Disney Lorcana —Every Ink Type, Ranked
It’s still early in Disney Lorcana’s life and the meta is still being formed now that the cards have officially dropped. Still, a lot of trading card game competitors have been playing around with The First Chapter and have started to see which cards and decks are the strongest. Here are the best ink types to use in Disney Lorcana right now.
Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter is a strategy-based card game that works a lot like Magic the Gathering. Similar to lands in Magic or energy in Pokemon, it takes a certain amount of ink to activate a card in Disney Lorcana. And every card takes a different type of ink, meaning most decks only feature cards from one or two ink types.
Wondering which ink types are the best to start forming a competitive deck around? Here’s what we’re seeing early on.
Sapphire
You’ll see that almost every top deck in the current meta includes Sapphire ink. That’s because Sapphire is focused on inventions and intelligence, meaning these types of characters and actions are often innovative and resourceful, empowering your other cards.
You’ll find that most powerful decks require some sapphire cards to help carry out your deck’s strategy. For example, Mickey Mouse — Detective lets you hastily fill up your inkwell and Aurora — Dreaming Guardian allows all your characters to gain Ward.
Ruby
A lot of top decks revolve around Ruby ink cards since it’s all about aggression and dealing damage. This is a strategy that never gets old for the majority of card players. The characters are fast and aggressive, focused on dealing damage and tanking incoming attacks. Because of this, Ruby decks are great at questing for lore and steamrolling opponents with the right strategy and ink synergy.
Amethyst
Amethyst ink is great for magic-focused decks that prefer casting spells and using enchanted objects. Most Amethyst cards are focused on disrupting your opponent with sneaky spells or manipulating your hand and returning banished cards.
For example, Dr. Facilier — Agent Provocateur allows you to return characters to your hand after they were banished during a challenge. This means you can get them back onto the field and active faster than expected.
Amber
You’ll find Amber ink cards in a lot of top decks since they have such great synergy with other ink types due to their focus on community. A lot of these cards are meant to heal and protect others, essentially stopping your enemy from disrupting your strategy.
Amber is much more defensive than other ink types. One example of that is the card Maximus — Palace Horse, which forces your opponent to redirect their challenge while also strengthening your other characters. Cinderella — Gentle and Kind will heal other princesses, allowing them to keep questing for longer.
Steel
Despite being focused on strength and defense, Steel ink is not as often utilized as other ink types. Still, Steel is definitely viable with the right deck since you can intimidate opponents while protecting allies.
What keeps Steel lower on the list is that a lot of the best cards take a lot of ink to activate. This means you may fall behind in the early game against certain decks. For example, Te Kā — Heartless allows you to gain 2 lore if you banish another character during a challenge. But that has a cost of 6 to use. Tinker Bell — Giant Fairy is another powerful character that also is 6 cost.
Emerald
Emerald is another ink type that’s still mighty powerful with the right strategy but isn’t as often utilized as other types. Emerald is focused on taking control of gameplay and disrupting your opponent’s board state. There are cards that allow you to return cards to your opponent's hands and ones that banish the next character who challenges you. It will definitely force your opponent to think carefully about what to do in your presence.
Olivia is a long-time esports journalist and editor who covers just about every game but has a deep love for the FGC. Her goal is to find community-driven stories that bring a new perspective to the esports scene. In the past, she has worked for Team Liquid, Rogue, Inven Global, Dot Esports, Upcomer, and more. Outside of esports, Olivia enjoys Kirby, Pokemon TCG, Fallout, and writing science fiction. She can be found trying out new foods, traveling, or hanging out with her two orange cats. Fun fact: Olivia can do some video game and cartoon impressions!