several kinds of decks have remained dominant in competitions. Sapphire/Steel decks and Ruby/Sapphire decks have both appeared in numerous tournament finals dating back as early as the game's second set. Now, the game's developers have announced a pair of card bans with the intent of leveling the playing field.

As of April 8, "Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker" and "Fortisphere" are both banned from competitive play. "No card is ever designed with the intention of it not being played in competition," said Elaine Chase, Chief Marketing Officer for TCGs for Disney Lorcana publisher Ravensburger. "But in order to keep the meta-game healthy and challenging without it feeling stale or repetitive seeing the same strategies again and again, the TCG design team at Ravensburger made the difficult decision for the good of the game."

What The Bans Mean For Disney Lorcana

Bans Remove A Potent Card Combo From The Game

Both bans are somewhat unexpected. Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker was part of a two-card combo that allowed players to discard an item in order to draw two cards. As the Pawpsicle card could be pulled from the discard pile for free, the card created a potent card draw engine that could typically be recycled multiple times before opponents could knock the card out of play.

Meanwhile, Fortisphere allowed for a free card draw when played and could be discarded by paying one ink to give a character the Bodyguard trait. Fortisphere was likely taken out of circulation because it was a one-cost card that could be used as a way for Steel decks to draw up extra cards.

The ban is notable for two reasons: The first is that this marks the first time ever that Disney Lorcana has banned cards from play. It has targeted other cards via errata in the past but has never opted for an outright ban. The second is that the bans avoid removing Pawpsicle, a card that is used in most item-focused Sapphire decks. This is likely because there are specific cards that interact with Pawpsicle and only Pawpsicle, so that ban (while more obvious) was probably seen as more extreme by developers.

Our Take: A First For Disney Lorcana

Bans Are Extreme Measures — Let's Hope These Cards Were Worth The Trouble

Bans are potent tools in trading card games and are usually approached with extreme caution. It took nearly two years for Disney Lorcana to ban any cards, which is far more time than its competitor Star Wars Unlimited. While the number of Sapphire-themed decks was probably a bit too dominant, it's still surprising that the developers picked these cards as ban targets. Hiram Flaversham has been around since the earliest days of the game, so its removal will definitely be felt in competitive play, especially with the approach of the Disney Lorcana World Championships later this year.

Source: Disney Lorcana