Disney Lorcana, the ambitious trade card game (TCG) that is taking on Magic: The Gathering, has teased a new card on Twitter, revealing the Rabbit’s Pocket Watch. Whether intentionally or by accident, the designers may have revealed an item that helps us comprehend the game a little better on a mechanical level.
Summoning Sickness Dictates Disney Lorcana’s Pace
“Summoning sickness” is what the latest item card reveal suggests here. While it’s hard to judge whether this is a spoiler or an attempt to slowly flesh out the game’s rules the fact remains that we are closer to understanding how Disney Lorcana will play and how it will be paced.
A summoning sickness is essentially an effect in TCGs where you cannot use a champion or a fighter right away. This may seem to be the case in Disney Lorcana as well. Why? Because the Pocket Watch uses a keyword called “Rush,” which seems to be related to the keyword “Haste” found in many other games.
This essentially means that a character that has been just summoned may in fact attack, or as the game puts it in its jargon, “challenge.” Is this that significant of a reveal? It does seem so, as it nicely establishes some of the core mechanics and can give us an idea of what to expect.
Of course, Disney Lorcana is not reinventing the game entirely, as it will expectedly rely on some solid core gameplay principles discovered in successful TCGs. Even more so if the game really wants to challenge the Magic: The Gathering-led status quo.
The Pocket Watch will be activated at a cost of one to empower a character to challenge another or carry out an attack against the opponent directly. Disney is some time away still as the official release date has been set for September 1 in retail, and August 18 when gameplay will be available at hobby stores.
Ravensburger, which is publishing and developing the game with Disney, has been revealing other mechanics as well. For example, we now know that damage will carry over from one round into the next, and won’t simply be reset. This is where healing cards come in. The game is also building up to a nice hype and momentum with both fed-up TCG players looking for something fresh and loyal Disney fans looking forward to snapping up the latest novelty on the market.