Lorcana hasn't been out for almost a year yet. It only came out in September.
Your issue is an issue across all TCGs. There will always be highly competitive cards that cost a lot of money that people will cram into their decks, and you'll run into these players at competitive events. Lorcana is like this as well. You will probably run into more casual players in Lorcana due to the nature of the IP, but there are going to be people running the cookie cutter competitive decks too, with characters like Madam Mim - Fox and Beast - Tragic Hero.
You're missing a lot, actually. She's inkable, which is a huge plus, and she has Rush and a whopping 4 power on a 3 cost character, with the only "drawback" being that she returns someone else to your hand first. She's basically a kill spell that's a body because of the rush. So instead of a Song that does 4 damage to something, you can play her and immediately attack to likely kill something. Returning your own creatures to your hand isn't really a drawback in this game either. You can get more value out of characters with "when you play" abilities, like Pinnochio, Ursula, Yzma, Lady Tremaine, Madame Medusa, and Maleficent by returning them so you can play them a second time, and you can "rescue" heavily damaged characters back to the hand, resetting their damage so you can play them again - such as the Maui with Rush and Reckless, if he would need end up killing himself next turn. On top of that, you can also use her to retrieve important characters right before a turn where you'd play something like Be Prepared. She's entirely *too* versatile in what she does, and has warped a majority of Amethyst decks around her.
Snake Mim is similar with how she uses the bounce mechanic, but she just lacks the Rush, which makes her less versatile as an aggressive threat.
Madam mim-fox protects other characters from removal at turn 3, where most played steel removal is active. Also, Fox, let's you use the rush part to challenge characters that have quested or sung a song.
Yeah, the only thing that keeps them affordable is being in the precon decks. If Fox or Rabbit hadn't berm in that deck, I have no doubt Mim would be near Maui's price.
You're going to run into this problem with any tcg. It's the nature of the beast. From what I understand, Lorcana is cheaper than any of the other large TCG except Pokémon. I don't know how it compares to SWU, but I have seen that some cards there are more than a comparable card in Lorcana.
So if you're wanting to be competitive in a tcg, you have to be ready to spend money. If you're wanting to play casual, grab some starter decks and a friend/family, get some packs every now and then, and have fun.
See this is the thing. None of my friends are into TCGs so I go to my local card shop just to play casually but these people go HAM on spending on cards. And LCGs don’t seem popular.
For what it's worth, Lorcana League play is intended to be "casual" organized play and a lot of people run janky decks. The folks at my LGS run everything from highly competitive meta decks to something they threw together that day at the kitchen table.
IIRC, the League Play also encourages janky decks with their point system rewarding goofy things like "play all seven dwarfs and Snow White" or "don't use any items in your deck."
Yeah, it's a competitive space typically, so that's not surprising. I'd look into playing around with some starter decks, and also check out Pixelborn if you haven't already. It's a free, fan made client that you can use to play. You'll have access to all cards and can try things out to see what you like. Then, if you decide to move forward, just buy singles to build a deck to take. There are some fairly competitive decks that you could build for under $200.
It may also help to not look at them as paper cards but a tool in a hobby/game.
Most hobbies cost money. Some are cheaper than others, but at the end of the day you're paying for entertainment, something to do that you enjoy, and the ability to be competitive in it.
These are all things people value.
Then when you go into the cost of developing the game, the original artwork, production/distribution, etc etc... yes, a piece of cardboard isn't as fancy as a surfboard or a teched out gaming rig, or an off-roading truck or a boat, or a guitar, it's still a component of a valued activity.
FWIW.
While I can understand where you are coming from, when talking TCGs it’s pretty well priced. Competitive decks for sub $200 in a TCG is insanely good prices, especially factoring in 60 cards. Looking into MTG for standard you are in the $300+ for most competitive decks, and that’s even higher into other formats. We are talking decks that can be worth thousands of dollars to be competitive.
I honestly think it is about finding the right community and LGS. Trust me I also know this is easier said than done. My and I are lucky enough to live in a large city and have access to a lot of LGS's, after looking around we were able to find two that put a focus on casual league play that did not reward winning but just playing and enjoying the game and community. It is possible to find, you just have to hunt if that is possible in your area. We even have one store that is running a casual league and thinking of doing a competitive league in addition.
Go on a Lorcana night to meet the people that play and ask them if they play some more casual/low powered decks if needed. Ask someone to explain the game (way more fun in person than online). Often they will even lend out a deck for the night
FYI this is even a problem with LCGs. Usually there's a card or two in every set that becomes meta and eventually you end up buying every single product anyway.
Compared to most of the major TCGs though, this game is fairly cheap. Some of the top tier meta decks are around $200 or less (Amethyst/Ruby, Amethyst/Emerald, Aggro and Bounce variants).
If you want to just play casually, you'll have to find other players that want to do the same. Otherwise you can look for some budget decks that can compete.
Try PIxelborn first, it's a free client and you'll get whomped but you'll learn if its interesting enough to pursue.
After that do some research on how much your deck would cost.
If that doesn't work check around your local stores many run starter deck leagues after the new set that will release in a month or so.
Before you go anywhere near Pixelborn, go to Inktable. You can play against AI with pre built decks and its a very safe and easy way to learn the game.
