Ruby Sapphire continues to crush the competitive scene in Set 5. This ramp deck creates opportunities to play higher-cost cards a turn or two earlier. It also has the card draw tools to ensure it doesn’t run out of value in the late game.
The list in the article won first place at the Lyon Cup, which cuts down on the Be Prepared due to Pete – Games Referee shutting down the play. It also doesn’t run Chicha – Dedicated Mother, but it’s a consideration to add if you want a draw engine.
Gameplan
1 Be Prepared
2 Brawl
4 Fishbone Quill
4 Gramma Tala - Keeper of Ancient Stories
4 Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker
2 How Far I'll Go
4 Ice Block
2 Kuzco - Selfish Emperor
2 Lucky Dime
3 Madame Medusa - The Boss
3 Maleficent - Monstrous Dragon
4 Maui - Hero to All
2 One Jump Ahead
4 Pawpsicle
3 Sisu - Daring Visitor
4 Sisu - Empowered Sibling
4 Tamatoa - So Shiny!
4 Tipo - Growing Son
4 Vision of the FutureRamp Cards
Ramp cards are a crucial part of this deck’s game plan, giving us more Ink, and allowing us to start playing our higher-cost cards earlier than usual. Having more Ink in the late-game means we get to set up multiple plays, which eventually, can be challenging for opponents to keep up with.
We usually want to play Tipo – Growing Son first for the early ramp and use him to sing One Jump Ahead on the upcoming turn, immediately putting us at 5 ink on turn 3.
If we don’t have Tipo – Growing Son on turn 2, we can for One Jump Ahead, ramping us up to 4 Ink on turn 3. This can be a setup for Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker as a follow-up play.
Lastly, Fishbone Quill is our best Ramp card, offering a ramp opportunity every single turn. This does mean we have to sacrifice a card from hand every time we use it, but with the deck’s draw potential, we can replenish our hand later on. Fishbone Quill can also be a target for Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker to banish and draw us cards.
Lastly, How Far I’ll Go is a bit of a high-cost ramp card, but we’re able to sing it with Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker or Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories. This lets us avoid spending 4 Ink to ramp and offers a card draw along with it. When looking at the top 2 cards of the deck, we get to choose which one goes to the Inkwell and which we draw.
Draw Engine
You’ll struggle with card value since Fishbone Quill is using a card from your hand to put in the Inkwell. This is where Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker is extremely useful, allowing you to Banish an Item to get two cards out of it. This replenishes your hand and gives you more options for future turns.
The list has low-cost Items such as Pawpsicle and Ice Block that can be played and then Banished by Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker for the additional card draw.
Vision of the Future lets you look at the top 5 cards of your deck and draw it. It’s great in this deck because of the 5 options it gives to ensure you have a powerful late-game plan.
Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories is a draw option, but we always prefer Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker over her for the draw potential since he can activate his ability every turn.
We’ll want The Early Item cards on the board as early as turn 1. Pawpsicle is a cycle card, drawing us a card and remaining on the board for us to either Banish Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker or heal a key character we don’t want it to get banished by an attacker.
Ice Block drops the Strength of a chosen character by 1, making it easier for you to challenge and banish it, or can set up combo plays with certain Characters like Madame Medusa – The Boss or Sisu – Empowered Sibling that need the target to be at a certain Strength for their effects to activate.
Removal Cards
Our valuable removal cards to control the board and ensure opponents don’t feel too comfortable developing their Characters. You want to Banish potential threats and disrupt the opponent’s game plan.
Brawl is a great tool to remove any bothersome Character that plays a pivotal role in the opponent’s game plan. Ursula – The Deceiver of All and Diablo – Devoted Herald are premium targets for Brawl to remove. It can also be an answer in the mirror matchup to banish Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker.
Madam Medusa – The Boss is our strongest play on 6 Ink, and there are plenty of 3 Strength targets for her to remove in the current meta. With Ice Block, we can put 4 Strength Characters in range for Madame Medusa – The Boss to remove.
