7 best Into the Inklands steel cards in Disney Lorcana
Beneficial banishment.
Into the Inklands, the next set for Disney Lorcana, has been released and with it 204 more cards for players to put into their decks. A trading card game themed around Disney animated films and series, Disney Lorcana enables players to construct decks featuring some of their favourite characters, moments and places from across Disney animated history. A section of these 204 new cards are part of the steel ink colour type, which has a reputation for being highly defensive, with various aggressive elements mixed in.
Players who favour the steel ink type benefit from its characters often having high health stats, as well as abilities centred around even protecting themselves or other characters. With the introduction of the last Disney Lorcana set, Rise of the Floodborn, many steel characters also gained use of the Resist keyword: which reduces the amount of damage a character can take - with Into the Inklands continuing this trend.
Best Into the Inklands steel cards
- Kida, Royal Warrior
- Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom
- John Silver, Greedy Treasure Seeker
- Sheriff of Nottingham, Corrupt Official
- Robin Hood, Champion of Sherwood
- Little John, Resourceful Outlaw
- Simba, Fighting Prince
When it comes to recognisable characters found in the steel ink cards released for Into the Inklands, fans of Disney’s Robin Hood, Treasure Planet, Atlantis and The Lion King can rejoice. If you enjoy stopping your opponents in their tracks and being rewarded for banishment, then these seven steel cards in Into the Inklands should find their place in your next deck.
1. Kida, Royal Warrior
Give yourself a strong start
Fiercely protective of her underwater home, Kida from Atlantis displays her fighting spirit in this particular steel ink card. Costing just two ink to play, Kida, Royal Warrior has some good stats for its cost, particularly with the character’s three health. Where this really comes in handy is in the card’s Bodyguard keyword.
Bodyguard forces opposing challenging characters to target the card with this keyword, rather than any other character they might have otherwise had their eyes on. This means that Kida, Royal Warrior can provide some much needed defence early on to protect those cheap and weak characters with useful abilities: such as steel’s own Razoul, Palace Guard - which has plus two willpower when undamaged - or emerald’s Morph, Space Goo or sapphire’s Scrooge McDuck, Uncle Moneybags.
What’s more is that players can play Kida, Royal Warrior exerted - meaning that they can immediately put her in front of whatever baby character they want protecting, stopping their opponent from banishing them on their next turn and keeping them alive for that little bit longer. Though Kida, Royal Warrior isn’t the flashiest cheap card you can play, it could be the difference between pulling off your planned strategy and failure.
2. Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom
Large and in charge
A call-back to one of the most popular Disney Lorcana cards from The First Chapter - Mickey Mouse, Brave Little Tailor - Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom is a card featuring the large villain from the same animated short. Whilst the character is immobile when restrained, it doesn’t take long for the huge hooligan to break free from the ropes that bind him and wreak havoc once again.
This story-arc is reflected in the Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom Lorcana card. Costing just three ink to play, it seems that Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom is the greatest deal in Lorcana history until you read the character’s first ability - All Tied Up. With All Tied Up, Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom enters play exerted and cannot be readied up at the start of the player’s turn, meaning that the character is initially useless.
However, the character’s second ability, Break Free, readies Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom when one of the player’s other characters banishes an opposing character in a challenge. Therefore, if you pair Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom with a cheap character that has real challenge potential - such as Rafiki, Mystical Fighter or Helga Sinclair, Vengeful Partner - then you’ve suddenly got a six willpower and six health character ready to challenge potentially from turn three.
3. John Silver, Greedy Treasure Seeker
For the love of travel
One of the most iconic antiheroes brought to life in Disney’s Treasure Planet, John Silver’s affinity for travel is well represented in this particular Lorcana steel card. Costing three ink, John Silver, Greedy Treasure Seeker has some decent stats - three willpower and three health - and an even better ability.
Chart Your Own Course grants John Silver, Greedy Treasure Seeker an extra point of Resist for every location the player currently has in play. Resist is a keyword that means the character it’s granted to takes a reduced amount of damage when targeted, with that amount being determined by how much Resist it has. In the case of John Silver, Greedy Treasure Seeker - it really depends on how many locations you can play alongside the character.
Locations are a brand-new card type introduced in Into the Inklands, with it gifting the player passive lore every round and sometimes granting benefits to characters placed there. The steel ink type has three different locations, with the amount of locations in the other ink types varying. Locations are generally good to have in your deck to begin with thanks to the passive lore and the abilities that work with them.
By playing locations with John Silver, Greedy Treasure Seeker - not only do you ensure the character lives longer, each location will also grant the character the opportunity to quest for an extra lore. This means that you’ve potentially got a three-cost character netting you two or more lore every turn and simultaneously being a lot harder to get rid of.
4. Sheriff of Nottingham, Corrupt Official
Discard to damage
One of Prince John’s most loyal sidekicks, the Sheriff of Nottingham from Disney’s ‘70s classic Robin Hood absolutely loves his job. Stalking his way through Nottingham to fleece money from the poverty-stricken locals to give to his beloved ruler, the Sheriff sure does love taking taxes - which is subsequently reflected in this Lorcana card.
Sheriff of Nottingham, Corrupt Official is a four-cost card that doesn’t necessarily shine in the straight-up stats department: with a measly two willpower and an alright four health. Where it does shine is in its ability Taxes Should Hurt, which allows the player to deal one damage to a chosen opposing character whenever they discard a card.
