Summary

• Cards won't be banned yet in Disney Lorcana TCG, as decisions will be based on fun & community needs.
• Only 3 card sets are available so far, with meta decks not game breaking, so there's no need for card bans.
• Community-inspired game modes not being made official at this time, but players can enjoy them casually.

Now that the official Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game (TCG) comprehensive rules for competitive play have been released, Screen Rant had a chance to ask the team at Ravensburger a couple of questions. The card game, featuring unique "glimmers" of familiar characters from across the Disney universe of properties, may still be in its infancy, but a large player base has been already forming. Disney Lorcana TCG first started releasing cards for play in the summer of 2023, and is just beginning its competitive circuit, dubbed the Disney Lorcana Challenge.

With the game expanding into official competitive circuit and tournament play, Disney Lorcana is expected to deal with the same kind of unavoidable problems that other trading card games have, chiefly the need to ban cards from competitive play in the interest of fairness or balance. Disney Lorcana co-designer, Steve Warner, responded to Screen Rant's query regarding how much they expect card banning to become part of the game's philosophy and how they will approach these decisions:

At the moment there are no banned cards, but if we do choose to ban a card in the future, the most important factor will be whether or not the game is fun with a particular card or condition. That tends to happen with cards that players have no recourse to play against or around; we're always looking for those sorts of things. - Steve Warner, Disney Lorcana TCG Co-Designer

Currently, there are only three sets available for Disney Lorcana, and with that few cards to choose from, there are not many cards that have a case for being labeled as truly game-breaking. While players have certainly found ways to make powerful decks - with some popular meta decks becoming mainstays in tournaments - the community generally finds ways to combat these and develop counter-strategies, without the need for any cards to be banned from play yet.

Lorcana Responds To Other Competitive Play Questions

Disney Lorcana TCG Community Manager Responds To Community-Inspired Game Modes And More

The future of Disney Lorcana and its competitive events is still evolving, as new cards are being added and the entire community continues to learn the game. Based on Warner's response, Lorcana's team will be keeping a close eye on card power and ubiquity in these events and can make adjustments as needed to keep the game fun for all.

Screen Rant also asked Richelle Brady, the Global Community Manager for Disney Lorcana, a few questions regarding how the TCG feels about community-inspired game modes within the official rules:

We think it's great when players create their own modes or formats that they find engaging, and we encourage the community to do that. However, the comprehensive rules are meant to be the official way of playing the game. Like any other TCG, making unofficial game modes official would need to be in response to an undeniable impact made by community driven formats. - Richelle Brady, Global Disney Lorcana TCG Community Manager

This likely means that the unofficial game modes players have been creating will not be added to official tournaments, but that doesn't mean that players still can't enjoy them in a casual setting.

Additionally, Richelle Brady was asked if Disney Lorcana would have competitive events that tie into Disney-themed events with unique rules specific to new Disney releases. Brady responded that currently they have no plans of doing that type of event, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of a fun or casual side-event or one-off format with tie-ins, but "it would not be something that interferes with the integrity of competitive events."

Disney Lorcana is still a fledgling trading card game with a quickly growing community, which means its very much in the early stages of creating large-scale competitions. The card game doesn't have many expansions out yet, with the fourth set, Ursula's Return, hitting early access sales beginning May 17.