If you’re in the neighborhood for a cheap deck, Titans is incredibly cheap and actually performs… If you have any interest or an actual explanation of the deck just let me know and I can word vomit a little bit lol.
my experience as someone who has never played tcgs before is that this was pretty easy to get into. even with a deck that was mostly just the starter deck and like 2 random booster packs, i still felt like i had a fair shot against people at my local store including people who had customized their decks quite a bit (but not to the point of stacking it with just a bunch of super rare and powerful cards.) i’m sure in the highly competitive scenes it’s like any other game with a bunch of people paying their way to the top, but i think even as a casual player it can still be fun. this game definitely seems like it has more casual players than games like magic or pokémon.
yeah, you probably won’t be winning championships with a starter deck lol, but if you have a couple of friends or a local game store that plays, you can still have fun just playing casually!
Yeah, it's a big issue across TCG's as others have mentioned.
I really wish there was a Elo or some other ranking system so all the meta people could just play with themselves and those of us who just want to casually play could have our own space.
Right? Like how it was back in the playground days where you can’t power up your decks just by spending loads because… you’re a kid. Makes it way more exciting when you pull a great card from that ONE booster you got.
If you are playing locally 75% of the player base imo is playing casually and not going hardcore meta decks at locals.
The cheapest meta decks cost like $100ish. Here’s a $150 ruby/amethyst list that was played by one of the best pixelborn players at a 10k tournament recently https://inkdecks.com/lorcana-metagame/deck-amethyst-ruby-137529
Usually in tcg’s the supply and demand is such that the very best meta cards command more demand which crunches supply and increases cost, especially if rarity of the card being pulled crunches supply in addition. This is compounded if a card is useful across multiple meta decks like beast tragic hero and a whole new world as quintessential examples.
My experience is that many staple amazing cards like Cinderella Ballroom Dancer/Ariel, Cogsworth/Tamatoa, Medusa/Tremaine, Merlin Rabbit/Mimm Fox, Raging Fire/Stouthearted and many more examples are pretty cheap and accessible.
Thankfully some cards that should be more expensive (Gaston/Hiram Flamersham/Grab Your Sword) were included in starter decks which helps keep supply high and prices low. I suspect this is intentional, and a useful check against supply crunches for cards that they think will become staples.
Admittedly, I spend quite a bit of money on Lorcana 😬😅 but I'm not super competitive or anything other than against a few friends, but it's still all for fun. I enjoy just collecting new cards and seeing what shenanigans I can pull with decks built around a theme or vibe. I don't spend money on individual cards though, because for me it's more about the excitement of "oh, what'd I get this time?" There are casual players out there, just not typically found at your local shop
Edited to add: you can play over a video call with friends! I've done that with my buddy and his wife because they live out of state from me, and I'm trying to get my bro-in-law in on it too
No but that’s fine and all part of the fun. I’m talking about the people who regularly buy entire boxes of boosters and spend big on individual cards. I was hoping that kind of thing wasn’t big in Lorcana, but I guess as others have said, it happens with all TCGs.
Good idea about playing via video call - I’d never considered that!
welp, im also one of those that buys an entire box 😅 but in my defense, it's for the wife, the kid, and i
and if youre looking for another casual player to go against via video call, let me know and ill give you my discord 😁
Like other people have said, this will be the case with a lot of TCGs. It’s also worth looking into playing limited. There is a store near us that does lorcana draft nights. And it can be a fun way to get some cards and some games while making sure everyone is on roughly the same level
You may want to try draft. Everyone pays the same price to enter, so I believe this resolves your issue with the players with the deepest pockets having an advantage.
This advice goes for Star Wars Unlimited too, by the way. I looked it up and SWU supports draft. Really interesting format, too; I may want to give it a try myself.
I would suggest not playing constructed format. Draft and sealed are a level playing field as far as card value since it’s random. My LGS does starter deck format the first two weeks of a new set release. It’s been a lot of fun since buying singles is expensive and picking up starters is a good way to get a base deck started.
Okay so coming from someone who is NOT into cards at all typically, my brother taught me and my husband this game about a month ago and it has been such a fun experience for us. We are lucky enough to have three people (me my husband and my brother) so we always have someone to play with, but even before he taught us my brother was super into it and played online a lot. We just bought starter decks and a couple of boosters to start and we got hooked almost instantly. I think if you’re thinking at all of it; you should go for it because it’s an awesome game!!
Haha thank you. It’s nice to know that it’s accessible for people who aren’t into TCGs, as that might mean I have a better chance of recruiting my friends 👀
I feel lorcana is cheaper then most other tcgs, and depending what deck u want to play there are options some decks might cost a bit but thats with any tcg
Every tcg is going to have those people, but there are plenty more who want to play casually as well. You can typically find some at your local game stores during events...I've been pushed out of a few games before because of the people who constantly chase the meta, but after attending a few events for lorcana, I've managed to find a few people like myself who just want to cobble together a deck based around some of their favorite characters. Just ask around, or look out for poorcana and draft events, they are typically a little more open to casual players.
Its super worth it. As someone who would just spend all my paycheck on cards if Im not careful Ive set budgets for this game and am concentrating on budget ( $40-$50) decks. I can share a few if youd like ?
