Tier 1 · Pull Up a Chair · Lesson 2 of 15
What you need to play
You can own a shelf of Lorcana cards and still not be able to start a game. Five things have to be on the table before anyone takes a turn. Two of them are not cards at all.
One deck is not a game
A Lorcana deck sold in a box is one deck, for one player. If you own one, you own half of what a game needs. The rules say so in their opening paragraph.
The Disney Lorcana TCG is a game played with two or more players. Each player needs a deck of Disney Lorcana cards that they'll use in the game.
Comprehensive Rules 1.1.1
In plain terms: two people, two decks, one each. You cannot share one deck and take turns out of it.
What makes a deck legal
Most people play the format called Constructed. You build that deck at home, before anyone sits down. It has four rules.
In the Constructed format, each player's deck must contain at least 60 cards, can't contain more than two ink types, can't contain more than 4 cards with the same full name, and can't contain any banned cards.
Comprehensive Rules 1.10.1.1
In plain terms:
- 60 cards or more. There is no upper limit. Nearly everyone plays exactly 60.
- Two ink types at most. Pick two of the six and stay there.
- Four copies at most of any one card, unless the card says otherwise (1.10.1.3). Full name means name plus version.
- No banned cards. Ravensburger keeps that list, and it can change.
The two things that are not cards
Here is the part nobody tells a new player. You need a way to track lore, and a way to show damage. Both are requirements, not extras.
Each player needs a method to track their lore totals. A player may use any reasonable method to do so that's comfortable for and accessible to them. Such methods can include, but aren't limited to, pen and paper, lore trackers, and the Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game Companion app.
Comprehensive Rules 1.10.2
In plain terms: a pen and a sheet of paper is a legal lore tracker. Nothing you buy is more legal than paper. Damage has one extra condition: it must be clear on every character, to every player (1.10.3).
- For lore: paper, a notepad app, a die, or coins.
- For damage: counters, beads, coins or dice, sat on each character.
Damage is the one people try to hold in their heads. Do not. It builds up all game. By turn six you will argue about a number neither of you wrote down.
Your method has to be clear to all players, so a memory is not a method.
You and a friend have one ready-to-play deck, a pen, paper and a bag of counters. What are you still missing?
- Nothing. You can share the deck and take turns with it. Each player needs their own deck (1.1.1). Sharing one is not a legal game, and both of you draw from your own deck anyway.
- A proper lore tracker. Pen and paper does not count. It does count. The rules name pen and paper as a reasonable method (1.10.2). The only requirement is that the number is always correct.
- A second deck, so that you have one each. Correct. Your trackers are sorted already: paper for lore, counters for damage. The deck is the gap, and almost every new player hits it.
Getting a legal deck without spending much
You do not need a large collection. You need 60 cards that follow the four rules above. A common card is exactly as legal as a rare one.
- A deck sold ready to play. One box is one deck. Two of you need two boxes.
- Cards you already have. Sort them by ink type, take your two biggest piles, count to 60.
- A borrowed deck. Plenty of players carry a spare, and asking is normal.
None of this is free. Sixty cards is a real cost, and this course never assumes you own them.
- Two players, two decks. One deck each.
- A legal deck is 60 cards or more.
- Two ink types at most, four copies at most.
- You must have a way to track your lore.
- Damage must be shown clearly to everyone.
Put a pen, some paper and a handful of counters into your deck box. Once. Then you never think about it again.
Rules quoted from the Disney Lorcana Comprehensive Rules, version 2.2.0, effective 9 July 2026. We check every claim against the current document, because rule numbers change.
Next: How to read a card. You know what a deck must be, so now you can learn what one card says.
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