In Disney Lorcana, Shift is an ability available for specific character cards that allows you to play powerful characters on top of other cheaper characters at a reduced cost.
It allows you to play the card with shift ability from your hand for a reduced ink cost. The amount of ink you need to pay will be generally lower than the regular cost of the card found on the top right side.
That being said, there are some conditions for the shift. First off, you need a character with the exact name already out in play.
If you want to Shift a character, for instance, say Stitch, you must have another Stitch card in play already, be it a Rockstar or a Carefree Surfer. This simply means you cannot use the Shift ability in an empty table.
The Shift ability is similar to evolution, or stages of cards in games such as Pokemon, and Magic: The Gathering.
The second catch of the Shift ability is that, whenever you shift onto an existing card, the shift card you played from your hand will overlay the card already present on the battlefield. It will also overwrite all its characteristics, abilities, and stats.
There are two particular ways to play a Shift Character. They are:
1. You can either choose to pay the cost for the Shift and play that character over the character named in the Y part of the ability. You should pay the ink cost.
2. Or You can play the character as a normal card without using its Shift ability or using ink. If you pay the regular ink cost at the top left of the characters, it is not played over another character. Just Played as normal.
How to Shift Over A Character In Disney Lorcana?
When you need to use the Shift ability, you need a character with the same name on the card out in play. Then the said character goes on top of the previous character and they will become a stack.
The strength, abilities, willpower, and lore values of the previous cards will no longer apply.
When it comes to Damage and Effects, the Shifed character does keep all of this Status from the card below out in play.
Also, other effects, abilities, and damage tokens carry over. For instance, if the previous card had one damage token and was exerted, the new card also carries one damage token.
If the previous card was provided with Reckless, Ward, or any other abilities, the new card carries over those abilities.
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One of the main advantages of using the Shift ability is being able to play a relatively cheaper character in one turn, and getting to play with a more powerful card in the next.
It also subverts any plans your opponent had for the cheaper character in their turn as it will be no longer in the player after Shift.
One major disadvantage of shift is that you effectively lose a character you fully paid for.
Does Damage Shift Over When Using Shift?
When you are using the Shift ability in Lorcana, every status of the previous card moves on to the shift, hence, the damage also shifts over.
Basically, all the properties of the base cards are taken over by the Shifting Card. The will include the damages and the exerted/ready status, as well as whether it is in the drying phase.
In addition to the takeover of properties, if a shifted card is returned to your hand or banished, so will the card you shifted onto.
Does Ink Color Matter When Using Shift in Disney Lorcana?
No, the Color of the Ink doesn’t matter for Shifting in Disney Lorcana. As long as you have got the name correct, the ink color doesn’t matter.
Remember, the damages and statuses of the characters always carry over to the shifted one. So if the character underneath was in wait for its ink to dry, the shifted character will do the same.
If the character below was targeted with an effect that prevents it from questing, then the character you shifted will also be unable to Quest.
Overall, the Shift Ability is an amazing addition to the TCG by Disney Lorcana.
