Hello and welcome back to Illumination, the Disney Lorcona podcast.
My name is Max and I'm Sam and we are back at you with the second part of our year end
wrap up.
Shout out to Hyper Hippo for the suggestion for doing a year end wrap up.
It's been a blast to do this one with all of you.
Hope that the new year treats everyone well and hope that 2024 went out smoothly for everybody.
This is our 26th episode which means this will mark the end of one year of Illumination,
the Disney Lorcona podcast.
Sam, how does that make you feel?
Pretty excited.
You're excited?
Yeah.
You're excited there's 26 episodes under your belt?
I'm excited.
You're excited.
I'm excited for what it might mean for the next 26.
There you go.
I like that.
You're so excited and you just can't hide it.
Let's talk about the next 26, meaning the next upcoming year with Disney Lorcona.
We have some new sets.
We're going to go over the things that have been announced at this point, obviously.
Two new sets at this point.
We'll get four for the year because that's typically how it works for early schedule
purposes.
We have Archesias, Archesas, we'll find out, Island and Reign of Jafar.
I know how to say all those words.
Let's talk about these two sets together as the idea of new sets since these were announced.
We know a few things coming up this year thanks to the D23 convention.
We know that we're going to get some Black Cauldron action coming up this year, which
is one of my favorite Disney movies.
So I'm very excited to get the Horned King, Gergi and others into Disney Lorcona.
That's very exciting.
We're here to talk about what we want because it's a new year.
There's excitement in the air.
Sam, what do you want to see from either one of these two sets upcoming?
We know we're going to see Bolt, which is pretty exciting.
Yes, we are.
I hope we see some multi-color cards coming out of this set.
Dual ink cards?
Yes.
Oh, wow.
That would be very exciting.
I agree with you.
I think that there is a lot of space.
This has been speculated on for the past couple of sets now, how they would do it.
What would the design space look like?
The way I see it is I would see two color cards, obviously, because you play with two.
And I think the requirement from a deck building perspective is pretty simple in that you just
have to be playing both of those colors.
So for example, if you were playing with an amber amethyst multicolored card, your deck
would have to be amber amethyst.
And I think the cooler thing still is these multicolored cards could be more powerful
effects because there's such a restriction for playing those cards.
What do you think about multicolored cards?
What are you excited to see?
Are there any things about the design that intrigue you?
I agree with you.
I think it intrigues me if they had a card that you had to play in color combination
that it represents.
I think that would be a really cool space to go into.
Yeah, it would be really exciting to see like a very powerful version of the effects the
two colors tend to do.
Like we associate amber amethyst, for example, with hyper aggro and hyper aggressive strategies.
So maybe we get to see a character that comes in that is aggressively statted.
Let's just make up one, two, two, four, two that's inkable.
And when it enters, you draw a card, very powerful card, right?
It's like a super Maleficent almost under costed overstated from the amber perspective,
but also from the amethyst perspective, you get to draw a card.
So it's getting things from both sides.
I think a character would be interesting.
I also think just an action or a song would be interesting.
And I really think that the color pair could get to dictate what card they all got.
I don't know if they'd all get one or they'd all get one at each rarity, like a common,
uncommon, rare, et cetera, or like a rare or above depending on the color combination
or just one per color.
And we talked about this in the previous episode.
I really like how elegant Ravensburger's been with things and how non-committal their attitude
is towards over saturation.
So I really like that.
I like that they're committed to it not being saturated with something.
For example, we had the sing together cards.
I was going to bring that up that that's something else I'd like to see is some more sing together
or more different shift.
Right.
But it wasn't overdone.
We had just one sing together for each color.
We had one alternate shift cost card for each color.
Nice and refined very, very much just taking their time through the release.
And I like that a lot because something as impactful as multicolored cards, they came
out in Magic the Gathering early on and have been a staple in Magic the Gathering since.
So I mean, 30 years that they probably came out in the first few.
So we've been seeing them for well over two thirds of the lifespan of Magic as a game.
So being able to see these multicolor cards come out in Lurkana could mean the same thing.
And what I don't want to see is just an over saturation where it's like, oh, these cards
are so powerful and so strong that if you're playing purple and steel, you're playing all
three multicolor purple steel cards.
I agree with you.
I'd like to see them revisit some things that they sprinkled through.
We're seeing a little bit of it.
Cards where you get to pick the effect of what was referred to as a modal card.
We've seen a few sprinkled in here and there.
