Images courtesy of Ravensburger
The newest set for Disney Lorcana, Archazia’s Island, will finally be available at local game stores on Friday. With it comes new dual-ink cards, which allow powerful cards to be slotted into specific decks, letting Ravensburger experiment with stronger cards that won’t necessarily warp the metagame. (Ironically, one of the most powerful cards coming in Archazia’s Island is a straight-up Sapphire card, but I digress.)
While some of the new dual-ink cards have obvious homes we’ll discuss here later, others feel like they’re still waiting for new sets to release to round out their color pairing. It’s a great start for what should be an exciting year for Disney Lorcana.
With the new set releasing soon, it’s time to get brewing. Here are some of the decks I’m most excited to play.
Ruby/Sapphire
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: Ruby/Sapphire will still be very, very good; it may even be Tier 0. But as a veteran card game player, I know not to count my chickens before they hatch.
So, what does a meta-warping deck potentially look like?
The beauty of Ruby/Sapphire is that the core is so strong. You have card advantage, removal, and solid threats that can win…
Wait, I’m being told I need to highlight a deck that actually has new cards in it? Oh, just a second.
Set 7 Traditional Ruby/Sapphire
4 Tipo – Growing Son
3 Sisu – Daring Visitor
3 Sisu – Empowered Sibling
3 Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories
4 Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker
3 Maui – Half-Shark
3 Maui – Hero to All
2 Madame Medusa – The Boss
2 Tamatoa – Happy as a Clam
4 Sail The Azurite Sea
2 McDuck Manor – Scrooge’s Mansion
2 Be Prepared
4 Vision of the Future
4 Brawl
2 How Far I’ll Go
3 A Pirate’s Life
4 Pawpsicle
4 Sapphire Coil
2 Vitalisphere
1 Hide Away
1 Let it Go
Let’s talk about some of the applications of Sapphire Coil. It makes your removal so much more effective. Have you truly lived if you never used a Sisu – Daring Visitor on Tamatoa – So Shiny!
Even without having Fisbone Quill, you can ink multiple times a turn with Sail the Azurite Sea, even drawing a card for your troubles to set up critical removal. This is why I’m not the biggest fan of running the eight-cost Tamatoa or even Lucky Dime; they’re too slow, and, especially in the mirror match, you risk having every card you play be removed. As a result, I prefer the McDuck Manor, with a single copy of Hide Away that could be bumped up to two if locations are difficult to deal with.
I was honestly surprised that the Lucky Dime package wasn’t more successful in testing mirror matches. Yes, you can play it for free when you quest with the new Tamatoa, but that doesn’t matter if you don’t have the time to quest, either due to it being immediately removed or the game being over. The format is still pretty fast, and the next deck is one reason why.
Amethyst/Steel
4 Merlin – Rabbit
4 Merlin – Goat
4 Chernabog’s Followers – Creatures of Evil
4 Diablo – Obedient Raven
3 Magic Broom – Illuminary Keeper
4 Madam Mim – Snake
4 Madam Mim – Fox
4 Calhoun – Marine Sergeant
4 Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate
4 Giant Cobra – Ghostly Serpent
3 Merlin – Crab
4 The White Rose – Jewel of the Garden
4 Fa Zhou – War Hero
4 Pete – Games Referee
4 Strength of a Raging Fire
2 The Library – A Gift for Belle
You might be asking where Doc – Bold Knight and Genie – Wish Fulfilled are. As good as these cards are, I don’t think it’s the best time for them.
Doc is more of a personal playstyle; whenever I see two in my hand, I want to scream. I’d much rather accrue card advantage over time. As for Genie, with how strong removal is in the format, I want to be able to draw cards on both sides. Nothing is more frustrating than to play a Genie and then watch him be banished to the discard pile.
Giant Cobra has been as good as advertised. Its aggressively priced body is impressive, even though it’s an Illusion that can be banished anytime it’s targeted. Even if you don’t take advantage of its 4/4 body, you can gain two lore when it enters by discarding a card. That means that Amethyst/Steel is now running 12 cards that gain lore when they enter, making it super aggressive despite its appearance.
I’m experimenting with Fa Zhou as well, as an additional lore game that can happen when challenging; plus, it combos nicely with Calhoun – Marine Sergeant!
Emerald/Steel
4 Diablo – Devoted Herald
4 Diablo – Maleficent’s Spy
4 Ursula – Deceiver
4 Ursula – Deceiver of All
4 Prince John – Greediest of All
4 Pete – Space Pirate
4 Pete – Games Referee
4 Morph – Space Goo
4 Beast – Tragic Hero
4 Sudden Chill
2 Hypnotize
3 Let the Storm Rage On
4 Strength of a Raging Fire
2 And Then Along Came Zeus
3 We Don’t Talk About Bruno
2 Hidden Cove – Tranquil Haven
4 Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate
Is Emerald/Steel back? It might be because of Pete.
