How to Play Disney Lorcana
Complete guide for beginners and advanced players. Learn the rules, how to build your deck, and master every game variant.
Basic Rules
The goal is to be the first player to accumulate 20 Lore points. Players summon Disney characters as Glimmers, use items, and sing songs to overcome challenges and earn Lore.
- 1.Each player needs a 60-card deck
- 2.Shuffle your deck and draw 7 starting cards
- 3.You may mulligan (return and draw new cards) once
- 4.Prepare a Lore counter (0–20)
- 1.Beginning Phase: Ready your cards and draw 1 card
- 2.Main Phase: Play cards, use abilities, generate Lore
- 3.Combat: You may attack with characters or make challenges
- 4.End of Turn: Pass the turn to the next player
Ink
Resource for playing cards. You may put 1 card into your Inkwell per turn. Some cards are "Inkable" (they have a shine symbol).
Glimmers
Alternate versions of Disney characters you summon. Each has unique abilities and strength values.
Challenge
Attack an opposing character. Both characters take damage equal to their strength. This helps control the board.
Quest
Use a character to generate Lore. The character becomes exerted and you gain Lore equal to its Lore value.
Exert
Turn a card sideways to use it (Quest or Challenge). Exerted cards cannot be used again until they are readied.
Ready
At the start of your turn, all your exerted cards ready and can be used again.
Illumineer's Quest
Illumineer's Quest is a cooperative variant where players work together to defeat a villain controlled by the game. Instead of competing against each other, all Illumineers collaborate to complete challenges and overcome a common enemy.
Players must work together to meet each mission's specific victory conditions, such as defeating the villain, protecting objectives, or reaching a certain amount of Lore as a team.
💡 Tip: Communication and team strategy are key to winning.
- Players share the victory objective
- The villain acts automatically according to scenario rules
- Team abilities can be used
- Difficulty adjusts based on the number of players
- 1Choose a Scenario: Each mission has a specific villain and unique win/loss conditions.
- 2Set Up the Board: Place the villain cards, objectives, and any special scenario elements.
- 3Player Turns: Players take turns as in standard play, but coordinate strategies.
- 4Villain Phase: After each round of player turns, the villain acts according to its automatic rules.
- 5Victory or Defeat: The team wins if it completes the objective before defeat conditions trigger.
How to Build a Deck
60Exact Cards
Your deck must have exactly 60 cards. No more, no less.
1-2Ink Colors
You may use cards from 1 or 2 different ink colors.
4Maximum per Card
You cannot have more than 4 copies of a card with the same name.
✨Unique Cards
Characters with the same name but different versions count toward the limit of 4.
🟡 Amber
Healing, protection, and support
🟣 Amethyst
Magic, control, and abilities
🟢 Emerald
Cunning, disruption, and tricks
🔴 Ruby
Aggression, speed, and damage
🔵 Sapphire
Resources, card draw, and strategy
⚪ Steel
Defense, resilience, and strength
⚫Common
The most common and easiest to obtain
🟤Uncommon
Uncommon, moderately rare
🔷Rare
Rare, difficult to obtain
💎Super Rare
Super rare, very valuable
👑Legendary
Legendary, extremely rare
✨Enchanted
Enchanted, the rarest and most sought-after
Mana Curve Balance
Include cards at different ink costs: ~20 cards at 1–2 ink, ~25 at 3–4 ink, ~15 at 5+ ink.
Inkable Cards
Make sure at least 30–35 cards are Inkable (have the shine symbol) so you don't run out of resources.
Lore Generators
Include characters with good Lore values (2–3 points) to advance quickly toward victory.
Card Synergy
Look for cards that work well together. For example, if you have many "Princess" characters, use cards that boost them.
Mix of Types
Balance characters, items, actions, and songs. Roughly: 35–40 characters, 10–15 items, 10–15 actions/songs.
Game Variants
Two players face off head to head. The first to reach 20 Lore wins. This is the main competitive variant.
⏱️ Duration: 20–30 minutes
Multiple players compete against each other. The first to reach 20 Lore wins. Turns rotate in order.
⏱️ Duration: 40–60 minutes
Two teams of two players each. Partners sit side by side and share the Lore objective.
⏱️ Duration: 30–45 minutes
Players open boosters and build 40-card decks from what they get. Perfect for store events.
📦 Requires: 6 boosters per player
Ready to Get Started?
Now that you know the rules, it's time to build your deck and start playing. Browse our singles catalog and craft your perfect strategy.