Try as I might to understand what a planeswalker is or what the heck Red/Green means, I’ve never been able to get into tabletop games. Even bringing out a deck of cards at a party makes my brain turn into sludge and my head sink into my hands. Magic: The Gathering has been getting awesome Secret Lair sets based on things I love like Street Fighter and The Walking Dead, but it’s still never been enough to fully dedicate some brain space to it and turn myself into the card boy that I’ve always wanted to be.
All of that changed when Disney Lorcana was announced. Ajani and Jace might not be enough to drag me into the world of MTG (sorry Joe), but Mickey Mouse, Stitch, and a treasure trove of glorious Disney IP have my Disney-adult ass eager to open booster packs, start building decks, and obsess over the grading of my cards like the best of them.
I’m already prepared to be all in on Lorcana when it launches next month, but there’s one Disney IP that will undoubtedly make me give my life to the House of Mouse - Kingdom Hearts. That’s right, TheGamer’s resident Keyblade fanboy wants to see even more of Tetsuya Nomura’s messy goodness. At least pretend to be surprised.
Although it’s true that I’d sit and watch paint dry if you told me that it somehow factored into Kingdom Hearts 4’s plot (which isn’t too far-fetched, honestly), Sora, Riku, Kairi and the gang are perfect for Lorcana in so many ways. Here at TheGamer, we’ve all got a few Disney characters we want to see and worlds we want to be represented (as well as ones that we want to avoid) but let me walk you through why my big-shoed, pure-hearted boy should get first dibs.
One of the most interesting things about Lorcana is how it brings together a bunch of Disney properties as we know them, while also introducing alternate forms through Dreamborn cards, like Elsa, Snow Queen, and Mickey Mouse, Brave Little Tailor. You know what else does that and has been doing so for more than 20 years? Kingdom Hearts.
Lore is something that’s kind of a big deal for Kingdom Hearts, but Royal Court Magician Donald, Captain of the Guard Goofy, King Mickey, and Queen Minnie could all make for perfect Dreamborn inks without feeling too weird next to normal versions of each character. Then there’s the rest of the original Kingdom Hearts characters, which could all just be Storyborn, since their world-hopping adventures are already considered canon to the overall Disney universe. Just ask Big Hero 6 and Toy Story if you don’t believe me.
I don’t yet know enough about how Lorcana works to start properly planning out cards, but Goofy being a Captain makes perfect sense, while Donald would obviously be a Sorcerer. Sora, Riku, and the rest of the Guardians of Lights would make for perfect Hero types, while Kairi is right there as a Princess. You could even have characters like Queen Minnie and whatever the heck Daisy’s role is act as Queens and Allies.
Xehanort and Organisation 13 are perfect candidates for Villain types, but special cases like Riku Replica are also great picks. As for item cards, there’s a whole treasure trove of Keyblades to pick from that I and many other fans of the series would spend money on in a heartbeat. Hell, you could also chuck in the Gummiphone, World cards from Chain of Memories, and even various trinkets from the series like Paopou Fruit, Sea Salt Ice Cream, and Sora’s necklace.
This is all coming from someone who can barely tell what a Pokemon card does, so the minds behind Lorcana could surely whip up an awesome Chapter that celebrates Kingdom Hearts while also doing it justice.
If you somehow still don’t believe me, then I’ve got another doozy for you - Kingdom Hearts’ potential as a card game has already been proved before. No, I’m not (and never will be) on about Chain of Memories, I’m talking about the Kingdom Hearts Trading Card Game from many moons ago. That was incredibly barebones compared to what Lorcana can do, but it set the groundwork for how well the series can work when it moves outside of gaming.
I know that rooting for Kingdom Hearts in Lorcana ahead of Pixar and other Disney properties is like when people ask for Star Wars and Marvel (something I’d actually be down with - gimme those alternate Darth Vader cards), but there’s nothing else out there that celebrates the House of Mouse while adding its own spin quite like Kingdom Hearts and Lorcana do. They’re a match made in heaven.