Since September 1, 2023, the Lorcana cards from Ravensburger are available for purchase. Within a short time, they were already sold out in many places. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus tried a bit during shopping and does not regret any of his purchases.
What kind of card game is this?
- Lorcana was released on September 1 and is somewhat like the Disney version of Magic.
- You play with various heroes from the Disney universe like Mickey Mouse, Elsa, or Hades, build decks, and play against others.
- Lorcana is also popular among collectors. This is mainly due to the particularly pretty and rare “Enchantments”
How expensive is Lorcana: Actually, the prices for Lorcana are quite “normal” compared to other collectible card games:
- a starter deck with the 60 identical cards and a booster costs 20 €
- a booster can be had for around 6 € and it contains 12 cards, of which one is guaranteed
shiny
(or aFoil
) - for comparison: a booster of the current “Wilds of Eldraine” set from Magic costs between 3,50 and 22 € depending on the type. These boosters contain 15 cards, some of which are land cards (i.e., mana) and also artist and token cards
Players who are serious about collecting or playing often buy not just one booster, but directly a whole package, a so-called “Display.” In Lorcana, such a display contains 24 boosters with 12 cards each and costs 144 €.
However, the cards were so popular and quickly sold out that boosters and displays were quickly bought up and offered by scalpers for double the price or more. I was lucky: a cool store in Berlin still had plenty of displays.
After my ex-colleague Maik Schneider got me hooked on Lorcana and really made me want to play, I took some money in hand and bought 4 displays as well as 2 starter decks and a bit of equipment. Total cost: just over 600 euros.
Here is the trailer for Lorcana:
Super Rare “Enchantments” Make Big Bucks
For me, this was one of the classic foolishnesses that I like to do – like buying a gaming tablet for 250 € or a 1,500 € laptop to play Diablo 4 on the train. I’m just a nerd and don’t spend my money on much else, so this can happen.
At that moment, I didn’t care that it got expensive. I wanted to play, build my own decks, and tweak them. And that’s what we did, extensively and with a lot of fun. What I hadn’t factored in: There are cards that are really worth a lot of money.
As with every trading card game, some cards in Lorcana are shiny or “Foils.” They look especially nice, but otherwise, nothing more. Lorcana takes it a step further.
Certain cards come with an alternative, completely unique design: the “Enchantments.” There are 12 different ones with a very limited print run. I was very lucky because in my displays there were 3 of them that I could sell for a nice sum:
- Hades – King of Olympus costs on Cardmarket 130 €; I sold the card for 120 €
- Stitch – Carefree Surfer costs on Cardmarket 170 €; I sold the card for 130 €
- Simba – Returned King costs on Cardmarket 168 €; I sold the card for 130 €
So I could have made even more, but I didn’t want to fuss too much over haggling. Instead, I just made a few collectors happy and sold the cards below value. I only cared about covering some of the expenses.
The absolutely most expensive card wasn’t even among them: Elsa as an Enchantment is currently traded for over 460 €. Whoever pulls that can easily buy 3 more displays. Or … you know, just keep the money.
Note: Boosters are linked to luck. Lorcana can therefore quickly become costly due to the luck factor. Similar to Pokémon, the game appeals more to young fans. Boosters, luck, and collecting special cards are typical for trading card games (TCGs
), which everyone should be aware of who wants to start with Lorcana.
I don’t want to encourage anyone to spend money through my article and hope for the jackpot, especially since the prices for individual cards vary WIDELY. I have spent money here that I don’t miss and that I can “waste” on such craziness.
Lorcana is a bit like Magic for kids and is a lot of fun
The reason I spent so much money on Lorcana is mainly because I really enjoy the game. I played a few rounds every day during my vacation at Maik’s, sometimes more than he actually wanted – although he got me into it.
Imagine the game roughly like Magic, but without the overly complex mechanics. Instead of lands and mana, there is ink, and most cards can simply be turned into ink. This significantly simplifies deck building.
There are 6 colors in Lorcana, but you may have a maximum of 2 different ones in a deck. However, this provides enough possibilities to build different decks. Among the archetypes we have already seen or built are:
- Aggro decks that overrun the opponent
- Midrange decks that focus more on control
- Ramp decks that can play particularly strong cards early on
What I like best about Lorcana is that it’s about winning and not about making the opponent lose. This means: instead of bringing the opponent’s life points to 0, I need to collect “Legends” myself. With 20 Legends, I’ve won. The frustration factor is thus significantly lower and table flips become less likely.
Another advantage: there are currently only just over 200 cards. Magic, on the other hand, now has somewhere over 25,000. Anyone wanting to start now has to read and learn cards for weeks. Something that has always spoiled my fun.
In November, the second set for Lorcana will be released, and in spring 2024, there will be a reprint of the first set, so the scalper prices are currently not worth it anyway. Let’s see how much money this game will still take from me.
If you haven’t quite warmed up to cards yet, but still want to try something different in gaming, there are also top-notch board games for nerds:
Gaming without the internet: The best coop games that you can play with friends at the table