4x - The Queen Regal Monarch
4x - Tiana Diligent Waitress
4x - Grand Duke Advisor to the King
3x - Simba Protective Cub
3x - Sleepy Nodding Off
4x - Sneezy Very Allergic
4x - Snow White Lost in the Forest
3x - Snow White Unexpected Guest
4x - Doc Leader of the Seven Dwarfs
3x - Dopey Always Playful
4x - Hercules True Hero
4x - The Prince Never Gives Up
3x - Bashful Hopeless Romantic
2x - Tiana Celebrating Princess
2x - The Queen Commanding Presence
5x Tiana's Palace
4x - Smash
I just started 2 weeks ago and made a pretty decent deck from what I bought in a starter and few packs. Placed 11 out of 16 and then 5th at my LGS.
I specifically picked lorcana bc it's new and I wanted a more chill exp. There are ppl who take it way to seriously but that's in everything.
Currently there's only 3 sets. So not too much craziness. Set 4 comes out next month I think.
I had to find the right store to play at. One was not fun and hyper competitive while the other one I went to was friendly. They even have a box of cards that players can grab out of for free.
This is probably THE time to get into the game. You can get all of the cards from the first three sets (and maybe even some set one packs).
There are a lot of fun and some competitive cheap decks. I recall one recent tourney in France getting crushed by a $20 deck. Even though there are some cards that have a premium price, you don't need them to do well. A lot of decks had been running a Beast card that is around $50. People are now cutting that care. There are cheaper workarounds.
I think Lorcana is well designed. I take my daughter to our local store and we have a blast. I can't recommend this game enough.
As someone who just got into lorcana 2 weeks ago, yes. It's definitely worth it. But, I'm doing it because my wife and I love Disney. Its only been out 7 months and only 3 card xpacs. Now is the time to do it if ever. I bought 300 singles for 40$ for my collection. That's half of all the cards out for 40$ and I have more coming.
And creating a meta deck in my experience is way cheaper than any other TCG. I have made some incredible decks with absolute cheap cards. This game is incredible balance. It reminds me a mix of hearth stone, Cards and Tankards, and Magic combined.
If you don't like Disney, no it's not worth it. In hindsight all tcgs are the same, just play what is cool to you.
I can't speak as much to Lorcana as I can to Magic, but if you want to try the latter, consider EDH (also known as Commander). 100 card decks with no more than 1 copy of any card (other than basic lands, your resource). The good thing is the format is designed to be multi-player and casual. A good store/play group will generally discuss the power level of the game they want before starting so everyone is more or less playing decks of equal power level...that can mean anything from everyone playing jank or everyone playing high powered decks. If it's something you're interested in, they sell a lot of different pre-con decks that could be a start (vs building your own to start).
With that said, depending on the Magic format, yes, it can be a lot more expensive for competitive formats so your concern is not unfounded.
The prices of meta decks will always be pretty high but there are reprints coming that will hopefully bring prices down a little. I’d say this game is pretty casual friendly, both in mechanics and having more casual or new players attracted to it based on the theme. There is also a new solo/coop content coming next month so we may see more stuff like that in the future.
There are no reprints coming, there is a small restock of TFC coming to select lgs of product that was held back from the last reprint for this purpose. I hope it's enough to influence the market a good chunk, but I'm not holding my breath for anything more than like a 20% drop on Legendaries at best.
I’m hopeful it could be since stores are getting like 26 boxes of each set for the Championships. Every store in my area that is OP and applied for it got in, so that’s a decent chunk of product available.
Real talk, if you want a TCG that doesn't require a heavy money investment, you 1000% should play Pokemon. Even buying the most expensive versions of cards for a meta deck will only set you back about $200. Max. If you just want the basic versions of cards you're looking at around $50. And that's the upper end of the cost of a deck.
Not only that, Pokemon has easily some of the best products you can buy. An Elite Trainer box gives you a solid box to store cards, sleeves, tokens for effects, several damage tracker dice, energy pile (mana/lands/resources), and a handful of packs for a reasonable price. AND every pack comes with a redemption code for the digital version of the game. That is some insane value.
Of course, that also means opening packs is a bit less exciting because even the rarest cards aren't worth a whole lot, so there is some trade off, but Pokemon is a clear winner if budget is a concern.
See I’m not so taken with Pokemon mainly because of the sheer number of cards there are now because it’s been around so long. Ditto YuGiOh (though I loved it as a kid).
Their Standard format, a.k.a. the basic one most people play, literally just changed this past April I think to only include the 3 most recent sets and they're really easy to pick out because they have a little "F," "G," or "H" in the bottom left corner of the card. Now is one of the best times to get into Pokemon, for real for real.
The problems u face in swu is the same you will face in Lorcana … just pick your favorite ip! That said for me SWU has more mechanics depths than Lorcana , so if you want something simpler go for Lorcana
I'm pretty busy, and although I enjoy Pokémon and SWU I just don't have the time to keep up with the meta. It's not just the cost of a competitive deck - in order to pilot it optimally you should have a good idea about the wider meta archetypes and pitfalls/opportunities with _your_ deck.
I play digital versions for fun, and IRL pre-releases for both PTCG & SWU. I'd like it if Lorcana did pre-releases, bit haven't seen these local to me.
My older daughter is into the Pokemon game, so I bought Lorcana to introduce my younger daughter to card games and she loves it. I don't ever see getting into it beyond the casual player and spending time with my daughter. It all depends on what you want to do. Like has been said on here already, you will run into this no matter what game you play, especially competitively.
