Disney Lorcana sets sail on a grand adventure for its latest set Azurite Sea, where the worlds pirates and science collide. The combination makes for one of the more unique collections in Lorcana’s expanding portfolio, offering two very distinct playstyles between the Emerald Sapphire and Amber Ruby Starter Decks. Then there’s the addition of beloved Disney franchises like the Rescue Rangers, Great Mouse Detective, and Big Hero 6, though favorites like Moana, Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey and Friends are also big parts of the set as well. In addition to our review of the Starter Decks, we’ll also dive into the key cards you can add to your Azurite Sea arsenal from the Illumineer’s Trove and Stich Collector’s Set, which you will definitely want to consider if you want to get everything out of the latest addition to Lorcana.
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Let’s begin though with the Starter Sets, which are split into Emerald Sapphire and Amber Ruby. Emerald Sapphire is all about Inventors, and when characters with that keyword enter the mix you’ll want to compliment them with Support characters, Locations, and Items that allow you take full advantage. The synergy in this Starter Deck is impressive, and upon first glance it seems like the Deck with more depth, though initial looks can be deceiving.
Then there’s Amber Ruby, which is all about Pirates and places more of a focus on Challenging your opponent. Locations are rather crucial in this particular Deck, as is the Deck’s lone Item, allowing you to balance the more frequent challenges with either healing, buffs, or get something in return when your characters are taken out.
Amber Ruby Starter Set
Amber Ruby has a great set of 1 and 2 cost cards, including Moana (Self-Taught Sailor) and the Pooh Pirate Ship Item, which are both 1 cost. While Moana can’t challenge until you have a Captain in play, the 3 attack is nice to have early, and if you can keep her around you can Shift her into Moana (Kakamora Leader) later on. This is already quite the upgrade, but you can make this a pretty sweet combo if you can have two Locations in play and just move everyone and gain several lore all in one go. As for the Pirate Ship, having a way to return a Pirate character from your discard to your hand is always handy, even if you only use it once on a key card.
Cards like Winnie The Pooh (Hunny Pirate), Lead The Way, and Wendy Darling (Courageous Captain) are great cards too, especially Wendy, who gives you a Captain (hey Moana!) and gets a buff when you have other Pirate characters in play. The 3 and 4 cost cards give you some amazing options as well, including Owl (Pirate Lookout), Mickey Mouse (Courageous Sailor), Jasmine (Rebellious Princess), and Kakamora (Boarding Party). Jasmine is the golden card of this tier though, as she not only gains 2 lore when questing but also takes away 1 lore from the opponent.
At the top of the cost tree are cards like the 5 cost Fix-It Felix Jr. (Niceland Steward) and the 7 cost Jim Hawkins (Honorable Pirate), and Felix gives you a lovely +2 health to Locations, which are at a premium in this Deck. Then there’s Hawkins, who can quest for 2 lore and has 7 health, but is also able to pull Pirate Characters into your hand if they are found in the top 4 cards of your deck. This is a when played effect too, so you can find yourself with a bevy of options at a later stage of the game instantly, which can truly turn the tide or get you out of a jam. Locations are key to all this as well, and there are several options, but Hundred Acre Island and Skull Rock are the two you’ll want most, as you get 1 lore when your characters are banished or lore at the start of your turn and +1 to attack respectively.
Emerald Sapphire Starter Set
Now let’s move to the Emerald Sapphire Deck, which emphasizes the Inventor trait. As such, an easy early combo is Yokai (Professor Callaghan) and the Institute of Technology (Prestigious University) Location. This Location is one of the key cards of the deck, as it not only gives inventor characters +1 health but also nets you 1 lore if a character is located there the start of your turn. There’s also the no-brainer addition of Fred (Mascot by Day). Sure, he’s only a 1 & 1 character with 1 lore when questing, but if the opponent challenges him, you instantly gain 2 lore, players more often than not just leave him alone.
