Character Guide

Time your cards carefully with Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey; while he’s capable of building up counters on Magic Brooms quickly, he’s on the smaller side at 8 HP. Putting him in the middle of the fray just to hit a rival with a two- or three-point Magical Mob is generally a waste of Mickey’s cards and health. Remember that he’ll lose all his Magic Brooms if he’s KO’ed, so try to spend cards building up his stack when you’re sure you can move in for major Magical Mob damage. With the right hand of cards, you can add up to seven counters to Magic Broom in a single turn, adding an element of surprise to the already substantial Magical Mob damage output.

You’ll also find some ranged options in his deck when you’re not going full-speed into the middle of the fight. Shooting Star and Spellbinding Swirlpool allow you to deal damage at long distance with a smaller collection of status counters on any status effects Mickey might have. When in doubt, get Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey up to three counters, and start zapping rivals from halfway across the Arena.

Cards like Disarm and Bold Thievery are obvious in their intent; by banishing cards directly from a rival Summoner’s hand, not only will they not get to play their cards, they’ll never be able to use them to pay for Upgrades either. Dash Through Crowds doesn’t deny your opponent their cards outright, but it will set their tempo back by a turn, forcing them to lose a card temporarily, and to waste a draw on a card they already had. And between Blend Into the Bazaar and his Skill, One Jump Ahead, Aladdin can maintain the Stealthy status effect for much of the game, making it costly for your rivals to even begin to attack him. When played alongside teammates with low VP values, Aladdin can often run around the Arena indiscriminately, forcing the other Summoner to use what options they do have to focus on less valuable targets. To really take advantage of Aladdin’s Stealthy status effect, look to play Aladdin alongside other characters with a high number of Movement cards, like Demona.

If the “rogue” game isn’t going to plan, Aladdin’s got a backup strategy to rely on: “punching up”. He’s comfortable getting by with fewer cards in hand than your opponent, so you can take advantage of his Street Rat Strike to deal 4 damage in a single attack. It’s not uncommon to see Aladdin chain his One Jump Ahead into a Movement Phase Carpet Swoop or Stun and Run, followed up with Street Rat Strike for 5 or more damage on a single rival.

On its own, Ariel’s Trident Strike deals just 2 damage on the front end — the same amount of damage Ariel can deal with a Standard Attack, which requires no card expenditure at all. While Trident Strike can occasionally deal an additional point of damage to rivals adjacent to the primary target, you’ll often find that it’s simply more valuable pitched to boost a Standard Attack action. Likewise, it’s a perfect candidate to help fuel Ariel’s cards that ask you to discard an Action card for some additional bonus. Used this last way, it means you can be dropping two cards in the discard pile in a single Action Phase, getting you halfway to an upgrade while optimizing action efficiency.

Consider this: If, on turn 1, you were to draw your card for the turn, then play Complete Collection with the optional discard, then play or pitch a movement card during Ariel’s Movement Phase, then use her Dig for Thingamabobs Skill to heal a character and discard the top card of your deck, you’ll have put four cards into your discard pile… and you’ll STILL have two more cards in hand than you can hold at the end of the turn. Discard your extras, and that’s six cards in the bin, ready to help pay for an Upgrade. That kind of jumpstart can define the shape of a match real fast.

And all of that comes without even looking at the healing abilities Ariel brings to your team. Even without her own Upgrade, cards like Curative Bubbles and Medicinal Melody can keep allies in the fight beyond their normal duration, forcing rival Summoners to spend additional turns and resources to take down your offensive threats. Because of this, Ariel can be a solid complement to an combative game plan with one or two hard-hitting primary attackers, like Gaston or Aladdin.

The name of Demona’s Skill, Dangerous Force, might actually undersell what it’s capable of. Her deck is built to make playing two Demona cards in a single turn particularly accessible, which means that successfully firing her Skill multiple times in a game is absolutely attainable. The question is one of timing; do you leap right into the action, knowing that while she’ll maximize damage for a short while, she’ll likely get KO’ed by weakened-but-agitated rivals? Or do you hold off for a round or two, waiting for the moment where Demona can effectively finish off one or more rivals with a barrage of damage amplified by the Strong status effect?

The central piece of either strategy is Saeti Spell. When your goal is to chain together multiple cards in a single turn, having one that grants an extra phase in which to play those cards is incredibly useful. It can often be combined with a Movement card to give you a chance to activate Demona’s Skill before taking the extra action. This means that attacks made in that extra Action Phase after she grants herself Strong get the benefit of the status effect’s boost on the turn she acquires it.

