Emerald Amethyst is a popular meta contender in the Lorcana Meta, managing to top-cut multiple tournaments, and has been a safe choice for many top players in the competitive scene.
This deck balances the discard and recall mechanics as part of its game plan, bleeding opponents out of valuable resources and making it exceptionally difficult to keep up on the board.
2 Chernabog's Followers - Creatures of Evil
4 Cursed Merfolk - Ursula's Handiwork
4 Diablo - Devoted Herald
4 Flynn Rider - Charming Rogue
4 Friends On The Other Side
2 Jaq - Connoisseur of Climbing
2 Kit Cloudkicker - Tough Guy
4 Madam Mim - Fox
4 Madam Mim - Snake
2 Merlin - Crab
4 Merlin - Goat
4 Merlin - Rabbit
2 Mother Knows Best
2 Pegasus - Cloud Racer
4 Pegasus - Gift for Hercules
3 The Queen's Castle - Mirror Chamber
2 Tinker Bell - Most Helpful
4 Ursula - Deceiver
3 Ursula - Sea Witch QueenHow to Play
The Emerald Amethyst deck relies on early cards like Cursed Merfolk – Ursula’s Handiwork and Flynn Rider – Charming Rogue for the early discard mechanic before transitioning to Diablo – Devoted Herald to start outvaluing opponents.
The bounce cards, Madam Mim – Snake and Madam Mim – Fox let you replay other Characters to reactivate their effects. Cards like Ursula – Deciever, benefit from being returned.
Your opponent might end up relying on top decks to keep up with your plays and they’ll struggle to deal with your Evasive Characters if we manage to discard valuable removal Songs. Running out of cards will also make it difficult for them to Ink and set up stronger plays in the late game.
Turn 1 Plays
Early development is important for the Emerald Amethyst deck to gain a head start over the opponent or keep up with their plans. Chernabog’s Follower’s – Creatures of Evil is best suited if there’s a 2 Willpower Target we want to trade with. We can use this card to get early Lore and even banish it for a card draw to find more optimal mid/late game cards.
On the other hand, Cursed Merfolk – Ursula’s Handiwork doesn’t present much of a threat in terms of board control. However, Questing for 2 Lore forces the opposing player to deal with it as early as possible. In most cases, they’ll have to Challenge it with one of their Characters and Banish it. Although we’re falling behind on the board presence since the 0|1 Cursed Merfolk – Ursula’s Handiwork isn’t trading with their Character, we are forcing them to discard a card from their hand, putting them behind on resources.
Pegasus – Gift for Hercules is an Evasive character, capable of sneaking Lore. We rarely want to attack with him, he’ll stick on the board until we can shift Pegasus – Cloud Racer on it for 3 Ink.
Flynn Rider – Charming Roughe operates similarly to Chernabog’s Follower’s – Creatures of Evil, Questing for 2 Lore and if Challenged. This forces the opponent to discard a card from hand of their choosing.
Ursula- Deceiver operates differently, we have some control over which card gets discarded, but it can only be a Song. So we’ll play Ursula – Deceiver in matchups where we’re confident the opponent runs valuable Songs for us to discard. Ruby Amethyst’s Be Prepared is an example of a Song we want to Discard.
Bouncers
The list a lot of cards that can return Characters. Madam Mim – Snake and Madam Mim – Fox need a target on your side of the board to return in order to play them. Cards like Ursula – Deceiver, Merlin – Rabbit, and Merlin – Goat are Characters we can return since can benefit from bouncing them back.
Kit Cloudkicker -Tough Guy is another bouncer, but with a restriction. He can only return 2 or less Power Characters to the owner’s hand, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be your Character.
So if we’re looking to slow the opponent’s development or shut down a certain combo they’re planning, Kit Cloudkicker – Tough Guy is perfect for that role.
Mother Knows Best is our strongest removal card that we’ll usually use to remove a threat off the board. Ideally, we want to Sing it with one of our Characters and slow the opponent’s pace, making it exceptionally difficult for them to keep up.
Draw Value
This deck has the draw power to outvalue the opponent. Diablo – Devoted Herald is an Evasive Character, offering Lore and can chill on the board and draws us a card whenever the opponent draws a card during their turn. So when their turn starts, you’ll automatically draw one card.
Friends on the Other Side draw us two cards, helping us find important resources. We’d rather Sing Friends on the Other Side rather than spend the Ink to play it, and Diablo – Devoted Herald can Sing it.
Merlin – Rabbit draws a card on play and another when Banished. If we return it, we get extra draws, which works best in slow games where games stretch out.
Evasive Board
Tinker Bell – Most Helpful is an Evasive Character that can Quest for 2 Lore. Her true strength lies in her ability to give Evasive to another Character in play for the turn. This is useful when the opponent has an Evasive rested Character that we want to Challenge and remove.
If we manage to Shift Pegasus – Cloud Racer, we’ll give all our Characters Evasive, letting us Quest with all of them and make it a Challenge for opponents to deal with them. We’ll also be able to Challenge rested Evasive Characters.
Late Ursula
Ursula – Sea Witch Queen is our strongest late-game play. We usually want to Shift her through Ursula – Deceiver, letting us play her ok turn 5.
Ursula – Sea Witch Queen Quests for 3 Lore and Exerts one of the opponent’s Characters, allowing us to Challenge it. At the same time, we’re shutting down an opponent from Singing Songs, which could disrupt their game plan.
Other Cards to Talk About
Merlin – Crab and Merlin – Goat are other cards that benefit from being returned to hand. Merlin – Crab on play lets you boost one of your Characters Power by +3 when they go for the Challenge, making it easier for you to Banish high Willpower targets. As for Merlin – Goat, the Lore generation he offers, especially when returned to hand, can give you the little Lore you need to win the game.
Jaq – Connoisseur of Climbing can be bothersome for most decks, giving Reckless to one of the opponent’s Characters. This forces them to Challenge with that Character and shut it down from Questing for the turn. This is best played on weak Characters we want to remove off the board, such as Diablo – Devoted Herald.
The Queen’s Castle is a Lore generator, but it’s best played when your opponent doesn’t have the board power to Challenge and Banish it. Since we’re discarding their hand, they might struggle to have the necessary tools to remove it.
Other Cards to Include
Sudden Chill and Ursula – Deceiver of All are potential inclusions depending on the meta. Ursula – Deceiver of All playing a Song twice if she Sings it can be brutal for opponents, especially with Sudden Chill discarding two cards out of the opponent’s hand.
We Don’t Talk About Bruno is more of a control card to remove one of the opponent’s Characters from play and slow down their pace immensely. The discard ability is the cherry on top, helping run opponents out of resources.