List of Formats

Lorcana can be played in many different formats. There are currently a total of seven that have been officially acknowledged: Core, Booster Draft, Sealed Deck, Starter, Illumineer's Quest, Lorcana Gateway, and Pack Rush.

Core

Core is the default standard way to play Lorcana. It is played with two or more players sitting down with customized decks that they have constructed from their collections, and trying to get to 20 lore in order to win the game.

In Core, a deck must contain 60 or more cards, contain no more than 4 copies of any one card (except Dalmatian Puppy - Tail Wagger and Microbots), and have no more than 2 types of ink in it.

Booster Draft

In a draft, each player receives four booster packs. They each open a single booster pack and choose a card in it to add to their card pool. Then they pass the rest of the cards to the player on their left.

After receiving cards from the player on their right, the player must then choose a card from among them to add to their card pool, then pass the rest to the player on their left. This process continues until all of the cards are in the players' card pools.

Then the second booster pack is opened and the process repeats, except with the cards being passed to the right instead of the left.

After this, the process is repeated again for the third and fourth booster packs, altering direction each time.

Once each player has a card pool of 48 cards, they then must make a deck using only the cards in their card pool. In Draft, a deck must contain at least 40 cards, but there is no limit on the number of copies of a specific card, nor on the number of ink colors used.

Sealed Deck

In Sealed Deck, each player receives 6 booster packs and must open all of them. Then, they make a deck using only the cards found within these packs. A deck must contain at least 40 cards, but there is no limit on the number of copies of a specific card, nor on the number of ink colors used.

Starter

In the Starter format, each player receives a Starter Deck and must use the contents of that starter deck. Each starter deck comes with a booster pack, and the cards in that booster pack may be used, to replace any that are found in the starter deck itself.

Decks must be at least 60 cards, but there is no limit on the number of copies of a specific card, nor on the number of ink colors used.

Illumineer's Quest

In Illumineer's Quest, players team up to attempt to defeat Ursula. Her deck is found in the Illumineer's Quest - Deep Trouble product.

Player Rules

• Players take their turns together, simultaneously.
• Players may use a battleground in order to gain access to battleground abilities to use once per turn each.
• Players win the game when they ALL reach 20 or more lore.
• Otherwise, players follow traditional Lorcana rules, including using legal decks that follow all normal rules (60 card minimum, 4 copies per card at most, no more than two ink colors).

Ursula Rules

• Ursula begins the game with Ursula's Stolen Trident in play.
• Ursula always goes first. She does draw on her first turn.
• On Ursula's turn, after readying her cards, she first resolves all of the cards that are in play, in the order that they were played.
  • For items, she uses their abilities.
  • For characters, she always quests if able. If unable, she will do nothing, unless the character has Reckless, in which case, she will challenge if able. The players get to choose from among the legal possible challenge targets which character or location will be challenged. If there is no legal target, Ursula will do nothing.
• After resolving her cards, she then draws a number of cards depending on the difficulty setting, the number of players challenging her, and the amount of lore she has.
  • Easy Difficulty: Ursula draws 2 cards per turn in a 1-2 player game, and 3 cards in a 3-4 player game.
  • Normal Difficulty: Ursula draws 2 cards per turn in a 1-2 player game, and 3 cards in a 3-4 player game. This number increases by 1 at 10 lore in games with an even number of players, at 20 lore in games with an odd number of players, and again at 30 lore in games with an even number of players.
  • Hard Difficulty: Ursula draws 3 cards per turn in a 1-2 player game, and 4 cards in a 3-4 player game. This number increases by 1 at 10 lore in games with an even number of players, at 20 lore in games with an odd number of players, and again at 30 lore in games with an even number of players.
  • Extreme Difficulty: Ursula draws 3 cards per turn in a 1-2 player game, and 4 cards in a 3-4 player game. This number increases by 1 at 10 lore in games with an even number of players, at 20 lore in games with an odd number of players, and again at 30 lore in games with an even number of players.
• After drawing cards, Ursula will reveal them, one at a time. For each card revealed, she will attempt to play that card. If she has enough ink in her inkwell to pay its cost, she will play the card for free. If not, she adds it to her inkwell, face-down.
• On Extreme Difficulty, whenever a character of Ursula's would be banished, she returns it to her hand instead.
• If Ursula would ever have to make a decision, the players choose for her.
• Ursula wins the game when she reaches 40 lore.

