Come on in y'all, have a seat. Lorcana 101 is now in session. I’ve spent the last five weeks smashing the starter decks into each other and studying the card list, and now that the entirety of The First Chapter has been revealed, I’m excited to be able to share some of the things I’ve learned. The first lesson is about Evasive, a keyword that immediately struck me as an especially powerful one when it was first revealed. Evasive characters can only be challenged by other Evasive characters, which makes them particularly difficult to deal with if you aren’t prepared.

Evasive is sort of like flying in Magic (or horsemanship, but who uses that?), but with fewer downsides. There’s an entire other category of cards designed to deal with flying cards in Magic, called reach. Lorcana has no equivalent anti-Evasive keyword, which might give you the impression that there are fewer answers available when dealing with Evasive enemies. In my testing, I discovered that a lot of the concerns about Evasive are well-founded. It’s true, being unable to stop Evasive cards from repeatedly questing can lead to a quick loss. You can see this play out exactly in this video of my game against Lorcana co-designer Ryan Miller. But while Evasive is a big problem if you’re not prepared, it’s also easy to overcome if you know what to do.

The obvious answer to Evasive enemies to turn your own Evasive cards against them. Both the Ruby/Emerald and the Amber/Amethyst starter decks have five Evasive cards. Ruby/Emerald has two Peter Pan, Never Landing and three Pongo, Ol’ Rascal; while Amber/Amethyst has two Pascal, Rapunzel’s Companion; two Jetsam, Ursula’s Spy; as well as one Flotsam, Ursula’s Spy, which gets Evasive whenever Jetsam is on the board. Prioritize starting with these cards in your hand and getting them out as early as possible, because if your opponent can’t answer them, these cards alone can win you the game.

Likewise, never neglect your opponent’s Evasive cards for long. The Amber/Amethyst deck has great tools like Yzma, Alchemist's ability You’re Excused, Maleficent, Sorceress' ability Cast My Spells, and the song Be Our Guest, which can help you filter through your deck and find your Evasive cards. The Ruby/Emerald deck is built around buffing your characters, so use tools like He’s Got A Sword and the Stolen Scimitar to give your Evasive cards the extra power they need to take down bigger Evasive enemies, like Flotsam.

The Sapphire/Steel deck only has one pseudo-Evasive card - Simba, Returned King, whose ability Pounce makes him Evasive during your turn only - so you’re bound to run into some Evasive problems while playing this deck. To combat this, Sapphire/Steel relies on spells to deal with Evasive threats, and it has quite a few. Six spells (three Fire The Cannons’, two Smash, and one Grab Your Swords) can all deal direct damage to enemy characters, even if they’re Evasive. You can use tools like Develop Your Brain to filter your deck and search for these removal tools, which you may want to hold for Evasive enemies. Ruby/Emerald has five ways to remove cards (three Dragon Fire and two Stampede), while Amber/Amethyst, the most combo-focused deck of the bunch, has none.

If you’ve exhausted those two options, you’re going to have to get more creative. There are a few characters who have abilities you can use to deal with Evasive targets. Iago, Loud-Mouthed Parrot has the ability You Got A Problem?, which allows you to make a character Reckless, forcing them to challenge on their next turn, if able. If you use this ability to target an Evasive, you can force them to challenge another character and potentially banish them in combat.

You may also want to create a situation where your opponent has no choice but to deal with your board using their Evasive characters. A powerful combo you can do with Sapphire/Steel is to play either Maleficent, Uninvited or Mufasa, King of the Pride Lands followed by Hercules, True Hero. Both Maleficent and Mufasa are three-lore characters that can quickly run away with the game if they're not dealt with, and Hercules’ Bodyguard keyword forces your opponent to deal with him first before challenging any other target. With enough ink in your well (something Sapphire/Steel excels at doing) you can play both of these cards together and put your opponent in a situation where if they don’t react, you’ll win the race to 20 lore. A show of strength like this can force your opponent to sacrifice their Evasive characters, even if they currently have the lead.

The most important thing to remember is that the starter decks are not meant to be played as is. They’re a great way to learn the ropes, but they’re incredibly inconsistent due to the way they’re built - which can make Evasive characters seem a lot stronger than they really are. You can start by adding some extra Evasive cards in and taking some of the vanilla cards out. Extra copies of Peter Pan, Pongo, as well as Genie, On the Job; Mickey Mouse, Brave Little Tailor; Tigger, Wonderful Thing, and Goofy, Daredevil will make the Ruby Emerald/Deck more consistent, while adding Robin Hood, Unrivaled Archer to Sapphire/Steel will help you deal with other, Evasive-heavy Decks. Captain Hook, Captain Of The Jolly Roger can help that deck keep Fire The Cannons in your hand so that you’re more ready to deal with Evasive threats too.

Keep an eye out for spells like The Beast Is Mine! that make characters Reckless, which will help you force Evasive characters into a fight. These decks already have solid strategies and operable win conditions, so juicing them up with some more Evasive cards can do wonders for their viability. In the early days of Lorcana, it will be they who take Evasive more seriously that often comes out ahead. Consider these strategies and make some minor tweaks, and you’ll find it’s easier than you think to evade losing games.