The Red Amber Mufasa deck is finding more success in the Lorcana tournament scene! With most of the list running Character cards, this deck wants to throw down units and start questing to win games quickly.
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It’s obvious from the deck’s name that Mufasa is a core part of this deck’s game plan. We have cards like Pluto – Friendly Pooch, Lantern, and Doc – Leader of the Seven Dwarfs to drop the cost of the upcoming character we’re planning to play. This lets us play Mufasa a turn earlier and start generating Lore. We’re not too worried if Mufasa gets banished since it’ll activate his ability. Mufasa lets us peek at the top card of our deck and play it for free if it’s a character. And with 56 characters in the deck, chances are high we’ll have something to play.
Early Cards
Both Stitch – New Dog and Queen of Hearts – Impulsive Ruler are great early cards to start off the game. They’re also Inkable, so you don’t mind drawing them later. Queen of Hearts – Impulsive Ruler is especially useful to pick off Characters like Captain Hook – Forceful Duelist or Flynn Rider – Charming Rogue after they’ve quested, slowing down opponent’s plans.
Cost Reducers
We love cards that make things cheaper! They accelerate our game plan, giving us that aggressive start, while opponents try to shut down our plans. Pluto – Friendly Pooch and Lantern can be swapped out if you prefer other cards, but Doc is too good to pass up.
Starting quests with Doc means we can get Mufasa – Betrayed Leader into action by turn 4. After that, we’re off to the races! Lantern keeps helping us bring out big characters like Stitch and Maleficent.
The Core
Once Mufasa – Betrayed Leader hits the field, it’s game on! In most cases, you’re the aggressor, you want to quest, gain Lore, and force opponents to challenge your characters. The same goes with Mufasa, opponents can’t ignore the 2 Lore he gives and will force them to banish him.
This only plays into your plan, letting you play the top character in your deck and keeping the Lore generation a threat. We have 17 high-cost Characters that we’re aiming to find at the top of our deck. Each has a unique effect that can either draw you more cards, offer a lot of Lore generation, or control the board.
Evasive Lore
Sneaking Lore and putting opponents in panic mode is one way I like playing Lorcana. Minnie Mouse – Stylish Surfer and Pongo – Ol’ Rascal give you 2 Lore each when questing with. Having Evasive means any random character can’t challenge them. Your opponents will need an Evasive character or a removal card to get rid of your Lore generation.
Draw Value
We’re playing a lot of Characters on the board at a fast pace, which means we might find ourselves running out of resources quickly. Don’t panic! This little dilemma has a solution, card draw effects!
Every heal counts! Rapunzel – Gifted with Healing can remove up to 3 damage from one of your Characters. For each damage Rapunzel removes, she’ll draw you a card, basically, up to 3 cards!
We won’t always have a damaged character for Rapunzel to heal. This is where Mother Gothel – Withered and Wicked‘s self-damage can be comboed with Rapunzel. We’re getting to draw 3 cards and setting up a 3|4 Mother Gothel that can challenge things.
Another card draw engine is Pongo – Determined Father, drawing us the top card in our deck if it’s a character. Most of the cards in our deck are characters, so we have extremely high odds of drawing a card.
Sure, it costs us 2 Ink to fire up Pongo, which can put the brakes on our plans a bit. But no worries! The cost reduction from Lantern should help us keep the development pressure going.
The Stitch Draws
It’s a stitch party! Stitch – Rock Star and Stitch – Carefree Surfer both offer card draw value and gain you Lore. Now, to get Stitch – Carefree Surfer riding the wave, we need two other characters on the board when he’s played, this will draw us two cards, giving us valuable resources for future turns.
Getting to play either of the two Stitchs through Mufasa is a massive win for this deck. They’re not easy to banish, can draw cards, and provide a lot of Lore that can’t be ignored.
Control Plan
We’re rushing those Lore gains, but we could also do with some removal! Medusa – The Boss, Lady Tremaine – Imperious Queen, and Maleficent – Monstrous Dragon can all banish Characters and are great pick-ups by Mufasa.
Removal cards put you ahead on the board and could ruin opponents’ plans. We’re not a pure aggro deck, we’re still trying to slow down opponents and add obstacles for them to deal with when trying to control our board.
Board Removal
Be Prepared is one of the strongest cards in Lorcana. If your opponent is getting ahead on the board, Be Prepared clears out everything, stopping opponents from gaining Lore. It is a huge Ink commitment, and your opponent will have the edge of playing more Characters on the upcoming turn.
However, Mufasa is in play when Be Prepared is cast, you’ll play a character after everything is banished, shifting the board presence in your favor.
Reject Wheel
Let’s talk about Chernabog – Evildoer, our secret weapon. This bad boy gets cheaper for each card in our discard pile. Facing decks with A Whole New World, Chernabog can single-handedly turn the tide as his cost will drop low quickly.
You’re quite happy to see him played through Mufasa. A 9|9 Character with 3 Lore isn’t a threat opponents can ignore.
Additional Inclusions
Early blockers can protect your cost-reduction Characters Pluto – Friendly Pooch and Doc – Leader of the Seven Dwarfs. Simba fits perfectly for the early game and can be Inked later on when you don’t need him.
Getting a Scar – Vicious Cheater on the board through Mufasa sets you up to clear out the opponent’s rested Characters. Scar can attack multiple times through his ability, demolishing the opponent’s side. Even if he doesn’t get to attack, Scar is still gaining you 2 Lore.
Hades – Lord of the Underworld is a value card that you’ll play later in the game to get back a character from your Discard. Mufasa is your best card to grab, or a high-cost removal Character for board control if you don’t have the time to set up a Mufasa.
Hydra – Deadly Serpent is another control tool with a unique effect. You get to damage two Characters at once when you attack with Hydra. Your opponent trying to challenge Hydra will also have to worry about having their other characters damaged in the process.
Mulligan
Mufasa is the number 1 card we want in our hand. Lantern is also a keep so we get to start the cost-reduction plan and we increase the odds of having a Character on the top of our deck when Mufasa is banished. Don’t keep high-cost characters that can’t be inked in hand so we don’t end up in awkward situations in the mid-game with no Inkable cards. It feels awful Inking a Mufasa, speaking from experience.
Strengths/Weaknesses
- Can be aggressive and difficult to keep up with on the board.
- Has Characters with removal abilities to control the board and gain an edge over the opponent.
- Has card draw value but will require you to meet a condition to activate them.
- Doesn’t run reliable damage cards to pick off annoying threats.
- Mufasa plays a huge role in this deck’s game plan. Games can be a struggle if you don’t find Mufasa.