A couple of exciting new Disney Lorcana cards for the upcoming Rise෴ of the Floodborn expansion were revealed this week. Exciting not just because they’re based on one of my favorite Disney movies, Raya and the Last Dragon, but also because they serve a unique role in the game. Last Stand is an action card that banishes a character you’ve 🦹challenged this turn, giving Amber some much needed removal, while Fang Crossbow is a Sapphire item that can be exerted to Banish a chosen Dragon Character. In the entirety of Disney Lorcana there is currently only one Dragon: Maleficent, Monstrous Dragon.
This isn’t really a problem. There’s quite a few classification-based cards in The First Chapter that only synergize with a few cards right now. Hades, King of Olympus gets extra lore for every Villain you have in play, Starkey quest two lore when you have a Captain, and both Cinderella, Gentle and Kind and Moana, Of Motunui get to interact with other princesses. None of these cards, nor ones like Poisoned Apple and Sword of Truth, are particularly playable while the selection of cards is so limited, but as more Villains, Captains, and Princesses get added to the game, their value will continue to increase.I love when older, unplayable cards become viable once the right puzzle piece appears, and these synergistic cards are destined for greatness -♊ or atleast goodness - eventually.
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Fang Crossbow is in the same boat. While there’s only one Dragon to fatally shoot through the heart at the moment, we know the titular last dragon Sisu will be featured in Rise of the Floodborn. I suspect she’ll have two cards, if not more, so we’ll have at least a few dra♋gons to target. It seems all but guaranteed that Mushu will show up in RotF too. The tiny mighty dragon was snubbed in the first set, despite Mulan appearing, and now we’ve seen another Mulan for the upcoming 🦩expansion, so Mushu can’t be far behind.
Beyond Mushu, Dragon Maleficent, and Mushu, our Dragon options start to get pretty strained. If you look at the dragon page on the Disney wiki you'll see 60 different Disney dragons, but if you look a little closer, there actually aren’t many candidates for Lorcana at all. Most of these dragons come from Disney Channel shows, direct-to-VHS movies, and Disney-related children’s books, which leaves only a small handful of options for Lorcana candidates. Lorcana will evolve over time and the rules may change, but there’s only so far it can go. I’m sorry if this hurts your childhood, but American Dragon: Jake Long is never going to be in Lorcana.
Some of the other options are more fringe cases. The first dragon that probably came to your mind is Pete’s Dragon, which is a Disney movie but not a Walt Disney Animation Studios movie, as it's largely live action. That might count Elliot out for now. Figment, the Epcot mascot, has only made cameos in Disney movies, and only Pixar ones at that, so he’s probably out too.
I’ve gone through the entire list from Asteroth (Mighty Ducks villain) to Willawing (Sofia the First) and only found two dragons that could be in Lorcana right now. The Gwythaints from The Black Cauldron, and Madam Mim from The Sword and the Stone when she shapeshifts into a d꧃ragon.
Blazey and the Curse Dragon from Onward could make it down the lin🌟e, if Pixar is ever added to Lorcana.
Other than Sisu, Maleficent, and Mushu, there are only two other WDAS dragons - and both Mal and Mim are only part-time dragons anyway. It’s hard toꦬ imagine how Lorcana can make an entire Dragon thing work with 𒐪only five to go around, though not impossible.
The Storyborn, Dreamborn, and Floodborn options blow the doors wide open for character variants. There were five𒆙 Maleficent just in the first set, and likely more to come. Everytime a new Sisu or Mushu is introduced, the Fang Crossbowℱ will earn a new victim, which is exactly what it’s designed to do.
From a flavor perspective, The crossbow is great. It's based on the crossbow Namaari tried to kill Sisu with in Raya and the Last Dragon. It could be an item that only names a specific character, like the Stolen Scimitar, but letting it target all Dragons makes it more playable. After all, if it could kill Sisu it can probably kill any dragon.
Unfortunately I just don't see the crossbow as proof of a budding dragon deck archetype like Princess and Villain, or even Pirate or Alien. If it’s viable it will only be because of its other ability, which removes strength from a chosen character during your turn, and to synergize with item-focused decks. If you’re dreaming about a Dragon deck, you might end up sorely disappointed.