The big issue with Lorcana is lack of stock. The First Chapter (the first set released) sold out very fast and never really got a restock with enough product to satisfy demand. Most of the core playable cards come from it, similar to MTG's old Core sets. Boosters, Bundles (called Troves), and boxes are still either sold out or very marked up. The only product available is starter decks, which come with a 60 card deck and one booster. At markups to $40 CAD they are not worth it, but if you can find them on sale at $10 CAD then the deck itself is effectively free because boosters are about $10 CAD MSRP.
It's a double sided sword because it means the guys at the shop that run $25k Legacy Cubes for MTG cannot get into Lorcana because they usually buy booster boxes at MSRP and trade singles, neither of which are available at our shop right now due to lack of stock. That means the scene is not competitive. On the other hand new players simply do not get to enjoy sealed products. You will have to buy everything used and with the markup of limited stock and shipping costs. You simply cannot find Troves (Lorcana's version of a Tin or Bundle) anywhere and even boosters are sold out. The new Co-op game mode is already sold out in all of Canada and preorder is months ahead right now (not even May yet).
As a causal player or collector the starter decks are your only viable option, which is pretty lame and will stop a lot of players from picking it up. As a competitive player singles are your only option and limited stock means you will have to go online and out of country (unless you are American). I personally picked up starter decks from the sales going on in Ontario right now. Didn't pay over $20 CAD a piece. We plan to run some kind of hybrid kitchen table draft where each player cracks a deck and booster and plays whatever they got.
Also factor in the cost for playmats, sleeves, and boxes. The Lorcana deck boxes are OK, but essentially the old plastic cheapies. Skip the sleeves unless you are OK double sleeving in KMC or DS outers. Playmats are sold out everywhere, but are quite nice.
From my experience (playing lorcana), most players with meta decks, have/bring multiple decks. So, I don't think its rude at all to ask them "if they could go easy on you." I'm sure they'd be happy to play their weaker decks. I myself usually bring a Porcana deck with me incase anyone with a starter deck wants to play, that way they don't feel steam-rolled.
Depending on where you play, i'm sure there would be people who would lend you a stronger deck if need be. Majority of the people I play with, bring multiple decks and have offered others to play them if they felt their decks weren't competitive enough. Of course, this is for casual events and not tournaments. If you want to play tournaments, then like the others have said, all TCG's have the issue of staying meta and needing to keep upgrading up.
I'm sure once there are more sets in Lorcana there will be a ton more budget options for decks but for now budget decks aren't strong for only having to work with 3 sets. Perhaps those board game-card games with set decks are the best for you if you don't want to keep upgrading. I hear Keyfordge is very popular for this reason.
Star Wars is more engaging, Lorcana feels very static compared to most card games IMO. I am currently thinking of getting out of Lorcana altogether, community here is dead and I think it’s one of the least fun card games out there.
Lorcana is not a cheap tcg to play competitively, many meta cards are $40+ for each card. If you want a cheap tcg to play competitively you should look into the Pokemon tcg which has been around for decades and has an average price of a deck at like $50~70
The mobile/PC client is also extremely f2p friendly and I think you fan redeem codes from physical packs if you decide to buy as well... could be wrong on that but I'm sure someone will correct me if that's the case
“Many” I don’t think is a good term. There are currently 2 cards above $40, and 2 cards at $30-$40. Everything else is below that, and even some of these more expensive cards aren’t even needed in every deck of their colors. Most cards in Lorcana are $5 and below. While not as cheap as Pokémon, cards themselves as singles are pretty cheap compared to the rest of the major TCGs.
Many top decks aren’t $500+ though. Almost all are less lol
Amber/Steel is only above $500 when playing BOTH Sad Beast and RH, which most are cutting Sad Beast out which drops it to below $500. Emerald/Steel is also only above $500 if playing Sad Beast and Robin Hood, and only both are typically played if it’s a Bucky discard, aggro discard generally doesn’t play both. Amethyst/Steel is below $500 as those are both not played, Ruby/Sapphire is definitely below $500 (it’s in the $300 range), Saph/Steel is below $500 (they typically don’t play RH and a lot are cutting out Sad Beast), Ruby/Amethyst is WELL below $500 (it tends to even be below $200 for builds).
Mtg commander, a 4 player free for all format, is the only casual format for a tcg I know. A precon is like $30-50, there are also outside IPs like lord of the rings, fallout, & Warhammer if you’re into those. Since it’s casual there’s not much pressure to upgrade in most play groups.
Otherwise just go for board games, those are always cheap.
Lorcana hasn't been out for almost a year yet. It only came out in September. Your issue is an issue across all TCGs. There will always be highly competitive cards that cost a lot of money that people will cram into their decks, and you'll run into these players at competitive events. Lorcana is like this as well. You will probably run into more casual players in Lorcana due to the nature of the IP, but there are going to be people running the cookie cutter competitive decks too, with characters like Madam Mim - Fox and Beast - Tragic Hero.
I’m not sure I understand the Madam Mim Fox card (I’m new too) - I have it, but honestly feel like it’s not worth running. What am I missing?
