With the fourth Disney Lorcana set, Ursula’s Return, reaching a crescendo with its battle against the titular Sea Witch, fans of the trading card game (or TCG) were wondering where the game would be heading next, and who the next big villain to try taking advantage of the Grand Illuminary’s power,would be.
Following Ursula’s defeat (which you can help with by taking her on in the Illumineer’s Quest: Deep Trouble set!), the fifth set for Disney Lorcana is Shimmering Skies. It features characters and settings from video game-based Disney movie, Wreck-It Ralph, as well as their more recent hit, Encanto; the storyline sees characters gathering at the Great Illuminary for a celebratory party.
It’s worth noting that there’s no Illumineer’s Quest, such as the aforementioned Deep Trouble set, as part of the Shimmering Skies product range. We expect that these sets will provide a sort of final boss style showdown, to close the book on a chapter of the ongoing story, perhaps once or twice a year at most (and therefore won’t be released to accompany every new Lorcana booster set). However,there is a very interesting crossover with another Ravenburger-published Disney game series, which we’ll take a look at below.
In addition to that, there’s lots of very interesting new details, cards and characters to check out, so let’s see the cards for Disney Lorcana’s fifth set, Shimmering Skies!
Shimmering Skies Base Set Card Gallery
Shimmering Skies Enchanted Card Gallery
In every Disney Lorcana set so far, there have been alternate art, super rare variants of card in the base set; these are very easy to spot, as the art has no borders and covers the entirety of the card, with a spectacular, textured foil treatment across the surface of the card too. They’re known as Enchanted cards.
These cards also have numbers that go above the ‘official’ number of cards in the set; for example, in Shimmering Skies there are 204 unique cards in the base set, but the numbering for the Enchanted cards begins at 205 of 204, and goes all the way up to card 222 of 204. When this is the case in any Trading Card Game, the cards are known as ‘Secret Rares’; Enchanted cards can also only be found in 1 in every 72 booster packs, making them highly sought after as well as desirable:
What Characters Are Making Their Debut In Shimmering Skies?
As previously mentioned, Shimmering Skies has plenty of characters from Wreck-It Ralph, many of which are from the film’s Mario Kart-esque racing game, Sugar Rush. Some appear as characters on foot, such as the Amber Ink type Vanellope Von Schweetz, on the left in the above image, and some as racers in their Sugar Rush karts, such as the Ruby type Vanellope, above right.
Wreck-It Ralph super villain Turbo also appears, featuring an interesting usage of the Shift keyword; when playing a Shifted King Candy card, Turbo counts as actually being King Candy. It’s a very clever, highly thematic usage of Shift, given that King Candy is actually the glitching, villainous Turbo in disguise!
Though Ralph himself is making his debut as a character in Shimmering Skies, it’s not his first appearance in Lorcana. The eagle eyed among you will recall that he featured on the Pick A Fight card (shown above), which even included his “I’m gonna wreck it!” catchphrase, in the Rise of the Floodborn set.
Are There New Locations In Shimmering Skies?
Location cards were introduced in the third Lorcana set, Into the Inklands, and have been steadily growing in number since then. Of course, there are more in Shimmering Skies, including one that’ll be very familiar to Wreck-It Ralph fans, who are already looking to be very well catered for with this set!
Bad-Anon is the villains support group in the first Wreck-It Ralph movie, and their affirmation, There’s No One I’d Rather Be Than Me, provides the ability for the Bad-Anon Location card in the Shimmering Skies set.
It gives all Villain characters at the Bad-Anon Location an extra ability; they may exert and pay 3 Ink, then a Villain with the same name as them may be played there for free. It’s another fantastic example of how Lorcana’s designers continue to bring mechanics into the game that feel incredibly thematic, deeply steeped in the lore of their original stories.
How Do I Find The Prince John Promo Card?
You’ll notice from the card gallery, and the image above, that there’s a foil Prince John Promo card in the Shimmering Skies set. It has the Promo card rarity symbol at the bottom of the card, and can’t be found in Lorcana boosters, or indeed in any Lorcana products! So where can you find it?
Prior to Lorcana’s development and release, publishers Ravensburger had great success with their Disney Villainous board game series, which features numerous villains vying for dominance, with players working against each other in totally asymmetrical ways. Last year’s Introduction to Evil set sought to bring new players to the series, with a focus on streamlined gameplay intended to make it easier for newcomers to pick up and play.
It’s within a new printing of the Disney Villainous: Introduction to Evil set that you’ll find the foil Promo King John card, which is appropriate seeing as one of the game’s villains is King John himself! Do note, however, that if you’re going to be picking up the Introduction to Evil set in order to get hold of this card, that it’ll need to have the Lorcana promo sticker on the packaging, as shown in the above image. Note that these promo sets are Limited Edition, so if you do want to get your hands on one, be quick!
How Do I Find The Kristoff Promo Card?
Though it’s not a unique card, given that it’s the exact same Kristoff, Reindeer Keeper that’s card number 13 in Shimmering Skies (at least in terms of its printed stats and abilities), there’s a unique foil treatment to this card, which also lacks the black border around its Lore symbols.
Getting hold of a Kristoff promo card should be relatively straightforward; he’ll be the promotional card given away at events where Ravensburger are present. So if you attend any gaming conventions, for example, and head to the Ravensburger stand to check out Lorcana, you should be able to get your hands on one of these cards.
What New Starter Decks Will Be Released For Shimmering Skies?
Though Disney Lorcana’s initial set, The First Chapter, launched with three Starter Decks to give players a taste of all six Ink types, each subsequent set has launched with just two pre-constructed decks, and Shimmering Skies is no different.
Shimmering Skies will feature an Amethyst and Ruby deck headed up by Elsa and Ralph, as well as an Emerald and Steel deck that has Scar and Kronk as its headline characters.
When Will Shimmering Skies Be Released?
Shimmering Skies will follow a similar launch pattern to previous sets, with the initial release in local, specialist game stores set for August 9th and mainstream, mass market retail launch two weeks later on August 23rd.
Though it does form part of the base set of cards for Shimmering Skies, if you want to see one extra, special version of a card that was first revealed in the Deep Trouble set (though do be warned it’s a spoiler if you’re looking to take on Ursula in Deep Trouble!), click here for further details!