Lorcana Gateway

Lorcana Gateway is a product meant for non-players to teach them how to play and become Illumineers. As such, the game includes a few simplifications to the rulebook, thereby making it a distinct format. This format is, of course, typically played with the pre-built decks found in the Lorcana Gateway product.

• For the first game only, players do not shuffle their decks, causing their decks to remain in New Deck Order.
• Players may not alter their starting hands.
• If a player wishes to place a card into their inkwell, they must do so as the first action that they take during their main phase.
• A player does not lose the game as a result of drawing a card from an empty deck.

Additionally, Lorcana Gateway has players begin with 30-card decks and gradually add to their decks as they complete various in-game goals. All cards that a player has access to must be used, meaning that they will go from 30 cards to 39 cards, then to 48 cards, then to 57 cards, and then to 66 cards.

Once players have obtained all of the cards, they are then told that a proper Lorcana deck has only 60 cards, and may then modify their decks accordingly to have that many.

Goals

The first pack of 9 cards to each player is rewarded when the following four goals have been met at least once in a game by either player:

• Quest with three or more characters in one turn.
• Challenge three or more times in one game.
• Quest and challenge on the same turn.
• Have a Hero and Villain in play at the same time.

The second pack of 9 cards to each player is rewarded when the following four goals have been met at least once in a game by either player:

• Play two or more action cards in one turn.
• Sing two or more song cards in one game.
• Use a song card that reduces an opposing character's strength. The cards in this product that qualify are Lost in the Woods and Seldom All They Seem.
• Use a song card that allows you to draw a card. The cards in this product that qualify are Friends on the Other Side and Go the Distance.

The third pack of 9 cards to each player is rewarded when the following four goals have been met at least once in a game by either player:

• Play three or more item cards in one game.
• Use an item ability whose cost includes exerting the item. The cards in this product that qualify are Dinglehopper, Lantern, Rose Lantern, Ursula's Cauldron, Medallion Weights, Shield of Virtue, Ice Block, and Scepter of Arendelle.
• Use an item ability whose cost includes banishing the item. The cards in this product that qualify are Triton's Trident and Vitalisphere.
• Use the Support keyword ability. The cards in this product that either have or grant this ability are Rolly - Hungry Pup, Mickey Mouse - Leader of the Band, Olaf - Trusting Companion, and Scepter of Arendelle.

The fourth pack of 9 cards to each player is rewarded when the following four goals have been met at least once in a game by either player:

• Play two or more characters using Shift in the same game. The cards in this product that have this ability are Pluto - Determined Defender, Stitch - Rock Star, Madam Mim - Rival of Merlin, Madam Mim - Snake, Minnie Mouse - Wide‐Eyed Diver, Aurora - Dreaming Guardian, Jasmine - Queen of Agrabah, and Olaf - Carrot Enthusiast.
• Gain 7 or more lore in one turn.
• Have a Hero, Ally, Villain, and Floodborn character in play all at once.
• Have each player sing, use an item ability, and play a character with Shift in the same game.

Pack Rush

In a game of Pack Rush, each player receives two booster packs. They must shuffle those packs together without looking at their contents, to form their decks. There is no limit on the number of ink colors in a deck. As the decks were made of two booster packs each, each deck contains 24 cards.

In a game of Pack Rush, each player begins the game with two cards in their inkwell, using the marketing cards from the booster packs to represent this.

Players only draw five cards for their starting hands, rather than seven, though they may still alter their hands, as per normal.

If a player attempts to draw a card from an empty deck, they shuffle their discard to form a new deck, rather than losing the game.

A player wins the game when they reach 15 lore.