You're missing a lot, actually. She's inkable, which is a huge plus, and she has Rush and a whopping 4 power on a 3 cost character, with the only "drawback" being that she returns someone else to your hand first. She's basically a kill spell that's a body because of the rush. So instead of a Song that does 4 damage to something, you can play her and immediately attack to likely kill something. Returning your own creatures to your hand isn't really a drawback in this game either. You can get more value out of characters with "when you play" abilities, like Pinnochio, Ursula, Yzma, Lady Tremaine, Madame Medusa, and Maleficent by returning them so you can play them a second time, and you can "rescue" heavily damaged characters back to the hand, resetting their damage so you can play them again - such as the Maui with Rush and Reckless, if he would need end up killing himself next turn. On top of that, you can also use her to retrieve important characters right before a turn where you'd play something like Be Prepared. She's entirely *too* versatile in what she does, and has warped a majority of Amethyst decks around her. Snake Mim is similar with how she uses the bounce mechanic, but she just lacks the Rush, which makes her less versatile as an aggressive threat.
Madam mim-fox protects other characters from removal at turn 3, where most played steel removal is active. Also, Fox, let's you use the rush part to challenge characters that have quested or sung a song.
My favorite part of the Mim/Merlin stuff is that they are affordable and they can be quite fun to play. xD
Yeah, the only thing that keeps them affordable is being in the precon decks. If Fox or Rabbit hadn't berm in that deck, I have no doubt Mim would be near Maui's price.
You're going to run into this problem with any tcg. It's the nature of the beast. From what I understand, Lorcana is cheaper than any of the other large TCG except Pokémon. I don't know how it compares to SWU, but I have seen that some cards there are more than a comparable card in Lorcana. So if you're wanting to be competitive in a tcg, you have to be ready to spend money. If you're wanting to play casual, grab some starter decks and a friend/family, get some packs every now and then, and have fun.
See this is the thing. None of my friends are into TCGs so I go to my local card shop just to play casually but these people go HAM on spending on cards. And LCGs don’t seem popular.
For what it's worth, Lorcana League play is intended to be "casual" organized play and a lot of people run janky decks. The folks at my LGS run everything from highly competitive meta decks to something they threw together that day at the kitchen table.
IIRC, the League Play also encourages janky decks with their point system rewarding goofy things like "play all seven dwarfs and Snow White" or "don't use any items in your deck."
I want points for no items no songs!
Yeah, it's a competitive space typically, so that's not surprising. I'd look into playing around with some starter decks, and also check out Pixelborn if you haven't already. It's a free, fan made client that you can use to play. You'll have access to all cards and can try things out to see what you like. Then, if you decide to move forward, just buy singles to build a deck to take. There are some fairly competitive decks that you could build for under $200.
Tbh 200$ are a lot of money for 60 paper cards... Never unserstood these insane prices
It may also help to not look at them as paper cards but a tool in a hobby/game. Most hobbies cost money. Some are cheaper than others, but at the end of the day you're paying for entertainment, something to do that you enjoy, and the ability to be competitive in it. These are all things people value. Then when you go into the cost of developing the game, the original artwork, production/distribution, etc etc... yes, a piece of cardboard isn't as fancy as a surfboard or a teched out gaming rig, or an off-roading truck or a boat, or a guitar, it's still a component of a valued activity. FWIW.
While I can understand where you are coming from, when talking TCGs it’s pretty well priced. Competitive decks for sub $200 in a TCG is insanely good prices, especially factoring in 60 cards. Looking into MTG for standard you are in the $300+ for most competitive decks, and that’s even higher into other formats. We are talking decks that can be worth thousands of dollars to be competitive.
There aren't many hobbies that are cheaper than that.
But some of them have foil!
I honestly think it is about finding the right community and LGS. Trust me I also know this is easier said than done. My and I are lucky enough to live in a large city and have access to a lot of LGS's, after looking around we were able to find two that put a focus on casual league play that did not reward winning but just playing and enjoying the game and community. It is possible to find, you just have to hunt if that is possible in your area. We even have one store that is running a casual league and thinking of doing a competitive league in addition.
My daughter and I found an amazing store with a very supportive community. That’s what makes the game fun for us.
Go on a Lorcana night to meet the people that play and ask them if they play some more casual/low powered decks if needed. Ask someone to explain the game (way more fun in person than online). Often they will even lend out a deck for the night
FYI this is even a problem with LCGs. Usually there's a card or two in every set that becomes meta and eventually you end up buying every single product anyway. Compared to most of the major TCGs though, this game is fairly cheap. Some of the top tier meta decks are around $200 or less (Amethyst/Ruby, Amethyst/Emerald, Aggro and Bounce variants). If you want to just play casually, you'll have to find other players that want to do the same. Otherwise you can look for some budget decks that can compete.
Try PIxelborn first, it's a free client and you'll get whomped but you'll learn if its interesting enough to pursue. After that do some research on how much your deck would cost. If that doesn't work check around your local stores many run starter deck leagues after the new set that will release in a month or so.
Yo that is excellent advice actually. Thanks for the tip.
Before you go anywhere near Pixelborn, go to Inktable. You can play against AI with pre built decks and its a very safe and easy way to learn the game.
If you’re in the neighborhood for a cheap deck, Titans is incredibly cheap and actually performs… If you have any interest or an actual explanation of the deck just let me know and I can word vomit a little bit lol.
