Disney Lorcana’s Winterspell set isn’t the most essential expansion. It’s a brief pitstop in the overarching story of the trading card game that leaves room for players to chill and vibe, before the plot barrels on to its next port. But if you’re looking for a cute, cosy time, you’ll absolutely find it here in snowball fights and wintery treats.
The crux of the story is that after facing down various villains, from Ursula to Jafar, the heroes of the Disney universe are contending with a smaller, more fun circumstance: the arrival of a mysterious winter storm that throws everyone off course, or otherwise gives them a great time in the snow.
Disney Lorcana: Winterspell set review – quick links
It’s Snow Day in Disney Lorcana’s Winterspell expansion
Winterspell has arrived with odd timing, given its winter theming. While it is technically winter in the Northern Hemisphere right now, with plenty of references to Christmas, it feels like a set that was designed to release for the holiday season
Two months on from then it is, at the very least, a bright reminder of the wholesome, warm vibes of the Christmas period, complete with artwork that features hot cocoa and pine trees. Here, characters like Tiana, Minnie Mouse, Pocahontas, and Piglet get winter makeovers, featuring on cards with bright, fun activities, as well as cosier moments with warm food and drink.
There’s a cohesiveness in this art that makes Winterspell feel very well curated. If characters aren’t taking part in winter activities directly, you can still see snow in the background. There’s a real sense that all of these characters are connected, which makes building your deck a bit easier and more fun.
This is actually a rare, smaller Disney Lorcana set that doesn’t feature dedicated decks, so the cards are designed to be integrated into existing decks, or otherwise cobbled together by mechanics. Luckily, there’s plenty of synergy here, as well as one very handy new mechanic to build on.
New Underdog mechanic is a game-changer
One of the bigger criticisms of Disney Lorcana is that the player who goes first typically has the advantage. They’re better able to build their lore, and can sometimes win faster, simply for being one step ahead of their opponent.
To address this, Winterspell introduces a nifty mechanic known as Underdog. On particular cards, you’ll find a new ability that specifically activates when you begin the game second, reducing character costs to ensure you gain a different sort of advantage.
You will still need to draw these cards specifically when you’re the second player, and they’ll likely be an essential part of newer decks (so you’ll need to reserve space for them) but they should help to even out battles, and ensure that players don’t win simply because they’re able to play first.
Underdog is the only real game-changing mechanic you’ll find in this Disney Lorcana set. That has the added benefit of meaning you won’t really need to change up your decks too much to stay on top of new victory conditions. A lot of the cards here, beyond the Underdog cards, simply feature bog-standard useful abilities to benefit lore gain, and grow your power.
To date, Disney Lorcana has maintained a steady pace for new mechanic introductions, and that keeps up here. It means the game remains fairly accessible for players of all ages, and that it’s not quite as complex as its nearest rivals.
Darkwing Duck is the headliner addition for Winterspell
One other feature of Winterspell that’s worth noting, one that’s perhaps more enticing than a simple new mechanic, is the arrival of new franchises in Disney Lorcana.
Anyone with back pain will likely remember Darkwing Duck, one of Disney’s premier 1990s cartoons. The titular hero is featured here alongside his daughter Gosling, sidekick Launchpad McQuack and some of his villains, with two stand-out cards (Darkwing Duck – Dashing Gadgeteer and Darkwing Duck – Cool Under Pressure) both being excellent to hang your strategy around.
Darkwing Duck – Dashing Gadgeteer’s Modern Marvel ability is great for those who have decks filled with handy items. Whenever the card quests, you can pinch a card from your discard and put it on the bottom of your library, then play another item with ink cost five or less for free. Even with the sacrifice, this feels like a very powerful ability for playing multiple items per turn.
Personally, my favourite Darkwing Duck card is actually the slightly-more-powerful Cool Under Pressure, which is a Shift card (can be played on top of another Darkwing Duck character card). This character’s ability lets you pay one ink to deal two damage to a character, any time an item is banished. In addition, this card can also challenge ‘ready’ Villain characters – as in, it can attack Villains regardless of their status.
I can see both of these cards being fantastic in blue-grey decks focused on items, and they would be particularly handy, working together, if an opponent controls Villain characters.
Overall verdict on Disney Lorcana: Winterspell
In all, there are strong new additions in this set that save it from being relatively humdrum. While it doesn’t advance the TCG’s plot, and newer cards are more about vibes, the Underdog mechanic feels essential as a strategic ploy, and the arrival of Darkwing Duck is very appreciated.
There’s no doubt this is more of a ‘filler’ set, compared to other recent releases, given a smaller card array and the lack of dedicated decks, but with clever choices all around, there’s still plenty to appreciate. Tap the brakes, ease back and let the icy cool vibes of Winterspell wash over you.
Disney Lorcana: Winterspell Booster Packs were provided by Ravensburger for the purposes of this review.
