Deckbuilding Guide

The First Chapter Player's Guide includes a short Deckbuilding Guide. We've replicated the content here, but thought it was a bit short. We therefore added our own notes, based on our insights and experience.

There are many strategies to explore in the world of Lorcana, starting with how you put your decks together. We’ve assembled a collection of valuable hints and guidance from our design team to help you level up your game.

Carefully Manage Ink Resources

Magical ink is at the heart of Lorcana. It’s what makes the game—and the world—come alive. Make sure your decks include enough cards that can be turned into ink. This helps improve your ability to play out your planned strategies reliably. Although cards without ink tend to have abilities that impact the game more, including too many in your deck will make it harder to build up enough ink to play your cards. You don’t want to leave your big threats stranded in your hand!

Finding the right proportion of cards that can be used for ink will help ensure you’ll be able to put a card into your inkwell each turn. Aim to keep the number of cards without ink under 16. Including fewer than 16 will help make your deck even more consistent.

Follow the Ink Curve

It doesn’t do a lot of good to have a hand full of cards you can’t play. Make sure you have cards with a range of ink costs to increase the chances you’ll have cards that you can play each turn.

The higher the ink cost of a card, the more powerful it tends to be. More powerful cards can swing the game in your favor or help push you to victory, but having too many in your deck can backfire. While you’re waiting to be able to play them, your opponents have the chance to speed ahead by playing card after card with low ink costs. Be careful not to go too far in the other direction by putting too many low-cost character cards in your deck, though. They can help you gain an early lead, but if other players can slow your momentum enough, those low-cost cards could be quickly outclassed by higher-cost cards. Finding the best ratio of different ink costs takes experimentation and testing. It can be different for each deck. In general, the number of cards of each cost should gradually rise, starting at 1 Ink and peaking just above the average ink cost of the cards in your deck, then gradually decline.

Be Prepared

Lorcana has an amazing array of cards and abilities, making every game an adventure. Sometimes you’ll know what to expect from an opponent’s deck, but often you won’t. To make your deck more versatile, include cards that are likely to give opponents trouble - character cards with Evasive, Ward, or high Willpower, for instance - as well as those that will deal with your opponents’ troublesome cards, like ones that can banish their items or characters.

Over time, the kinds of decks others are playing will change, whether due to new releases coming out or other factors. Adapting your deck to anticipate and better meet these changes can make it more effective and help you achieve victory.

Choose Your Inks Wisely

Each ink type has special traits related to its identity. When creating a deck, selecting inks that complement each other and support your strategy will increase your deck’s effectiveness. Don’t be afraid to try different ink type partnerships! You might choose inks that work well together while each strengthens your deck’s overall theme, or you might want to use inks with differing identities that both help fill gaps in your strategy.

For example, if you want to play a deck that has more high-cost character cards with powerful abilities or high Strength and Willpower, Sapphire is a strong choice as one of your ink types. Sapphire cards allow you to play additional ink, helping you build up your inkwell quickly and play higher-cost cards earlier in the game.

Alternatively, if you want to play a deck that focuses on challenging opposing characters and keeping threats under control, Amethyst fits the bill. The ability of many Amethyst cards to exert opposing characters can help ensure your opponent has something you can challenge each turn.