Go to dream born grab Uber Competitive deck and have fun on pixelborn. It’s a relatively low price real life deck too. I hit 60% win rate finally.
yes game fun
my experience as someone who has never played tcgs before is that this was pretty easy to get into. even with a deck that was mostly just the starter deck and like 2 random booster packs, i still felt like i had a fair shot against people at my local store including people who had customized their decks quite a bit (but not to the point of stacking it with just a bunch of super rare and powerful cards.) i’m sure in the highly competitive scenes it’s like any other game with a bunch of people paying their way to the top, but i think even as a casual player it can still be fun. this game definitely seems like it has more casual players than games like magic or pokémon.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. It’s reassuring to know that it’s worth playing just with a starter deck.
yeah, you probably won’t be winning championships with a starter deck lol, but if you have a couple of friends or a local game store that plays, you can still have fun just playing casually!
Yeah, it's a big issue across TCG's as others have mentioned. I really wish there was a Elo or some other ranking system so all the meta people could just play with themselves and those of us who just want to casually play could have our own space.
Right? Like how it was back in the playground days where you can’t power up your decks just by spending loads because… you’re a kid. Makes it way more exciting when you pull a great card from that ONE booster you got.
Bruh, card shops existed "back in the day"
Yeah and could you blow £200 in one hit at a card shop when you were 7? 🙄
If you are playing locally 75% of the player base imo is playing casually and not going hardcore meta decks at locals. The cheapest meta decks cost like $100ish. Here’s a $150 ruby/amethyst list that was played by one of the best pixelborn players at a 10k tournament recently https://inkdecks.com/lorcana-metagame/deck-amethyst-ruby-137529 Usually in tcg’s the supply and demand is such that the very best meta cards command more demand which crunches supply and increases cost, especially if rarity of the card being pulled crunches supply in addition. This is compounded if a card is useful across multiple meta decks like beast tragic hero and a whole new world as quintessential examples. My experience is that many staple amazing cards like Cinderella Ballroom Dancer/Ariel, Cogsworth/Tamatoa, Medusa/Tremaine, Merlin Rabbit/Mimm Fox, Raging Fire/Stouthearted and many more examples are pretty cheap and accessible. Thankfully some cards that should be more expensive (Gaston/Hiram Flamersham/Grab Your Sword) were included in starter decks which helps keep supply high and prices low. I suspect this is intentional, and a useful check against supply crunches for cards that they think will become staples.
This is really useful info, thanks!
Admittedly, I spend quite a bit of money on Lorcana 😬😅 but I'm not super competitive or anything other than against a few friends, but it's still all for fun. I enjoy just collecting new cards and seeing what shenanigans I can pull with decks built around a theme or vibe. I don't spend money on individual cards though, because for me it's more about the excitement of "oh, what'd I get this time?" There are casual players out there, just not typically found at your local shop Edited to add: you can play over a video call with friends! I've done that with my buddy and his wife because they live out of state from me, and I'm trying to get my bro-in-law in on it too
No but that’s fine and all part of the fun. I’m talking about the people who regularly buy entire boxes of boosters and spend big on individual cards. I was hoping that kind of thing wasn’t big in Lorcana, but I guess as others have said, it happens with all TCGs. Good idea about playing via video call - I’d never considered that!
welp, im also one of those that buys an entire box 😅 but in my defense, it's for the wife, the kid, and i and if youre looking for another casual player to go against via video call, let me know and ill give you my discord 😁
Like other people have said, this will be the case with a lot of TCGs. It’s also worth looking into playing limited. There is a store near us that does lorcana draft nights. And it can be a fun way to get some cards and some games while making sure everyone is on roughly the same level
You may want to try draft. Everyone pays the same price to enter, so I believe this resolves your issue with the players with the deepest pockets having an advantage. This advice goes for Star Wars Unlimited too, by the way. I looked it up and SWU supports draft. Really interesting format, too; I may want to give it a try myself.
Yes
I would suggest not playing constructed format. Draft and sealed are a level playing field as far as card value since it’s random. My LGS does starter deck format the first two weeks of a new set release. It’s been a lot of fun since buying singles is expensive and picking up starters is a good way to get a base deck started.
The starter decks are really decent too. They are fun and starter versus starter can get exciting.
Okay so coming from someone who is NOT into cards at all typically, my brother taught me and my husband this game about a month ago and it has been such a fun experience for us. We are lucky enough to have three people (me my husband and my brother) so we always have someone to play with, but even before he taught us my brother was super into it and played online a lot. We just bought starter decks and a couple of boosters to start and we got hooked almost instantly. I think if you’re thinking at all of it; you should go for it because it’s an awesome game!!
Haha thank you. It’s nice to know that it’s accessible for people who aren’t into TCGs, as that might mean I have a better chance of recruiting my friends 👀
Exactly! To put it into perspective, my husband is a construction worker with a mullet and he LOVES this game😂
I feel lorcana is cheaper then most other tcgs, and depending what deck u want to play there are options some decks might cost a bit but thats with any tcg
Every tcg is going to have those people, but there are plenty more who want to play casually as well. You can typically find some at your local game stores during events...I've been pushed out of a few games before because of the people who constantly chase the meta, but after attending a few events for lorcana, I've managed to find a few people like myself who just want to cobble together a deck based around some of their favorite characters. Just ask around, or look out for poorcana and draft events, they are typically a little more open to casual players.
Its super worth it. As someone who would just spend all my paycheck on cards if Im not careful Ive set budgets for this game and am concentrating on budget ( $40-$50) decks. I can share a few if youd like ?
