Archazia's Island - The new set first spoilers!

Hello, everyone!

On February 10th, the spoiler season for the new set, Archazia’s Island, officially began! The set, which will release on March 7th in Disney's official stores within theme parks and others selected LGS for pre-release events, will be available globally from March 21st.

Today, let's bring out some information about the new set and as a bonus, talk about some cards already revealed!

What we know about the set

Archazia’s Island is the seventh Lorcana set, and will be the first to release in 2025!

It has a total of two hundred and four new cards, although it isn't revealed what's the rarity distribution - how many common/uncommon/rare/super rare/legendary cards each.

As an example, the sixth edition - Azurite Sea - also had the same number of cards, 204 in total, and the distribution between rarities was like this: 72 common; 54 uncommon; 48 rare; 18 super rare; 12 legendary. It is reasonable to think that Archazia’s Island should follow a similar or even equal proportion.

After the release of this set, Lorcana will have a total of - if you include promotional cards here, and exclude Gateway since it's mostly reprints - more than 1,500 unique cards!

In addition to the Disney universe films we've already seen in previous sets, Archazia’s Island also brings some new ones to Lorcana! Let's get to know what they are and talk a little about some of the cards revealed:

The AristoCats

Who doesn't like cats, right? Duchess joins Cheshire Cat - Always Grinning as one of two 2-cost vanilla 3/2s in Emerald. At first glance, Duchess should only see play in Sealed/Draft formats, as a character without abilities needs to be really differentiated to see play in Constructed decks.

Marie, on the other hand, has an interesting ability, which comes in addition to 2 Lore with Quest. Reducing the power of opposing characters can help when there is a wide board - since your characters gain more advantage in challenges - and also when you need to leave a character within reach of cards like Brawl or The Muses - Proclaimers of Heroes, for example.

The Lady and the Tramp

Who doesn't like dogs, right? Lady and Tramp make a very interesting duo and seem to have a place in fast and aggressive decks, like the Lemon-Lime Aggro deck we analyzed in a previous article.

Lady undoubtedly brings a lot of value if you can keep Tramp on the board, as she basically becomes a Lilo - Making a Wish with better stats. It will be interesting if more versions of Tramp come out in the Set, in order to increase Lady's consistency.

Tramp, in addition to the synergies with Lady, can also be very useful to make a small character on your side challenge and banish a large character on the opponent's side. The ability also has synergies with characters like Pete - Bad Guy, Alice - Growing Girl, and others that need higher power to achieve certain bonuses.

Bolt

Who doesn't like cats and dogs, right? Wait… I think I’m sensing a theme here! Jokes aside, Archazia’s Island really has a companions theme, which certainly enhances the flavor choice of the films debuting in the set!

Looking at the cards, Mittens is quite interesting to enable a deck focused on the Bodyguard mechanic. It will definitely be something to explore once the set is released!

The little Bolt might not look that impressive, after all, in Steel there's already similar options like Simba - Future King or Cinderella - Knight in Training. But, in fact, the greatest merit is being a low-cost Bolt character, since there was another Bolt with the Shift ability spoiled. Not only that, it also contains one of the set's new mechanics, so let's check it out next!

The new mechanic - Multicolor Cards

Archazia’s Island marks the first multicolor cards in Lorcana!

In this case, cards with two ink colors, and to use them you need for your deck to have the two corresponding colors, that is, already determining which combination your deck is based on.

Bolt - Superdog, therefore, can only be used in Amber/Steel lists - considering you'll want to use it with other versions of Bolt, so you can quickly play it using Shift, this isn't exactly a problem!

Bolt - Superdog is interesting even when you don't use it for Shift. Its ability rewards you for keeping your characters safe, and its good stats plus 2 Lore make it a great card! It will probably see play in lists with many small characters, so you can have a wide board and thus use Bolt to gain 3+ Lore when you play it.

Another interesting card revealed, also Amber/Steel, was The Troubadour. At first glance, it seems to have a place in the Songs deck, since in addition to being in the right colors, having the Resist ability makes it less vulnerable than Ursula - Vanessa.

The efficient Calhoun - Marine Sergeant has been the choice of Steel decks to combat early characters from the opponents, but Denahi specifically in the Ruby/Steel combination can change that - or even complement it!

Although Denahi has a cost of 3, and the same stats as Calhoun, it has Resist 2 and is an inkable card, which makes it a better challenger and more flexible in terms of utility, because if the opponent doesn't have smaller characters for him to face, you can just use him as a ink.

Sven is the first Sapphire card in the game with the Rush ability! Although restricted to the Amethyst/Sapphire combination, its base stats combined with its ability to reduce power allow it to be used as a removal - with the advantage of, in subsequent turns, being a character that remains on the board generating Lore. Eventually, it can also have synergy with effects that return your cards to the hand - common in Amethyst ink -, and on top of that it is an inkable card, which gives it a lot of flexibility.

It is important to note that not only Characters can be Multicolor, but also Actions!

And Ink Geyser is, so far, a very peculiar Action: it is the only card in the game capable of removing ink from the opponent's inkwell. More than the card itself, the fact that Lorcana's designers started thinking about effects that affect the opponent's ink reserve shows that they are opening up new design spaces within the game. However, it is important to remember that resource denial strategies are generally hated by players - as saw in the errata previously made in Bucky - Squirrel Squeak Tutor, focused on discarding the opponent's hand.

Jafar is so far the main villain within this set's lore, so he is expected to appear on several new cards. And what we've seen so far certainly doesn't disappoint!

Both cards revealed are in the Amethyst/Steel combination, and both are linked to a new Character subtype that appears in this edition: illusions. As it hasn't been a very common ink combination, the support that will come with the new set should probably boost the archetype a little.

Jafar is a central card for the possible illusions deck, which is curious, as he is not of the indicated subtype. But its ability is exactly what allows illusions to be reused, and as we can see from the Giant Cobra, its effects are very interesting.

As indicated, Giant Cobra - Ghostly Serpent is an excellent character on turn 3, has above average stats and an effect that helps in the late stages of the game, exchanging a useless card for 2 Lore immediately. In return, it has the ability Vanish - if chosen by the opponent as a result of an action, it is immediately destroyed.

For now it is difficult to know whether this ability will affect the metagame or not - and there is a strong cyclical tendency if this happens. Cards with Vanish will be better positioned when the metagame is not ready for them, which in turn will make them relevant. This should cause the metagame to start using cards that affect them, and then the Vanish cards stop being used, and thus these specific cards useful against illusions are subsequently removed from the decks. But this returns us to the starting point! Hence this type of situation generates a cycle within the metagame itself.

As we have more cards revealed, we will be able to better analyze whether illusions should be ready for the current metagame or not!

Archazia’s Island showed, with just a few cards revealed, that it has a lot of potential to disrupt the metagame, and bring many new options and strategies to Lorcana.

Multicolor cards bring countless possibilities, and the fact that they are only used in decks with that combination allows the use of very powerful effects, but which always have some type of response/counterplay, given the limitations of the chosen colors.

We will continue to follow the spoilers and updates!

And you, which cards have caught your attention the most so far in the new edition? What deck ideas do you already think of? Share with us!

Hugs, and see you next time!