Maleficent – Monstours Dragon can banish any Character you choose, nothing is safe from Maleficent – Monstours Dragon unless they have Ward. The Dragon sticks as a 7|5 big body on the board that can Quest for 2 Lore.
Sisu – Daring Visitor is a popular addition to Ruby Sapphire, having Evasive and can banish one of the opponent’s Characters with 1 Power or less. So it can shut down a specific strategy that the opponent is setting up and is powerful in the mirror matchup since it targets Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker. Sisu – Daring Visitor can be a shift target for Sisu – Empowered Sibling.
As for Kuzco – Selfish Emperor, he’s a tech card to remove an Item or Location from the opponent’s side of the board. You are putting it in their inkwell, which benefits them with the extra ink, but in most cases, removing that item or location can be a game changer.
Be Prepared is the strongest removal in the deck, and since we’re ramping, we’re capable of threatening Be Prepared on earlier turns. This shuts down the opponent’s domination of the board in the early/mid game and sets us up to take back the game in the later stages.
Sisu – Empowered Sibling, it can be shifted on 3-cost Sisu – Emboldened Warrior, joining the board, it can banish all characters with a Strength of 2 or less. It can be game crashing for certain decks and you’re still capable of Questing for 3 Lore.
The Game Winner
Tamatoa – So Shiny! is a win condition that can Lore for more depending on the number of items in play. It forces the opponent to close out the game as fast as possible or deal with Tamatoa – So Shiny!. However, that 8 Will Power can be a bit difficult to deal with.
Tamatoa – So Shiny! can return an item card from discard, so we usually want to get back Pawpsicle for that card draw and more Lore potential with Tamatoa – So Shiny!.
The Lucky Dime item comes in clutch to accelerate the Lore win condition, potentially winning the game the turn it drops. We want to use it on the Character with the highest Lore generation, basically either Tamatoa – So Shiny!, Sisu – Empowered Sibling, or Mufasa – Ruler of Pride Rock.
Mulligan
An early 1-cost item, preferably Pawpsicle so Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker can banish and draw cards off of it.
You want to look for your Ramp cards like Fishbone Quill or One Jump Ahead to start getting more cards in your inkwell as early as possible.
Card draw is important to have different options in the late game, so Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker is a card you want to see in your early hand.
Keep Inkable cards so we don’t run into scenarios where we can’t Ink.
Other Cards to Include
- Chicha – Dedicated Mother is another key resource generator that you’ll want on the board as early as possible. Every time you ink twice in a turn, she automatically draws you a card. This means inking normally, combined with ramp cards like Fishbone Quill, will trigger her effect, ensuring you don’t fall behind on resource value. In most cases, you’ll want to avoid Questing or Challenging with Chicha – Dedicated Mother unless absolutely necessary, as her draw ability is too valuable to risk losing early in the game.
- Scar – Vicious Cheater has Rush and can challenge twice if he manages to Banish a card on the first challenge. This lets you pick off two cards on the opponent’s field. If you keep Scar from getting Banished, your opponent has to commit a card to deal with him or they’ll be allowing you to Quest for two Lore on the upcoming run.
- Belle – Strange but Special can Lore for 5 when we’re at 10 Ink, creating a win condition when comboed with Lucky Dime.
- Mufasa – Ruler of Pride Rock is a powerful late-game win condition if he remains on the board for a full turn. On play, he allows you to return 2 random cards from your inkwell to your hand, providing valuable resources for the late game. However, Mufasa‘s true strength shines when he Quests—granting 5 Lore and readying all cards in your inkwell. So it’s crucial to use your ink first before Questing, as this sets up an explosive turn where you can overwhelm your opponent with a fully ready inkwell to make more plays.
Strengths/Weaknesses
- This deck can set up powerful high-cost plays earlier than expected.
- It doesn’t run out of value easily.
- You’re able to keep the board under control with your removal cards.
- It struggles against aggressive decks.
- Decks capable of discarding cards from your hand can slow your game plan immensely.