Summary
- Shift mechanics, when supported by the right cards, let you bring Floodborn characters into play early and safely.
- Emerald cards excel at disrupting your opponent’s tempo with powerful bounce and banish effects.
- Card tags (like Pirate) create strong synergies within your deck, giving you extra strategic advantages.
Building a deck in Disney Lorcana might seem easy — just like in any TCG — but once you get into it, your brain might start to melt a little. Lorcana isn’t ancient yet, but it already has tons of cards, and most of them are seriously useful. Crafting a deck with strong synergy is super important, and you’ll also need to stick to one or two ink colors when building.
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Posts By Alexander PineraEach ink color has its own vibe, and Emerald is all about adaptability and control. Picking the “best” Emerald cards isn’t always simple — it depends on your deck and your opponent — but don’t worry, we’ve rounded up some seriously good ones to get you started!
10 Morph (Space Goo)
Be Anyone, Beat Everyone!
Normally, to play your Shift characters cheaply, you have to drop them onto a character with the same name — and when the right cards don’t show up, it’s pretty heartbreaking. If you’re running multiple Floodborn characters, Morph is about to become your new best friend. Morph is basically a wild card: you can Shift any character onto Morph, no matching names required.
It’s like he’s holding up a big sign that says, "Pretend I'm whoever you need me to be!" This makes it way easier to flood the board with your powerful Floodborn characters and gives you a huge economic advantage without all the waiting and wishing.
9 Mad Hatter (Unruly Eccentric)
Draw Chaos. Play Chaos.
In every TCG, one of the biggest keys to success is speeding through your deck by adding cards that let you draw more. Otherwise, pulling just one card per turn leaves you about as threatening as a wet noodle. That’s why draw engines are so valuable — they unlock way more possibilities.
Mad Hatter is one of those beautiful chaos-enablers, and he makes drawing extra cards surprisingly easy. Whenever a damaged character challenges another character, you get to draw a card. It doesn’t even matter if the damaged character is yours or your opponent’s — pain is pain, and Mad Hatter loves it. Thanks to him, your hand will be overflowing with options, all fueled by pure, delightful mayhem.
8 Baymax (Giant Robot)
Shift Smart. Heal Smarter.
Shift isn’t just some throwaway keyword — if you build your deck around it, you can drop your heavy hitters for cheap. But cheap comes with a price! First, you usually have to play the Shift card on top of a character with the same name. Second, any damage on the old character sticks around, like an unwanted guest at a party.
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Posts By Ryan HayThankfully, Baymax is here to save the day (and your sanity). With Baymax’s Shift ability, you can play him on any character, no matching names required. Even better, the moment you Shift him in, all existing damage magically disappears. It’s like calling in a giant, armored, damage-deleting hug!
7 Emerald Chromicon
Touch My Coard, Pay The Price.
In Disney Lorcana, it’s not just about flooding the board with characters — magical things can happen with items too! Sure, players can easily wipe each other’s characters off the field, but items? Not so much. If your opponent’s deck isn’t ready to deal with items, well... good luck to them.
Emerald Chromicon is especially nasty because it forces your opponent to think twice before challenging your characters. If they banish one of your characters on their turn — whether by challenge or any other means — you get to bounce one of their characters back to their hand. That’s right, say goodbye to their precious board presence and hello to a big, shiny advantage!
6 Milo Thatch (King Of Atlantis)
Banished? Say Goodbye To Everything!
When you drop a high-cost card, you expect it to do some serious heavy lifting — and Milo Thatch absolutely delivers. This guy is the definition of "do not touch." If Milo gets banished, every opposing character bounces right back to their owners’ hands. Goodbye, precious board presence!
Your opponent will waste a ton of time replaying their characters, and since most cards can't even act the turn they hit the board, you’ll be running laps around them. Milo can completely flip the game in your favor, especially since his Shift ability lets you bring him out earlier than your opponent would ever want. Think of him as a ticking time bomb... but, you know, in a friendly, world-ending way.
5 Jasmine (Royal Commodore)
Exert, Return, And Reign!
Jasmine is one of the sneakier Emerald cards — and if you play her at the right moment, she can turn the whole game upside down. When she hits the board, every exerted character bounces back to its owner’s hand, giving you a massive tempo advantage by slowing your opponent way down.
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Posts By Alexander PineraEven better, your own characters aren’t safe from this effect... and that’s actually a good thing! If you pick up characters that have powerful “when played” effects, you can reuse them and cause even more chaos. With good timing, Jasmine doesn’t just shift the momentum — she kicks it straight into your favor, all with a royal little wink.
4 Mother Gothel (Selfish Manipulator)
No Questing For You!
At the end of the day, if you strip everything else away, Lorcana has one simple goal: get to 20 lore. Easy, right? Well... not so much. You never know what cards you'll draw or what chaos your opponent will unleash. Sure, banishing enemy characters through challenges is important, but questing is how you actually rack up that sweet, sweet lore.
That’s where Mother Gothel comes in like an absolute menace. When she’s exerted, your opponent’s characters can't quest at all. Zero lore for them! Of course, this puts a big target on your board, and your opponent will likely come charging in to get rid of her — but hey, a little drama keeps things interesting, right?
3 Mr. Smee (Efficient Captain)
Pirates Never Stay Down!
When building your deck, another thing you’ll want to watch out for is card classifications — aka tags. Some cards create amazing synergies based on these, so stacking your deck with matching tags can really pay off. One standout tag is Pirate, and Mr. Smee is basically the unsung hero of any Pirate crew.
Thanks to his handy effect, whenever you play a non-song action card, you get to ready one of your Pirate characters — no strings (or exerting) attached! You can keep using this ability without putting Smee in danger, making him an absolute must-have for any Pirate-heavy deck. He might not be the real captain, but he’s definitely steering the ship behind the scenes!
2 Prince Phillip (Vanquisher Of The Foes)
Damage Them, Then Delete Them.
A good chunk of Emerald cards love bouncing your opponent’s stuff back to their hand — great for slowing them down. But if you want a card that does even more damage, look no further than Prince Phillip. The moment he hits the board, all of your opponent’s damaged characters get banished for good.
No second chances, no heroic comebacks — just a one-way ticket to the discard pile. Plus, Prince Phillip has Evasive, making it trickier for your opponent to challenge him. As if that wasn’t enough, he also has Shift, so you can get him into play earlier and start wrecking dreams before your opponent even knows what hit them!
1 Hiro Hamada (Armor Designer)
Shift Up. Shield Up.
Shifting cards onto the board lets you play your big threats early — and that’s a major strategic win. But if you want to take your Shifted Floodborn characters to the next level and keep them safe and sound, Hiro Hamada is your guy. While Hiro is on the field, all your Floodborn characters with cards underneath them — aka the ones you Shifted — get both Evasive and Ward.
Evasive makes it way harder for your opponent to challenge them, and Ward protects them from anything that isn’t a straight-up challenge. In short, unless your opponent has Evasive characters of their own, they’re going to have a very bad time trying to get through your superhero squad.
Like Follow FollowedDisney Lorcana
Franchise Disney Original Release Date September 1, 2023 Publisher Ravensburger Designer Ryan Miller, Steve Warner Player Count 2-6 (suggested) Age Recommendation 8+ Length per Game 30-45 minutes Number Of Cards 204 (The First Chapter) Expand Collapse