This Deck’s 2 and 3 cost arrays though is where it really shines, giving you an absurd number of options and strategies. Does your character have an item early? Play HeiHei (Not-So-Tricky Chicken) and exert that item so it can’t ready at the beginning of your opponent’s turn. You could also play Honey Lemon (Chemical Genius), which lets you exert 2 in your inkwell to have the opponent chose and discard a card, though you could also choose to quest for 2. Go Go Tomago (Darting Dynamo) has Evasive but then lets you exert 2 in your inkwell to gain lore equal to a damaged opposing character, and Aunt Cass (Biggest Fan) will give a chosen inventor character +1 to their lore when she quests. Those are just characters, as Megabot, Baymax’s Healthcare Chip, and Heffalumps And Woozles all give you more options to play with, including banishing an opposing item from play, healing damage from your characters, or making it so a character can’t quest during their next turn.
Leaning further into the strength of this set are 3 and 4 cost cards like Hiro Hamada (Robotics Prodigy), which allows you to search your deck for an Item or robot character card and put it on top of your deck. Speaking of Items, you will absolutely want the Emerald Chromicon in play, which allows you to bring characters that were banished during your opponent’s turns back into your hand. Baymax is multifaceted, as you can not only get inventor characters for cheaper, but you can also remove damage from another character while also having the option to quest for 2 lore. If you need to challenge, B.E.N. (Eccentric Robot) is lovely to have, as he will quest for 2 lore and then add his 4 attack to another character this turn, turning some of your characters into absolute powerhouses in the process.
At the upper cost tier are characters like Goofy (Expert Shipwright), Ludwig Von Drake (Self-Proclaimed Genius), and Gadget Hackwrench (Brilliant Bosun). Goofy and Ludwig are questing aces with 3 lore a piece, and while Gadget is as well, you could end up getting her for cheaper if you have the 2 cost Gadget in play.
As constructed, the style and approach of the Emerald Sapphire deck is decidedly more my speed, and I could already see a host of ways to make the set even better with additional cards. That’s also why don’t think I initially didn’t give the Amber Ruby Deck its due, but after more frequent plays, I find myself returning to that set more often than expected. Both are rewarding in their own ways and offer unique playstyles, and while there are some duds in both sets, they still contain some amazing cards and utilize Lorcana’s varied mechanics without losing the game’s tradition of approachability. It’s not the game’s strongest Starter Set collection, but those who jump in will discover a lot to love.
Starter Sets Rating: 4 out of 5
Illumineer’s Trove Best Card Additions
So, what about making those sets even better? Well, look no further than the Illumineer’s Trove, which gets you a storage box, 6 card dividers, 8 booster packs (with 12 cards each), 1 Lore Counter, and 6 Damage-counter dice. That’s more than worth the $50 price, and those who add extra packs to their collections will likely gain some very crucial cards that can make not only their Starter Sets but any other decks that much better.
Just sticking to the Starter Sets though, we’ve got some key additions you will want to keep an eye out for. For Emerald Sapphire, one great addition is the Owl Island Location, which allows you to pay one resource less for the first action you take on each turn, and it scales with how many characters you have at the Location. Got 4 people there? You pay 4 less, so you can see how advantageous that can be, but it gets better. Whenever you play a second action in a turn, you gain 3 lore immediately, and it’s got 6 health and only costs 3.
Another lovely addition is Bellwether (Assistant Mayor), who allows you to give a chosen opposing character the reckless status whenever you put a card into your inkwell, and Reckless will make a character unable to quest and demand that they challenge instead, which can help get questing powerhouses off the board sooner. Then there’s Tadashi Hamada (Gifted Roboticist), who is key if you want to get some of the higher cost cards into play sooner. Hamada already has the ability to quest for 2, but if he is banished during an opponent’s turn, you get to put him into your inkwell. It gets better though, as you also may put the top card of your deck into your inkwell too, so in one turn you can potentially gain 3 cards in your inkwell to boost your options next turn.
That would help get higher cost cards like Basil (Disguised Detective), Tadashi Hamada (Baymax Inventor), and Yokai (Scientific Supervillain) into play, and Yokai is especially deadly, as you can play Microbots for free and then gain additional cards after questing depending on the cards in your opponent’s play area.
