Cards have always been something of a blind spot for me. They should fall right into the sweet spot - video games and trading card games have a lot of crossover in audience and subculture, I like rules and collecting things, I'm a big fan of Pokemon, and I love both traditional board games and more complex tabletop adventures. But cards have always eluded me.
Part of it is the cost and commitment - with a video or board game, once you buy it, you own it. With a card game, you kinda have to keep buying it forever. The other factor is the difficulty in jumping on a train in motion - Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Magic: The Gathering have thriving scenes that go back two decades or more, and while everyone has to start somewhere, the prospect of starting from scratch when everyone else is 25 years ahead of you is not a compelling one. That's why I'm finally going all in on Disney Lorcana.
Since Disney Lorcana is new, it offers me a chance to get in on the ground floor. I have one of each starter deck pre-ordered so I can force my friends to play with me, and an Illumineer's Trove to beef out the collection. I'm sure over time I'll pick up a pack or four here and there, but the fact I am set to play the game off a one time purchase (and really, the Trove is just an extra) makes it much easier to embrace than the idea of slowing collecting or individually buying Pokemon or Magic cards until I get to the point where I'm able to play - a point I will have to figure out on my own from a cobbled together collection.
It also helps that I've been able to embrace the game before launch, before it has the chance to drain my savings or before it is transformed into more of a commodity. Right now, cards are all worth the same. Packs have been incredibly difficult to preorder with big hype and limited stock, but they all cost a pretty regular price for how many cards you get. Some cards are more powerful or more useful than others, but right now they're all just cards. I want the Elsa cards and the Hercules cards because they're my two favourite Disney characters. Once the game launches, that will change.
It was odd watching the quest for The One Ring from Magic: The Gathering. Materially it’s worth no more than the rest of the cards - its real-world value is just the cost of the card stock it was printed on. Then there's the question of its value in the game based on its abilities, and how much you would pay to have it in your deck. But of course, there were less exclusive versions of this card in packs fairly freely (and was even included in one of the bundle boxes as a guaranteed promo), so its game value was moot. The reason the card exploded in price and made headlines was because of its rarity, and its value both as a piece of trading card history and as a status symbol.
With Lorcana, that sensibility is not yet diluting the game. It will in time, but by then I'll have my decks and my packs and I'll be rolling. If I don't pull them, I might individually buy one of the cool Elsa or Hercules cards, but because I specifically want them to play with, not because I think I can flip 'em for more money or to watch them appreciate in value. Without collectors or scalpers (scalpers exist, but with my decks sorted, they aren't impacting my enjoyment), Lorcana is free to just be a game. A game that I will learn along with everyone else, that will provide me from the get-go with enough cards for three people to play, and a few extras thrown in. I can either continue buying packs and adding to my decks, creating new ones, mixing things up, or I can stick with what I have and know I'm getting the complete experience.
Of course, Lorcana is not the first card game to launch in my lifetime. The fact that it's new is only one third of the mixture in this cardboard cocktail. The next third is pretty automatic - it's Disney. This isn't enough alone (I have a similar affection for Pokemon and own no Pokemon cards), but not having to become invested in a new, unproven property and already having characters I can latch on to removes one of the major barriers in the way of enjoyment and engagement. But it's that final third where the magic happens.
It's sort of indefinable. It's a feeling. It's vibes. Disney Lorcana simply has great vibes. It would be very easy for a Disney product to feel hollow, to cruise by on recognisable characters. But the craft in each card, the imagination that has gone into the designs and the powers, the fact each one is a bespoke image rather than a cheap screenshot from a movie is what gets Lorcana over the edge.
I don't know if Lorcana is the best place to start, I don't know if the rules will be easier to digest with a working knowledge of another game or if something else on the shelves of card shops is my best gateway. All I know is Disney Lorcana will be my first card game, and the stars have aligned perfectly. Now give me Elsa, Spirit of Winter or I riot.