The Sapphire Steel Ramp deck is a great choice for competitive Lorcana, performing well in multiple big tournaments and finding success. This deck uses ramp tools to speed up its game plan and start playing higher-cost Characters.
Decklist
3 A Whole New World
2 And Then Along Came Zeus
3 Captain Hook - Forceful Duelist
4 Cogsworth - Grandfather Clock
3 Fire The Cannons!
4 Fishbone Quill
4 Fortisphere
3 Grab Your Sword
3 Hide Away
4 Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker
2 Let It Go
2 Lucky Dime
3 Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate
2 Mufasa - Ruler of Pride Rock
4 Pawpsicle
3 Pete - Games Referee
3 Tamatoa - So Shiny!
4 Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy
4 Tipo - Growing SonHow to Play
The Sapphire Steel is a ramp deck that shines in the late game. It runs control Songs to slow down the opponent and buy you enough time until your win condition is set up. We’re planning to play Tamatoa – So Shiny! for the value he creates and use Lucky Dime as a finisher.
Ramp 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.
Tipo – Growing Son is the earliest Ramp card we play, getting us started with the ramp game plan.
Hide Away is a versatile card, allowing you to use it as a Ramp option by putting one of your items into the Inkwell or removing one of the opponent’s key items or locations and placing it in their inkwell. Your decision will depend on the matchup and how much you value that extra Ink.
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.
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 Frotisphere that can be played and then Banished by Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker for the additional card draw.
A Whole New World is our strongest resource card that also affects the opponent’s hand. The best case scenario is to Sing it through Cogsworth – Grandfather Clock so we don’t have to spend our Ink on the play. The plan here is to fully utilize the cards in our hand before casting A Whole New World, we do that by Inking first and using a Fishbone Quill to Ink another card before playing A Whole New World, discarding whatever cards we have left in our hand to draw 7 new Cards.
Since we’re using up the cards in our hand as Ink resource, we’ll be ahead of opponent that, in most cases, will discard more cards than you. You’ll have the same number of cards, but you’ll be ahead in Ink.
Pawpsicle and Fortisphere are valuable Items we want to play as early as turn 1, offering a card draw once played. These items are usually used for two things in the later stages: targets for Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker to banish and draw cards or to boost the Lore generation of Tamatoa – So Shiney!.
We could still activate their effects, Pawpsicle can heal one of our characters, making it more of a challenge for opponent to get rid of it. Or we can give Bodyguard to one of our units like Tomotoa to protect other Characters on the board. However, these are extremely situational when we need to use them.
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! or Sisu – Empowered Sibling.
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.
He’s also a great target for Lucky Dime, offering an extra 5 Lore that could just be enough to win you the game.
Damage Cards
The main role of these songs is to control the opponent’s side of the board and slow down their pace. Ba-Boom! is a low-cost answer for 2 Willpower Characters or to finish off a damaged Character. Diablo – Devoted Herald is one target we want to remove immediately with Ba-Boom!
And Then Along Came Zeus is one of our strongest damage Songs, dealing 5 damage to a Character or Location. It can clear most threats and can damage a high Willpower Location for your Characters to Banish. Being a 4-cost Song means we we can Sing it with many of our Characters, even 4-costs like Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker.
Grab Your Sword is an AOE damage Song, more suited for decks that can go wide on the board. It can also set you up to Banish high Willpower Characters.
Control Cards
We already talked about Hide Away, but it can be a valuable item or location removal to shut down the opponent’s strategy.
Pete – Games Referee can shut opponents from playing any action cards on their upcoming turn. So we usually want to play him on turns we expect the opponent will need an action card the most, forcing them to make a different and weaker play.
Let It Go is a removal card to get rid of a powerful Character off the board. We usually want to Sing Let It Go instead of spending the Ink to play, but in the late game, we might be able to get away with spending Ink. We are giving them an extra Ink, but weakening their board state will slow them down in terms of keeping up with the board and Lore generation.
Other Cards to Talk About
Cogsworth – Grandfather Clock is a valuable 5-cost Character for the Ward, which means opponent can’t remove it on the spot. We’re usually aiming to take advantage of Cogsworth to Sing with him and still maintain board development. The 5 Willpower makes it difficult for most opponents to attack and remove it easily and we could use Fortisphere to give Bodyguard to one of our other Characters and protect Cogsworth. The Resist +1 he provides adds protection to your cards.
Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy‘s job is to control the board, she damages all opponent’s characters by 1 and if she manages to banish a Character in a challenge, she gets to damage another character by 2.
Mulligan
An early 1-cost item, Pawpsicle or Fortisphere so Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker can banish and draw cards off of it.
You want to look for your Ramp cards like Fishbone Quill or Tipo – Growing Son to get 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 and A Whole New World are cards 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
- Ba-Boom! is a low-cost answer for 2 Willpower Characters or to finish off a damaged Character. Diablo – Devoted Herald is one target we want to remove immediately with Ba-Boom! Its ability to target locations is a plus.
- Beast – Tragic Hero is an addition to the list, especially if you don’t want to play A Whole New World.
- One Jump Ahead is our lowest-cost ramp card, which we’ll want to play on turn 2, ramping us up to 4 Ink on turn 4. You can also Sing it with Tipo – Growing Son on turn 3.
- Rise of The Titans is a valuable Song against certain matchups where opponent relies on a certain location or an item. McDuck Manor – Scrooge’s Mansion and Fishbone Quill are perfect examples of where Rise of The Titans shines.
- Beast – Hardheaded isn’t a threatening body on the board, but can Lore for two. It’s in the deck for its ability to banish an item, usually to remove a valuable item that plays an important role in their game plan.
- Hades – Infernal Schemer has a similar role to Let It Go, removing a character from play. Hades – Internal Schemer is a 3|6 body, capable of loreing for 2. Playing Hades – Infernal Schemer is a board shit, potentially putting you ahead of the opponent.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Has the control tools to keep opponents from taking over the game.
- Can deal with Items and locations.
- Shines in the late game.
- Weak against decks that discard A Whole New World.
- Struggles against Ruby Sapphire which can match its Ramp mechanic and late-game value.