Demona’s Upgrade, Dominique Destine, is likely the most efficient way to score “bonus” VPs in the Core Set. Once you’ve got the cards in your discard pile to upgrade her, make sure you’re holding both a movement card and an attack card to pitch on her next turn. It’s even better if those two cards have red or blue gears on them, as this will set up Demona to upgrade one additional time after she’s cashed in on those free upgrade VPs. Characters with plenty of Movement Cards in their decks are especially useful teammates for her, particularly Aladdin and Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey.

With a deck that contains ten (TEN!) magical-tagged cards, Dr. Facilier is a great teammate for characters who can put those magical cards to work for them. Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey can pitch any of Dr. Facilier’s cards with his skill, boosting the number of Magic Brooms he has at his disposal. Maleficent’s upgrade also keys off of any magical cards she plays or discards on her turn, converting whatever surplus Dr. Facilier cards you may be holding into a consistent source of pinpoint damage.

All of this comes attached to a character at the lower end of the Victory Point spectrum, meaning that even when you need to put him in the fray, he’s not going to set you back too far if he’s KO’ed. This gives Summoners the opportunity to play a character with a fantastically high reward-to-risk ratio — if they can plan his turns carefully and combo his effects to their full potential.

Gaston’s Skill allows him to Boast, potentially giving himself Strong for the turn. That increases damage output even further. On a perfect turn, Gaston will Boast successfully, move in on an isolated rival, Fury them for 2 damage, then use Sheer Bravado to hit for 7 more. There aren’t many characters in the game that can receive 9 damage in one turn and stay upright.

Gaston’s also got one of the most potent Upgrades in the game. Overwhelm lets him use his momentum from one knockout to set up the next one; he’ll recover 3 HP, move 2 spaces, and gain 1 additional VP for your team every time he puts a rival on the sidelines. Getting to that Upgrade quickly can turn him from a better than average fighter into an absolute wrecking ball, so pairing him with Ariel to make that Upgrade happen faster may well be worth it.

This is not to say Gaston comes without drawbacks; his hand size is 1, meaning that playing just a few aggressive turns in a row will leave you with a dwindling hand of cards very quickly. While they don’t have a ton of tactical synergy together, it may be worthwhile to partner Gaston with Dr. Facilier, if just for the extra card-in-hand the latter brings to your team.

Maybe counter-intuitively, Gaston is also an excellent partner for Demona. While Gaston’s Brawler and Sheer Bravado punish rival Summoners for spreading out their characters, Demona is equally as effective against clusters of rivals. This pairing gives you the means to have an offensive plan against nearly any kind of formation you’ll face.

Outside of Dragon Form, Maleficent’s arsenal is primarily about lining up her shots and maximizing them to hurt multiple rivals in a single turn. Entrancing Approach will help you set up optimal situations for Diablo’s Flight and Chain Lightning. Get those rivals arranged in a line or grouped in a cluster, and they’re primed to take 6 damage between them. Combine that with her Upgrade, Lingering Storm, and you’ve upped the total to 8 damage. And by spreading that damage out among multiple rivals, you’re ready to use Maleficent’s Skill, Forces of Evil, to restock your hand with cards.

With so much access to and focus on Magical cards, Maleficent is an obvious teammate for other Magical-centric characters like Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey and Dr. Facilier. She’s got versatility beyond that though; her ability to move rivals into isolated or clustered formations makes her a good pick to go with Gaston and/or Demona, and her focus on holding VP spaces makes Sulley a valuable partner who can keep pressure off Maleficent while she does her thing.

At a big 11 HP, Sulley’s got a higher health cap than any other character in the Core Set. Factor in Defensive Maneuver and his Upgrade, Devoted Protector, and his ability to grant himself Tough may as well raise his max HP by 2 to 3 points, because that’s how much damage he’ll be avoiding over the course of a round.

As big as Sulley is, his offense is generally just a little above curve. While Buddy System makes it fairly easy to wallop a rival for 4 damage, he’s only got two copies of it. Everything else in his deck caps out at a max of 2 points to a rival at a time. Even with Charge In tacking on an extra point of damage during his Movement Phase, he’s still not going to drop rivals the way Gaston, Demona, or even a broom-heavy Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey can. He’s not afraid to get in the middle and scrap, but he’s really at his best when he’s spending his Action Phase gaining Taunt and playing a more defensive “tank” role.