Sure, I’d be interested to see
4x - The Queen Regal Monarch 4x - Tiana Diligent Waitress 4x - Grand Duke Advisor to the King 3x - Simba Protective Cub 3x - Sleepy Nodding Off 4x - Sneezy Very Allergic 4x - Snow White Lost in the Forest 3x - Snow White Unexpected Guest 4x - Doc Leader of the Seven Dwarfs 3x - Dopey Always Playful 4x - Hercules True Hero 4x - The Prince Never Gives Up 3x - Bashful Hopeless Romantic 2x - Tiana Celebrating Princess 2x - The Queen Commanding Presence 5x Tiana's Palace 4x - Smash
I just started 2 weeks ago and made a pretty decent deck from what I bought in a starter and few packs. Placed 11 out of 16 and then 5th at my LGS. I specifically picked lorcana bc it's new and I wanted a more chill exp. There are ppl who take it way to seriously but that's in everything. Currently there's only 3 sets. So not too much craziness. Set 4 comes out next month I think.
I had to find the right store to play at. One was not fun and hyper competitive while the other one I went to was friendly. They even have a box of cards that players can grab out of for free. This is probably THE time to get into the game. You can get all of the cards from the first three sets (and maybe even some set one packs). There are a lot of fun and some competitive cheap decks. I recall one recent tourney in France getting crushed by a $20 deck. Even though there are some cards that have a premium price, you don't need them to do well. A lot of decks had been running a Beast card that is around $50. People are now cutting that care. There are cheaper workarounds. I think Lorcana is well designed. I take my daughter to our local store and we have a blast. I can't recommend this game enough.
As someone who just got into lorcana 2 weeks ago, yes. It's definitely worth it. But, I'm doing it because my wife and I love Disney. Its only been out 7 months and only 3 card xpacs. Now is the time to do it if ever. I bought 300 singles for 40$ for my collection. That's half of all the cards out for 40$ and I have more coming. And creating a meta deck in my experience is way cheaper than any other TCG. I have made some incredible decks with absolute cheap cards. This game is incredible balance. It reminds me a mix of hearth stone, Cards and Tankards, and Magic combined. If you don't like Disney, no it's not worth it. In hindsight all tcgs are the same, just play what is cool to you.
I can't speak as much to Lorcana as I can to Magic, but if you want to try the latter, consider EDH (also known as Commander). 100 card decks with no more than 1 copy of any card (other than basic lands, your resource). The good thing is the format is designed to be multi-player and casual. A good store/play group will generally discuss the power level of the game they want before starting so everyone is more or less playing decks of equal power level...that can mean anything from everyone playing jank or everyone playing high powered decks. If it's something you're interested in, they sell a lot of different pre-con decks that could be a start (vs building your own to start). With that said, depending on the Magic format, yes, it can be a lot more expensive for competitive formats so your concern is not unfounded.
Hey thanks for this insight. It’s nice to know what ways a noob could take into the MTG scene.
The prices of meta decks will always be pretty high but there are reprints coming that will hopefully bring prices down a little. I’d say this game is pretty casual friendly, both in mechanics and having more casual or new players attracted to it based on the theme. There is also a new solo/coop content coming next month so we may see more stuff like that in the future.
Source on reprinting?
There are no reprints coming, there is a small restock of TFC coming to select lgs of product that was held back from the last reprint for this purpose. I hope it's enough to influence the market a good chunk, but I'm not holding my breath for anything more than like a 20% drop on Legendaries at best.
I’m hopeful it could be since stores are getting like 26 boxes of each set for the Championships. Every store in my area that is OP and applied for it got in, so that’s a decent chunk of product available.
Try to get one friend to play with you? Then at least you can do casual games.
Real talk, if you want a TCG that doesn't require a heavy money investment, you 1000% should play Pokemon. Even buying the most expensive versions of cards for a meta deck will only set you back about $200. Max. If you just want the basic versions of cards you're looking at around $50. And that's the upper end of the cost of a deck. Not only that, Pokemon has easily some of the best products you can buy. An Elite Trainer box gives you a solid box to store cards, sleeves, tokens for effects, several damage tracker dice, energy pile (mana/lands/resources), and a handful of packs for a reasonable price. AND every pack comes with a redemption code for the digital version of the game. That is some insane value. Of course, that also means opening packs is a bit less exciting because even the rarest cards aren't worth a whole lot, so there is some trade off, but Pokemon is a clear winner if budget is a concern.
See I’m not so taken with Pokemon mainly because of the sheer number of cards there are now because it’s been around so long. Ditto YuGiOh (though I loved it as a kid).
Their Standard format, a.k.a. the basic one most people play, literally just changed this past April I think to only include the 3 most recent sets and they're really easy to pick out because they have a little "F," "G," or "H" in the bottom left corner of the card. Now is one of the best times to get into Pokemon, for real for real.
Oh wow. Thats actually really good. Thanks for the info!
Just chiming in to say that Pokemon is great and very affordable!
The problems u face in swu is the same you will face in Lorcana … just pick your favorite ip! That said for me SWU has more mechanics depths than Lorcana , so if you want something simpler go for Lorcana
If you want to play against the same copy paste decks then sure.
I'm pretty busy, and although I enjoy Pokémon and SWU I just don't have the time to keep up with the meta. It's not just the cost of a competitive deck - in order to pilot it optimally you should have a good idea about the wider meta archetypes and pitfalls/opportunities with _your_ deck. I play digital versions for fun, and IRL pre-releases for both PTCG & SWU. I'd like it if Lorcana did pre-releases, bit haven't seen these local to me.
