7 best Lorcana steel cards in The First Chapter
Steel yourself for a win.
The best Lorcana steel cards rank as some of the Disney TCG’s mightiest, offering immense strength and questing power - even if you might have to wait an extra turn or two to play them.
Like their metallic ink colour suggests, steel cards are built to be tough, with strength and willpower stats that are often higher than their counterparts in other ink colours. Keywords such as Challenger - which boosts their strength when they attack - add to their imposing presence on the table.
Best Lorcana steel cards
- Beast, Hardheaded
- Mickey Mouse, Musketeer
- Captain Hook, Forceful Duelist
- Maui, Demigod
- Simba, Rightful Heir
- Hans, Thirteenth in Line
- Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy
Steel cards’ power means that they can typically cost more of your inkwell to get out, resulting in a slower route to victory than faster ink colours such as ruby. That said, their might means that once they’re out, they’re often there for good - making it difficult for your opponents to claw back victory once your best steel cards are unleashed.
Steel’s slower pace can make it a good ink colour to pair with sapphire cards, which can provide the extra ink you need to get big cards out earlier, or a faster colour such as ruby, which can provide some faster options earlier in the game.
Steel cards often pair well with some of the best item cards in Lorcana, which can help bring their cost down and boost their power further, and action cards that can provide a faster response to your opponents’ moves.
When it comes to characters, though, many of the best steel cards in The First Chapter can absolutely stand alone. Read on for the top picks that will help steel your deck for an unyielding win.
1. Beast, Hardheaded
Break stuff, profit
The First Chapter is notably low on easy ways to get rid of items from your opponents’ side of the table, making it difficult to break the effects granted by the best Lorcana item cards.
Beast, Hardheaded provides one solution, allowing you to use its Break ability to banish an item of your choice when he enters play. For five ink, it’s a very useful power to have, especially if you’re facing off against a deck that’s heavily reliant on items, such as sapphire.
Beast provides plenty past his entrance to the table, too, with four strength and four willpower to help in challenges, and two precious lore points when he quests.
That means you can bring in Beast, clear pesky items away and see off any characters - hopefully left weakened by their missing items - before gathering up some more lore. Win-win-win.
2. Mickey Mouse, Musketeer
All for one and one for all
Mickey Mouse, Musketeer joins fellow musketeer cards for Disney icons Donald Duck and Goofy in offering up a strong shield for the rest of your characters.
Like the other musketeer cards, Mickey Mouse, Musketeer has the keyword Bodyguard, allowing you to play it exerted and then force your opponents to challenge it if they’re able instead of another character. That effectively means as long as you keep the card exerted, you’ll have a line of defence in front of any precious characters you want to keep safe.
Mickey Mouse, Musketeer has the stats to absorb a few challenges, too, with seven willpower and two strength to dish a bit of damage back in return - not bad for a six-ink card with such strong potential.
There’s another benefit to keeping Mickey Mouse, Musketeer questing too, as he’ll give you two lore each time you quest. That means two lore and a solid Bodyguard each turn while he’s out.
On top of all that, Mickey Mouse, Musketeer will grant your other Musketeer characters an extra strength. With Donald and Goofy’s own Musketeer cards coming stocked with their own worthwhile abilities, it can make for a strong trio of characters when building your Lorcana deck.
3. Captain Hook, Forceful Duelist
Small but fighty
For its extremely low cost of a single ink, Captain Hook, Forceful Duelist lives up to its name as a powerful challenger you can have out on your very first turn.
Peter Pan’s pirate nemesis has a single point of strength and two willpower as his starting stats. That’s not much to speak of, but it’s in the card’s Challenger +2 keyword that it becomes far more notable.
Challenger +2 grants Captain Hook, Forceful Duelist an extra two points of strength when he challenges opposing characters, making his effective strength three when taking the fight to your opponent.
That’s significant on a single-ink card, allowing you to quickly clean away many early-game cards and stop your rivals from building up their board.
Captain Hook, Forceful Duelist isn’t just a fighter, either, with the potential to quest for a point of lore or add him to your inkwell if he emerges a little later in the game.
Either way, it’s a flexible, useful card to have on hand - especially in your starting hand - and present a problem to your opponents from the word go.
4. Maui, Demigod
A godly amount of strength, willpower and lore
On the opposite end of the scale from Captain Hook’s cheap challenging power is Maui, Demigod.
Moana’s deity won’t be appearing anytime soon during a match as the result of his costly eight-ink price tag, but he’s a fantastic investment to save towards - and can often bring the game crashing to a close when he finally shows up. (If he does appear early, you can always add him to your inkwell in an emergency.)
That’s thanks to Maui’s huge challenging power, with both eight strength and eight willpower - enough to banish most characters in the game and live to fight again - as well as the similarly massive three lore he grants on a quest.
Equipped with both challenging power and questing power, it’s maybe no surprise that Maui, Demigod doesn’t have any additional keywords or abilities - what’s here is more than enough to make this a true powerhouse card in steel. What can you say except, “You’re welcome”?
5. Simba, Rightful Heir
Kingly potential
The Lion King’s Simba appears on a number of the best Lorcana cards in The First Chapter, with his steel appearance on Simba, Rightful Heir no different.
For five ink, Simba brings a strength of three and a willpower of five to the table. The card can also quest for two lore, but it’s unlikely you’ll be using it just for that.
Instead, Simba, Rightful Heir’s I Know What I Have To Do ability can make challenging far more profitable. If the card banishes another card during your turn, you gain a lore.
While Simba, Rightful Heir’s three strength may not be enough to take down bigger cards by himself, paired with another hardy challenger, this can be the perfect way to finish off damaged characters and tick forward your lore count to victory while you’re at it.
6. Hans, Thirteenth in Line
Quest or challenge? Why choose?
Hans, Thirteenth in Line is a fantastically annoying steel card. He’s a perfect solution to the annoying question of whether to challenge or quest on a turn.
Hans costs four ink - which is achievable early-game, so you can quickly get him out - and can quest for two lore each turn.
The best part of questing is his Stage A Little Accident ability: every time you quest, you can deal one damage to an opposing character. That’s every single time. One damage can kill smaller characters or chip away at bigger ones, helping you clear your opponents’ boards while still bringing in the precious lore you need.
Plus, with three strength and three willpower, taking him out can nearly kill a lot of characters in the game and cost your opponents dear.
He may have been a devious villain in Frozen, but in Lorcana he’s never going to let you down.
7. Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy
A massive presence
Not only does she have some of the best art in the game, Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy is also an amazing card.
As far as costly steel options go, she’s the one to grab. Tinker Bell may set you back six lore, but compared to other expensive cards she’s a steal - and we’re not just talking about the colour.
Firstly, she has the shift ability, so you can place her on top of Tinker Bell, Tiny Tactician in steel, who is adorable, or one of the other Tinks in other colours. Using shift means you can bring out your Giant Fairy for just four ink instead.
Once you do, her Rock The Boat ability triggers, dealing one damage to each opposing character. Even one damage can really turn the game if it comes out when you need it most. After that, Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy can quest for two lore, which is a nice bonus.
If you choose to challenge, you get her relatively hefty stats of four strength and five willpower, as well as her Puny Pirate! ability. If she banishes a character she also deals two damage to another opposing character - that even includes characters who aren’t exerted. It can very much turn the tide in your favour when you need it most.
Ten out of ten, would be drowned by this fairy again.