The First Chapter

The First Chapter is the founding set of Disney Lorcana. It released on September 1, 2023 at mass retail, following an early release on August 18, 2023 in local game stores and select Disney Parks. It contains 204 cards in the main set, plus 12 Enchanted cards.

This is where it all begins. You play an Illumineer, summoned to the Great Illuminary at the center of the realm of Lorcana. Using a tool called an inkcaster and the six magical inks, you bring glimmers to life: reimagined versions of Disney characters.

Your goal is to gather lore, a treasure that must be preserved and protected at all costs. As the game’s official presentation puts it, no ink is innately good or evil: both heroes and villains can be found in all six inks.

The foundations laid by this set

The First Chapter establishes the whole framework of the game: the six inks (Amber, Amethyst, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire and Steel), the Character, Action (including Songs) and Item card types, and the two core actions of questing and challenging. The first player to gather 20 lore wins the game.

Nine keywords launch with the game: Bodyguard, Challenger, Evasive, Reckless, Rush, Shift, Singer, Support and Ward.

The set breaks down into 72 commons, 54 uncommons, 48 rares, 18 super rares and 12 legendaries, with 36 cards per ink.

Starter decks and products

Three starter decks shipped at launch, a number never repeated since: Amber and Amethyst with Moana and Mickey Mouse, Emerald and Ruby with Cruella De Vil and Aladdin, and Sapphire and Steel with Aurora and Simba.

The lineup includes 12-card booster packs (6 commons, 3 uncommons, 2 rare-or-better and 1 foil), the 24-pack booster display, an Illumineer’s Trove and a gift set pairing Mulan and Hades in oversized format.

The most sought-after cards

The set’s twelve Enchanted cards are borderless alternate versions with rainbow foil, and all of them are characters. Elsa, Spirit of Winter is widely regarded as the set’s grail, ahead of Mickey Mouse, Wayward Sorcerer and Aurora, Dreaming Guardian.

Among standard cards, Maleficent, Monstrous Dragon remains the most coveted legendary.

A landmark launch

The game had been unveiled at D23 Expo in September 2022, with a six-card collector set sold on site whose copies later resold at considerable prices.

When it launched at Gen Con 2023, The First Chapter drew hours-long lines and stayed nearly impossible to find at retail for months before being reprinted. Ravensburger has since called Lorcana the most successful product launch in its history, with over a billion cards sold by the start of 2025.

Since September 5, 2025 and the release of Fabled, The First Chapter is no longer part of the Core Constructed format. Its cards remain playable in Infinity Constructed.