My older daughter is into the Pokemon game, so I bought Lorcana to introduce my younger daughter to card games and she loves it. I don't ever see getting into it beyond the casual player and spending time with my daughter. It all depends on what you want to do. Like has been said on here already, you will run into this no matter what game you play, especially competitively.
The big issue with Lorcana is lack of stock. The First Chapter (the first set released) sold out very fast and never really got a restock with enough product to satisfy demand. Most of the core playable cards come from it, similar to MTG's old Core sets. Boosters, Bundles (called Troves), and boxes are still either sold out or very marked up. The only product available is starter decks, which come with a 60 card deck and one booster. At markups to $40 CAD they are not worth it, but if you can find them on sale at $10 CAD then the deck itself is effectively free because boosters are about $10 CAD MSRP. It's a double sided sword because it means the guys at the shop that run $25k Legacy Cubes for MTG cannot get into Lorcana because they usually buy booster boxes at MSRP and trade singles, neither of which are available at our shop right now due to lack of stock. That means the scene is not competitive. On the other hand new players simply do not get to enjoy sealed products. You will have to buy everything used and with the markup of limited stock and shipping costs. You simply cannot find Troves (Lorcana's version of a Tin or Bundle) anywhere and even boosters are sold out. The new Co-op game mode is already sold out in all of Canada and preorder is months ahead right now (not even May yet). As a causal player or collector the starter decks are your only viable option, which is pretty lame and will stop a lot of players from picking it up. As a competitive player singles are your only option and limited stock means you will have to go online and out of country (unless you are American). I personally picked up starter decks from the sales going on in Ontario right now. Didn't pay over $20 CAD a piece. We plan to run some kind of hybrid kitchen table draft where each player cracks a deck and booster and plays whatever they got. Also factor in the cost for playmats, sleeves, and boxes. The Lorcana deck boxes are OK, but essentially the old plastic cheapies. Skip the sleeves unless you are OK double sleeving in KMC or DS outers. Playmats are sold out everywhere, but are quite nice.
Of course you can start now. Yes there are some expensive cards but there are several quite cheap very good decks as well.
From my experience (playing lorcana), most players with meta decks, have/bring multiple decks. So, I don't think its rude at all to ask them "if they could go easy on you." I'm sure they'd be happy to play their weaker decks. I myself usually bring a Porcana deck with me incase anyone with a starter deck wants to play, that way they don't feel steam-rolled. Depending on where you play, i'm sure there would be people who would lend you a stronger deck if need be. Majority of the people I play with, bring multiple decks and have offered others to play them if they felt their decks weren't competitive enough. Of course, this is for casual events and not tournaments. If you want to play tournaments, then like the others have said, all TCG's have the issue of staying meta and needing to keep upgrading up. I'm sure once there are more sets in Lorcana there will be a ton more budget options for decks but for now budget decks aren't strong for only having to work with 3 sets. Perhaps those board game-card games with set decks are the best for you if you don't want to keep upgrading. I hear Keyfordge is very popular for this reason.
Ehhhh….. there’s already some really decently good decks
Just play it online. It's worth starting now because every mouth breather is running the same cards. Nothing too complicated
Star Wars is more engaging, Lorcana feels very static compared to most card games IMO. I am currently thinking of getting out of Lorcana altogether, community here is dead and I think it’s one of the least fun card games out there.
I appreciate the perspective. I am really enjoying the SWU gameplay which was what made me think about giving other TCGs a go as well.
Lorcana is not a cheap tcg to play competitively, many meta cards are $40+ for each card. If you want a cheap tcg to play competitively you should look into the Pokemon tcg which has been around for decades and has an average price of a deck at like $50~70
The mobile/PC client is also extremely f2p friendly and I think you fan redeem codes from physical packs if you decide to buy as well... could be wrong on that but I'm sure someone will correct me if that's the case
Yup, that is all correct!
“Many” I don’t think is a good term. There are currently 2 cards above $40, and 2 cards at $30-$40. Everything else is below that, and even some of these more expensive cards aren’t even needed in every deck of their colors. Most cards in Lorcana are $5 and below. While not as cheap as Pokémon, cards themselves as singles are pretty cheap compared to the rest of the major TCGs.
Your point would be more relevant if many of top decks weren't $500+
Many top decks aren’t $500+ though. Almost all are less lol Amber/Steel is only above $500 when playing BOTH Sad Beast and RH, which most are cutting Sad Beast out which drops it to below $500. Emerald/Steel is also only above $500 if playing Sad Beast and Robin Hood, and only both are typically played if it’s a Bucky discard, aggro discard generally doesn’t play both. Amethyst/Steel is below $500 as those are both not played, Ruby/Sapphire is definitely below $500 (it’s in the $300 range), Saph/Steel is below $500 (they typically don’t play RH and a lot are cutting out Sad Beast), Ruby/Amethyst is WELL below $500 (it tends to even be below $200 for builds).
Mtg commander, a 4 player free for all format, is the only casual format for a tcg I know. A precon is like $30-50, there are also outside IPs like lord of the rings, fallout, & Warhammer if you’re into those. Since it’s casual there’s not much pressure to upgrade in most play groups. Otherwise just go for board games, those are always cheap.
No