Ursula’s Return Promises Both Competitive and Cooperative Fun for Disney Lorcana Players

Booster packs for the upcoming Ursula’s Return. Disney/Ravensburger

It doesn’t feel so long ago that Disney Lorcana released at last year’s Gen Con. Since then, the trading card game has been embraced by the existing gaming community while also bringing a great many newcomers to the hobby. The inaugural set, The First Chapter, has been joined by two subsequent expansions, with a fourth coming to players’ hands in May. This upcoming set, Ursula’s Return, focuses on—you guessed it—Ursula from 1989’s The Little Mermaid. Or, more precisely, an Illumineer-conjured glimmer that was created in Ursula’s image and has been scheming since her release from the Great Illuminary during the events of the second set.

The choice to name the release after a specific character is a surprise after previous sets, titled The First Chapter, Rise of the Floodborn, and Into the Inklands. But while Ursula is expected to fulfill an integral role, the set continues the tradition of introducing more and more beloved Disney characters and properties into the card pool. All of the members of the Madrigal family from Encanto are present, including the one we don’t talk about. And at last, Mickey Mouse appears as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice à la Fantasia alongside his stern master, the enigmatic Yen Sid. Other additions are yet to be announced, but given the Wreck-It Ralph cameo in Rise of the Floodborn and cards inspired by DuckTales and TaleSpin showing up in Into the Inklands, it’s clear that nothing is off the table.

Sorcerer Mickey is coming to Lorcana in the upcoming set. Disney/Ravensburger

Armed with more dark power than ever, Ursula represents a dire threat to the Illuminary aloft and the Inklands below. Players of Lorcana, in their Illumineer personas, are charged with protecting each. Therefore, it’s up to them to take a break from racing each other to collect lore in order stop the sea witch’s machinations. Ursula’s Return offers a direct way to do so, in the form of a fixed Illumineer’s Quest product called Deep Trouble, a standalone game that can be played either solo or with friends. You’ll be battling it out with Ursula and her legion of corrupted glimmers, which are run by guided gameplay. Two decks are included in this box, but up to four players can join together, using decks built or found outside Deep Trouble. Players are also encouraged to customize their decks to confront Ursula’s aggression head-on.

The product itself will retail for $59.99. Given that its name includes the Ursula-specific Deep Trouble subtitle, I would be surprised not to see more Illumineer’s Quest products hitting store shelves alongside future Lorcana sets, assuming this one performs well.

Illumineer’s Quest: Deep Trouble offers a challenging player-versus-environment (PvE) diversion from Lorcana‘s existing one-on-one and multiplayer free-for-all formats. Disney/Ravensburger

Also coming up is the Disney Lorcana Challenge, a competitive circuit with exclusive prizes, including extended-art promos and a serialized copy of the First Chapter all-star card Mickey Mouse—Brave Little Tailor awarded to players who place in the top four of these events. Although I am not a competitive player myself, I look forward to seeing this circuit succeed, as it should draw the most competitive players toward it and away from smaller-time tourneys at the local game store.

One of the persistent problems facing the casual crowd I belong to is that there’s basically one deck archetype feared throughout the universe, and decks that are specifically designed to defeat it. When playing a game like Lorcana, I like seeing plenty of diversity in the decks I encounter, and going four rounds against nothing but Amethyst/Ruby ain’t it. I trust the creators to deal with this omnipresent deck in time, not necessarily through bans but simply by introducing more and more cards to the game to broaden the competitive options available. In the meantime, though, it’s nice to see them offering competitors an avenue specifically geared for them to spar against the best.

Both Ursula’s Return and Illumineer’s Quest: Deep Trouble are slated for release at hobby stores on May 17, 2024, and mass retailers and online on May 31. The Lorcana Challenge launches on May 25.