Disney Lorcana Rules Explained
What Is the Bag in Lorcana?
The bag is where triggered abilities wait until it is their turn to resolve. It isn't a stack: nobody responds, the active player resolves all of their abilities first in the order they choose, and only triggered abilities ever go in. This page covers every part of it, as of the Comprehensive Rules version 2.3.0 (October 16, 2026).
The short version
Players coming from Magic often expect a stack, where the last thing added resolves first and the other player can answer it. Lorcana has neither. When a triggered ability's condition is met, the ability goes into the bag. Once whatever was happening has finished, the active player resolves their abilities from the bag one at a time, in any order they like, until they have none left. Then the next player does the same.
Comprehensive Rules · Rule 7.7.1
"Unlike other zones, the bag isn't a physical space but is only where triggered abilities created by the game wait to resolve."
You don't need anything on the table to use it. Most players simply announce their triggers and resolve them, and the rules only matter when two abilities trigger together or both players have something waiting. The Lorcana turn structure page shows where the bag fits into a turn; this page goes through the bag itself.
What goes in the bag, and what doesn't
Only triggered abilities go in the bag (rule 7.7.2). A triggered ability starts with "When", "Whenever", "The first time", "The second time", "The next time", "At the start of" or "At the end of" (rule 6.2.2). Everything else happens straight away.
Banishing a character whose damage has reached its Willpower doesn't use the bag either. That is a game state check, a condition the game looks at after every action and step (rule 1.8.1). Abilities that trigger because of the banish, such as "When this character is banished", do go into the bag.
When the bag resolves
The bag waits for whatever is happening to finish. An ability that triggers in the middle of a turn action, an action's effect or another ability goes into the bag but doesn't resolve until that thing is completely done (rules 1.7.2, 4.1.5 and 7.7.3.1). The rules give the example of a song and Dr. Facilier - Remarkable Gentleman: the song's effect resolves in full, and only then does Facilier's "Whenever you play a song" ability resolve.
Before anything comes out of the bag, the game runs its game state check, and repeats it until nothing changes (rules 1.8.2 and 1.8.3). That is why a character banished by an action's damage is already in the discard pile when your "whenever a character is banished" ability resolves. A game state check also runs after each ability resolves from the bag (rule 7.7.4.3), so a player can reach 20 lore and win partway through the bag.
Challenges are the one place where the bag empties in the middle of an action. Abilities that trigger when a character "challenges" or "is challenged" resolve after the challenger is exerted and before any damage is dealt (rule 4.6.5). The Lorcana challenge rules page walks through every step of a challenge.
You also can't skip it. The active player can't declare the end of their turn while a turn action is in progress or anything is waiting in the bag (rule 3.3.2.1).
Who goes first: the active player, then passing the bag
The order is set by player, not by when each ability triggered. Rule 7.7.4 lays out the process:
Two details follow from that. First, an ability your opponent's card adds while you are resolving waits for your opponent's turn in the bag, however early it triggered (rule 7.7.6). Second, the bag can come back to you: if your opponent's ability makes one of yours trigger, the bag passes back once they finish. The rules' own Example B in section 7.7 shows that back-and-forth.
Nobody can respond in between. Only the active player can play cards (rule 4.3.2) or use activated abilities (rule 4.4.3), so on your turn your opponent's only part is their own triggered abilities. A card can say otherwise, because card text beats the rules (rule 1.2.1): the rules' example is Mufasa - Betrayed Leader, whose ability lets its owner play a character during your turn when Mufasa is banished.
Choices, "may" and "if" are decided as the ability resolves
Nothing about a triggered ability is locked in when it triggers. Every choice, including "chosen character", is made as the effect resolves (rules 1.7.3 and 6.1.3). A "may" is decided then too, and if you say no, that sentence does nothing (rule 6.1.4).
An ability written as "[Trigger], if [condition], [effect]" checks the condition only when it resolves, and does nothing if it is false by then (rule 6.2.4). Sleepy - Deep Sleeper reads "When this character is banished, if you have a Seven Dwarfs or Princess character in play, you may draw a card." If Sleepy is banished at the same time as your only other Seven Dwarfs or Princess character, the ability triggers, but when it resolves you have no Seven Dwarfs or Princess character in play, so you draw nothing.
Two worked examples
The first example shows the order between players and why it can matter. The second shows a player ordering their own abilities.
