New Decks in Ursula’s Return to Watch For
The period before a new Lorcana release and for several weeks after is always exciting. We get to wait in anticipation for what new decks will be buildable from all of the many new cards released in the new set. To date, every single new set from Lorcana has served to further up the ante – introducing exciting new mechanics to the game, powerful new deck archetypes, and more.
But what deck trends should we be on the lookout in Ursula’s Return?
While we can’t get into specific deck lists in this guide, we can take a look at some of the key new card reveals and extrapolate from them what kinds of trends will be the biggest in set four.
Deck #1 – Magic Brooms
The Magic Brooms mechanic has been a popular one ever since the release of Lorcana’s first set. Backed by the powerful Mickey – Wayward Sorcerer, the Broom strategy has received additional support each new set that has been released, with the largest buff coming in Into the Inklands.
While that set offered several new cards to bolster the effectiveness of Magic Brooms (like Sorcerer’s Tower), it’s failed to make waves competitively, remaining more of a casual theme deck for players to enjoy at league night.
Could that all change with the Ursula’s Return?
Two new cards that have already been revealed would make you think so. To date, the Magic Broom strategy has centered around two Ink types: Steel and Amethyst with Amethyst being the main one. Ursula’s Return continues that trend with the reveal of two powerful new characters that will have an outsized impact on deck building with the Magic Broom mechanic.
These two cards offer two vital components missing so far from the Magic Broom strategy including a built-in draw engine in the form of the Legendary Yen Sid and a powerhouse Mickey card that dishes out damage while also benefiting from Resist.
In a strategy like Magic Brooms that focuses on getting a ton of characters into play, I could easily see that playing well into the new Sing Together mechanic that lets multiple characters sing powerful songs.
All-in-all, I would not be surprised if Lorcana set four is the set we finally see Magic Brooms become a competitive strategy.
Read our prospective Magic Brooms deck list and guide for the upcoming set.
Deck #2 – Discard
Discard decks have been present in the meta since Rise of the Floodborn. Today they are relegated (from a meta perspective) to the Emerald/Steel Ink combination. However, with the reveal of several strong new cards in Ursula’s Return, I could certainly see that all changing. Specifically, a deck strategy that has been missing from the competitive scene since Rise of the Floodborn is the Amber/Emerald deck archetype. It just can’t keep up with the more well Rounded Emerald/Steel version. In fact, strictly discard decks aren’t really a thing right now – they rely on powerful damage output to be relevant.
With powerful new cards like these: Ursula – Eric’s Bride and We Don’t Talk About Bruno, it seems more likely that we will see the return of strictly discard decks that first and foremost look to control the hand instead of the field.
Deck #3 – Heroes
Building decks around classifications like Hero, Pirate etc. has been a little tough going from a competitive standpoint. But with additional support, it can happen. For example, we talked about the Emerald/Steel combination in the last deck overview, and that one commonly leverages the Floodborn classification or theme to great advantage. One deck to look out for in Ursula’s Return is going to be the Hero archetype. Already several cards that give players an edge for having multiple heroes in play have been revealed. Cards like Anna, especially, grant extra lore to characters.
Of course, this could end up being just another gimmick like the failed Puppies deck leaks from Into the Inklands. But there is some hope that if the support is strong enough, we could have entire Hero themed decks soon in the meta.
Deck #4 – Family Madrigal
New and beloved Disney properties getting added to the game is a cause of great excitement for Lorcana fans everywhere. This set features the characters from Encanto, and clearly there is some synergy between these characters. Focused around the Amethyst/Amber deck and even the core of one of the Starter decks, it will be interesting to see whether or not this deck is viable or if it suffers a similar fate as the Seven Dwarves strategy from Rise of the Floodborn which saw next-to no play at a competitive level.
Of course, competing isn’t the only thing that matters in Lorcana, and the Madrigal Family mechanics so far certainly look fun to play at the very least.
Take Isabela Madrigal, for example. With Evasive and a potential Lore value of four at only a five-cost character, that could be very strong, especially if other cards buff her even more for being a Madrigal.
#5 Item Decks
It seems like Lorcana’s been trying to push item decks as competitively viable options since the beginning. However, they’ve often fallen short of the mark with only one item focused deck played popularly right now: Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle Control.
That could all change in Ursula’s Return. Not only are we getting many strong item cards, we’re getting cards that interact powerfully with items. These could be used in new decks all on their own or in existing decks to bolster them further.
One deck theme that’s gained popularity online is an underseas deck focused on using Ariel and other powerful item focused characters like Tomatoa and the soon to be released Trident.
What do you think? Which new decks are going to have the biggest impact from Ursula’s Return? Leave your comments below and we might feature them in an upcoming guide!
