Lorcana: Reign of Jafar's Starter Decks reviewed!

Hello, everyone!

We'll soon have the official release of the new set, Reign of Jafar, and with it we'll also have two new Starter Decks! These are two different andcomplete 60-card decks, ready to be played out of the box - and they also come with a booster pak of the new set.

It's a product designed for beginners, and that's why today, just as we did with the previous set, we're going to analyze the two decks and suggest some upgrades.

Since it's also known that we'll have a Rotation soon, our upgrades will follow two rules: first, considering that you purchased two copies of the same Starter Deck, as none of them come with 4 copies of the same card, and for the sake of consistency it's a good idea to purchase two of them. Second, we will not suggest any cards from the first 4 sets, as these will no longer be valid in the Core Constructed format after the release of Fabled - the format used for most Lorcana events; This way, the suggested decks will have more longevity.

Ready? Let's go!

Reign of Jafar brings us two new Starter Decks, in different ink pairs, as usual: we have an Amber-Amethyst and a Ruby-Steel.

In general, their power level is in line with Starter Decks from previous sets. As a standard, they all have some kind of main theme, and several sub-themes, which usually means the gameplay isn't always consistent. You'll notice that most of our suggested upgrades involves replacing several pieces from the sub-themes, so we can focus on the decks' main strategy - this way, the deck can at least be consistent enough to compete with other decks in your local play area.

Amber/Amethyst

The Amber-Amethyst deck's main theme is songs, and cards that have synergy with them. In particular, the Encanto themed cards - mostly the characters from the Madrigal family - are the ones that support this theme the most.

Some sub-themes include: the synergy between Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Donald Duck's nephews from Ducktales; some characters from Bambi, a Disney classic that appears for the first time in Lorcana; and some Bodyguard cards, especially the excellent song So Much to Give. This is the list:

The plan involves obtaining value from the songs and characters, focusing on a longer game. In the early turns, you want some board presence to prevent the opponent from running away with Lore advantage. From turn 4 onwards, the idea is to play both a character and a song in the same turn, whenever possible, to gain value and continue developing your board.

Antonio, Abuela and Bruno Madrigal help to ensure your hand is never empty, and characters like Pepa, Mirabel and Jaguar allow you to gain Lore without even needing to Quest.

Upgrading the deck

The last few set have brought a lot of support for the song archetype within the Amber-Amethyst combination, so it's great to see that the deck already incorporates this.

Most of the upgrades to the deck involve removing subthemes that contribute little to the song strategy, and replace them with more efficient cards.

All songs from the original deck were kept, with 4 copies of the common and uncommon ones, and 2 copies of the rare, Fantastical and Magical. Quite appropriately, several characters from the Madrigal family were also expanded to 4 copies, removing characters that didn't have much to do with the strategy, such as Madam Mim - Up to No Good or Ryder - Fleet-Footed Infiltrator.

We added 3 different cards from outside the deck, each with 4 copies, so twelve cards in total. But they are all common or uncommon, which makes acquiring their singles much easier!

Mirabel Madrigal - Hopeful Dreamer, an excellent Singer, because of her evasion; Alan-A-Dale - Rockin' Rooster, which contributes with Lore gain whenever a song is played; and Rajah - Ghostly Tiger, which helps in the first turns to fight an opponent's quick start.

The general idea of ​​the deck was maintained, but now with more consistency, especially in the first turns. With higher-cost characters gone, the deck plays faster and start making Lore bursts on the fifth turn! With a board full of cheap characters, it becomes even easier to use Fantastical and Magical, and thus refill your hand.

Our final list is this:

Ruby/Steel

The main theme of the Ruby-Steel deck is Challenges, and either characters that have some type of bonus when they fight, or just gaining value with positive trades with the opponent's characters. Many cards from the Mulan franchise are in the deck, as well as cards from Bambi, a newcomer in Lorcana. The pigeons from Bolt also make an appearance!

Among the sub-themes, we can point out a focus on high Willpower characters, since they survive many Challenges throughout the game, and a direct Lore gain through Challenges - which means that, in this decks, Challenges not only help with board control but also become your win condition! Here is the complete decklist:

The gameplan involves a continuous character development, and always thinking about good Challenges to keep the board firmly under your control.

Even if the opponent plays a big character, the deck has several ways to increase the power of your characters, and them fight on the same level of any threat. With the board under control, characters like Atitaya close out the game in a few turns, and if the game becomes more grindy, Mushu, Vinny and Stitch make any trade a favorable one for you.

Upgrading the deck

As usual, having two copies of the Starter Deck allows you to make the main plan much more consistent, cutting out some cards that don't contribute as much, especially those with higher ink costs. Additionally, a playset (4 copies) of some important cards is guaranteed, such as Mulan - Disguised Soldier and Captain Hook - Forceful Duelist.

The main idea in this upgrade was to reduce the average cost of ink on cards, that is, to allow more characters in the starting turns without losing quality and presence at the board. Almost all cards with 4 or more ink were removed, with a few exceptions: Mulan - Charging Ahead, Cri-Kee - Part of the Team, Mushu - Your Worst Nightmare and the song Beyond the Horizon. The characters' synergy with the deck plan means they're good enough to stick around, while a lower curve means Beyond the Horizon will typically be the last card in your hand - meaning it'll give you 3 new cards while also disrupting your opponent's hand.

In the additions, we again have 3 cards with 4 copies each, totaling 12 outsiders: all Common, therefore very accessible. Card Soldiers - Royal Troops is a great 1-cost character who will often have 3 power; Queen of Hearts - Losing Her Temper will most likely make positive trades with the help of power-boosting cards, like Thumper - Young Bunny, Training Staff, or our other addition, Jafar - Aspiring Ruler.

The focus on Challenges was maintained, but now more consistent and with a more aggressive character curve, which allows positive trades - that is, lower cost characters trading with the opponent's larger characters.

Our final list is this:

If this idea caught your eye, it's also worth checking out our recent article about this archetype, and see possible developments beyond the Starter Deck.

Starter Decks are the best way for new players to enter Lorcana, and so it is important to have an idea of ​​what the deck's plan is and what possible adaptations and improvements can be made.

The idea of ​​the article was precisely this, to point out a possible path beginning with two copies of the same Starter Deck. I hope you enjoyed it! If you're new to Lorcana, I hope this guide helped you choose your first Starter Deck.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or would like to share different ideas for the decks, please leave us a comment!

See you next time!