👑 Introducing Crowned Glimmer – A Multiplayer Variant for Disney Lorcana

🎭 Why This Format Exists

Feel free to skip ahead if you’re just here for the rules — but this format is close to my heart, and I want to share why it matters.

Crowned Glimmer wasn’t created because “every game needs a Commander variant.” Sure, there are similarities to Commander and Oathbreaker, and they’re obvious. But this format started as something I began testing back during Set 3, not because I felt Lorcana was missing something, but because I wanted more out of it.

As much as I love Lorcana (and I truly do), I found deckbuilding could become stale. I’d discover a card that felt exciting, flavorful, or full of potential — only for it to get written off as “unplayable,” even in casual play. Decks were too often defined by needing four copies of “the good stuff,” and truly unique builds struggled to stand out.

That same frustration is likely what birthed Commander in Magic. Crowned Glimmer is my answer to that in Lorcana.

🧩 Why Not Use an Existing Format?

Since I first started building this, I've seen other community-made multiplayer formats pop up. And I think that's a great thing. One of the best parts of card games is being able to customize how you play.

But after looking into those formats, none of them clicked for me. They didn’t quite scratch the itch I had — and they didn’t offer the same kind of focused creativity, signature plays, or flexibility that Crowned does. I wanted something that could become the default multiplayer format for events at Curiosity Games — something that’s easy to learn, exciting to play, and built around characters and stories.

So here it is.

👑 How to Play Crowned Glimmer

🎯 Win Condition

The first player to reach the required lore total wins:

• 2 players: 20 lore

• 3 players: 30 lore

• 4 players: 40 lore

• Add +10 lore for each additional player beyond 4

🧱 Deck Construction

• 60 cards total

• Singleton: You may not include more than one copy of any card with the same full name

  ✅ For example, you can include both Alice, Tea Alchemist and Alice, Savvy Sailor

• Choose exactly:

  • 1 Crowned Glimmer (a character with Shift)

  • 1 Signature Song

• These two cards define your deck’s Ink Identity

  • You may only include cards that share at least one ink with the Crowned Glimmer or Signature Song

🟨 The Glimmer Zone

• At the start of the game, your Crowned Glimmer and Signature Song begin in the Glimmer Zone

• This is a public zone separate from your hand, deck, discard pile, and inkwell

• These two cards remain in the Glimmer Zone until they are played

👑 Crowned Glimmer Rules

• Your Crowned Glimmer may be cast or Shifted from the Glimmer Zone following normal rules

• Each time it is cast or Shifted from the Glimmer Zone after the first, it costs +2 ink per previous play

  This additional cost is known as the Crowned Tax

• If your Crowned Glimmer would be placed into your:

  • Hand

  • Library

  • Inkwell

    you may instead choose to move it to the Glimmer Zone

• If your Crowned Glimmer is in your discard pile or another public face-up zone, and has remained there since the most recent state-based action check, you may move it to the Glimmer Zone

🎶 Signature Song Rules

• You may only play your Signature Song while your Crowned Glimmer is in play

• You may play it by:

  • Singing it with any eligible character, or

  • Casting it by paying its full ink cost

• After it resolves, it returns to the Glimmer Zone ALWAYS.

• Each time you play your Signature Song after the first, it costs +2 ink per previous play

  This cumulative cost is known as the Signature Tax

🛑 Negativity Check

“But this breaks X.” “This kills tribal.” “The card pool isn’t deep enough.” “I hate it.” “I think this, I think that…”

All of that is totally valid — and it’s okay.

This format isn’t here to replace how you play Lorcana. It’s not trying to be the “correct” way. Crowned Glimmer simply reflects how I enjoy the game with my friends, and I wanted to share it in case it resonates with anyone else.

If it’s not for you, that’s completely fine — keep playing the game the way you love.

If it is for you... welcome to the table. 🫱🎴

Thank you.

✨ In Closing

Crowned Glimmer is about unlocking creativity. It’s about making forgotten cards playable again. It’s about putting your favorite character at the center of your deck — and giving them a moment to shine.

Whether you’re a storyteller, a strategist, or someone just looking for a fresh way to play Lorcana with friends, I hope this format gives you a reason to build something new.

Build your deck. Choose your Glimmer. And tell your story.