This more than makes up for the card’s otherwise unimpressive challenge capabilities, as the way you utilise Sheriff of Nottingham, Corrupt Official is by pairing the card with other cards that enable you to discard cards. Play Sheriff of Nottingham with the likes of A Whole New World, which forces players to discard their entire hand to draw back up to seven cards and that’s potentially a huge chunk of damage in a single blow - especially as Lorcana has no hand-limit.
Alternatively, you could play Sheriff of Nottingham, Corrupt Official with Simba, Fighting Prince - whose ability, Step Down or Fight, gives players the option to draw two cards and discard two cards whenever they banish another character in a challenge, or The Queen, Disguised Peddler, which allows you to tap it to discard a character to gain lore equal to the amount of lore that character can gain.
5. Robin Hood, Champion of Sherwood
Swing to win
Though Disney’s Robin Hood is best known for his ability to trick Prince John and his goons into giving him money to give back to the poor, the wily fox is also an accomplished fighter. The steel ink type highlights this particular side of the dashing character with this Into the Inklands card Robin Hood, Champion of Sherwood. The combination of abilities and keywords on this card make it well worth including in your next steel deck.
Robin Hood, Champion of Sherwood usually costs five ink to play but if you already have another Robin Hood card out on the table - such as the new Robin Hood, Beloved Outlaw or Robin Hood, Capable Fighter - then you’ll be able to play this card for just three ink instead, thanks to its Shift keyword. This means that you can get a three willpower and six health character out for only three ink, which is an excellent deal.
Besides its fantastic cost-for-stat ratio, Robin Hood, Champion of Sherwood is also great thanks to its two abilities: Skilled Combatant and The Good of Others. With Skilled Combatant, whenever Robin Hood, Champion of Sherwood banishes another character in a challenge then the player automatically gains two lore. Though the character’s initial willpower isn’t incredible, you can boost it by playing cards that grant Support - which adds an amount to a character’s willpower total.
Even when being banished Robin Hood, Champion of Sherwood will give you yet another benefit in the opportunity to draw a card. However, this only happens when the character is banished in a challenge, so try to use it as much as you can before it’s potentially removed through direct damage.
6. Little John, Resourceful Outlaw
Bodyguard buddy
You may have noticed that there are quite a few characters from Disney’s Robin Hood on this list and although I am somewhat biassed towards the film - it’s one of my favourites - it’s entirely because they just happen to have some great cards in the new set. Little John, Resourceful Outlaw is one of these cards.
Featuring the big loyal bear himself, Little John, Resourceful Outlaw is a six-cost card with a decent range of stats including four willpower, five health and the opportunity to quest for two lore. However, this card is very much useful for two main reasons: its keyword and its ability.
Little John, Resourceful Outlaw has Shift four, meaning that it can be played for four ink instead of six if you put it on top of another Little John card. Your options for this include the likes of Into the Inklands’ own Little John, Robin’s Pal and older card Little John, Loyal Friend. Getting a good card for less ink is always a winning outcome but Little John, Resourceful Outlaw has even more tricks up its sleeve.
The card’s Okay, Big Shot ability means that whilst Little John, Resourceful Outlaw is exerted, the player’s characters with the Bodyguard keyword gain Resist plus one and the chance to quest for an additional lore. Bodyguard cards are a bit of a speciality of the steel ink type and, when exerted, force opposing characters to target them when challenging. They’re exceptionally useful when you want to protect a weaker card with great abilities.
By playing Little John, Resourceful Outlaw alongside the likes of Kida, Royal Warrior, Baloo, Von Bruinwald XII and The Prince, Never Gives Up, you can ensure that the character can quest for even more lore on its turn and takes less damage with the Resist plus one, which reduces the amount of damage the character takes by one.
7. Simba, Fighting Prince
Royal rumble
How do you make Simba, Lion King’s very own monarch to be, even cooler? You give him awesome tattoos, that’s how. Simba, Fighting Prince is a new Disney Lorcana card in the steel ink type and is an excellent representation of what makes this ink colour good. The card in question costs seven ink to play, which isn’t cheap but is definitely worth paying.
First things first, the stats for Simba, Fighting Prince speak for themselves - with five willpower and a whopping seven health, this is not going to be an easy character to take down. The two lore it gains from questing is certainly nothing to scoff about either. However, what really makes Simba, Fighting Prince a great steel card is its ability.
Step Down or Fight allows players to choose from two different benefits whenever Simba, Fighting Prince banishes another character in a challenge. Either, players can draw two cards, then choose and discard two cards from their hand or can deal two damage to any character they choose. Providing these two options gives players a wide variety of different ways to utilise Simba, Fighting Prince.
One option is to use the card’s ability for card draw and discarding in conjunction with other characters that benefit from card draw and discarding such as Gustav The Giant, Terror of the Kingdom, Jafar, Striking Illusionist and Maleficent, Mistress of All Evil.
The other option is to take advantage of the direct damage, which is good in its own right to either finish off a damaged character or get them within range to be banished but also works with the likes of cards that benefit from being damaged - such as Scroop, Backstabber - that benefit from healing damage, like Rapunzel, Gifted Artist, or from damage being dealt: like Beast, Relentless.