Review — “Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island” Brings Exciting New Elements and More Great Art to the TCG
The next season of Disney Lorcana is nearly upon us. Next month, the seventh chapter of the extremely popular TCG Archazia’s Island will officially arrive. And, as with past installments, this expansion brings some new elements to the game — along with plenty of amazing art.
Please note: Ravensburger provided me with the two Archazia’s Island starter decks for the purposes of review. The opinions are my own.
For Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island, Ravensburger is releasing two new starter decks (now branded as “single-player decks"). These include a Ruby/Sapphire combo featuring Belle and Beast on the cover as well as an Amethyst/Steel deck with Iago and Jafar. It is interesting that, this time around, both covers — which, per usual, also correspond to the two foil cards found in the starter decks — match in terms of property as this isn’t always the case.
But now for the really exciting: Archazia’s Island marks the debut of dual-ink cards. In fact, three of the four cards featured on the box art are dual-ink, with Beast - Frustrated Designer and Belle - Mechanic Extraordinaire being both Ruby and Sapphire while Jafar - Newly Crowned is both Amethyst and Steel. FYI, for now, dual-ink cards can only be used in decks that contain the corresponding two ink colors (which is why these three cards are found in these specific starter configurations). Could that change in the future? Your guess is as good as — or better probably than — mine.
Not to be left out, while the Iago - Giant Spectral Parrot card feature on the cover is only Amethyst (as opposed to joining the dual ink party), it introduced a new element of its own. As players will notice, this Iago card includes the keyword Vanish. “When an opponent chooses this character for an action, banish them."
Of course, for all that’s new with Archazia’s Island, the Single Player Decks do contain a few familiar cards. That’s because both deck options do include some cards previously released with Shimmering Skies or Azurite Sea. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the cards in either deck are brand new for this seventh chapter.
Each time I get to check out one of these new Single-Player decks, I do like to highlight my favorites in terms of the art. With that in mind, here are my picks in no particular order.
Amethyst/Steel
- Jafar - Newly Crowned: Art by John Loren/Nicholas Kole
- Restoring the Crown: Art by Jochem van Gool
- Magical Maneuvers: Art by Jennifer Wu
- Giant Cobra - Ghostly Serpent: Art by Nicola Saviori
- Te Kā - Lava Monster: Art by Max Grecke
Ruby/Sapphire
- Beast - Frustrated Designer: Art by Koni
- Lyle Tiberius Rourke - Crystallized Mercenary: Art by Frederico Maria Cugliari
- Cogsworth - Climbing Clock: Art by Tony Bancroft/Lindsay Weyman
- Robin Hood - Eye for Detail: Art by Mariana Moreno
- Marie - Favored Kitten: Art by Ellie Horie
Once again, Archazia’s Island shows that the designers behind Disney Lorcana have plenty of ideas and tricks up their sleeves. On top of that, the artists working on these cards are firing on all cylinders, bringing these new versions of classic characters to life while also staying true to important elements of their original designs. All this is to say that, seven chapters in, Disney Lorcana is still going strong.
Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island, will be available starting March 7th at local game stores as well as at Disney Parks. This will be followed by a wider release to mass retailers (including DisneyStore.com) on March 21st. To find the retailer nearest you, be sure to check out Ravensburger’s store locator tool.