The spoiler season for Reign of Jafar continues with reveals aplenty. Ravensburger is definitely angling for more tribal support for Disney Lorcana with more cards from the Wreck-It-Ralph franchise.
Wreck-It Ralph: Back Seat Driver and Big Lug
Starting off, we have two versions of the titular character of the franchise, Ralph.
Back Seat Driver doesn’t offer a lot of staying power with that 2 Willpower, but it does have 4 Strength that he can also share with another Racer ally. On his own, Back Seat Driver can swing into almost any character of the same ink cost weight class and take them down with him.
As for his ability, the Racer archetype seems to field a lot of cheap bodies that don’t mind getting banished as they crash into an enemy character.
With the supporting cast of King Candy - Royal Racer, Calhoun - Courageous Rescuer, and Fix-It Felix, Jr. - Pint-Sized Hero, the archetype promotes this cycle of control as they eventually swarm the board and grind down the opposing presence.
Big Lug plays into this style of play a little further. As Ralph’s first-ever Floodborn version, Big Lug can take advantage of another Ralph in play and be cheated out at a lower cost.
Unfortunately, this aspect has very slim pickings at the moment. Even without Set Rotation, the only other cheaper Ralph card in Disney Lorcana outside of Back Seat Driver is Demolition Dude.
Amber and Ruby don’t necessarily have much in terms of inkwell acceleration. Getting Big Lug out early is heavily reliant on keeping a cheaper Ralph on the board.
Should Big Lug make it to the table, however, then he helps the archetype with card recursion immensely. For an archetype that likes to spend its characters as fast as its intellectual inspiration, this definitely an advantage not to pass up on.
King Candy - Sugar Rush Nightmare
Sugar Rush Nightmare offers a decent tempo package. At 3 ink cost and a fairly average firepower, King Candy offers a lot of flexibility.
He can be used for the Lore race or to simply challenge opposing characters, thanks to his robust stats. Where Kind Candy really comes alive, however, is with his ability.
King Candy’s ability to bring back another Racer character from the discard to the hand is his selling point. This aspect pushes the Racer archetype's aggressive style of play.
As long as you have a suitable target, a bounce from discard can easily translate to either another body onto the field or at least another card in the inkwell.
Gloyd Orangeboar - Fierce Competitor
While not as exciting as any of the previously listed cards, Fierce Competitor offers another body for the archetype to field.
Unfortunately, Gloyd Orangeboar is hampered by its less-than-average stats for its ink cost. While this card can slow down the opponent in the Lore race a bit, deck space is a precious commodity.
As ironic as it sounds, the competition is pretty fierce in the Racer archetype for a 3 ink cost card.
Candy Drift
While not necessarily Racer support in the strictest sense, Candy Drift does line up with the archetype’s normal philosophies.
As a 2 ink cost, Candy Drift offers some early game draw if you don’t mind losing a character at the end of the turn.
That +5 to Strength is not to be underestimated, however. Players can easily field big bodies onto the board, so having the ability to trade with such a target at the cost of a small body is well worth the price.
Most Racer characters in the early game have a range of 1-3 in Strength. The previously mentioned Back Seat Driver is an outlier in this regard.
Once you play Candy Drift, then these little athletes can start trading with cards in the 5-6 ink cost range.
Of course, player decision-making is always a factor when it comes to cards like Candy Drift. Having options during the course of a match is always welcome when it comes to trading card games.