Following up on the breakout success of its debut expansion, The First Chapter, Disney Lorcana’s Rise of the Floodborn set marks a serious shift for the game’s rapidly evolving meta. Bringing over 200 cards, with a particular emphasis on the titular Floodborn, to the game, it introduces new archetypes and augments existing ones with generous abandon.
There are many standouts in the set, both from an aesthetic and mechanical standpoint, but not all cards are inked equal. Some are simply far more effective in the current Constructed format than others. If you want to get the most bang possible for your Disney Dollars, these are the cards you’ll want on your wishlist.
10Cinderella, Stouthearted
A Knight To Remember
Cinderella’s chivalric ‘What if?’ incarnation is one of the best standalone Steel cards in the set, if not the game as a whole. She packs beefy stats, great Lore, Resist +2 to shrug off damage-based removal, and the ability to tangle with ready characters, letting you deal with your opponent’s problematic utility cards.
The latter ability requires you to play a song first, but given their prevalence in the majority of current Lorcana decks, this shouldn’t be an issue. She can also shift onto another Cinderella for just five ink, which plays great with cheaper Cinderellas like Ballroom Sensation and Knight in Training.
9Fairy Godmother, Mystic Armorer
Bring Blades To The Ball
Amethyst received a tonne of support for a self-bounce archetype in Rise of the Floodborn, and this fresh Fairy Godmother is one of its cornerstone cards. Whenever she quests, your other characters receive a sizable strength boost while challenging,as well as Heihei’s abilityto return to the hand after being banished in a challenge.
This can create huge value swings when well-timed, letting you recur the various Merlin variants in the set for additional value, not to mention allowing you to remove threats with willpower far above average thanks to challenger’s bonus. The shift ability here is mostly irrelevant for now but is worth bearing in mind in case a one-drop Fairy Godmother is printed later.
8The Queen, Commanding Presence
Take Command Of The Battlefield
This incarnation of Snow White’s arch-nemesis more than lives up to its subtitle, with an ability that completely takes over combat, letting your smaller characters win challenges they’d have no chance in otherwise. Combined with solid stats and Lore, this card would likely see play even with no other text.
Oh, but it has some. Shift two, combined with the Queen’s new one-drop Regal Monarch variant, allows this monster to hit the battlefield consistently on turn two, creating a terrifying threat while also letting you sing most of the game’s songs early. It’s a good thing this is a starter deck card because it’s a must-have for most Amber lists going forward.
7Strength Of A Raging Fire
It’s Time For A Montage
Given the limited card pool in the early stages of Lorcana, good removal spells remain at a premium post-Rise of the Floodborn. Strength of a Raging Fire, therefore, is one of the very best cards in the set, and a new benchmark for damage-based removal going forward.
With damage output that scales based on your boardstate, this song can punch well above its weight, taking down high-cost characters while still having the option to hit cheaper ones: a crucial utility that fellow removal song World’s Greatest Criminal Mind lacks. The fact that it can also be sung for free relatively early is the icing on the cake.
6Prince John, Greediest Of All
Dis Card Is Very, Very Good
The beating heart ofEmerald’s new discard archetype, Prince John is meta-defining in the truest sense of the phrase. A three ink 1/2 looks awful on the surface, even with ward, but his ability to draw cards when your opponent discards more than makes up for it.
This ability can be combined with A Whole New World to generate truly absurd card advantage, with no downside thanks to Lorcana’s lack of a maximum hand size. This is a best-case scenario, but there’s plenty of value to be had with cards like Hypnotize and Sudden Chill, too.
5Beast, Tragic Hero
Doomed To Be A Steel Staple Forever
Some cards are on this list due to the synergies they allow, their true power only shining through when combined with others. This version of Beast, appropriately enough given the character’s solitary nature, works just fine alone, representing one of the very best Steel characters regardless of other factors.
Each turn, this Tragic Hero either draws you a card or gains strength that lets it punch well above its ink cost. His shift ability isn’t particularly relevant at present since every Beast card so far costs five or more, but he’s so good that you won’t mind paying full price for him.
4Shere Khan, Menacing Predator
An Archetype Enabler With Some Serious Bite
The most exciting cards in Rise of the Floodborn are those that set the stage for brand new strategies, breaking from the norms we’ve come to expect to offer new deck-building roads less traveled. Shere Khan does just that, giving Ruby the chance to eschew its current Control dominance in favor of a more aggressive playstyle.
Normally, you’re forced to choose between challenging and questing with your characters each turn, but Shere Khan essentially lets you do both, controlling the board and advancing towards victory at the same time. For best results, throw in rush characters like Queen of Hearts, Impulsive Ruler, and Maui, Hero to All.
3Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo
The Ol’ Switcheroo
Emerald may just be the best secondary color to pair up with Amethyst for a bounce deck, almost entirely due to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo. This incredibly flexible song lets you bounce any of your characters to play another of the same or lesser cost for free, which opens the door to all manner of shenanigans.
This plays particularly well with characters with play or leaves play effects, such as the Merlin animal variants, but it can also be a straightforward value card, returning a character damaged in a challenge in exchange for another in your hand. With this much power and flexibility, you certainly will go to the ball.
2Cinderella, Ballroom Sensation
Put On The Performance Of A Lifetime
The songs of Lorcanaare often huge tempo plays, owing to their innate ability to be cheated out by exerting appropriately-costed characters. Characters with singer push this angle even further, and this one-drop Cinderella pushes it further still, allowing for free three-ink songs as early as turn two.
There’s no shortage of great options in this category, from Let the Storm Rage On for an early tempo swing to Friends on the Other Side for pure card advantage. In addition, Ballroom Sensation can also shift into Cinderella, Stouthearted later on, a very relevant upside given that card’s raw power.
1Lady Tremaine, Imperious Queen
A Villainous Vision Finally Fulfilled
Maleficent, Monstrous Dragonhas been a Ruby staplesince The First Chapter, immediately highlighting the power of removal on a body in Lorcana. Lady Tremaine feels like the second coming of that mighty beast, with enough pros and cons to let it stand alone as its own card in the new meta.
You may not get full control over the Imperious Queen’s banish effect, but it does get around ward, providing an out to problem characters like Kuzco or Prince John. It also costs a full three ink cheaper than Maleficent, possibly five if you include Tremaine’s two-drop Overbearing Matriarch variant and shift onto it.
