The Emerald Steel Floodborn deck is all about discarding the opponent’s hand and ensuring they run out of resources. It’s by no means an easy deck to play optimally, so strap in as I explain everything you’ll need to know about this deck!
Gameplan
This deck wants to run your opponent’s hand out of resources using its discard tools. This can make it difficult for them to ink and even find the right lines in certain scenarios. The Emerald Steel deck also has access to card draw, so as the game goes on, you’ll find yourself with more ink and greater hand resources.
Discard Characters
Bucky – Squirrel Squeak Tutor can carry the matchup if your opponent doesn’t have the tools to deal with him. He’s only a 1-health but if he manages to stick on the board, you’ll be able to force opponents to discard cards from their hand every time you drop a Floodborn character.
So things like Donald Duck – Perfect Gentleman, Beast – Tragic Hero, Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood, and Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy will activate Bucky’s effect, forcing opponents to choose a card to discard.
As for Ursula – Deceiver, she immediately discards a Song of your choice on play. Ursula’s strength isn’t just the discard mechanic, but also her ability to reveal the opponent’s hand, giving you valuable hand knowledge on what your opponent is capable of doing on their turn.
Lucifer – Cunning Cat has a low stat line, so it’s not something you expect will stick on the board. However, it’s to discard 2 of the opponent’s cards or 1 action card that can be brutal for their resources. It also has 2 Lore, forcing opponents to swing at it and Banish it.
Discard Action
Another Discard tool that forces an opponent to discard a card while also drawing you a card. This a resource value swinger, that sets you up for a stronger late game.
Draw Value Engines
These cards offer card draws to ensure you outvalue the opponent in the game’s later stages. Prince John – Greediest of All is possibly the strongest out of the three, offering a card draw every time you discard a card from the opponent’s hand.
Donald Duck – Perfect Gentleman is giving a card draw for both players, but with your discard tools, you might be able to get rid of the opponent’s card and keep their value in check.
Opponents will be forced to damage Beat – Tragic Hero to shut down the draw ability.
Late Game Carries
Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood can be bothersome for opponents to Banish with his high Will Power. Every time he gets to Banish a character in a challenge, you’ll gain 2 Lore, bringing you closer to winning the game.
As for Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy, she’s dealing an AOE 1 damage, which can remove pesky threats off the board. Additionally, if she Banishes a character through a challenge, she’ll get to deal 2 damage to any other character. Tinker Bell is great for board control.
Both Robin Hood and Tinker Bell are Floodborn characters, meaning they synergize with Bucky to get the discard plan rolling.
Since we’re running Morph – Space Goo, we get to Shift cards, like Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood, Beast- Tragic Hero, and Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy getting to discard cards from the opponent’s hand on earlier turns if Bucky is on the board.
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo lets us return those high-cost characters and replay another, allowing us to reactivate Bucky’s effect and discarding more cards.
Damage Cards
Smash and Grab Your Sword find use as damage dealers, letting you Banish certain cards or help you put them low enough for your Charachters to challenge and Banish.
Removal Tools
Ring the Bell can Banish big threats that can be difficult for your characters to deal with. Since we’re running cards like Smash and Grab Your Sword, we could deal with active characters.
Benja is a 2|3 character that gains you 2 Lore. Its effect allows you to banish a chosen item, which can disrupt the opponent’s game plan.
Tips and Ticks
- Avoid challenging/questing with key characters like Bucky or Morph if the opponent has a character ready to Banish them. You want to keep them on the board for as long as possible until you get value out of them.
- Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood and Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy want to Banish characters when they challenge. This means if you’re up against a high Will Power character, make sure to let Robin Hood or Tinker Bell deliver the finishing blow.