Disney has its hands in nearly every possible entertainment avenue imaginable, and trading card games are just one more way to engage with fans. With over 200 cards available in the First Chapter release of Disney Lorcana, Disney brings all of its iconic and classic characters to the world of card battling, complete with clever abilities.
The Mentor cards act how the characteristic suggests – these are cards that offer either protection for your characters, or provide inkwell benefits to improve your game. The characters in the Mentor cards are known in Disney lore for their selflessness and courage in the face of danger.
7 Gramma Tala, Storyteller
Gramma Tala doesn’t offer much in the way of Willpower or Strength (Lorcana’s versions of toughness and power), so she isn’t necessarily the biggest help on the field. However, just like in Moana, Gramma Tala gives you the ability to move on with her death.
Once she’s been banished, Gramma Tala will go into your inkwell facedown and exerted to become ink that you can use toward the cost of another card. Although every inkwell card only counts for one ink cost, this is still helpful at any point in the game, especially if you’ve played (and lost) Gramma Tala early in the game.
6 Mufasa, King of the Pride Lands
Mufasa, like a good King, has a Strength of four against your opponent. His Willpower is the second highest you can get from a Mentor, giving him an edge over others if you’re primarily concerned with this stat.
With Mufasa’s Willpower being so high, he’s a strong protector of his pack – or your cards, in this case. However, when compared to other Mentor cards, he has a high ink cost to do so little against your opponent or for your advancement in the game, so playing him will have to be strategic toward the end of the match.
5 Rafiki, Mysterious Sage
Rafiki is a great Mentor card to have early in the game because he’s cheap to play, and provides decent protection and damage for his cost. He won’t last as long as some of the other cards, but with his rush ability, you’ll be able to immediately challenge one of your opponent’s cards as soon as you put him in play.
While Rafiki isn’t going to be the Mentor that makes or breaks your overall game, he’s going to give you what you need in a pinch, particularly against your opponent.
4 Philoctetes, Trainer of Heroes
Philoctetes is low-cost, low Willpower, and medium Strength, making him ideal to play at the beginning of your game. As a Mentor with the Support trait, sending Philoctetes on a quest will allow you to give his Strength to another of your characters for the turn.
If you find his Strength isn’t going to be as beneficial for one of your other cards when Philoctetes shows up in your hand, you can add him to your inkwell. Since cheap playable cards, and the ink to play them with, is hard to come by in the early stages of the game, having Philoctetes in your deck can give you an advantage at the start, regardless of how you choose to use him.
3 Chief Tui, Respected Leader
Chief Tui is going to cost you a little bit more ink than others, and he doesn’t offer a lot of Strength against your opponent, but he has six Willpower to act as a strong shield. If you choose to use Chief Tui to gain lore, sending him on a quest triggers his Support trait, and will free up his Strength to give you another character of your choice for the turn.
This can be particularly helpful if you have lower-strength characters that you want to beef up for challenging your opponent’s cards, or if you have any characters with high Strength that you want to make next to invincible.
2 Merlin, Self-Appointed Mentor
Merlin’s ink cost is fair for his Willpower and Strength against your opponent, so you shouldn’t have trouble playing him at any point in the game as long as you have ink in your inkwell. Like Chief Tui, Merlin is a Mentor with the support ability, giving his three Strength to a fellow character card of your choice when he goes on a quest.
Since Merlin offers a few different ways to be useful in your hand, he’s a great Mentor card to have at the ready in your deck.
1 Maurice, World-Famous Inventor
Maurice doesn’t give a lot of Strength for his high cost, though he does have a great amount of Willpower, making him useful as a shield if nothing else. His best uses, though, are his abilities triggered once he’s sent on a quest for lore.
While questing, Maurice allows for Items you play in the turn to cost two less ink, potentially giving you more ink to play more Items. Then, whenever you play an Item while you have Maurice in play, you’ll get to draw a card into your hand, keeping your cards fresh and your hand from depleting.