A few of the kicker like cards, especially out of Emerald.
When they come in, you can pay a little bit of extra ink to have them do something a little
bit more powerful.
I'd like to see them continue to sprinkle those things in because it just feels like
the game is growing, not like one set does one specific thing.
Other games have the concept where they have to have a new theme or mechanic for every
single new set that comes out.
And I feel like that tends to make games very, very hard to grok and digest, especially for
a new player.
And Lurkana has been very conscious about making this very approachable from a new player
perspective.
I think that I would rather see them grow the mechanics that are already in there and
potentially have the dual color cards rather than make a new mechanic.
I don't think we really need that at this point.
Not yet.
They introduced locations in Inklans.
Once in a while, something brand new to spice things up is interesting.
But I think that for now, being able to continue to expand the landscape of what they have
already designed and look at the really dive into the deep design space is very interesting.
Now speaking of that, what do we want to see them avoid?
I think is a good segue from there because we've already started to indicate we don't
want to see them just saturate the game with a bunch of different effects or mechanics
or keyword abilities on cards.
Because again, from a new player perspective, it tends to be very overwhelming to look at
from a franchise player perspective.
You start to pick apart what effects and abilities and things are good and you can dismiss a
lot of the card pool with mechanics that maybe aren't quite as powerful.
So that also means that cards lose value easily when there's too much going on.
So I would like to see them avoid any kind of over saturation.
What would you like to see them avoid?
I think it's just what I already said with just avoid any new difficult keywords for
now.
Makes sense.
I think keeping the game simple and elegant is something they've done a just bang up
job thus far in the first six sets.
I would like to see some other things.
How do you feel about them approaching the idea of re releasing or remixing sets together?
So maybe like the first three sets come out in one compact set where they take a third
of each of the set and mix them together for release.
And like the first few sets as a remastered set.
I don't know how I feel about that.
It's different.
Makes cards more accessible, tends to cut out some of the cards that just didn't end
up making an impact from a design standpoint.
I think it's interesting if they feel like product is in a scarcity, but they have said
that every set is print to demand.
So it doesn't feel like that's quite as important yet.
Maybe in another few years, something like a, it could even be the first six sets together
as a remixed first arc or story or whatever they want to call it.
Because they refer to it as chapters.
So I don't know if it would be a book or things like that.
Like the first six chapters comprising a book or whatever part one, I don't know whatever
they want to call it, but coming up with like essentially a mush together version of a bunch
of the very impactful cards in the game and pushing aside some of the stuff that didn't
quite make the mark or is in there for limited purposes.
We get a lot of the two twos for one.
I was listening to another podcast today and they said the first time owl was printed was
in this set, the yellow owl, but that's not true.
There was a two to one owl that's blue from, I think in clans.
So it was just like, no, there was an owl before that.
You just didn't realize it because the card had zero impact on the game in any meaningful
way.
I feel like that would make for an expensive set though.
If they just did cards that matter, right?
It's possible, but you may pay a little bit of a premium upcharge for something like that.
You see it in other games like where they remaster or re-release specific things, especially
with new special versions, cause you got to get the franchise players to buy some with
the new special thingy.
I could see something like that coming up.
I'm not necessarily saying I'm all for it, but I would like to see more, maybe another
Illumineers quest.
We got to see that with Ursula's return.
So maybe coming with set eight, we might see another one.
I was gonna predict that with Jafar.
It'd be, that'd be perfect.
Just the big bad from each sick set, the big bad set.
So that's kind of cool.
That'd be fun to see.
So I think there's a lot to look forward to in terms of product.
There should be, right?
If it's a trading card game.
If you're doing it properly, there should be a lot to look forward to from a card buying
perspective cause they want those dollary dues.
Let's talk about competitive events.
Right now there are three called major events on the schedule.
We have North American continentals, which is coming up January 10th through 12th of
2025.
We have the Azure 8 C set championships.
This time taking place from January 18th to February 9th of 2025 to be able to avoid those
North American continentals.
Kind of cool we get to see it and then immediately fiddle around with our cards to try to make
last minute tweaks for set championships.
And then finally in March at a date yet to be determined, we are going to have the world
championship, which is exciting.
Yeah, very exciting.
That'll be in Disney world fitting.
Now talking about these competitive events, what do we want?
I guess what's our wishlist look like when it comes to the idea of upcoming Lurkana events?
I think the biggest thing is more accessibility.
I think accessibility is a great word to use into these events.
And then next I would hope they could do some more.
