Today’sDisney Lorcana: The Next Chapter livestream just concluded, and there’s a lot to digest. We got good news (Powerline, baby!) and bad news (we’re uninvited from the World Championship) and some news that might be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.
That’s where I’m at with the newly revealed rotation schedule, which will begin with the release ofFabledthis fall. Some people are going to love the way rotation will upend stale metas, while others will mourn the loss of their favorite cards and decks from the standard format. If you’re upset about rotation or confused about what it means for Lorcana, you’re not alone. There are a lot of layers and potential consequences to this decision, so let’s discuss.
Goodbye, Year One
Here’s how rotation is going to work in Disney Lorcana: starting with August’s Fabled set, cards from the first four sets - The First Chapter, Rise of the Floodborn, Into the Inklands, and Ursula’s Return - will no longer be legal in Standard Constructed play. Only cards from Shimmering Skies forward can be played, which includes Azurite Sea, Archazia’s Island, and the upcoming sets Reign of Jafar and Fabled.
Every year moving forward, the oldest four sets will be removed from the card pool, starting with the first set of the new annual block. So when set 13 launches next summer, Shimmering Skies, Azurite Sea, Archazia’s Island, and Reign of Jafar will be rotated out. In other words, you won’t be able to play any cards that are more than two years old in the standard format.
Rotation will always happen after the World Championship and coincide with Lorcana’s anniversary in August/September.
Don’t give away your First Chapter cards, though (unless you’re giving them to me), because you’re able to still use them in the new Infinity Constructed format. In Infinity, every Lorcana set going all the way back to The First Chapter will be legal to play. Local game stores can host Infinity Constructed events, and we’ll see Infinity tournaments at upcoming Disney Lorcana Challenges as well.
For this first rotation, Fabled will be used to reprint some cards from the first four sets. More than half of Fable will contain previously released cards with all of their original art, stats, and abilities. If you have the original versions of these cards that were printed in sets one through four, those cards will still be legal in Standard.
We don’t yet know which cards from the first year will be reprinted in Fabled. Today’s showcase only revealed Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy; Stitch, Rock Star; Elsa, Snow Queen; and Winnie the Pooh, Hunny Wizard - who is getting an Enchanted glow up in Fabled.
Change Is Inevitable
Rotations are a normal part of almost every trading card game. It’s a bit of a necessary evil for a game that endlessly adds new content, you have to occasionally wipe the slate to maintain balance, keep the game interesting, and ensure cards are still accessible to new players.
Power creep is always a big concern in TCGs, and using a rotation is one of the best ways to combat that problem. New sets have to have good cards. That’s what players want, and that’s what Ravensburger needs to deliver to sell us lots of packs. One of the hardest jobs of a designer is figuring out how to create new cards that aren’t just stronger versions of older cards. It’s okay if it happens occasionally, but over time, all that power creep will create real problems. By rotating out older cards, Ravensburger can reset the power level each year while also preventing unexpected interactions between new and old cards that risk throwing off the balance of the game.
Rotation also mixes up the meta and in interesting ways. While Lorcana’s meta has shifted a lot over the first two years, there are a lot of archetypes that have always been very strong. Depending on which cards are reprinted in Fabled, the first rotation could eliminate a lot of the dominant strategies and card packages that have defined Lorcana’s early years. What would Lorcana look like without A Whole New World, the Merlin/Mim bounce package, or Steel’s removal songs? The rotation will instantly transform the game in big ways.
Most importantly, rotations help keep the game affordable and approachable. Once older cards go out of print, they become harder to find and a lot more expensive. Putting the burden of acquiring years-old cards on new players is not a great intro to the game. Ideally, a new player should be able to walk into their local game store, buy packs right off the shelf, and start playing. If every competitive deck requires you to buy expensive old cards online, that’s a significant barrier to entry that Ravensburger wants to avoid.
The Downside Of Rotation
Rotations are a double-edged sword, there’s no doubt about it. With all the benefits it will bring to Lorcana, it will still be a bitter pill to swallow. For many people, their favorite deck that they’ve been fine-tuning and updating set after set for the last two years will be decimated. It might not even be an entire deck; just losing one card that you love to play with can feel really bad. If you have an attachment to certain cards or decks, as many of Lorcana fans do, set rotation might be a huge turn-off.
From an investment point of view, rotation has a big impact on the value of cards. You might feel safe buying expensive Lorcana cards when you think you may resell them later, but now every card has a very short shelf life. It also creates a strange value disparity between cards depending on where they release during the cycle.
The later in the year a set releases, the less time it will have in Standard. The last set of this year’s block, Reign of Jafar, will only be legal in Standard for a year and three months, while Fabled will be around for two full years. Will end-of-block sets have cheaper cards because they have less time in standard? Will that affect their design and power level? This kind of block rotation will have cascading consequences, some of which can’t even be predicted until they happen.
For long-time Lorcana players, the rotation may feel like Ravensburger is choosing to accommodate new players over long-time fans, but it’s important to keep in mind that rotation keeps the game fresh and healthy too. If you’re a Diablo fan who doesn’t want to play anymore without your Diablo, I understand. I also understand if you don’t feel Diablo is worth $26 on TCGPlayer if it’s just going to get rotated out in a few months.
But if I were you, I wouldn’t write off Lorcana over the rotation. You never know when the next busted Emerald card will come along and make you feel whole again.