For Amber Ruby there are some excellent 1 cost options, including Thievery, which takes 1 lore away from an opponent and gives 1 to you, and Card Soldier’s Spear, which gives all of your damaged characters +1 to their attack. There’s also the stellar Flotilla location, which if you have a character there at the start of your turn, all opponents lose 1 lore and you gain lore equal to that lost lore. Plus, if you have Vanellope Von Schweetz (Gutsy Go-Getter) in play, at the start of your turn you can draw a card and gain 1 lore as long as she is at a location.
Julieta Madrigal (Excellent Cook) lets you heal up to 2 damage and draw a card if that damage is removed, while Namaari (Heir of Fang) has two-weapon fighting, allowing you to deal damage to two characters in a challenge. Nani (Caring Sister) and David (Impressive Surfer) make a good one two punch too, and Chip ‘N’ Dale (Recovery Rangers) is loaded with 6, 6, and a quest of 3, and then also allows you to return a character card from your discard when cards are put into your inkwell.
Don’t forget about Scar’s cards either, as Scar (Heartless Hunter) has 4 attack and a quest of 3 on top of allowing you to deal 2 damage to one of your characters to then deal 2 damage to an opponent’s character. There’s also the Song Be King Undisputed, which makes each opponent choose and banish one of their characters. Also highlight worthy is Simba, who if he’s exerted at the end of your turn, will then ready your other characters.
Steel and Amethyst Additions
While not included in the Starter Sets, Steel and Amethyst offer some lovely options as well. Mr. Big is one of my favorites, both as a Zootopia fan but also for his ability to not be challenged by characters with 2 attack or greater, and he has a quest of 3. I’m Still Here is a Song that can grant Resist +2 to a character and then lets you draw a card, which is a nice pairing with Mr. Big.
Captain Amelia can’t be challenged by pirates and then while being challenged your other characters gain Resist +1, and she quests for 2. Calhoun (Marine Sergeant) is handy for both Resist +1 and the ability to gain 2 lore when she banishes a character in a challenge. There’s also the welcome Treasure Mountain, which deals damage to a chosen character or location equal to the number of characters located there.
Amethyst meanwhile has several low cost and then some incredibly useful high-cost cards, and a great 1 cost action is A Very Merry Unbirthday, which has each opponent putting their top 2 cards of their deck into their discard. If you are able to get Mama Odie (Solitary Sage) later, you can then move up to 2 damage counters from chosen characters to opposing characters whenever you play a song. There’s also Magic Carpet (Amazing Flier), which is a 3-cost quest 3 card, and that’s always handy.
One of the more intriguing cards is Isabela Madrigal (Golden Child), which is fine with a quest of 1 as standard, but her Ladies First ability lets you get +3 lore when questing as long as no other characters have quested that turn. That also keeps other characters from questing the rest of the turn too, so you just have to weigh your options when figuring out the best approach on any given turn.
If you have multiple Fairy characters, Tinker Bell (Queen of the Azurite Fairies) is great since when she quests (for 2) your other Fairy characters get +1 lore that turn. Meanwhile Scar (Tempestuous Lion) has a damage of 4 from the outset, but paired with Rush and Challenger (which gives you +3 attack when challenging) makes him an absolute beast at 7 damage. Hades (Lord of the Dead) can quest for 3, but whenever one of your characters is banished during your opponent’s turn, you can instantly gain 2 Lore.
Stitch Collector’s Set
Then there’s the Stitch Collector’s Set, and for the Stitch lovers it’s an easy recommendation. Not only do you get four Booster packs and an exclusive foil promo card of Stitch (Alien Buccaneer), but you also get my absolute favorite Lorcana Portfolio, which is adorned with the delightful and might I mention stunning artwork from all of Stich’s Lorcana cards to date. It’s now my default portfolio, so if you see me with Lorcana cards in person, you’re going to see that too most likely.
That about does it for our latest Disney Lorcana deep dive, but let us know what your favorite decks and individual cards are from Azurite Sea on Bluesky @KnightofOA!
