The waters ebb and flow as we move closer to Disney Lorcana’s newest release of Archazia’s Island. But with the shifting of the tides, there is still a constant gravitational force in the metagame.
By using the data collected and provided from various tournaments across different competitive levels, below are the most used Disney Lorcana cards of each ink color to date.
Amber: Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing
Representing Amber, we have Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing. This glimmer is the heart and soul of most amber decks used today. Rapunzel wears many hats as she functions as team medic, draw engine, and lore threat.
Healing is a premium half the time and usually doesn’t do much in the way of changing the boardstate. However, Rapunzel turns that mundate effect into straight up advantage as each damage healed up just fuels the hand of her controlling player.
Most draw cards are usually card neutral as you play them and gain one back. Some draw cards can actually net you a positive card advantage with the likes of Merlin - Rabbit, but that’s spread across two turns, provided he gets to leave play somehow. Rapunzel, depending on the target healed, can straight up net you a +2 to your hand.
Her four ink cost is nothing to scoff at, either. Her mere board presence is already a signal that any four ink cost song is online and ready to be sung the following turn. This includes targeted removal like And Then Along Came Zeus.
Even if the controlling player doesn’t have a song for Rapunzel to sing, the opponent would still need to answer Rapunzel’s incremental two lore every time she quests.
While Rapunzel's strength is on the lesser side, her five willpower ensures a tedious challenge trade unless something is already huge on the board. This makes direct removal like Brawl or the aforementioned And Then Along Came Zeus as your most common answers to deal with Rapunzel’s surprisingly robust stats.
Amethyst: Merlin - Goat
At this point, the Amethyst ink is usually synonymous to the word “advantage”. Be it lore gain or card draw, Amethyst is usually doing some form of antics to get the job done.
Merlin - Goat is surprisingly plain compared to the shenanigans its companions can get up to. Coming into play, going out of play, or just straight-up questing for lore, Merlin - Goat just keeps giving that 1 lore each time.
Usually paired up with Madam Mim of either Fox or Snake variety to bounce Merlin back to hand, the lore gain is steady and strong. With Amethyst’s penchant for fielding a lot of small bodies to quest hard and fast in the early game, Merlin is usually that gap closer for the final few steps needed for victory.
Like Rapunzel, his 4 ink cost allows him to sing a lot of staple songs that share his cost value. Unlike Rapunzel, Merlin - Goat has a strength of 4. This means a challenge trade would be costly against anything even remotely robust enough to deal with this wizened billy.
Emerald: Ursula - Deceiver
This is probably one of the least impressive glimmers once on the table, but don’t let that deceive you. Ursula - Deceiver’s best trait is that it’s straight-up information gathering.
At turn 2, a player can easily put this on the board and look at their opponent's hand. This advantage is significant, as anyone with a good memory can just start planning around what’s in store in the turns to come.
If it so happens that Ursula lands on the board on either turns 4 or 5, a lot of staple songs like A Whole New World just fizzle out into nothing as the opponent would be forced to discard them. This lets Ursula maintain card parity against the opponent while gaining crucial information. Considering that Ursula offers a body, you can even be considered to be up a card.
Ruby: Brawl
The first action card to make it to the top of the heap. Brawl’s cheap cost is mirrored by its targeting parameters. Brawl can only target characters with only 2 or less strength.
Many glimmers with high-functioning utility, like Hiram Flaversham—Toymaker or Flynn Rider—Frenemy, make excellent targets for Brawl’s relatively low cost.
With just being a plain action card, Brawl manages to scuffle past Ursula - Deceiver’s auspices. Though, don’t be too eager to use this card if you’re up against Amethyst. They’d more than likely thank you for the help.
Steel: Pete - Games Referee
With a 3 in everything but lore gain, Pete - Games Referee does his position proud as he outright denies an opponent's action card from surfacing for a turn. This ability may pale to Ursula - Deceivers ability, but he makes up for it for his hardier statline.
Pete’s 3s also lets him trade with cards like Merlin - Goat to permanently get rid of a recurring threat and makes him immune to the cheaper board removals like Brawl or Let the Storm Rage On.
Not to mention that anyone looking to get rid of him via a challenge would need to invest something moderately more precious in terms of ink cost. Most characters at 2 ink cost or less would barely hurt Pete, let alone banish him. Anyone at Pete’s level of ink cost or higher wouldn’t come out unscathed.
Sapphire: Sail the Azurite Sea
Our final card for this list, we have Sail the Azurite Sea as Sapphire’s representative. Sapphire is probably best known for its ability to ramp ink cost like no other. Sail the Azurite Sea shares a lot of similarities with other cards in the 2 ink cost slot like One Jump Ahead or Tipo - Growing Son.
However, Sail the Azurite Sea is a subtle pen that can flourish when it needs to. Unlike Tipo - Growing Son or One Jump Ahead, this 2 cost inkable action card’s ability to ramp is optional. This makes Sail the Azurite Sea a straight-up draw for just a pittance and streamlines any sapphire deck.
Paired with other sapphire cards like Pawpsicle or Vision of the Future, you have a recipe for a deck that can dig deep and fast for all of its tools.
Challengers For the Throne
And with that, each ink color has presented its most used card up to this point in the game’s lifespan. Now, at the end of this article, you may have noticed something pretty peculiar.
It came as a surprise for myself as well, but apparently each card listed here came from a different expansion set. This makes the release of Archazia’s Island all the more interesting.
Only time will tell if anything from the newest expansion will dethrone the current title-holders of 'Most Played Cards.' Who knows? There may already be contenders who haven’t been spotted yet, hiding in the misty shores of Disney Lorcana’s newest horizon.