Captain Hook challenges The Witch
You have 0 lore. Your opponent's The Witch - Wily Woodcarver (Strength 4, Willpower 6) is exerted. It reads "Whenever this character is challenged, each opponent loses 1 lore."
You challenge it with Captain Hook - Conniving Pirate (Strength 3, Willpower 2), who reads "Whenever this character challenges another character, gain 1 lore." Hook is exerted, and both abilities go into the bag.
You are the active player, so Hook's ability resolves first. You gain 1 lore.
The bag passes to your opponent. The Witch's ability resolves and you lose 1 lore, back to 0.
Now the damage step: Hook deals 3 damage to The Witch and she deals 4 to him. The game state check banishes Hook. The Witch survives with 3 damage.
Had your opponent's ability gone first, you would have lost nothing from 0 lore (you can't go below 0, rule 1.11.1) and then gained 1. The bag's order is what leaves you at 0.
Captain Hook - Conniving Pirate
Attack of the Vine! #130
Triggers when he challenges, before damage.
The Witch - Wily Woodcarver
Wilds Unknown #74
Triggers when she is challenged, also before damage.
Singing with two song triggers in play
You have Mama Odie - Mystical Maven and Ariel - Determined Mermaid in play. Both read "Whenever you play a song": Mama Odie may put the top card of your deck into your inkwell facedown and exerted, and Ariel may draw a card, then choose and discard a card.
You play Heal What Has Been Hurt. The song resolves in full first: you remove up to 3 damage from a chosen character and draw a card. Neither trigger can happen in the middle of it.
Both triggers are now in the bag, and both are yours, so you pick the order. If you want Ariel's draw to come from the top of your deck before Mama Odie inks it, resolve Ariel first; if you would rather ink an unknown card and then dig, resolve Mama Odie first.
Each "may" is decided as that ability resolves, so you can look at what Ariel drew before choosing whether to use Mama Odie at all.
Floating and delayed triggered abilities
Some actions create a triggered ability that lasts after the action is gone. These wait outside the bag and only add an instance to it when their condition is met (rule 6.2.7).
"At the start of your turn" abilities have their own timing. They trigger in the Ready step but don't resolve until the Set step, after your characters dry and your locations give lore (rules 3.2.1.4 and 3.2.2.3).
Common bag mistakes
Resolving the most recent trigger first, as on a stack. The active player picks the order of their own abilities, and the other player's wait until theirs are done.
Resolving a "whenever you play a song" ability before the song's own effect. The song resolves completely first.
Choosing a trigger's target when it triggers. Targets and "may" choices are made when it resolves.
Treating an activated ability or an action as something the other player can answer. Neither uses the bag, and the opponent can't play cards on your turn unless a card says so.
Dealing challenge damage before "challenges" and "is challenged" abilities resolve. Those resolve first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the bag in Lorcana?
The bag is the place where triggered abilities wait to resolve. It isn't a physical zone. When a "when" or "whenever" condition is met, that ability goes into the bag, and once the current action has finished, players resolve what is in the bag: the active player first, one ability at a time in the order they choose, then the next player.
Is the bag the same as the stack in Magic?
No. The bag isn't last in, first out, and nobody can respond to what is in it. The active player picks the order of their own abilities, resolves all of them, and only then does the next player resolve theirs. Actions, activated abilities and playing cards never go into the bag at all.
Who resolves first when both players have abilities in the bag?
The active player, whose turn it is. They resolve every ability of theirs in the bag, in any order, including new ones their abilities add. Then the bag passes to the next player in turn order, and it can pass back if the opponent's abilities add new ones for the active player.
Do actions and songs go into the bag?
No. An action's effect resolves immediately when it is played, and then the action goes to the discard pile. Abilities that trigger because you played it, such as "whenever you play a song", go into the bag and wait until the action has finished resolving.
Can my opponent respond to my action in Lorcana?
Not by playing cards. Only the active player can play cards and use activated abilities, so your opponent's only part in your turn is resolving their own triggered abilities from the bag. A card can override that: Mufasa - Betrayed Leader lets its owner play a character on your turn because its text says so.
Can I end my turn with abilities still in the bag?
No. You can't declare the end of your turn while a turn action is in progress or while abilities are waiting in the bag. Everything in it resolves first.
When are choices made for a triggered ability?
When it resolves, not when it triggers. Targets such as "chosen character" are picked as the ability resolves, and an "if" condition written after the trigger is checked at that moment too, so the board can change between triggering and resolving.
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