Summary
Into the Inklands has introduced new card types, Locations, intoDisney Lorcana! These cards aim to provide a more complex and complete way of playing this tabletop card game. The concepts they bring shift the game up in a way that you probably aren’t used to in Lorcana.
Locations allow your characters to move to them by paying the move cost on the left side of the card. Some will give different buffs to characters, but the biggest thing may be the passive lore on the right side. You gain this at the start of each turn, which can add up quickly. There’s definitely a lot to talk about with these.
10Motunui, Island Paradise
What A Great Place To Live
Everyone knows that the theme of Sapphire has been to ramp as many cards into your inkwell as fast as you can, and Montuni, Island Paradise follows suit. Its reincarnation ability says whenever a character is banished while there, you can put it into your inkwell face-down and exerted.
With the cheap play cost and easy move cost, it wouldn’t be impossible to get a few characters here, and after they’re banished, turn them into ink. While it sounds good on paper, many other cards in Sapphire alone do a better job at ramping, so this could be a one or two of in your decks.
9The Sorcerer’s Tower, Wondrous Workplace
Those Brooms Be Sweepin'
Over the first two sets, we got a Magic Broom card apiece. An Amethyst one and a Steel one. In Into the Inklands, we got three more, plus a location to make them even better. The Sorcerer’s Tower, Wondrous Workplace, has the ability Broom Closet, which allows any Magic Broom character to move there for free.
Its second ability, Magical Power, gives any character plus one lore while there. That alone is a nice ability, but with cards like Mickey Mouse, Wayward Sorcerer that allow Brooms to be played for one less and the ability for Brooms to be able to be moved there for free, you can stack a lot of things there, and gain a bunch of lore quickly.
8Tiana’s Palace, Jazz Restaurant
Throw On Some Tunes!
Tiana’s Palace, Jazz Restaurant, has a unique ability in Night Out. It says characters can’t be challenged when they are at the location. It’s a pretty simple ability but something we haven’t seen yet, and that’s what locations can bring into the fold.
When looking at this location, the eight willpower on it is what stands out. We have different cards like And Then Along Came Zeus, which can damage locations, and Rise of the Titans, which can outright banish a location or item. So if you can dodge those cards, you can hide some characters behind Tiana’s Palace before they are defeated in challenges. Of course, hard removal can take them out, but that isn’t in every deck.
7Maui’s Place Of Exile, Hidden Island
No One’s Finding This Place
The Resist keywordwas introduced in Lorcana’s second set, letting characters take less damage by ignoring portions of it when it is dealt to them. Maui’s Place of Exile, Hidden Island, has the ability Isolated, which gives any character at this location Resist +1.
Steel is the main ink that has Resist, while a few other characters in other inks have the keyword, too. Moving your characters who already have Resist to Maui’s Island can make it very difficult to remove them. The difference between having to deal two damage versus four can provide longing value to some characters who may only be on the board a few turns.
6Jolly Roger, Hook’s Ship
Arr Matey!
The synergy with Pirate cards makes Jolly Roger, Hook’s Ship shine. Its first ability, Look Alive, You Swabs!, sayscharacters get Rushwhen they are there. Its second ability, All Hands on Deck!, is where the synergy comes in, and it says your Pirate characters can move there for free.
The low cost of this card is what helps it a lot. Play this down on turn one, then play a few pirates the turns after, and you can rush right in with them to take out anything in their path. It is fair to say that its five willpower is easier to hit than other locations, but the main goal here is to help keep early board control before your mid to late-game pieces start to come down.
5The Bayou, Mysterious Swamp
There’s A Lot Of Frogs Here
One of the cheapest locations we have in Into the Inklands is also quite an effective one. The Bayou, Mysterious Swamp’s ability Show Me The Way lets you choose to draw a card when a character quests while there, and you have to discard a card if you do choose to draw.
This is a nice early game card when you are cycling through your deck to find the right cards to set up your board. Plus, the one passive lore it has is also great because it can keep you consistently in the game if your opponent chooses to deal with characters there. Yes, it has a low willpower compared to other locations, but its draw is always great.
4McDuck Manor, Scrooge’s Mansion
There’s A Vault Around Here Somewhere
It is the only vanilla to make the list, but there is a good reason for it. It is a four-cost, so it can come down relatively early in the game, which is the first thing. The second is it only costs one to move there, which is great considering the rest of the stats on it. Those stats are the nine willpower and two passive lore.
That combo alone makes this a very nice location to have in play. Once you play this, it will become something your opponent needs to deal with quickly, or that two passive lore is going to rack up quickly. The nine willpower makes it nearly impossible to remove in one turn unless that’s all your opponent does, so watch out for this during set three’s meta.
3RLS Legacy
Up Up and Away
The RLS Legacy, Solar Galleon does come at a steeper price than most, but the payoff is worth it. Its first ability, This Is Our Ship, saysall characters there gain Evasive. Its second ability, Heave Together Now, says if you have a character here, pay two less to move there.
The base move cost of three on this card can be frightening, but we did get a new Jim Hawkins card that works perfectly with this. When you play Jim, you may play a location that costs four or less for free, and also, when a location is played, he can move there for free. So you play Jim, play RLS Legacy, and move Jim there, and you have an eight willpower location with two passive lore, and it gives all characters there Evasive. And all it costs is to move there is one. It’s a pretty neat combo.
2Pride Lands, Pride Rock
So Many Stories Told Here
A famous location in the Disney franchise, Pride Lands, Pride Rock, has made its way into Lorcana. Its first ability, We Are All Connected, says characters there gain plus two willpower. This is different to resist, so keep that in mind. Lion Home, its second ability, says if you have a Prince or King character here, you pay one less to play characters.
The first ability on its own is great; buffing up characters is a great way to keep control of the board. But Lion Home is where this can shine. There are many Prince or King characters spread across the inks, so getting one out and then moving there and reducing the cost of paying for characters is great. Having that extra ink per turn can shift the game’s tides.
1The Queen’s Castle, Mirror Chamber
“Mirror Mirror On The Wall”
The most complete location out of the gate in Into the Inklands is The Queen’s Castle, Mirror Chamber. It has a cost of four to play, a cheap move cost of one, seven willpower (very strong), and two passive lore, which makes it a very threatening card to have down on the board.
All that by itself is great. But adding its ability Use The Mirror makes it even better. At the start of your turn, it says you may draw a card for each character you have there. The low move cost of one is what makes this well-rounded, as you may load up characters there and draw a bunch of cards to start your turn.
