State of the Format October

We are now at 27 Coconuts. The Black Cauldron arrived last week, shortly after Pete – Bad Guy. Two very different cards that I want to take a quick look at. There is also a little news about the beta.

New arrival: The Black Cauldron

I like getting my characters back from the discard pile anyway. The Cauldron now turns that into a deck idea: when one of your characters is banished, you may put it faceup from your discard under one of your Cauldrons in play. Its ability lets you play that character again later.

I am particularly interested in characters that do something when you play them. Get the effect once, use the character, then get another go after it is banished — I can work with that. It does take ink, though, and the Cauldron needs to stay in play. Protecting it could matter just as much as choosing which characters to bring back.

And then there is Pete – Bad Guy

Its ability is about the second action you play in a turn. An opposing character of your choice gains Reckless and cannot challenge your characters or locations until the start of your next turn.

That character can no longer quest. If it can challenge, it has to find a target elsewhere at the table. I find that interesting in multiplayer: you influence what happens between the other players while keeping your own board safe from that character. The regular character card fits the idea, since it also benefits from playing actions.

From 18 to 27

A lot has arrived since those first 18 Coconuts. September brought teams including Woody & Buzz Lightyear, Belle & Beast, Peter Pan & Tinker Bell, Aladdin & Genie, Darkwing Duck & Launchpad and The Madrigal Family. Those alone gave us six more reasons to dig through our collections again. I like how different these decks can be. At some point, of course, you do have to pick one.

Three still to come

Five more Coconuts were announced from the starting point of 25, one each week. We have two now, so there are three left before we reach 30. I am looking forward to them — especially to seeing whether there is an idea nobody quite expected.

How long will Coconut stay in beta?

Community manager Lars gave a clear answer in Sunday’s Sonntalk on ThisIsBeat: we still do not know when Coconut will leave beta. The announced 30 Coconuts therefore do not give us a release date.

Tim Schilder, one of the Ravensburger Lorcana developers working from Germany, is the contact for the Coconut community. Feedback is still being collected. If a game shows you that an ability causes problems, or that an idea works particularly well, pass that on. The cards are still being worked on. Our experiences at the table can help.

For now, I am looking forward to the next three cards. There is no harm in thinking about another deck.

As of 5 October 2026

Sources

• Official Companion catalogue · 27 Coconuts, retrieved 5 October 2026
• Ravensburger · Coconut Open Beta and weekly tests
• Ravensburger · Cauldron rulings and cards under items
• ThisIsBeat · Sonntalk with community manager Lars, 4 October 2026 · Episode on YouTube