The teammates that most readily benefit from Sulley’s sheltering stance are often those that can deal a lot of damage, but usually do so at risk to their own low HP totals: Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey, Demona, and Maleficent. Many players may be tempted to pair Sulley with Ariel in order to heal him while he takes the brunt of the team’s damage, but as the two have the same gear set, it can make it harder to Upgrade either of them. If you do go with the blue-gear heavy Sulley/Ariel pairing, it’s advisable to play a character with a lot of yellow gears to complement them, like Gaston or Dr. Facilier.

While Afraid can deal damage, it is primarily a defensive ability, and should be used to discourage opponents from attacking your team. Fearsome Throw, being a Ranged attack, allows you to give an opponent Afraid at a distance, challenging them to come closer and take damage in order to attack on their next turn. Similarly, if Jack starts his turn next to an opponent, he can use Scary Face to give his neighbor Afraid before moving away, providing his enemy with the same conundrum. Not all status effects Jack gives out are bad, though; A Present For You! gives an ally a whopping 3 Strong, which can make a big difference if they have attacks that deal damage to multiple opponents.

Jack Skellington is easily paired with characters who give out a lot of status effects; Davy Jones in particular stands out, since he gives status effects to both allies and opponents, giving Jack a lot of flexibility when moving counters around. Similarly, a hero like Aladdin who gives himself Stealthy every turn can benefit from Jack putting more counters on Stealthy, making it easier and sometimes cheaper to maintain his game plan.

Once in play, Cauldron Born are versatile tools that can help your team in many ways. Often, the Horned King will want to use them to attack opponents well out of reach, as most of his most powerful cards use Cauldron Born as the source of damage. Additionally, the Horned King only has a Movement of 1, meaning he relies on his Cauldron Born to act in his stead. Perhaps their biggest strength, though, is in denying Upgrades; Our Hour Has Arrived! allows a Cauldron Born to deal 3 damage to a neighboring opponent and flip their Character Ability card to its starting side, essentially undoing an Upgrade they may have already paid the gears for!

The Horned King is best paired with characters who can get VPs on a fairly regular basis, allowing him to generate Cauldron Born quickly and efficiently. Stealthy characters like Aladdin who can sit on a VP space and generate a point every turn are particularly effective partners in this regard. And with the sheer number of magical cards at his disposal, characters like Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey and Dr. Facilier can be helpful pairings.

Mother Gothel works to control her opposition in all things. Deft Manipulation and Move in the Shadows allow her to move close to her opponents without risk or force her enemies where she needs them to go. Shadow Stiletto lets her strip powerful status effects off her opponents, making pesky effects like Taunt a thing of the past. And her magnum opus, Dire Dilemma, makes an opponent choose 2 of 3 effects, all of which benefit Mother Gothel in ways that will make your opponent wince. You’ll want to choose when you play Dire Dilemma carefully though, ensuring that whatever effects your opponent chooses, they swing the game in your favor.

While Mother Gothel can make the enemy run in circles, she’s not known for dealing a ton of damage in the Arena, meaning that you’ll need to pair her with characters that can pack a punch, like Gaston or Demona. And if you want to really lean into denying your opponent opportunities, pair her with the Horned King, who can make it so your opponent never has the opportunity to Upgrade their characters.

Typically, Summoners would find that having their characters affected by Cursed is a detriment, but with Davy on their team doing his thing, the downside of the effect can be mitigated, helping keep one of their most prominent characters going just a little longer. There is a challenge to running Davy’s Cursed strategy effectively, but the rewards that come with that risk are significant. His Do You Fear Defeat? card can deal significant damage, scaled up according to the number of characters with Cursed in play. Similarly, Forbidden Treasures can draw more cards at once than any other single card in the game, again capitalizing on spreading around as much Cursed as you can muster.

As his Summon The Kraken upgrade is one of the most potent in the game, Davy Jones works well with teammates that can fill your discard pile quickly, like Ariel. He also provides great support to characters looking for a lot of Magical cards in your deck, like Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey and Dr. Facilier. Characters that play into a status effect-heavy strategy are also generally good teammates for Davy Jones, as he’s got plenty of those to spread around.

