It’s not always immediately obvious what Disney Lorcana keywords mean. These abilities often have snappy, memorable names and helpful definitions, but there’s only so much text you can squeeze onto a trading card. If you want to make sure you know your Lorcana keyword abilities back to front, you’ve come to the perfect place. We’ve put on our Illumineer hats and summarized all the most important info.
There are still only a few Lorcana sets available, so the trading card game doesn’t have as many keywords as a title like Magic: The Gathering. That means now is a great time to start learning the core Lorcana rules, pick up a Disney Lorcana starter deck, and start playing.
Here’s a complete list of Disney Lorcana keywords:
- Lorcana Bodyguard
- Lorcana Challenger
- Lorcana Evasive
- Lorcana Reckless
- Lorcana Resist
- Lorcana Rush
- Lorcana Shift
- Lorcana Singer
- Lorcana Support
- Lorcana Ward
Lorcana Bodyguard
Characters with the Lorcana Bodyguard keyword can enter play exerted (turned on their side). This means they can’t use any abilities that require them to be exerted – at least, not until they’re readied again at the beginning of your next turn.
This sounds like a downside at first, but the Bodyguard keyword has another trick up its sleeve. Any time a character with Bodyguard is exerted, an opposing character who wants to challenge your characters must choose a character with Bodguard if able.
Characters with Bodyguard tend to be beefy and well-designed for defense. This means they can soak up plenty of hits, protecting your more strategic character cards while you set up their combos.
If more than one character with Bodyguard is exerted, your opponent can choose which they challenge. Any other keyword or card that would prevent your opponent from targeting an exerted character with Bodyguard still applies – that “if able” part is pretty important.
Lorcana Challenger
The Lorcana Challenger keyword typically comes with a number attached (e.g. Challenger +3). Any time a character with Challenger chooses to challenge, they gain extra Strength equal to that number. A character whose regular Strength is 2 can challenge with a Strength of five if they have Challenger +3, for example.
Characters with this keyword are ideal for aggressive plays and banishing key opposing characters. However, since they only get the Strength bonus during their challenge, these characters won’t be of much use when defending. The Strength boost is only temporary, and they’ll be back to their puny selves when the challenge is over.
Lorcana Evasive
The Lorcana Evasive keyword limits who can challenge your characters. More specifically, only a character with Evasive can challenge another character with Evasive. The only way to beat them is to quite literally join them – or remove the characters in more indirect ways.
Some characters are always Evasive, but others only gain the keyword when certain conditions are met. For example, they may only have Evasive on your turn. Evasive characters are best for questing, as they have a better chance of gathering lore uninterrupted.
Lorcana Reckless
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Lorcana Reckless keyword prevents characters from questing at all. Instead, they must challenge any time they’re able.
Some characters always have the Reckless keyword, but it’s also possible to give characters Reckless with another card. Generally, you’d want to give the keyword to opposing characters, as it keeps them from gathering game-winning lore and forces them to throw themself into dangerous challenges.
If your character has Reckless and you really don’t want them to challenge, you can get out of it by exerting them in some other way. Any abilities or keywords that prevent challenges will negate Reckless, and your character can’t challenge if there are no targets to choose from. Remember – as long as a Reckless character is unable to challenge before your turn is over, they won’t be forced to.
Lorcana Resist
Like Challenger, the Lorcana Resist keyword comes with a numerical value (e.g. Resist +2). Any time damage is dealt to a character with Resist, the damage is reduced by that given number.
Many defense-focused characters always have Resist, so they reduce every instance of damage they take. Some Lorcana cards allow you to give characters Resist, too.
Lorcana Rush
Most characters can’t challenge on the first turn that they’re played, but they can if they have the Lorcana Rush keyword. This is a super aggressive keyword that lets you take surprise shots at your opponent’s exerted characters.
It’s important to remember that Rush only speeds up challenges. If you want to quest or use any other card ability that exerts your character, you’ll have to wait a turn for its ink to dry.
Lorcana Shift
The Lorcana Shift keyword is one of the TCG’s most unique and complex abilities. It typically comes with a number after the keyword, e.g. Shift 5.
When you want to play a character with Shift, you can choose to pay ink equal to the card’s Shift value instead of its regular ink cost. This can only be done if you have a character of the same name already in play. For example, you can Shift Stitch, Rock Star on top of Stitch, Carefree Surfer.
If you Shift a character on top of another, they merge to become one card. This ‘new’ card has the Strength, Willpower, and abilities of the character you can see on top. However, some features – like damage, being exerted, and whether the card’s ink has dried – carry over from the original character. If you have more questions about how Lorcana Shift works, be sure to check out our dedicated guide.
Lorcana Singer
Every character in Lorcana can sing songs and play them for free, provided they’re worth the right amount of ink. But a character with the Lorcana Singer keyword can sing more expensive songs, even if their ink cost wouldn’t usually meet the criteria. The keyword is followed by a number (e.g. Singer 6), which tells the ink cost of the songs they can sing.
Lorcana Support
Any time a character with the Lorcana Support keyword quests, you can choose to add their Strength value to another character’s Strength on your turn. Since this effect ends when your turn is over, it’s best used on characters you plan to challenge an opponent with.
Lorcana Ward
If a character has the Lorcana Ward keyword, opponents can’t target them with anything other than a challenge. This causes a big problem for decks that like to remove characters indirectly, return cards to their owner’s hands, or inflict effects on a character. Some characters always have Ward, while others can gain or give it temporarily.
Bear in mind that a character with Ward is only protected from cards that target them. If a card deals damage in general rather than to one specific character, Ward can’t save you.
For more explainers, here’s a guide to every Disney Lorcana card type. We can also teach you how to play Lorcana online.