I’ve seen quite a few variations that update the once powerful deck that is still trying to rebuild following the errata to Bucky – Squirrel Squeak Tutor.
The ability to go from Pete – Games Referee into shifting Pete – Space Pirate can be backbreaking for some decks. Not only does the new Pete turn off the ability to sing removal, and not only does he quest for two, but he is also a 5/5 with Resist one. You need to make a serious investment to banish him.
There’s a couple of other directions I’d love to take Emerald/Steel. Maybe we don’t need And Then Along Came Zeus! I’d also love to find a way to get Cursed Merfolk – Ursula’s Handiwork. Either way, Pete – Space Pirate is one reason why you should always play with new cards try different things; you never know what will end up working.
Sapphire/Steel
4 Mickey Mouse – Food Fight Defender
4 Calhoun – Marine Sergeant
4 Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate
4 Alice – Savvy Sailor
4 Belle – Apprentice Inventor
2 John Silver – Ship’s Cook
4 Pete – Games Referee
2 Pluto – Guard Dog
4 Cogsworth – Grandfather Clock
2 Gantu – Captain Crankyhead
3 Let the Storm Rage On
4 Strength of a Raging Fire
4 Pawpsicle
4 Fortisphere
3 McDuck Manor – Scrooge’s Mansion
4 Vision of the Future
2 Gantu – Experienced Enforcer
2 Bagheera – Guardian Jaguar
I should probably use this time to talk about Belle.
First, an admission: I don’t think this card is as good as other people do. Yes, the ability to play a 3/3 for free on turn one is powerful. Yes, it can sing Let the Storm Rage On and gives Sapphire decks their own version of Cinderalla – Ballroom Sensation. There’s a real cost here, though: you need three cards to make all this work, and even then, there’s no guarantee that it’ll lead you to victory.
Sapphire/Steel still struggles with the same issues it did last set: the lack of a solid board wipe.
For this reason, I still think Ruby/Sapphire is the preferred Sapphire deck, but Sapphire/Steel’s removal suite is far better now. Plus, it’s much better at dealing with aggro. I know the irony in saying that, given that I’m not running Along Came Zeus in this list, but something like Alice – Savvy Sailor into Tamatoa is super nice at protecting your endgame threats.
If it can find a way to keep Ruby/Sapphire at bay, then this might be the best deck in the format. I won’t hold my breath yet, though, especially since it looks like the new Gantu isn’t as good as I hoped. It’s a very capable deck, though, and its my preferred home for Lucky Dime.
Ruby / Steel
4 Mushu – Majestic Dragon
3 Maui – Hero to All
3 Maui – Half-Shark
4 Calhoun – Marine Sergeant
4 Fa Zhou – War Hero
4 Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate
4 Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood
4 Robin Hood – Beloved Outlaw
4 Mickey Mouse – Pirate Captain
4 Mickey Mouse – Food Fight Defender
4 A Whole New World
4 Strength of a Raging Fire
4 Goofy – Super Goof
4 Pete – Games Referee
2 Fan the Flames
2 I’m Still Here
2 One Last Hope
I’m not sure whether this deck will be good, but we’re going to try to make it work.
Normally, you’d expect Flynn Rider – Frenemy in here as a great way to get early lore and pressure your opponent, but the jury is out on how effective he’ll be this set.
Our baseline is the one that recently Top 8’d a 5K at South Side Gaming last month. It was pretty all-in on Maui – Half-Shark, but now we have more support, thanks to Fa Zhou and Mushu.
Throwing in A Whole New World, as well as the ability to sing it as early as turn three, gives us a nice way to mess with Ruby/Sapphire that’s been working on crafting their opening hand. It also means that’s our primary card draw, so there’s no need to deal with Beast – Tragic Hero. It’s possible that we’d want to add in Doc – Bold Knight, but this is a super early draft of what this deck would look like. Not to mention that it’s most likely still missing some pieces.
Still, it’ll be nice to play locally and at Set Championships.
What are you looking forward to building in Archazia’s Island? It’s an exciting time to be playing Disney Lorcana, and I’m excited to see what the best deck builders in the world can come up with.
Want more Lorcana content? Check out my picks for the best cards from Archazia’s Island. Or if you’re just starting, take a look at our guide to all the game’s keywords.