Ocean Tiles serve two purposes within the strategies that Moana players may utilize. On the one hand, having the Tiles spread across the board will allow your team easy access to even the hardest-to-reach spaces, assuming you have a team of Oceanic characters. On the other, many of Moana’s cards gain benefits based on the number of those Ocean Tiles in play; for example, Chosen By the Ocean can allow you to deal 3 damage, heal 2 health, and earn you 1 VP (!) assuming that all of your Ocean Tiles are on the board when it’s played.

Beyond the Reef is perhaps Moana’s most dangerous tool. Being both a Movement and Action card, Moana can use it to move one space and deal damage equal to the number of spaces she moved over the course of her turn. Since you can use a Movement action before spending the card, piloting Moana through multiple Ocean Tiles in the process, Moana can deal upwards of 7 (!) damage with that single attack. It takes some planning and a little luck, but with the right battle plan you can practically KO an opponent who’s at full health, swinging the game in your favor.

While Stitch can become a damage-dealing tank by the end of the game, you’ll want to play him more cautiously until you get his Upgrade in play, which gives him ready access to No Punchbacks. Cards like Also Cute and Fluffy and Plasma Cannons give him ways to attack opponents safely while building up your gears, either through gaining Tough or attacking at Range. Many of his cards have multiple effects depending on how much HP Stitch has, allowing Stitch some flexibility when you plan his turns.

Stitch is best paired with characters that can support him early in the game, such as Ariel or Moana, keeping him going and giving him extra movement in an effort to build the gears for his Upgrade. Summoners will find he’s also a great fit with Davy Jones, who can use his ability to give allies Cursed a means of either manipulating Stitch’s HP to allow you to get the card effects you want or strengthening Davy’s engine by giving Cursed to a character who has Tough, preventing the damage it would otherwise do.

Being a hero with a lot of blue gears in her deck, Elsa has a lot of tools to slow down her enemy and keep them at a distance. She can call upon Bruni, Gale, and the Earth Giants to push rivals away, dealing them damage as they go. She can use Ice Magic to Immobilize her opponents, preventing them from moving on their next turn. And her Upgrade lets her freeze an opponent in place while drawing her a card. But she can just as easily play a more aggressive game; Show Yourself gives Elsa an extra Action and Movement Phase the turn that she plays it, allowing her the opportunity to have big turns when she needs them.

Elsa is unique when it comes to team pairings, as she benefits from all kinds of allies. On the one hand, she facilitates magical allies like Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey or Maleficent with her magical options and synergies. On the other, she can more easily draw non-magical cards, allowing her to support characters like Stitch or Buzz Lightyear who could use some distance from their opponents. Sometimes the ideal path is to build a team that balances magical and non-magical cards, giving Elsa access to the best of both worlds.

Buzz wants to keep his opponents at a distance, both for the purposes of his well-being and their detriment. Most of his attacks are either Ranged or push his opponents away from him, enabling his Laser Focus as often as possible. Not only that, but he has many tools to deal damage to multiple enemies simultaneously. Spinning Swing Kick allows him to deal 1 damage to all neighboring opponents before pushing them away from himself, whereas Rapid Fire allows him to deal 1 damage to up to three rivals — one 1 space away from him, one 2 spaces away from him, and one 3 spaces away from him.

Buzz works best with some range in the Arena, and characters that can give him that space make for the best allies. Characters like Mother Gothel or Maleficent can force your opponents away from Buzz, keeping him safe from harm. Characters like Gaston, on the other hand, can pressure your opponent to keep their characters in a tight group to avoid his devastating attacks, making it harder to strike at Buzz when it means putting one of their characters in harm's way.

Scar works well with his fellow Villains, with his cards becoming stronger the more support he has from other Villain allies. Close In allows his Villain teammates to move across the board with him, and Be Prepared makes a rival Summoner who has a character adjacent to a Villain you control lose a VP. His master plan comes together with his Treacherous Plot, a card that can be used on your opponent or ally. Dealing 5 damage to an adjacent character, the owner of that character earns 3 VPs, meaning you can attack your own ally for the free VPs or KO an opponent while giving them some extra VPs for their trouble.

When paired with other Villains, like Mother Gothel or Maleficent, Scar gets the most out of his cards, making it easier for him to control the board while further assisting his teammates. Villains like Gaston with high HP are very useful to attack with Treacherous Plot, giving you the VPs without defeating them, meaning you don’t give any VPs to your opponent in the process.