7 best Lorcana amber cards in The First Chapter
Golden picks.
Amber cards in Disney Lorcana are about supporting your other characters with helpful abilities and effects. That doesn’t mean that the ink colour doesn’t have plenty of power to offer, as the best amber Lorcana cards prove.
Lorcana’s amber cards often feature keywords such as Bodyguard, which directs your opponent’s attacks away from your more fragile characters, and have abilities allowing them to heal up your characters by removing damage. Effects like these make the ink colour one of the more defensive colours in Lorcana, preferring to protect your own cards and keep them on the field while they quest for lore and bring you closer to victory.
Best Lorcana amber cards
- Ariel, Spectacular Singer
- Stitch, Rock Star
- Mickey Mouse, True Friend
- Rapunzel, Gifted with Healing
- Heihei, Boat Snack
- Maximus, Relentless Pursuer
- Moana, Of Motunui
While many amber Lorcana cards will see their willpower outstrip their strength, there are a number of amber cards that offer enough power to take the fight to your rivals. Others have keywords such as Support and other abilities that allow them to add their strength to other cards, presenting opportunities to combine your cards’ power together to challenge opposing characters and slow down your opponents.
Amber excels in defensive play, making amber Lorcana cards a great choice in combination with any other ink colour in the TCG, but especially those that balance its high defence with plenty of strength.
Whether you’re looking to turtle up and quest for lore as quickly as possible, or wear down your opponents by keeping your characters fit and healthy, these amber Lorcana cards will have what you need. We've chosen a variety of ink costs and gameplay focuses, and kept the spotlight on characters - find our picks of the top action cards, song cards and item cards elsewhere - but every one of these cards shares a well-deserved place in your deck.
1. Ariel, Spectacular Singer
Little Mermaid, big potential
When picking small cards for an amber deck, you can’t go wrong with Ariel, Spectacular Singer. This little mermaid only costs three ink but the Singer keyword, which allows her to sing songs with the higher cost of up to five. She then has three strength and five willpower, and quest for one lore each turn - which are decent stats if you’re looking to challenge early in a game.
It’s Ariel, Spectacular Singer’s Musical Debut ability that really makes her shine like a Dinglehopper. When you play the card, you get to look at the top four cards of your deck, reveal a song from among them and then put it in your hand, placing the rest at the bottom in any order.
Being able to control what cards you get is really helpful, especially early on, and getting the right song at the right time could really change the pace of a game - plus, if you get a high cost song, you can easily sing it next turn once her ink is dry. Ariel, Spectacular Singer is easily one of the best amber Lorcana cards, proving under the sea is the place to be.
2. Stitch, Rock Star
A star performance
We could have picked this card for the art alone, but Stitch, Rock Star is also a fantastic card to add to any amber Lorcana deck. He costs six ink as standard, but has the shift ability allowing him to be played on top of an existing Stitch card for just four ink. With Stitch, New Dog costing a single ink, this means you can get Stitch, Rock Star out quickly - and, like all cards with the Shift ability, he can be used straight away if he shifts onto a ready card.
Stitch, Rock Star has three strength and five willpower, making him decently powerful in a challenge. Mostly, though, it’s his ability to look out for. Adoring Fans means whenever you play a character that costs two or less, you can exert them to draw a card. This allows you to get some serious use out of these characters when their ink hasn’t even dried yet.
You could build an affordable amber army around Stitch, Rock Star using some low-cost amber cards, such as the one-ink Lilo, Making a Wish who gets you two lore every turn. Stitch, Rock Star can himself quest for three lore each turn - so if you shift and get him out early, he can quickly get your points up. Consider us adoring fans.
3. Mickey Mouse, True Friend
Meet your deck’s new BFF
It’s not much of a surprise that Disney mascot Mickey Mouse pops up in a number of guises throughout The First Chapter. While in other ink colours Mickey is everything from a detective to a rogue, in amber he appears in a far more conventional form as the affable Mickey Mouse, True Friend.