We didn't really have any close to us here in New Jersey.
Right.
Accessibility is a good way to phrase a lot of that, right?
I think another thing to lump into that is I really want to see them expand on the concepts
when it comes to competitive events and casual play events.
I feel like this is a space that's a bit of a gray area.
Most trading card games don't have a casual support.
It's kind of morphed over the years for Magic because Commander, which used to be called
EDH or Elder Dragon Highlander has kind of eeked out its own space.
But even within that particular space, there's still a more competitive way to play that.
I think Lurkana has really tried very hard to make it.
However you want to enjoy and ingest the game, there's support for that.
And I really feel like now because leagues have become more focused, and it's a newer
game, so it's becoming more focused on the competitive aspect of the game.
I feel like breaking out a little bit of space for casual would be helpful.
And I think that similar to what you said, I think there needs to be a way for everybody
to have access to whatever fun they want to have with Disney Lurkana.
Being able to expand the size of the venues to get more people in is a great idea because
just imagine there are people who are interested in the game.
Oh, what is that?
You're going to go play.
I want to go check it out.
Well, you can't because you're not allowed in because it's sold out.
Well, that's not a good way to bring people into the game.
There should also be ways to get people into the game or ways for people to enjoy the game
in a casual way at these DLCs.
Or there should be a casual version of a DLC.
There could just be a Lurkana con, right?
Where it's just a convention and it's just there to have fun.
There's no events that are registered on Melee that maybe account towards any kind of points
or whatever system they end up looking at to try to get people into worlds.
And then it would let us do things like maybe make store championships have an invitation
aspect to them where if you win a store championships, you not only get a cool play map, but you
get an invite, you get a guaranteed spot at a Disney Lurkana Challenger event.
So it feeds up into a Disney Lurkana Challenger event.
So you have your locals, which feeds into your Challenger events, which feed into your
continentals, which feed into worlds, which is very similar to a lot of ways places do
regionals into continentals, into worlds, that kind of thing.
So there's a lot of space for the game to be more accessible.
I knew there's a lot of talk of other formats to come where you can kind of use the cards
to like scavenger hunt and things like that.
So I'm excited to see how much more accessible the game can become.
I'd love to see improved just communication.
Let us know if things are succeeding.
Let us know if things are failing and make sure that you're being transparent.
There's nothing wrong with us going, Hey, we were unhappy with the fact that so many
people wanted to play at the Lurkana Challenges and were unable to.
We were really unhappy with the fact that people wanted to get prize wall things and
couldn't.
We're really upset.
You know what I mean?
Or we take it as a great success.
We're able to put together a very successful first year.
Cause I think it was and they should celebrate their successes and not be afraid to be transparent
about the areas that they want to improve with us.
And I think vice versa, they should open it up to more community feedbacks.
It's something I just haven't seen a lot of is them taking and ingesting community
feedback as at least in a large enough forum for me to see it.
And I do tend to pay attention to Lurkana stuff.
So I think I would have seen it though.
Maybe I did in fact miss it, but I'd like to see that communication really build on
the whole.
I think they've done a great job of improving things just from the very first Disney Lurkana
Challenge event to the very last.
I think there was a marked improvement both in terms of attendance, prize wall fixes,
even just how prize tickets are allocated for the main events, the ability to get things
people all wanted that Cinderella play mat for good reason.
It's beautiful.
And not being able to get it at the Atlanta challenge event, basically without an absurd
amount of tickets trading or buying or some kind of way that wasn't actually tournament
approved to get made it kind of a sour note, but then they made it much easier to get by
the end.
I think a lot of people being able to enjoy the game a lot more.
I'd love to see them be able to put out more merch.
I want a Lurkana shirt.
I do too.
And I can get to these DLCs to get to use the prize tickets to get a Lurkana shirt.
So it'd be nice to see them open up to other avenues of merchandise and things like that.
Like the Lurkana logo on things is cool and interesting.
Think we're going to get the deck boxes in the portfolios with the launch of the next
set are Chasie's Island.
So people want that.
They want the Lurkana logo on things they want to.
They sold out at PAX, I believe.
They did sell out at PAX and the people want to rep the game.
So I think it's important to be able to let them do that.
One thing that has been obvious is they have been taking feedback noting set championships.
When set championships started, there were two mats and four promos.
Now there are eight promos.
So that's improved because there was that awkwardness where you made it into top eight,
but top eight was basically worthless.
It was only top four that mattered.
