Disney Lorcana‘s Wilds Unknown set is one of the bigger expansions we’ve seen in the year to date, introducing several new characters and character types. While it doesn’t present a major overhaul of mechanics, or leap ahead with the overarching franchise narrative, its new additions are very strong, and highly synergistic.
New characters hail from Toy Story, The Incredibles and Brave, with plenty of new cards from these franchises providing the opportunity to form powerful and super-heroic playing decks.
Disney Lorcana Wilds Unknown review – quick links
Toy Story and The Incredibles headline Wilds Unknown
While it will depend on personal taste, I think Toy Story and The Incredibles are the real headliners here. There are a bunch of fun Brave cards with spotlights for Merida, her family, and the wider franchise lore, but more attention has seemingly been paid to the other new franchise arrivals, with a greater array of cards and new synergistic mechanics to build around.
The new Toy character designation allows you to create decks filled with toys of all kinds. The key heroes of Toy Story are well-represented, with Buzz Lightyear and Woody getting multiple new cards, all of which have unique and fun mechanics.
There are some plain no-ability, one ink-cost cards, like Woody – Waiting for a Friend, which help to speed up your lore gain, along with the no-ability, two ink-cost Buzz Lightyear – Space Ranger.
Importantly, there are also the key Hero cards here, like Buzz Lightyear – On My Way, which lets you draw cards per each low cost character played; Woody – Leader of the Toys, which lets you surface Toy character cards and/or Andy’s Room when you play it; and Jessie – Lively Cowgirl, which gives you card draw based on your other Toy characters.
To fill out the roster of available Toy characters, there are also some silly, fun inclusions in this set, like the weird, mangled toys created by the villainous Sid Phillips. You’ll be able to collect Bouncing Ducky, Wind-Up Frog and Pterodactyl Janie Doll, among others.
All have that important Toy synergy, adding potential flavour and opportunity for new Toy-themed decks. Wind-Up Frog – Sid’s Toy can be played for free if another Toy character was banished in a turn. Pterodactyl Janie Doll – Sid’s Toy forces an opponent to lose lore once they’re banished, and players will gain lore for this act.
Bouncing Ducky is a six ink-cost 5/5 challenger that can be played much cheaper, as long as there are Toy characters in your discard pile. As an added effect, Bouncing Ducky can restore those discarded Toy cards to the bottom of your deck, which is great for recycling plays.
Of course, there are also a range of other new and flavourful Toy Story cards here, including Song cards representing moments from the film series, and familiar key items to speed lore gain and challenges.
New Super Hero cards are the real draw
Again, it all depends on personal taste – but I do think The Incredibles cards are slightly more desirable and fun in Disney Lorcana Wilds Unknown. Each main superhero gets their own headlining card here, as well as multiple different Hero variants and plainclothes versions.
Notably, there are also action-heavy Hero cards with Shift mechanics that allow you to ‘transform’ or ‘upgrade’ your Incredibles heroes as you play.
I’m particularly enamoured by the cards of Mrs Incredible, and how they tell a story across the battlefield. You may begin a turn with a card like Mrs Incredible – Super Stretchy, which is a flexible card that can be Evasive or gain an extra lore point per turn, and then use the Shift mechanics to transform the card into Mrs Incredible – Determined Rescuer.
This is a higher-cost card with reduced strength, but one that can Resist damage and ready Super characters after another character is banished. It also has a phenomenal three lore gain.
Mr Incredible also has this own version of transformation, with a Shift card (Super Strong) allowing him to grow stronger based on other characters in play, as well as adding card draw whenever another Super character challenges.
While only a handful of Super Hero characters have these added Shift abilities, they’re fantastic for multiple reasons. Not only do they allow for more powerful play on the battlefield, with buffs for other Super characters present, they’re also strong flavour as they represent each Hero ‘bulking up’ for battle.
In any card game, that sense of storytelling and dynamic action remains important, and you’ll see it delivered very well in all of the Incredibles cards.
Dash Parr – Lava Runner is another great example of this flair. As a speedy Hero, he’s able to Rush into battle, and ready for action straight away. While he’s a four-cost character, having any character instantly ready is always a boon. Violet Parr – Learning New Powers also has neat protection abilities, as reflective of her shielding superpower depicted in the film series.
Strong, thematic cards distract away from the core narrative
There is a minor challenge in introducing three fan-favourite franchises all at once, with an array of eye-catching and powerful cards. It’s that these franchises need to be introduced with their own personality and identity before they really join the action of Disney Lorcana.
The cards presented here do a great job of adapting each individual franchise. The Incredibles cards are particularly thematic, with each painting a story about epic battles with iconic villains like Syndrome and the Omnidroid. But with such strong flavour, it does feel like these battles are taking place outside of the Disney Lorcana canon.
Toy Story fares a bit better, with thematic cards that do feature more of the Lorcana terrain, and hint at the battle to come with the mysterious ‘vines’ – the headlining feature of the next set, Attack of the Vine. There are also a range of returning characters, including strong representation from the Encanto and Atlantis crews, to pick up some of this slack.
If you’re looking specifically to build a Super Hero deck, or even a Toy-themed deck, Disney Lorcana Wilds Unknown presents plenty of opportunities to create synergistic and exciting ones, complete with plenty of opportunity and strategy built in.
But if you’re looking for a strong narrative push, or hints at the next big battle facing the heroes of Disney Lorcana, you’ll need to stay patient for the arrival of that next big set in July.
Disney Lorcana’s Wilds Unknown set is now available.
Disney Lorcana Wilds Unknown Illumineer’s Trove and Booster Packs were provided for the purposes of this review.