Mickey Mouse, True Friend is one of the simplest amber Lorcana cards, as well as one of the most straightforward in The First Chapter as a whole. There are no special abilities to speak of, and the card’s stats run straight down the middle; the card costs three ink, has three strength, three willpower and can quest for two lore. It can also be added to your inkwell.
This middle-of-the-road nature is what makes Mickey Mouse, True Friend such an essential amber card in your Lorcana deck. The mid-range cost and power makes it adaptable to a number of situations, offering rock-solid ability whether it’s challenging or questing. Like Mickey Mouse, it offers few surprises - and that’s what makes it so easy to like.
4. Rapunzel, Gifted with Healing
Heal allies, draw cards and quest for lore - all on one card
Tangled heroine Rapunzel appears on several of the best Lorcana cards in The First Chapter, and Rapunzel, Gifted with Healing continues that trend.
For four ink, this amber card allows you to quest for two lore while putting up a stocky defence of five willpower. More importantly, when you play Rapunzel, Gifted with Healing, the card’s Gleam and Glow ability allows you to remove up to three damage from a single character, before drawing a card for each damage you remove.
The combination of lore potential, defence, healing and card draw on a single card with a reasonable ink cost makes Rapunzel, Gifted with Healing a standout amber card, and worthy of a place in any amber deck.
5. Heihei, Boat Snack
Cheap and delicious
Heihei, Boat Snack may look as foolish and weak as his on-screen counterpart seen in Moana, but don’t dismiss this helpful rooster.
While Heihei, Boat Snack’s stats are low compared to many of the other amber Lorcana cards on this list, his ridiculous cheap cost of a single ink makes him perfect for early turns. You can add the card to your inkwell or get him out on your first turn, offering up a decent willpower of two to hold off early challenges from your opponent.
Even more important is the card’s ability to lend its one point of strength to another character when it quests, using the Support keyword. Gaining a lore and having an extra point of damage to play with on your turn can make all the difference, making Heihei the best one-ink amber card to find in your opening hand.
6. Maximus, Relentless Pursuer
Attack without the risk
Maximus - Flynn Rider’s trusty steed in Tangled - makes a couple of appearances in The First Chapter’s amber card pool.
While Maximus, Palace Horse is a more expensive defensive card designed for soaking up challenges and supporting your other attacking characters, the armour-clad Maximus, Relentless Pursuer allows the equine to instead weaken your opponents.
When Maximus, Palace Horse is played, you can reduce a chosen character’s strength by two. With lower-strength cards, this opens up a window to challenge them with your other characters while taking no damage - or very little - in return.
Even beyond Maximus’ entrance, he comes well-equipped with three strength and three willpower - plus the option to quest for a single lore - making him a very dependable card for three ink. There’s always the option to add him to your inkwell instead, too.
7. Moana, Of Motunui
The Disney princess to lead all Princesses
Moana, Of Motunui has fast established itself as not just one of the best amber Lorcana cards in The First Chapter, but one of the most powerful cards of any colour in the set.
The five-ink Disney princess comes in strong with three lore points - accelerating you toward victory - which is protected by a massive six willpower. While Moana’s one point of strength isn’t much, you likely won’t want to be using her to challenge anyway. That’s because when she quests, not only do you get a whopping three lore, you can also ready up any other Princess characters you have on the field.
While the Princess characters readied using Moana, Of Motunui’s We Can Fix It ability can’t quest for the rest of that turn, this means you can use them to quest first, before readying them up to avoid being challenged by your opponent’s cards - or to be able to quest and challenge on the same turn, which presents huge potential with the right deck. Add in the likes of Ariel, Spectacular Singer and Rapunzel, Gifted with Healing and you’ll be looking at a seriously formidable amber Princess deck.
Moana, Of Motunui’s enormous power in a deck built around Princess cards is huge, and one of the most promising early strategies emerging from Lorcana’s The First Chapter card pool. Even if you don’t have any other princesses in your deck, her big stats and relatively low cost make her an essential card.