Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island had a tough act to follow, with Azurite Sea being one of the most well-themed, strong expansion sets for the card game yet. With new character and card types included, it does mostly live up to its predecessor – although a lack of push-along for the overarching plot, and a fairly beige theme, makes this set slightly less cohesive and compelling.
To start with what’s most striking, it’s worth saying Archazia’s Island features some of the most gorgeous artwork we’ve seen in Disney Lorcana yet. Princesses like Elsa and Snow White get fantastic new cards, thanks to artists Mario Manzanares and Amber Kommavongsa. There’s also a lovely new Isabela Madrigal by César Vergara, and a dynamic new Donald Duck from Eri Welli. On the strength of its artwork, Archazia’s Island is the prettiest set we’ve seen, and it means that pulling cards is a joy at every turn.
Of course, aesthetics alone don’t make a set, but it is a wonderful distraction away from the fact that this chapter of Disney Lorcana feels a lot like filler. After the defeat of Ursula, Jafar is the next big threat to face the heroes of Disney – and he headlines a great new single-player deck – but this set merely teases his presence, without revealing much about his plans, or what’s next. Flavour text indicates he now has the Hexwell Crown in his possession, but that’s about it.
Rather than jumping straight into plot, the cards here are more about the Disney heroes roaming Archazia’s Island, and playing with pets. This set introduces a bunch of famous Disney pets, including from Lady and the Tramp, Bolt, and The Aristocats. They’re adorable, of course, but personally, I’d have liked to see more mainstream film inclusions, to suit a plot that should be moving a bit faster, and feel a bit more urgent.
Read: Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island Single-Player Decks – Review
At the very least, the Archazia’s Island single-player decks do help to push the plot along, and with great synergy and themes, they’re also two of the best and most cohesive decks we’ve seen yet. It’s in these decks, you’ll get the most tangible clues about Jafar’s role in proceedings, and where the plot of Disney Lorcana is winding.
As we’ve previously covered, the Belle and Beast deck is great, because it’s got a really cool flow of mechanics. If you can play both Belle and The Beast, he’ll throw away items, and she’ll turn them into useful tools, creating a give-and-take system that works well in story, and as a game mechanic.
Jafar and Iago are also a great pairing, with both of them building their schemes. This deck is all about magic and mayhem, and it spotlights one of the coolest new keywords in Disney Lorcana: Illusion. There’s two major headliner features of this set, which rescue it from its lighter plot elements, but we’ll start with the first.
Illusion cards are very handy character cards that can “fade out” from the battlefield. Their quirk is once they’re chosen by an opponent, they’re banished. Essentially, if a player chooses to attack these characters, they’re revealed to be illusions, and they disappear. But while they’re on the battlefield, they can unleash devastating attacks.
Read: Disney Lorcana: Azurite Sea – Set Review
I particularly love Iago, Giant Spectral Parrot. He has the Evasive ability, so your opponent must have an Evasive character to target him. As long as he’s not targeted, he can cause 4 damage (or gain one lore per turn). For a four ink-cost character, that’s pretty wild – and while he does have a core weakness, he can make a massive impact while he’s around.
Paired with the dual ink Jafar, Newly Crowned, who can return banished Illusion characters to your hand, he makes for a very powerful companion. And that brings me to the second major feature of Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island – dual ink characters.
In Archazia’s Island, you’ll find an array of new character cards which are dual ink. These are extra-powerful cards, usually with two different abilities. Their quirk is they’ll need to be placed in a deck of their two colours, as while they can dual-wield different kinds of spells, they’ll still need to match their fellow cards for synergy.
Not only is the artwork on these cards extra cool – you can see how jazzy and stylish they are in the image above – each dual ink card is also a very formidable force, and significantly ramps up the power of your decks. It’s a rare card that gives you two powerful abilities to choose from, and many of the dual inks let you do just that, picking from status effects or causing extra damage.
I particularly love Mufasa, Among the Stars, and I plan on putting him into my Amethyst-Steel deck ASAP. This card has a 7-ink cost, which is quite high, but it can deal five damage and take seven hits. It’s also a Floodborn card, so I might be able to play it early, as long as I have other Mufasas running around. Not only is this Mufasa very strong, it also has Evasive, and Resist – so opponents will have a tough time putting him away. Plus, the card is just very pretty.
In the end, it was this beauty that most endeared me to Archazia’s Island. Even without a meaty battle or major focus for cards and their flavour text, it remains a bright, dynamic set with some very strong inclusions. Dual inks are a great step towards diversifying the game’s mechanics, and allowing for more creative choices when building custom decks. Illusions are also a fantastic new arrival, and I particularly love their risk/reward setup, which can be sunk by chance.
In all, Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island isn’t a strictly essential set, but it’s a great setup for what’s next, introducing dynamic new card types that’ll no doubt play a key role in Jafar’s impending ascension. Bring on the next chapter.
Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island is available now.
Disney Lorcana: Archazia’s Island Booster Packs, Single-Player Decks, and other accessories were provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.