Now it feels like top eight cut matters.
Like who top eight cut.
Thank goodness I get a promo.
So at least you've covered that hurdle and then your top four.
Now that's a little awkward.
I don't know if it's like worth putting out four mats necessarily for it, but I mean,
I don't know.
Maybe it's a little cost ineffective to do that.
Maybe they just need to increase the cost of the kit slightly, which would then increase
the cost of the set champs.
Set champ prices are all over the place.
I feel like right now, I think it depends on the extra pricing each store is going to
do.
Yeah.
Cause I've gone to set champs that were negligible amounts of money and have seen ones that fired
for free all the way to like $50 for a set championship.
So I think it really depends on the way things are being handled by the store, the additional
prize outs, things like that.
Speaking of set championships, I think something that I would like to see is just them to have
a more impactful card for their promo.
Not a fan of Scar.
Oh, I love Scar.
Don't get me wrong, but I don't know if you agree with me or not, but it would be nice
to just have a card that everybody's playing a meta card.
Here's what I think the best path would be to kind of fix a couple of things is put
it out there for the community to pick.
Here are five cards that can be set championship cards, but we're just going to tell you what
the cards are.
They're cards that exist.
They're cards, you know, pick one.
Whatever one gets the most votes is going to be the set championship card.
That's interesting.
That makes it more exciting.
They could even give us cards in the blind to an extent though, it wouldn't solve the
playability problem.
So it's like maybe they play set champs to set behind.
I was going to say maybe if we were doing it for the last set is the set championship
card.
Right.
So yeah, Stitch was an excellent choice.
Then we had Ursula, which was fine.
Then we had Mirabelle, which was not desirable.
No, nobody really wants the Mirabelle.
Now we have Scar.
I mean, I'm happy because it's Scar, but super great design on the card in the mat.
But yeah, it's a piece of art and that's when it comes to the mats.
I'm more excited about how the artwork looks and they did a nice job.
Didn't care for the Mirabelle mat just because it's like they basically zoomed in really
closely on that Mirabelle and it was just a little awkward, but I am a big, big fan
of the Scar and how they blew the art out for the mat in that particular regard.
So I think a lot of improvements.
And I think one thing that Ravensburger has done consistently is improve.
It's clear they, while not being as transparent as I would like them to be, they are being
very receptive to community feedback.
So I'm really appreciative of that part of it.
And I hope that they continue to listen and apply as much of that feedback as they can
to make the game more enjoyable.
So to wrap this one up, I just want to kick it over to the podcast.
Our goals for this year to get into the content creator program.
We'd love to spoil some cards for all of you.
We do set review for every set, so be sure to keep an eye on our socials for when that
goes up.
It's not hard to figure out before the set comes out, but we'll launch it officially
there.
You'll be able to hear it announced.
We'd like to continue to grow the community.
We are just blown away with how much good feedback we get about these episodes and about
the topics we cover and the process in which we go through to make sure the episodes are
rolled out in a reasonable manner to all of you.
So we appreciate that feedback and hope that we can keep growing the podcast this year.
We have some loftier goals to grow our listener base because we want to connect with everybody
and we want to try to be a little bit better with reaching out to you.
I always feel like I'm bothering people on social media.
If you're on our feed or you're following us, I hate kind of bombarding people with
stuff, but I think we just kind of need to be a little bit more out there and just pop
in and say, hey, a little bit more regularly.
I think we need to do that.
And we would love some input for more episodes.
We love talking about Lorikana in all different aspects.
So if there's something you want to hear us talk about, a topic you want us to tackle,
something like that, let us know because we have a big list of things or ideas we jot
down on these notes that we take for each episode so that we can try to reference back
for a future episode.
And also what's the hot topic in the community?
We tend to talk about those things, but we want to hear what you want to hear about.
We want to talk about some things if you want more fundamental episodes about basics of
TCGs you want to give it to you.
If you want more topical episodes about what deck is hot in the meta right now, we want
to talk about these.
These are all things we talk about in life, so they're things we want to talk about with
you.
So please do let us know what you want to hear.
And thank you so, so much for making the first 26, the first year of this podcast, a really
awesome one for Sam and I.
Sam, this is your first official role on a podcast.
Yeah.
Sam, you've never co-hosted a podcast before ever.
Nope, just the background of some of yours.
Yeah, just other podcasts you snuck into.
So it's really, really exciting.
We hope that you'll keep listening.
And Sam, you and I are going to do one thing.
So keep questing.