Our favorite early Disney Lorcana cards so far

What are the best Disney Lorcana cards? Ravensburger’s magical trading card game already has some excellent Lorcana cards under its belt – so here we’ve picked out our absolute favorite character cards from The First Chapter and Rise of the Floodborn, Lorcana’s first two sets.

For the latest Lorcana insights, read our up to date guides on the most expensive Lorcana cards and the best Disney Lorcana starter decks – or go broader with our recommendations on the best trading card games to play.

Our favorite early Disney Lorcana cards are:

• 1. Stitch, Rock Star
• 2. Beast, Tragic Hero
• 3. Belle, Strange but Special
• 4. Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy
• 5. Merlin, Goat
• 6. Cinderella, Stouthearted 

1. Stitch, Rock Star

Stitch, Rock Star is a highly prized card for its delightful art, showing Stitch celebrating a presumably-epic guitar solo. But that’s not all that appeals – Stitch makes an excellent addition to any Amber deck that could use a bit more card draw.

Stitch’s ‘Adoring Fans’ ability allows you to exert any character you play that costs two or less. Doing so lets you draw a card for free. Bulk out your hand and get some friends on the board? That’s a win-win. Combine Rockstar with other high-value Stitch cards like Carefree Surfer to take advantage of its Shift ability, and you’ve got a win-win-win. 

2. Beast, Tragic Hero

Beast, Tragic Hero has been in more competitive Steel decks than we’ve had hot dinners. Players building Control, Midrange, or Resist decks should consider this a must-have Steel card in the current meta.

Tragic Hero is already a decent heavy-duty defender, but the ‘It’s Better This Way’ ability makes him silly powerful. As long as Beast, Tragic Hero has no damage, you can draw a card at the start of your turn. If Beast does have damage, he instead gets four Strength for the turn. 

3. Belle, Strange but Special

Belle, Strange but Special has some of the best ability synergy we’ve seen on a Disney Lorcana card. ‘Read a Book’ lets you play an additional card in your inkwell each turn, and ‘My Favorite Part!’ gives Belle four extra lore as long as there are ten or more cards in your inkwell.

Step one: fill your inkwell with ‘Read a Book’. Step two: quest while Belle can get you five lore per turn. Step three: Win the game at a ridiculous speed. Even if you can’t steal the game in a few turns, Belle is immensely helpful for generating much-needed resources. 

4. Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy

Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy isn’t the cheapest card with a cost of six, but her aggressive presence is well worth the summon. She’s a regular member of the Amber/Steel Midrange club, even after Rise of the Floodborn released so many strong cards for that archetype.

The ‘Rock the Boat’ ability deals one damage to each opposing character, and ‘Puny Pirate!’ deals two damage to a single opposing character any time Tinker Bell banishes a character during your turn. Combine that with four Strength, two Lore, and Shift four, and you’ve got a lot of value for that six ink you paid upfront. 

5. Merlin, Goat

Is Merlin, Goat the G.O.A.T of Rise of the Floodborn? The card is certainly a contender. It’s one of several animal versions of the famous mage, each of which triggers an ability any time it enters or leaves play. The Goat version gives you one lore per trigger, so you’ll want to bounce Merlin in and out of play as much as possible.

Luckily, there are plenty of cards you can combine Merlin with to achieve this. Cards like Arthur, Wizard’s Apprentice and Madam Mim, Fox are perfect for returning cards to your hand, and they’re also of the Amethyst ink type. Emerald is a particularly useful ink to dip into when deck-building, too. Pick up songs like Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo to reduce to cost of playing Merlin, Goat over and over again. 

6. Cinderella, Stouthearted

Cinderella, Stouthearted is the It Girl of Rise of the Floodborn. With five Strength, five Willpower, +2 Resist, and Shift five, this is a card that turns up early, hits hard, and is ridiculously hard to get rid of.

Her ‘The Singing Sword’ ability also lets her challenge ready characters whenever you play a song on your turn, so there’s basically no escape from her blade. And if all this wasn’t enough, she also rakes in three lore when questing. Is there anything this princess can’t do?

And that’s it for our top picks from the earliest era of Disney Lorcana! For more tabletop magic, check out our buyer’s guide to the absolute best board games available, and the best card games for adults to play, too.