The Sapphire Steel Ramp deck has quickly become the best color combination in Set 7 Archazia’s Island Disney Lorcana! Blue Steel has different versions being played and performing well in the meta, but in this guide, we’ll cover the aggressive version, which uses Cogsworth – Grandfather Clock as a defensive play that works wonders against the mirror matchup.
This version doesn’t use ramp cards, instead, it includes cards that can generate Lore, trying to win games quickly and rush the game before your opponent manages to stabilize.
Decklist
How to Play
This Sapphire Steel version doesn’t rely on ramp cards to accelerate its game plan, the main goal is to play Characters with the ability to generate a lot of Lore. It has the means of dominating the board through winning trades, having strong attackers like Belle – Apprentice Inventor and Calhoun – Marine Sergeant to pressure the opposing player.
Cogsworth – Grandfather Clock‘s 2|5 stat line + Ward makes him a tough target to remove. He’ll give other Characters in play +1 Resist, making them even stronger when you go for a Challenge, banishing your opponent’s Characters while keeping yours in play.
6-cost Tamatoa – Happy as a Clam is there for the late-game value, remaining on the board to Quest for 2 Lore and forcing opponents to slow you down or try to race you.
1-cost Items
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 cheat out Belle – Apprentice Inventor.
We could still activate their effects, Pawpsicle can heal one of our characters, making sure it remains on the board for a longer time. Or we can give Bodyguard with Fortisphere to one of our Characters to protect other Characters on the board.
Low-cost Challengers
Captain Hook – Forceful Duelist and Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate are best for winning the board in the early game, allowing you to Quest or threaten to challenge the opponent’s exerted Characters.
Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate can Quest for 2 Lore, so you can start generating Lore and force your opponent to Challenge and remove him from play. However, when you Quest with Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate, he’ll damage himself by 1, so you can Quest twice with him and still have him in play. If Captain Hook – Forceful Duelist is in play, Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate won’t damage himself when he Quests.
Calhoun – Marine Sergeant is another Character that generates Lore for us, but she acts differently. Calhoun – Marine Sergeant has +1 Resist and when she Banishes a Character through a Challenge during your turn, she’ll generate 2 Lore for you. This is an extremely strong ability, as you’re able to weaken the opponent’s side of the board by banishing a Character and getting 2 Lore in the process. Ideally, you want to Challenge a Character with 2 Strength or less, making sure Calhoun – Marine Sergeant isn’t Banished herself and keeping her in play for the upcoming turn.
Belle – Apprentice Inventor can be played as early as turn 1 if you have an Item on the board. You can banish Pawpsicle or Fortisphere to play Belle – Apprentice Inventor, developing a 3|3 Character to prevent your opponent from Questing with their early Characters without losing them to a Challenge.
Card Draw
Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker is extremely useful to keep the engine running, allowing you to Banish an Item to get two card draws 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, but we always prefer Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker over her for the draw potential since he can activate his ability every turn. Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories‘s 3|3 stat line means she can act as a Challenger to banish an opponent’s exerted Character.
Damage Cards
Damage spells play an important role in board control, addressing threats and slowing down your opponent’s strategy. Let the Storm Rage On is great for banishing low Willpower Characters or damaged ones. At the same time, Let the Storm Rage On will draw you a card, making sure you don’t lose on resources.
The Strength of A Ranging Fire is dependent on your board state. The song deals more damage based on the number of characters you have on the board. Thus, you want to play more characters before casting the song, particularly when facing high-willpower characters.
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.
All of these cards are Songs, so we can Sing them cards like Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories or Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker, saving our Ink to continue making plays on the board.
Other Key Cards
Alice – Savvy Sailor is a 3-cost Character with a 1|4 stat line, so she isn’t offering much offensive pressure but has high Willpower that makes her a difficult target to banish. She also has Ward, so your opponent can’t target Alice – Savvy Sailor except for a Challenge. When she Quests, Alice – Savvy Sailor gives 2 Lore, amazing to get closer to 20, but will also give +1 Lore to a Chosen Character and Ward until the start of your next turn.
After we’ve Quested with Alice – Savvy Sailor, we can Quest with the other Character we chose for an added +1 Lore, so Alice – Savvy Sailor is basically generating 3 Lore a turn. The Ward is an added defense to your Character, preventing your opponent from easily banishing it. We’ll target key Characters like Pluto – Guard Dog or Tamatoa – Happy as a Clam, but can also be used on low-cost Characters that are in play and ready to Quest for the extra 1 Lore.
As for McDuck Manor – Scrooge’s Mansion, it’s generating 2 Lore at the start of your turn, which might force the opposing player to try and remove it. 9 Strength isn’t an easy location to remove, so it will expend their resources and slow them down.
Pluto – Guard Dog can join in exerted, protecting your Characters from attackers with his Bodyguard keyword. While Pluto – Guard Dog has no damage, he gets +4 Strength, allowing him to banish an opponent’s Challenger. When damaged, Pluto – Guard Dog loses the +4 Strength, so you could play Pawpsicle to remove 2 damage if it gives him the +4 Strength back.
Cogsworth – Grandfather Clock is a valuable 5-cost Character for the Ward, which means your opponent can’t remove it on the spot. The 5 Willpower makes it difficult for most opponents to Challenge and remove it easily. The Resist +1 he provides adds protection to your cards, and since we’re relying on them to Challenge rested Characters, we get to win trades and keep them on the board to Quest with later. The Resist +1 makes it harder for your opponent to banish Alice – Savvy Sailor and Pluto – Guard Dog, allowing you to continue getting value from them.
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.
Late Game
Tamatoa – Happy as a Clam‘s On Play effect lets you return up to 2 item cards from your discard to your hand, adding more resources. Whenever Tamatoa – Happy as a Clam Quests, you can play an item for free, so you can cheat out Pawpsicle or Fortisphere.
Tamatoa – Happy as a Clam‘s 4|5 Stat line makes him a tough Character to remove, and will Quest for 2 Lore to get you closer to 20 Lore.
Mulligan
- An early 1-cost item, Pawpsicle or Fortisphere + Belle – Apprentice Inventor.
- 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.
- Lawrence – Jealous Manservant is a 0|4 Character, that gains +4 Strength if he’s full health. We’re adding him to the list for the 2 Lore generation, forcing the opposing player to attack and remove him.
- 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.
