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.
4 A Whole New World
2 And Then Along Came Zeus
1 Ariel - Treasure Collector
4 Ba-Boom!
2 Beast - Hardheaded
4 Cogsworth - Grandfather Clock
4 Fishbone Quill
4 Fortisphere
3 Grab Your Sword
2 Gramma Tala - Keeper of Ancient Stories
2 Hades - Infernal Schemer
4 Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker
1 Let It Go
2 Lucky Dime
4 Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate
3 One Jump Ahead
4 Pawpsicle
2 Rise of the Titans
4 Tamatoa - So Shiny!
4 Tinker Bell - Giant FairyThe 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.
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. This can be a setup for Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker as a follow-up play.
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.
Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories is a draw option. However, we always prefer Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker over her for the draw potential since he can activate his ability every turn.
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.
Damage Songs
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 or Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories.
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
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.
Rise of The Titans and Beast – Hardheaded are both Inkable cards, so even against matchups where their effects won’t be needed, the cards can still be put to use.
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.
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.
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.
Ariel – Treasure Collector can Lore for 3, but since we run a lot of items, we can get more out of her. 5 Lore is huge and could win you the game, especially with a Lucky Dime play! We prefer Ariel – Treasure Collector over Belle – Strange but Special for the Ward, ensuring we keep Ariel – Treasure Collector to stick until our upcoming turn.
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 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 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
Magic Broom – Aerial Cleaner is a meta call card, suited for challenging Evasive Characters.
Beast – Tragic Hero is an addition to the list, especially if you don’t want to play A Whole New World.
Fire The Cannons! is a replacement for Ba-Boom! it can’t target locations, so it’s mostly to deal with Characters, but it’s a lower-cost Song.
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.