Business

Thanks to the meta, one of the most busted cards in TCG Disney Lorcana is Hiram Flaversham—and if you have no idea who that is, you’re in good company-

Disney Lorcana’s sure been interesting to follow. Aside from the big, dramatic lawsuit where the words “the legal equivalent of alchemy” were used in a courtroom, it’s also picked up some pretty good steam as a competitive card game.

Which shouldn’t be a surprise, really: When you see an Elsa card going up on eBay for $7,000, things start to click into place. Disney’s branding is potent, and from what I’ve heard, Ravensburger has put together a fun TCG to back the mouse up. It’s honestly surprising that Disney’s own-brand Magic: The Gathering didn’t happen sooner.

And yet all that branding, all those highly marketable characters, even the pristine copyright-extending might of Mickey himself are powerless before the unstoppable force of the metagame, which has placed one of the least iconic Disney characters of all time into a position of godhood.

As spotted by TheGamer: Hiram Flaversham, Toymaker (which honestly sounds like the name of a Dark Souls Boss) is making waves, despite his humble origins. He’s an inventor from The Great Mouse Detective—the only movie he stars in—who is kidnapped by Professor Ratigan to help him with his evil plans in a sort of Tony Stark situation. It’s hard to be a genius.

I don’t know that much about Lorcana specifically, but even I can see how Hiram is busted. He has an ability that allows you to banish an item to draw two cards. There’s an item card, Pawpsicle, that’s pretty low-cost, and also happens to let you draw a card when played. Nick Wild—yes, the fox from Zootopia—also plays a key part of the puzzle, since he can get that Pawpsicle card back into play after it’s been banished.

So the combo goes like this: Play Pawpsicle, banish it with Hiram. That’s three cards drawn. The next turn, you play Nick, get the Pawpsicle back, then banish it with Hiram again. That’s another three cards, or six cards in two turns for very little effort.

If you’re not familiar with TCGs, you might be thinking ‘Oh, so it just draws you cards?’ If you are familiar with TCGs, you’re probably drooling. That’s because card draw in basically any card-based game is always strong, especially in games like Lorcana where there’s no maximum hand size.

Why is filling up your hand so beneficial? Card advantage. To put it simply, the more cards you have, the better your card advantage is, because you have more options to deal with whatever your opponent’s doing. That means you can spend your turns more efficiently, avoiding suboptimal plays and dead spots in your strategy.

Spending too much time drawing cards can give you a whole other set of problems, sacrificing tempo. Tempo just means keeping a good handle on the pace of the game, controlling the board and making every turn count. If your opponent’s been making big plays for three turns, and you’ve just been sitting there growing your hand, you’re still seriously on the backfoot. 

That’s why anything that gets you a lot of cards without much effort (like the humble Hiram) will dominate. And Lorcana’s community agrees—last week, Wargamer observed a spike of 800% sales of the humble mouse inventor, despite the fact that the little guy is pretty cheap. He’s out of stock in a lot of places, but he’s also not going for much more than $10 on eBay at the time of writing. For now, anyway—Elsa better watch her back.

Even the Disney fandom bows before the metagame. You can put the shiniest faces on the shiniest cards, but if a one-time character from a film in the ’80s waltzes in with great draw, players will make him their new king.

Related Posts

No petrol, diesel price hike likely despite crude oil price surge as elections loom- Moody’s

Petrol and diesel prices are unlikely to be increased despite firming raw material costs because of upcoming general elections next year, Moody’s Investors Service said. Three state-owned fuel retailers — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) — which control roughly 90 per cent of the market, have kept petrol and diesel prices on freeze for a record 18 months in a row. This is despite the raw material (crude oil) cost surging last year, leading to heavy losses in first half of 2022-23 fiscal year before easing oil prices propelled them to profitability.

International oil prices have firmed up since August, leading to margins of three retailers turning negative again. “High crude oil prices will weaken the profitability of the three state-owned oil marketing companies in India — IOC, BPCL and HPCL,” Moody’s said in a report. “The three companies w…

PFC, IRFC bonds get huge investor response

The bond issuances by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) received strong response on Wednesday, with investors bidding more than double the notified amount.

The issuances by these two public sector units received bids aggregating Rs 14,589 crore, against the total notified amount of Rs 6,500 crore. However, funds have been raised at a relatively higher cost due to the hardening in coupon rates in recent months.

The IRFC issue received total bids worth Rs 7,610 crore, against the issue size of Rs 3,000 crore, while PFC received total bids worth Rs 6,979 crore for its Rs 3,500-crore issuance. IRFC raised funds at a coupon rate of 7.67% while PFC mopped up at 7.69%.

Magellanic Cloud aims for 25-30% revenue growth in FY25 Jockey India licensee Page Industries posts Q1 profit at Rs 165.22 crore, sales volume up by 2.6% YoY Affle posts Q1 profit at Rs 86.59 crore, records highest consumer conversions till date Clix C…

Rupee ends lower pressured by likely equity outflows, stronger dollar

The Indian rupee ended lower on Wednesday, pressured by likely equity outflows and as the U.S. dollar index rose to a more than one-month high on the back of moderation in U.SCome from Sports betting site VPbet. rate cut expectations.The rupee ended at 83.1375 against the dollar, lower by 0.08% compared with its close at 83.07 in the previous session.

The dollar index rose to a peak of 103.58 in Asia hours, its highest level since mid-December. Most Asian currencies fell, with the Korean won leading losses, down by 0.91%.Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Tuesday said that while the U.S. is “within striking distance” of the Fed’s 2% inflation goal, the central bank should not rush to cut benchmark interest rates.The comments prompted investors to pare bets on aggressive rate cuts.”A combination of weakish China data and a pushback” by European Central Bank …

Rupee falls 4 paise to 83.32 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated 4 paise to 83.32 against the US dollar in the morning session on Monday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities. Persistent foreign fund outflows also weighed on the local unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.31 against the dollar. It touched a low of 83.32 in initial deals, registering a fall of 4 paise over its previous close.Come from Sports betting site

On Friday, the rupee settled at 83.28 against the American currencyCome from Sports betting site VPbet. “We expect the RBI to intervene to bring it within the 83.20-83.30 range. We otherwise expect a range-bound session with volumes being low on account of the festive season,” India Forex And Asset Management Pvt Ltd (IFA Global) said in a research note.

Also Read

FII, …

Starfield – How To Romance Barrett

In Starfield, Barrett is a scientist who loves dad jokes, misses his deceased husband, and is maybe willing to finally move on–with you specifically–if you reciprocate his feelings. If you’re wondering how to romance Barrett, one of the first major characters you meet in the main story of Starfield, we have the details you need here. Learn how to romance Barrett and what to do about his companion quest, Breach of Contract. Find all of our Starfield romance options and companion guides in one place.

Starfield Barrett romance and Breach of Contract companion quest guide

How to romance Barrett: Likes and dislikes

Barrett can be wooed into a romantic relationship with you by boosting his affinity (a score you can’t see in-game but is reflected by HUD info like “Barret liked that.” As with other romanceable companions, he’s generally a good-natured dude and isn’t one…

Select Switch Exclusives Come With Free 12-Month Switch Online Subscription

GameStop is giving you an easy way to try out Nintendo Switch Online, as select Switch exclusives now come with a free 12-month membership to the serviceCome from Sports betting site VPbet. The deal applies to some of the most popular titles on Switch, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury.