Ursula’s Return Starter Deck Lists + Strategy Guide – What Starter Should You Pick For Set 4?

With the new Ursula’s Return set come two new pre-constructed decks ready to be played out of the box. Each has its own theme and unique way to win – but which should you choose?

The first of the two decks is Sapphire/Steel Stand Together. It heavily features Hero characters and Hero-focused abilities. They work to aid each other in challenging your opponents’ characters so they can’t keep enough out to quest.

Madrigal Magic is an Amber/Amethyst deck with nearly all of the Madrigal family – plus the family casa. It uses healing and card draw to keep the family together, with powerful options in the late game.

As stand-alone decks, they make for a great introduction to playing Disney Lorcana. You don’t need anything else to play them with friends or family. You can take them to your local Lorcana League – but check our upgrade suggestions first.

What Comes In A Disney Lorcana Starter Deck?

The decks cost US $16.99 / UK £17.99 / Canada $21.99 / Europe €19.99 and each one comes with: –

• A pre-built 60-card deck
• Two of the cards in the deck are foil
• A player’s guide booklet with rules and a quick-reference turn-order back page
• A small playmat
• One lore tracker token and 11 damage tokens
• One Ursula’s Return Booster Pack with 12 extra cards

All of the cards in the starter decks are also available in main sets, so they aren’t exclusive. That means you don’t have to buy them for a complete collection. The foils are the same as the foils in the regular sets.

Most of the cards in the starter decks are new, but some are from older sets. This is so the decks are well-rounded and playable straight away. You can look at the set number at the bottom to see which are new or old.

Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck Overview

Starter Deck Strategy

This deck is all about Hero synergy, and challenging into your opponent’s characters. With the effects of Support and Resist, you’ll be able to take out their characters while saving your own. You’ll be doing some questing to gain lore – but will find other ways to pick it up too.

Of the two starters, it’s probably the winner – but requires a bit more planning and thought for the best result. This offers a fun and engaging start to playing Disney Lorcana. You’ll pick up the rules and learn common effects but have a clear path to victory.

There are six cards that give Hero characters a buff in some way. Imperial Bow is very powerful and should be tried, but Phil and Anna – Braving the Storm are great here too. Use these buffs to quest when it’s safe, and challenge up (take out more expensive characters with your cheap ones) to gain the advantage.

Mulligan

You want a starting hand with some low-cost characters for turns 1 and 2, and ideally a few Hero’s and Hero-buffing cards. This deck has very few uninkables so don’t worry too much about them.

There is almost no card draw in the deck, so using Mickey Mouse – Detective allows you to ink without losing a card. Imperial Bow is an excellent card that makes small characters like Aladdin – Resolute Swordsman and Prince Philip – Gallant Defender very threatening.

Mulligan hard (put back cards to draw more) for them, trying to keep a turn 1 and 2 character if you have them already. If you have Ariel – Determined Mermaid and Seldom All They Seem or One Last Hope, that sets up a nice sing-and-draw combo.

Combos

Watch out for the Rapunzel – Appreciative Artist combo, where she gets Ward if your Pascal – Inquisitive Pet is in play. This can be very frustrating to deal with. Ariel allows you to play Flounder – Collector’s Companion a little cheaper.

Late game, playing Hercules – Beloved Hero exerted will make him very hard to remove. That frees up your smaller characters to quest. If you have either of the Anna’s out, those lore buffs can really make a difference.

Smash or One Last Hope combined with Imperial Bow can help you remove stubborn bigger characters. Mickey Mouse – Standard Bearer or the various Support characters can also do the same job.

Improvements

Both decks could do with a few more 1-ink characters to improve the chances of getting something down on turn one. Card draw like the staple Pawpsicle, Develop Your Brain, and the damage/draw combo of Let The Storm Rage On would fit in nicely.

There are a great range of Sapphire/Steel songs – especially things like A Whole New World or the various damage songs. For those, big Shift characters like Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood, Beast – Tragic Hero, and Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy are excellent (but expensive) potential singers.

Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck List

No.	Card	Ink	Inkable	Type	Set	Rarity
3	Aladdin – Resolute Swordsman	1	Y	Char	4	C
3	Robin Hood – Beloved Outlaw	1	Y	Char	3	C
3	Aurora – Regal Princess	2	Y	Char	1	U
2	Basil – Of Baker Street	2	Y	Char	2	C
3	Kida – Royal Warrior	2	Y	Char	3	C
3	Anna – Braving the Storm	2	Y	Char	4	C
3	Aurora – Tranquil Princess	2	Y	Char	4	C
3	Mickey Mouse – Standard Bearer	2	Y	Char	4	C
2	Mickey Mouse – Detective	3	N	Char	2	C
1	Prince Philip – Gallant Defender	3	Y	Char	4	R
2	Flounder – Collector’s Companion	3	Y	Char	4	U
2	Pascal – Inquisitive Pet	3	Y	Char	4	C
2	Ling – Imperial Soldier	3	Y	Char	4	U
3	Ariel – Determined Mermaid	3	Y	Char	4	C
2	Transformed Chef – Castle Stove	4	Y	Char	4	C
1	Philoctetes – No-Nonsense Instructor	4	Y	Char	4	R
2	Mulan – Armored Fighter	4	Y	Char	4	U
1	Anna – True-Hearted (Foil)	4	Y	Char	4	SR
2	Li Shang – Imperial Captain	5	Y	Char	4	SR
1	Rapunzel – Appreciative Artist	5	Y	Char	4	U
1	Hercules – Beloved Hero (Foil)	6	Y	Char	4	R
2	Sisu – Wise Friend	6	Y	Character	4	U
2	Seldom All They Seem	2	Y	Action • Song	4	C
1	One Last Hope	3	N	Action • Song	4	R
2	Smash	3	Y	Action	1	U
2	Dig A Little Deeper	8	N	Action • Song	4	U
3	Imperial Bow	2	Y	Item	4	U
3	Thebes – The Big Olive	2	Y	Location	4	C

Deck Stats

Unique Cards	Inkable / Uninkable	Chars	Items	Action/Songs	Locations	New	Old
28	55/5	47	3	7	3	45	15

Rarities

Common	Uncommon	Rare	Super Rare
37	17	5	1

Ink Costs

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
6	25	15	6	3	3	0	2

Amber/Amethyst Starter Deck Overview

Starter Deck Strategy

This deck aims to hold out to the late game when it can use powerful Madrigal characters to gain lore and keep your board alive with some magic trickery. In the early game try to quest as much as possible while keeping characters juuust hanging on – then use healing effects immediately.

The low-cost characters are fairly vanilla, but there are some more complicated effects in the bigger ones. With more card draw and healing it feels suitable for younger players with a more friendly game where they get to look at new cards regularly.

Get the Casa down early and move a character in fast. Try to use your characters to block your opponent’s high-lore characters from staying out in the early game – even if you need to trade (lose yours to take out theirs).

Do whatever you can to stay in the game and keep inking, then when you get to the 4 and 5-ink range you’ll have some options.

Mulligan

There are just three 1-ink characters and three of the 1-ink Casa Madrigal – Casita. Mulliganing hard (putting a lot of cards back to draw again) to have a play for turn 1 will make a big difference. But, this deck is thinner in the 2-ink range – so it can be a gamble.

HeiHei – Persistent Presence is a really helpful card that be used over and over. Play it as soon as possible. Poor Unfortunate Souls is a good choice to sing at turn 3 to control the early game, giving you time to set up. Prince Eric – Seafaring Prince is the only Bodyguard, and can be pivotal.

If you happen to get Ariel – Singing Mermaid and Look At This Family at the start, it would be worth holding on to them. But at only one copy of each, if you don’t have both – you’d be best to treat them just as ink.

Combos

Ariel and Look At This Family can be amazing, but another option is using Sebastian – Court Composer with another 3-ink character to sing it. The new Sing Together keyword on songs means characters can team up to sing them.

Using Sebastian or a 4-ink character to sing (or even just pay for) Lost in the Woods gives you a chance to challenge with your characters safely. Julieta Madrigal – Excellent Cook is great in theory, but the deck doesn’t have many cheap characters that can take two damage in a challenge and survive.

Using Bruno Madrigal – Out of the Shadows to bring back Dolores, Luisa, or Pepa means another use of their great “on play” abilities for the next turn.

Upgrades

Swap out some of your lower-cost characters to ones with higher willpower to get the best use out of your healing abilities. Rapunzel – Gifted with Healing is expensive, but a three-card draw on turn four is game-changing.

The newly revealed Alma Madrigal – Matriarch of the Family is probably the best single card upgrade for this deck. On play you search for any Madrigal and put it at the top of your deck, ready for the next draw.

In Amethyst, the “bounce package” is a really powerful and cheap set of cards. These are the Madam Mim and Merlin cards with effects when entering or leaving play. Friends On The Other Side is basically a must-have in all Amethyst decks too.

Pascal – Rapunzel’s Companion is a great 1-ink choice for turn 1. Consider Rafiki – Mystical Fighter and Pinocchio – Talkative Puppet and a great one-two combo.

Amber/Amethyst Starter Deck List

No.	Card	Ink	Inkable	Type	Set	Rarity
3	Agustin Madrigal – Clumsy Dad	1	Y	Char	4	C
2	Sebastian – Court Composer	3	Y	Char	1	C
3	Mirabel Madrigal – Prophecy Finder	2	Y	Char	4	C
3	Stitch – Alien Dancer	2	Y	Char	4	C
2	HeiHei – Persistent Presence	2	Y	Char	2	U
2	The Queen – Hateful Rival	3	Y	Char	3	C
2	Rolly – Hungry Pup	3	Y	Char	3	U
2	Félix Madrigal – Fun-Loving Family Man	3	Y	Char	4	U
2	Julieta Madrigal – Excellent Cook	3	Y	Char	4	U
3	Prince Eric – Seafaring Prince	3	Y	Char	4	U
3	Antonio Madrigal – Animal Expert	3	Y	Char	4	U
3	Marshmallow – Terrifying Snowman	3	N	Char	4	U
3	Elsa – Queen Regent	4	Y	Char	1	C
1	Ariel – Singing Mermaid	4	Y	Char	4	R
2	Dolores Madrigal – Easy Listener	4	Y	Char	4	C
2	Mickey Mouse – Leader of the Band	4	Y	Char	4	U
2	Camilo Madrigal – Prankster	4	Y	Char	4	U
2	Luisa Madrigal – Magically Strong One	4	N	Char	4	C
1	Isabela Madrigal – Golden Child	5	Y	Char	4	R
1	Pepa Madrigal – Weather Maker	5	N	Char	4	R
1	Mirabel Madrigal – Gift of the Family	5	N	Char	4	SR
1	Bruno Madrigal – Out of the Shadows	5	N	Character	4	R
2	Tick-Tock – Ever-Present Pursuer	6	Y	Character	4	C
2	Healing Glow	1	Y	Action	1	C
2	Poor Unfortunate Souls	2	Y	Action • Song	4	C
2	Heal What Has Been Hurt	3	Y	Action • Song	3	C
2	Lost in the Woods	4	Y	Action • Song	4	U
1	Look At This Family	7	Y	Action • Song	4	R
3	Casa Madrigal – Casita	1	Y	Location	4	C

Deck Stats

Unique Cards	Inkable / Uninkable	Chars	Items	Action/Songs	Locations	New	Old
29	52/8	48	0	9	3	45	15

Rarities

Common	Uncommon	Rare	Super Rare
34	20	5	1

Ink Costs

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
8	12	19	14	4	2	1	0

What Is The Best Ursula’s Return Starter Deck?

Of the two, we think the Sapphire/Steel deck plays better out of the box. It’s also probably the easiest to upgrade as both ink colors have good reasonably-priced options – or very expensive but excellent ones.

That said, both make a great pick-up for a pair of new players. They also come with extras for playing and a booster pack. For the cost, they’re decent value and a nice little package as a treat for card-game-curious Disney fans.

Many thanks to Ravensburger for providing the decks.

Have you tried the decks and have suggestions? Let us know in the comments below or ask any questions and we’ll try to help ASAP.