, in the right instance, can really shift the game to your advantage. If you can pay for it or sing it, you can choose any number of players and they have to discard their hands and draw 3 cards each, throwing anyone’s strategy out of the window in an instant.
While a Challenge-heavy deck isn’t my preferred style, I found myself really enjoying the mix of options in this deck and how that affects your approach to battles. Do you remove some strength from an opponent so your bodyguard takes less damage and can hit back hard next turn, or give your forces a welcome boost across the board and hit your enemy’s frontlines with volume instead? The rest of the deck also has ways to get a Lore bonus once banished or add some defense to your heroes, and the amount of tactical options at your disposal keeps the challenge-focused gameplay from getting repetitive.
The Final Verdict
Overall, both starter sets are incredibly strong, and both feel fun to play and more rewarding as you learn the rhythm of that particular playstyle and learn the ins and outs of the cards themselves. While I definitely favor the Amber and Amethyst deck, I still enjoyed Ruby Steel immensely, and whether you’re a longtime fan or just jumping in, I think the Reign of Jafar starter sets are some of the strongest in the game to date, and it will not be leaving my Lorcana rotation anytime soon.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Disney Lorcana’s Reign of Jafar will pre-release on May 30th and will roll out in full release on June 6th. You can check out everything you need for Disney Lorcana’s new set right here.
Are you excited for Reign of Jafar, and which starter set is your favorite in Lorcana so far? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things Disney Lorcana and gaming with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
The post Reign of Jafar’s Starter Decks Are Two of Disney Lorcana’s All-Time Best appeared first on ComicBook.com.
