Disney Lorcana: Azurite Sea Release Date and Preview
Disney Lorcana’s sixth set, Azurite Sea, will be releasing in local game shops and hobby stores on November 15, 2024. It’s full retail release will be on November 25, 2024.
From what we’ve seen so far, Azurite Sea is looking like a compelling set. It focuses on an area of the Lorcana realm we haven’t seen before – that being the wide open seas – also called the Azurite Sea.
Such a themed approach to this set enables the game designers to lean heavily into storytelling for this set, and the payoff is a a bunch of characters and cards that feel like they were made for this set, and this set made for them.
Below, we’ll be getting into some of the backstory of Azurite Sea, while also showing you a sneak peek at a few of the best cards we’ve seen so far. Lastly, we’ll cover the best products that are coming out on release day.
So set your sails and grab your compasses and cutlasses. These seas are taming with dangers, but also adventures unmeasurable (and not to mention fun incomparable).
Azurite Sea set details and description
“Set your sights on the horizon! Following an ancient map, you’ll sail the beautiful yet unpredictable Azurite Sea. Joining you on board, and among this Disney Lorcana set’s 200+ cards, are friends from Big Hero 6 and Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers! Whether you face kakamora pirates or the whirlpool of a new mystery, your shipmates are ready to head bow-first into adventure.”
Azurite Sea will follow suit with the other sets from Lorcana to date by introducing over 200 new cards into the game. This time around, we’ll be getting two noteworthy properties included in those cards: Big Hero 6 and Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers. Rescue Rangers certainly fits the nautical theme of this set, but I’m not really seeing a huge tie-in with Big Hero 6. Not that I’m complaining – I like that movie just as much as the next guy.
Get ready for pirates!
Given its an expansion about the wide open seas, it’s really not a huge surprise that Pirate characters would be a focal point of this expansion. And while we may get a noteworthy new character classification in the form of “Robot,” it’s to the Pirate classification that I’m looking for the most excitement.
While I probably won’t build a pirate deck with the expectation that it’s going to be the most competitive deck in the world, building a cohesive strategy around pirates in this upcoming expansion is definitely something to be excited about.
Already, Ravensburger has spoiled many excellent pirate characters. Let’s take a look at a few of them below.
Amber/Ruby is your best bet for pirating in Lorcana’s sixth set
While I don’t have a crystal ball at my disposal, given what we’ve seen so far and what we have at our disposal to date, I think Ruby/Amber is likely going to be the top Ink combo pick for a pirate deck. While pirate decks in the past mostly leveraged Steel because of cards like Captain Hook and Long John Silver, I think Ruby/Amber Pirate decks are going to be all the rage following the release of Azurite Sea.
It’s not that other Ink types won’t work with the Pirate theming – it’s just they won’t likely be as popular right away. I mean, what Pirate aficionado isn’t going to want to try and combine a pirate Tigger with a pirate Jim Hawkins?
If you need more proof than my half-baked reasoning to prove the point – the Amber/Ruby Single Player Deck getting released in this set also features those two characters, and seems to be something of a pirate-themed deck straight out of the box.
Jim Hawkins is a powerful boon to Pirate decks
Jim Hawkins – Honorable Pirate is the main reason pirate players will be looking to Amber to build their nefarious schemes around. Strong stats and the Bodyguard keyword aside, Hire a Crew could be a very powerful play in pirate decks, especially if they run mostly characters.
Notable pirates in other Inks
This isn’t to say other Ink types won’t end up making it into the Pirate pantheon eventually. There are a handful of other powerful Pirate characters we’ve already seen.
Take, for example, Stitch – Alien Buccaneer. This card could pair very well with the Amber Pirate engine that is Jim Hawkins, while also working in tandem with a card like Mulan to help make playing high cost songs for free a possibility. For more on how this combo could work, see the article.
Counter the pirate meta with Captain Hook
If people playing Pirate decks gets too out of control, you have a handy ally in the form of Captain Hook – Underhanded. While somewhat useless outside the niche scenario of facing down a deadly pirate deck, Captain Hook does largely counter pirates, and makes taking him a pain given the fact he draws a card whenever challenged.
Big Hero 6 soars into the game
Lions and pirates and robots oh my! If pirates weren’t enough to scare you, don’t forget we now have artificial intelligence to deal with both in life and in game. While I fail to see how Baymax fits exactly into a set about the Azurite Sea, at least they give the characters some nautical backdrops.
The most intriguging card from that property has to be Yokai – Enigmatic Inventor. With Yokai you can achieve a lot of interesting things, like bouncing items for multiple use or playing bigger items early.
Top products to buy
The products for Azurite sea are largely the same as what we’ve come to expect from Lorcana sets to date. The biggest difference in this expansion is the Stitch Gift Set, conveniently coming out just in time for the holidays.
Stitch Gift Set
While I’m probably not a big enough Stitch fan for this gift set to overly tempt me, plenty of people are. Gift sets like these have been phenomenal in past sets, so I would expect the quality to be strong here. One thing that makes this product stand out from other Lorcana gift sets, however, is the Stitch binder that’s included. Stitch has played a big role in Lorcana’s relatively short history to date. I could see this being pretty cool for a lot of Lorcana fans trying to capture the magic of its first year all over again.
Starter Decks Changed to Single Player Decks
One bigger change that’s happened is that Lorcana is no longer calling their prebuilt decks “starter decks.” Instead, they are going to be called “single player decks.” This could just be to help people understand that these decks aren’t going to be all you need to play a game. Also, it could open the door to making these decks a bit stronger than the pretty basic fare we’ve seen so far.
Azurite Sea Trove
I can’t mention the best products money can buy from a Lorcana set without also highlighting the Illumineer’s Trove. These Troves have hit it out of the park each and every time, and I love collecting the unique dice and lore counters released in each set.
This Trove is especially cool because it features the characters from each Ink on each of the dividers, adding a little extra flare.
Azurite Sea verdict
Azurite Sea doesn’t look like a ground-breaking set. But we also don’t need another ground breaking set – this year has been filled with them. Instead, Azurite Sea looks like a ton of fun – exactly as the theming would suggest.
