Upgrading Your First Disney Lorcana Deck on a Budget

A starter deck is built to teach. It plays fine, but it carries a few cards that are there to show off a mechanic, not to win. After a few weeks you will feel it: the hand with nothing to ink, the turn with nothing to play. That feeling is your shopping list.

The deck rules

Before you change a card, know the limits for a constructed deck:

• At least 60 cards. There is no maximum, but most decks stay at 60 so their best cards show up more often.
• No more than two ink types. Dual-ink cards count, so they only fit a deck that uses both of their inks.
• No more than 4 copies of a card with the same full name, meaning name plus version.
• No banned cards for the format you play.

Core, Infinity, and rotation

Many store events use Core Constructed. Once a year, the four oldest sets rotate out of Core. Since Attack of the Vine!, Core allows only cards from Fabled and every set after it, Hyperia City included. A card from an older set is still legal if it was reprinted, unchanged, in Fabled or later.

Infinity Constructed allows cards from every set, with its own short banned list. Some stores run it on certain nights.

So before you buy, check the set on a card. The official card gallery helps you look up any card by name.

Packs or singles?

Packs are fun and random. Singles are boring and exact. If you want a particular card, buying that one card is almost always cheaper than opening packs until it shows up.

Open packs when opening is the fun. Buy singles when the deck is the goal.

What to upgrade first

Fix problems in this order. Each step usually costs less than the next.

1. Ink you can count on. If you often hold cards you cannot put in your inkwell, swap a few uninkable cards for inkable ones that do a similar job.
2. Early plays. If your first turns feel empty, add more 1-cost and 2-cost characters. A character played early has more turns to quest.
3. More copies of your best cards. Starter decks often run only a copy or two of many different cards. Going from one copy of your best card to three or four makes your deck feel like a plan instead of a lottery.
4. Card draw. Cards that draw you more cards help you find ink early and answers late.
5. Answers. A way to deal with a big opposing character: a strong challenger, damage from an action, or a card that banishes. Keep a few.

Cut the cards you are always happy to ink. If a card goes into the inkwell every time you draw it, you will not miss it.

Where to find singles

• Your local game store. Many keep singles in a case or a binder. Ask; the staff often know which cards new players need.
• Trades at weekly play. Many players are glad to trade, especially for cards they do not use. Trade fairly, and never pressure a new or younger player.
• Online marketplaces. Handy for exact cards. Check condition and shipping cost before you buy.

Start with the common and uncommon cards your deck needs. Many strong cards are not rare.

Test before you buy

Before you spend money on a card, try it. Write its name on a slip of paper, put it in a sleeve in front of a card you are cutting, and play a few games at home. If it earns its place, buy the real one. Keep stand-ins like this for kitchen-table testing, and bring real cards to the store.

Products that help

When you want more cards at once, these are the usual next steps:

Hyperia City booster packs are the newest cards and the most likely to be Core legal for years. Open them with a friend and play a game of Pack Rush, two packs each, straight out of the wrappers.

The Hyperia City Illumineer’s Trove holds 8 booster packs and damage dice in a full art box. It suits a sealed game at home, which the prerelease lesson explains.

A second 2-Player Starter Set gives you more copies of the cards you already like, plus two more storage boxes.

Upgrade a few cards at a time

Change four to eight cards, play a week of games, then decide what is next. Small changes teach you what each card does. Big changes leave you guessing which one helped.