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.
3 Banzai - Gluttonous Predator
3 Chernabog's Followers - Creatures of Evil
4 Clarabelle - Clumsy Guest
4 Clarabelle - Light on Her Hooves
3 Elsa - The Fifth Spirit
1 Emerald Chromicon
4 Friends On The Other Side
1 Kit Cloudkicker - Tough Guy
3 Lyle Tiberius Rourke - Cunning Mercenary
4 Madam Mim - Fox
4 Madam Mim - Snake
4 Merlin - Crab
4 Merlin - Goat
4 Merlin - Rabbit
3 Pegasus - Gift for Hercules
2 Sir Hiss - Aggravating Asp
4 Ursula - Deceiver
3 Ursula - Sea Witch Queen
2 You're WelcomeHow 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.
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.
Pegasus – Gift for Hercules is an Evasive character, capable of sneaking Lore.
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.
Sir Hiss – Aggravating Asp is especially useful for dealing with Evasive Characters. If your opponent has a Diablo – Devoted Herald on the board, Sir Hiss can Challenge and banish it, shutting down their draw engine. He also acts as a Singer, the Evasive keyword protecting him from most threats your opponent has.
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 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.
Draw Value
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.
Control Cards
Lyle Tiberius Rourke – Cunning Mercenary can give one of the opponent’s Characters the Reckless keyword, which can come in handy to force a low threat Character to challenge, putting at risk of banishing itself to one of your rested Characters or to stop your opponent from Questing with a specific Character to slow them down from winning the game.
You’re Welcome is a versatile card that allows you to shuffle an opponent’s chosen Character, item, or location into their deck. This makes it an excellent tool for dealing with non-character win conditions that our other cards can’t remove. However, the trade-off is that your opponent gets to draw 2 cards, potentially giving them more resources to work with.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.