Since launching in 2023, Disney’s first ever Trading Card Game (TCG) has been a huge critical and commercial success, with players, collectors and Disney fans who’ve never touched a TCG before all flocking to check out the game and its beautiful cards.
Publisher Ravensburger, despite initially struggling to cope with the massive demand for Lorcana cards, has done a great job of keeping the game’s momentum going.
Lorcana’s third set, Into the Inklands, launched in February 2024 and introduced Location cards to the game, demonstrating that Ravensburger are looking to keep the game fresh even with its mechanics, not just with adding extra card keywords here and there.
Of course, as long term players of TCGs and CCGs (collectable card games; a term that essentially means the same thing as TCG) know, continuing support is crucial to keep both competitive and casual players invested in the game; as such, new sets can arrive at quite a bewildering pace if you’re new to the scene!
If you are new to TCGs, it may surprise you to discover that Ravensburger have just announced the fourth set for Disney Lorcana, mere weeks after the successful launch of Into the Inklands.
So let’s take a look at what we know about Ursula’s Return, as well as why this may be the most exciting and ground breaking set for Disney Lorcana so far!
What Is The Story Of Lorcana’s Ursula’s Return Set?
Though this may or may not be of importance to many players, particularly those who want to just delve into a game and create a deck without looking too deeply into the background of each set, there’s always a story and justification given for any given set’s new cards and mechanics.
Ursula’s Return is no different in that regard, centering on a powerful glimmer of Ursula, springing to life from the Great Illuminary, who’s seeking to take control of Lorcana.
What’s new In The Lorcana Ursula’s Return Set?
The product range for the Ursula’s Return set will consist of the usual booster packs, starter decks, Illumineer’s Trove and other accessories that’ll be familiar to current players of the Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game.
However, in addition to those products, Ravensburger have also announced that Encanto characters will be making their first appearance in Ursula’s Return (you’ll notice that there’s Mirabel Madrigal and Bruno Madrigal cards in the image above!), and have also released the first details of the Illumineer’s Quest: Deep Trouble set.
Here’s where things get really interesting, as well as pretty ground breaking in terms of what a Trading Card Game can offer.
The Illumineer’s Quest set allows players to directly take on the powerful Ursula, either solo or co-operatively with other players.
That’s right: this set allows for 1-4 players to take on the game itself, rather than each other!
This is, if you’ll pardon the pun, a huge game-changer. Lorcana has already proven itself to be a pretty accessible and newcomer friendly Trading Card Game, but with the addition of solo and co-op play, it can be even friendlier for families and players or any age to play together.
Though we don’t know the ins and outs of how the Illumineer’s Quest will work (with that Deep Trouble subtitle, presumably, and hopefully, this is going to be the first Illumineer’s Quest of many), we do know what the box will contain, and that players are not restricted to using the decks that will be included.
In fact, though this set is packaged with two 60-card decks (headlined by Mulan and the sorcerer Yen Sid from Fantasia; both shown above) that two players can use to take on Ursula (who has her own 50 card deck!), players can use any standard Lorcana deck to tackle the sea witch, whether pre-constructed or one they’ve built themselves!
The set also includes unique elements such as an oversized Ursula card, oversized Battleground cards (a new card type that is likely to be exclusive to Illumineer’s Quest), Ursula draw tokens and a Secret Victory card, which appears to be in a sealed pack!
With four difficulty levels, the Illumineer’s Quest is very likely to be a game that can provide an awful lot of repeat play, with an adjustable challenge, for players of all ages and skill levels.
The fact that players can utilise their existing card collections to play Illumineer’s Quest is a genius move on the part of Ravensburger too; this is perhaps one of the most exciting developments to have emerged for any TCG in a very long time!
When Will Ursula’s Return Be Released?
In keeping with Ravensburger’s typical release pattern for Lorcana sets, the release dates for the Ursula’s Return sets are staggered, with independent, dedicated tabletop gaming stores receiving their stock two weeks ahead of mainstream, national stores.
In the case of Ursula’s Return, the ‘Hobby Store’ release date is the 17th of May, 2024.
National stores and non-dedicated websites will be launching the set on the 31st of May 2024.
Playmats will feature images of Rapunzel and Tinker Bell; the Ursula’s Return sleeves and deck boxes will feature Aladdin’s Genie and Snow White.
The Starter Decks will be Amber/Amethyst (featuring Mirabel and Bruno) and Sapphire/Steel, headed up by Anna and Hercules.
One thing’s for sure: for us Lorcana players, May can’t arrive soon enough!
If you’re interested in taking a deeper look at the mechanics of the game, why not check out our guide to Lorcana Ink Types, or the difference between characters who are Storyborn, Dreamborn or Floodborn in Disney Lorcana?
