Disney Lorcana‘s new Fabled set is a chance for reflection. A chance to stop and smell the roses. While the TCG’s overarching plot has been steaming ahead over recent expansions, this is more of a pitstop. There are new cards in this collection, including debuting characters from A Goofy Movie, but there is no cohesive story or forward push here – just time to ogle returning, fan-favourite cards, and bid farewell to Lorcana‘s first year of adventures.
Fabled is a significant turning point for the ongoing TCG. It marks the start of the third year of expansions, and introduces the first set rotation for players. So, what exactly does that mean? Like many other TCG formats, Disney Lorcana will undergo a rotation where the first four sets of cards become non-legal in competitive core constructed gameplay.
Many cards from The First Chapter, Rise of the Floodborn, Into the Inklands, and Ursula’s Return are technically being phased out, with the intention to keep the game fresh, and maintain fair power levels amongst all players.
While that may seem dire for some, the rotation is tempered by the arrival of Fabled, which comprises many reprints for Lorcana‘s most popular cards, ensuring the best parts of the first year sets remain playable. For collectors or newbies, it also means the set is a chance to collect some of the most popular and pretty cards of Disney Lorcana, without having to dive into a collector’s market.
Disney Lorcana: Fabled – What to expect
Fabled reprints dozens of cards from across the first year of Disney Lorcana, with clever choices in the selection of returning heroes. Notably, many of the Disney Princesses get reprints with this set – which serves a brand new, excellently-themed princess single-player deck – as well as more powerful cards with high lore gain, and entirely useful abilities.
In the mix of reprints, Fabled also arrives as one of the most beautiful and high-powered sets yet – in a single pack, you’ll get a ‘greatest hits’ of The First Chapter, Rise of the Floodborn, Into the Inklands, and Ursula’s Return, with very few weak links. It was particularly nice to see an array of characters I was disappointed to miss in early packs, including cards like Elsa – Spirit of Winter, Ursula – Sea Witch, Stitch – Rock Star, and Mickey Mouse – Steamboat Pilot.
There’s also plenty of returning Auroras, if only because she seems to be the most powerful and dynamic Disney Princess of the lot, with a host of unique abilities that serve royal characters. Another added benefit of this streamline approach is that you’re largely getting iconic Disney characters, rather than those smaller, lesser-known critters and cameos. It’s nice to have all manner of characters in the overarching sets, but I can’t see I’m displeased that I recognise most, if not all, of Fabled‘s heroes.
As an added bonus, it’s nice to see a handful of new faces here, with A Goofy Movie represented in Powerline and Max Goof. They do feel a bit tacked-on, but at the very least, they get time to shine in their own single-player deck, which revolves around rocking.
Disney Lorcana: Fabled is a rest stop, but…
If I have one criticism of Fabled overall, it’s that the streamlined approach does mean this set feels entirely incoherent. Perhaps I’m an outlier, but what I love most about Disney Lorcana is its overarching story, and how card art is developed in a way that reveals a weaving narrative. Each set, to date, has built up to a particular event – the encroachment of Ursula, the reign of Jafar – but with this collection bringing together a scattered array of heroes, each card is standalone.
They’re pretty and wonderfully collectible, of course, but a lack of story means this set is largely skippable. Or at least, that it’s for a particular sort of player – someone who wants to get into Disney Lorcana for the first time, someone who missed out on the franchise’s first four sets, or someone looking for new Epic, Enchanted, or Iconic cards. Everyone else is best-served by waiting around for the next canon chapter, Whispers in the Well.
That said, there is one particular high point with this collection, in the form of the aforementioned Disney Princess single-player deck, which has swiftly become a favourite of mine.
Disney Lorcana: Fabled‘s Disney Princess deck is a winner
With each new set, I leave myself open to finding a new single-player deck to love. At first, I was stuck on the Goofy/Jim Hawkins pirate-themed deck from Azurite Sea. Then, I fell in love with the cleverly-themed Belle/Beast Archazia’s Island deck. Now, I’m all about the Mulan/Ariel Fabled deck.
In form and function, this an Amber/Sapphire all-Disney Princess deck, where each princess may help others, with stacking abilities. All the while, the princesses sing together, and generally have a raucous time.
The synergy in this particular deck is fabulous. In cards like Hans – Noble Scoundrel, you’ve got abilities that gain you additional lore for any Princess or Queen in play. Aurora – Holding Court also lets you pay less ink for the next Princess or Queen you play. Mulan – Considerate Diplomat lets you put Princess cards into your hand faster.
Other cards enable damage removal, or let you speed up when and how you pay for particular characters. Ariel, meanwhile, serves a powerful Singer to belt out tunes that banish, or let you add cards to your hand.
It all gives the impression of a nice deck where every character helps the other – much like princesses would. Even with Ariel and Mulan ranking low on my list of favourite princesses (I think Aurora would’ve been better-served as a headliner), I am very enamoured by the loop of this deck, and how well the themes shine through. It’s a bright spot in the latest Fabled releases, and a great single-player deck for newcomers, to boot.
In all of these elements, I think Fabled is an overall success that certainly sets out what it aims to do. It ushers in a new chapter for the ongoing TCG, and while a reset means that some players will be put out – particularly those with decks now rendered technically non-legal – the beauty, power, and range here is spectacular. It might be a pause in the overarching story, but it’s hard to begrudge that when it’s so dazzling, and when it lays the tracks for more goodness to come.
Disney Lorcana: Fabled booster packs, a single-player deck, and an Illumineer’s Trove were provided for the purposes of this review.
