How to Play Disney Lorcana

How to Play Disney Lorcana

This guide is to help walk you through the essentials of getting into Disney Lorcana. TL;DR: each turn you add “Ink” to your pool, play cards, use abilities, then quest or challenge to score “Lore.” First to 20 Lore wins. By the end, you’ll know how to set up, run through a turn, understand card types, and get a few basic strategy tips.

Game Components & Table Setup

What’s in a Starter Deck

Starter decks are an accessible way to get into Lorcana, allowing you to get straight to playing and learning the core gameplay. You can also build your own deck which requires a bit of nuance but can be more fun depending on the type of player you are!

A starter deck contains the following:

  • A 60-card preconstructed deck (including two foil cards)
  • 11 tokens for tracking Lore and damage
  • A rulebook with all the basics
  • 1 booster pack (12 randomized cards) for custom upgrades

Play Area Essentials

Lay out a playmat or clear surface with zones for:

  • Deck (face-down draw pile)
  • Discard pile (face-up)
  • Inkwell (your resource pool)
  • Play (Character/Item area) (for cards in play)
  • Ready pile (exerted cards go sideways)

Have dice or extra tokens handy to show Lore totals and any damage counters, and sleeve your cards for protection.

Initial Setup

  1. Shuffle your deck thoroughly.
  2. Draw 7 cards for your opening hand.
  3. Decide the first player (coin flip, die roll, etc.).
  4. Optionally take one mulligan: choose any cards from your hand to put on the bottom of your deck, then draw an equal number to refill to seven.

Objective & Win Conditions

Scoring Lore Tokens

Characters each have a Lore value - when they “quest,” you collect that many Lore tokens. Race your opponent to 20 Lore to win the game.

Alternate Victory Paths

If you ever need to draw a card and there are no cards left in your deck, you lose the game. (Drawing your last card doesn’t end the game - you only lose when you attempt to draw and can’t.)

 Steps of a Lorcana Turn

Ready Phase

  • Ready all your exerted cards by turning them upright.
  • Resolve any “start of turn” effects (e.g., Locations that generate Lore).

Draw Phase

  • Draw one card from your deck.
  • Note: The first player skips this draw on the very first turn to balance going first.

Action Phase

You may take any number of actions in any order, as long as you can pay their Ink costs:

  1. Ink a card into your Inkwell (once per turn)
  2. Play cards (Characters, Items, Actions, Songs, Locations)
  3. Use abilities of cards already in play
  4. Quest with a Ready character to gain Lore
  5. Challenge an opponent’s Exerted character to deal damage

You can play multiple Actions or Items in one turn - there’s no per-turn limit besides your resources.

End Phase

When you’re done, simply announce end of turn and pass play to your opponent.

There is no maximum hand size - you never discard down.

Card Types & Key Elements

Characters

Your main “creatures” with Strength (attack), Willpower (health), and Lore (points when questing). They can also have keywords (Evasive, Rush, Ward, Bodyguard, etc.) that modify their behavior.

Items & Actions

  • Items stay in play and often have exert-to-activate abilities (boost Strength, heal, etc.).
  • Actions (one-shot spells) go to discard after use (extra draw, direct damage, removal).

Songs & Locations

  • Songs are a subtype of Action that you can play normally or have a character “Sing” by exerting if its cost less than the character cost.
  • Locations stay in play (often generating Lore each turn or granting other passive effects).

Ink Colors & Resource Management

The Six Ink Colors

Lorcana uses six inks - Amber, Amethyst, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, and Steel - each with its own playstyle flavor.

Claiming & Spending Ink

Once per turn, pick an Ink-icon card from your hand, show it, and place it facedown in your Inkwell. Those cards become generic resources you exert (turn sideways) to pay card costs - any ink pays for any card.

Multicolor Deck Considerations

Constructed decks may include up to two ink colors—no more. Starting mono-color is easiest; splashing a second color adds variety but can weaken consistency if your Inkwell runs low on useful cards.

Core Keywords & Mechanics

Ready / Exerted

  • Ready: cards are upright and can act.
  • Exerted: cards are sideways and can’t act again until readied next turn.

Common Keywords

Examples include Rush (can Challenge when played), Evasive (only blocked by Evasive), Ward, Bodyguard, Support, and more.

Timing Rules

There is no instant-speed stack or interrupt windows - effects resolve one at a time in first-in, first-out order. The active player’s actions fully resolve before any triggered effects occur.

Step-by-Step Example Turn

Setup Board State

Imagine you have two cards in your Inkwell, a Ready character, and you hold a 3-Ink card plus an Action.

Walk Through Each Phase

  1. Ready your exerted cards.
  2. Draw a card (unless you’re the first player on turn one).
  3. Ink a low-cost card to ramp up to 3 ink.
  4. Play a new character for 3 ink.
  5. Quest with your older Ready character for its Lore value.
  6. End turn - no discard, no extra steps.

End-of-Turn Recap

Your Inkwell now has three cards, the played character will be Ready next turn, and you may be a few Lore closer to victory.

Basic Strategy Tips for Beginners

Early-Game Focus

Prioritize Inking on turns 1–4 to build your resource base, then play low-cost characters to start gaining Lore or defending.

Mid-Game Transitions

Use Items or Actions to control your opponent’s board, then follow up with higher-cost characters or Songs that swing momentum.

Late-Game Decisions

Weigh direct Lore quests versus challenging threats—sometimes you push for the win, sometimes you lock down your opponent until you can finish.

Common Rules Questions & Troubleshooting

FAQs

  • Can I play multiple Action cards in one turn? Yes - there’s no limit besides having enough ink to pay their costs.
  • What happens if I draw my last card? You only lose when you attempt to draw and can’t - drawing your last card is safe.

Need something more comprehensive?

For the complete rulebook, FAQs, and comprehensive tournament guidelines, visit the Disney Lorcana Resources page.

Want to find out more about Lorcana?

An Introduction to Lorcana

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