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 return 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 Belle - Accomplished Mystic
4 Chernabog's Followers - Creatures of Evil
2 Clarabelle - Clumsy Guest
3 Clarabelle - Light on Her Hooves
4 Cursed Merfolk - Ursula's Handiwork
4 Diablo - Obedient Raven
4 Elsa - The Fifth Spirit
4 Genie - Wish Fulfilled
4 Go Go Tomago - Darting Dynamo
4 Kit Cloudkicker - Tough Guy
4 Madam Mim - Fox
3 Madam Mim - Snake
4 Merlin - Crab
4 Merlin - Goat
3 Merlin - Rabbit
3 The White Rose - Jewel of the Garden
4 Ursula - DeceiverHow to Play
The Emerald Amethyst deck relies on early cards like Cursed Merfolk – Ursula’s Handiwork and Ursula – Deceiver for the early discard mechanic. This deck is packed with early plays, so it can play aggressively, focusing on generating Lore and forcing your opponent to deal with your board and gain control.
The bounce cards, Madam Mim – Snake and Madam Mim – Fox let you replay other Characters to reactivate their effects. Cards like Ursula – Deciever, Merlin – Goat, and Merlin – Rabbit 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.
Diablo – Obedient Raven is another early Lore generation that forces opponents to target it and when banished you’ll draw a card, ensuring you don’t lose on resources.
Cursed Merfolk – Ursula’s Handiwork sets up an aggressive early start, generating 2 Lore and forcing the opponent to target and banish it. With a 0|1 stat line, the opposing player isn’t risking losing their Character when they challenge Cursed Merfolk – Ursula’s Handiwork, but they will have to choose a card from their hand and discard it.
Clarabelle – Clumsy Guest is a 1-cost Character that you can shift Clarabelle – Light on Her Hooves on turn 5. However, it also is a key card to banish one of the opponent’s Items. Clarabelle – Clumsy Guest does require you to spend 2 Ink to activate its effect, but it’s usually worth it to disrupt the opponent’s game plan.
Chernabog’s Follower’s – Creatures of Evil, Diablo – Obedient Raven, and Cursed Merfolk – Ursula’s Handiwork all ensure you don’t fall on resource value when they’re removed from play. So their goal is to give early Lore and still keep your resources equal to that of your opponents when they’re banished.
Early Discard
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.
Merlin – Crab and Merlin – Goat are 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.
Draw Value
Genie – Wish Fulfilled is one of your strongest plays, drawing you a card when he’s played. Genie – Wish Fulfilled Quests for 2 Lore so he’s a target for the opponent to remove immediately. However, the Evasive keyword can make it tough for them to remove unless they have a specific answer.
Merlin – Rabbit draws a card on play and another when Banished. If we return it with Madam Mim – Fox or Madam Mim – Snake, we get extra draws, which works best in slow-paced games.
Extra Lore Generation
Since this deck plays aggressively to gain Lore quickly The White Rose – Jewel of the Garden and Go Go Tomago – Darting Dynamo fit perfectly in this strategy.
When played, The White Rose – Jewel of the Garden gives 1 Lore, getting you closer to the 20 Lore. Although it’s not as strong as Merlin – Goat, it does cost less, making it easier to play and combo with your bounce Characters.
As for Go Go Tomago – Darting Dynamo, she’s an Evasive Chararter that Quests for 1 Lore. However, when you play Go Go Tomago – Darting Dynamo, you can pay 2 Ink to gain Lore equal to the damage on chosen opposing Character. So you can deliberately sacrifice one of your Characters into a high Willpower Character, damage it for as much as possible, and go for the Go Go Tomago – Darting Dynamo play and gain Lore. Gaining at least 2 Lore is usually worth it in the late game when you’re trying to close out the game as fast as possible.
Control Cards
Elsa – The Fifth Spirit plays a pivotal role in board control, letting you exert a Character when you play her. We want to exert a Character that we can Challenge and banish on the spot with one of our Characters. Since Elsa – The Fifth Spirit has Rush, she can attack that rested Character, but with only 2 Strength, you’re limited to only low Willpower targets. However, we can use Merlin – Crab to boost Elsa – The Fifth Spirit, or another Character’s strength to banish high Willpower targets.
Belle – Accomplished Mystic lets you move 3 damage Counters from your Character to the opponent’s Character, allowing you to either Banish that Character or make it easier for your attackers to deal with it. This also can protect one of your damaged Characters from the threat of getting banished by an opponent’s Character or damage card.
Late Plays
Clarabelle – Light on Her Hooves can shift on Clarabelle – Clumsy Guest for 5 Ink, having her on the board on earlier turns. Clarabelle – Light on Her Hooves is a draw engine if the opponent has more cards than you, allowing you to draw cards until you have the same number of cards as your opponent. This makes it easier to continue Inking in the late-game without falling behind on resourcing.
Other Cards to Include
- Banzai – Gluttonous Predator is a strong two-cost character, posing a threat as a Challenger but offers 2 Ink when it Quests, forcing opponents to remove it quickly to shut down the Lore generation.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
