Disney Lorcana’s Hyperia City introduces Ink Drops, single-use tokens that players can spend to generate 1 extra Ink. Instead of waiting for their Inkwell to grow turn by turn, players can use them to play a more powerful card early or fit an extra card into a later round. The regular resource system stays in place, but players now have another way to work around its pace.
The mechanic works similarly to Treasure tokens in Magic: The Gathering, and it has a broad reach: more than 50 cards in Hyperia City reference Ink Drops. Many cards generate them, while some have additional interactions depending on whether an Ink Drop was spent to play them. All six ink colors can produce the tokens, though Amethyst, Emerald, and Sapphire have the most options for generating Ink.
That adds a decision beyond what to put in the Inkwell. Do you spend Ink Drops as they arrive to get cards into play faster, or save them across turns for a bigger burst later? Nerdist’s review sees several viable strategies and expresses interest in how play develops around them. The change isn’t just access to more Ink; it gives players more control over when that extra resource becomes available.
Nerdist describes Lorcana’s growth over the past four years as steady, with small mechanical changes often having an outsized effect. In that context, it considers Hyperia City one of the game’s biggest mechanical swings. The set also introduces characters from Coco to Disney Lorcana and revisits Turning Red, Big Hero 6, Gargoyles, and Tale Spin. The review calls it an impressive endcap to 2026, opening up new possibilities for the game’s future.
A comparison with mechanics introduced in past sets helps explain that assessment. Sing Together lets players exert multiple characters to sing a song, while Dual Ink cards have multiple Ink types. The review argues that their overall impact was somewhat blunted because they appeared on only a very small cross-section of cards in each set, not that they left Lorcana unchanged. Ink Drops have a much broader presence in Hyperia City.
Nerdist argues that Ink Drops have too much versatility and mechanical potential to stay confined to one set, making appearances in future sets in some form likely. That’s an expectation, not confirmation of future sets. The new two-player Starter Set also heavily features Ink Drops, giving the review another reason to view them as more than a one-off experiment.
The two starter decks face different resource problems. Technically Terrific and Madcap Whimsy are two new starter decks for players to try as introductions to the game, and both heavily feature Ink Drops. Their approaches reveal a useful distinction, though: extra Ink helps pay for cards, but it doesn’t keep cards flowing into your hand.
Technically Terrific is an item-focused Emerald/Sapphire deck. One of its signature cards, Baymax – Amped Up, can be shifted by spending two Ink Drops, which the review describes as much cheaper than a typical 7-Cost Shift card. Another, Don Karnage – Debonair Pirate, damages all opposing characters when played and reduces opposing characters’ lore by one.
The rest of the deck depends heavily on item play, particularly to generate Ink Drops. Nerdist’s criticism is that it struggles with card draw, a problem the review also identifies in many other Starter Decks. That shortage limits its effectiveness: available resources are less useful when the deck can’t reliably supply cards to spend them on.
Madcap Whimsy addresses that problem. The review describes its substantial card-draw component as rare among Starter Decks, helping players cycle through their deck more effectively. It also emphasizes Ink Drops, with several location cards that automatically generate the tokens or let players draw a card.
That focus on locations and card draw gives players options each turn beyond drawing the top card and hoping for the best. Nerdist rates Madcap Whimsy as one of Disney Lorcana’s better Starter Decks because it provides multiple ways to draw cards. The praise rests on that practical advantage, not simply its use of the new mechanic.
Ink Drops also matter beyond cards that name them. Hyperia City’s two Iconic cards are Mickey Mouse – Best in Town and Cinderella – Unintentional Icon. Mickey is a 1-cost Amber card with 4 Willpower and 2 Lore, a combination Nerdist considers a must-have early play for Amber decks. He also generates Ink Drops early in the game, but there’s a catch: he produces them for every player. Helping your own opening turns could accelerate an opponent’s plans too.
Cinderella takes a different approach to resource acceleration. She lets players add an additional ink from their deck at the end of every turn. Despite their usefulness, the review doesn’t consider either Iconic card strong enough to serve as the signature card of a meta-relevant deck. Its assessment is more measured: both are versatile enough to merit consideration in future deck lists.
Belle – Exceptional Writer is an example of a card that benefits from Ink Drops without mentioning them on her card. Nerdist calls Belle extremely powerful, pointing to the interaction between her two abilities. Her Hyperia City Tips ability lets players play their next action for 2 less Ink. Her other ability, Hyperia City Secrets, rewards playing three actions in a single turn with 3 extra lore.
Making that combination work requires enough card draw to put three actions in hand and enough Ink to play them in one turn. With enough Ink Drops, players should be able to stockpile enough Ink to fully use Belle’s abilities, giving them another way to earn lore late in the game. The tokens don’t remove the need for card draw, which makes the starter decks’ contrasting strengths especially relevant.
Nerdist’s verdict is that Hyperia City is one of the most exciting Lorcana sets released in quite some time, despite not being particularly flashy in terms of hot cards or new rarities. Its enthusiasm centers on a potent mechanic it expects to affect play for years. Drawing on the crucial role Treasure tokens have taken in Magic: The Gathering, the review predicts a similarly substantial impact for Ink Drops and the start of a new era for Lorcana. The open question is whether future sets keep giving players reasons to save those tokens, spend them, and build around that choice.
Hyperia City will pre-release on October 16, followed by a wider release on October 23. Official product information is available at https://www.disneylorcana.com/en-US/product/hyperia-city.
