Sapphire Steel is crushing the Lorcana tournament scene, with various versions being played and many tech cards for players to include. The list can be built differently depending on which matchups you want to perform against, so I’ll share a basic popular list that performed well in a tournament and include other cards at the end of the guide that you can add to the list.
Sapphire Steel Items Decklist
How to Play
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.
However, 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.
Having multiple items in play can enable your Tamatoa – So Shiny! generating more Lore when you Quest.
Ramp Cards
Tipo – Growing Son is the earliest Ramp card we play, getting us started with the ramp game plan.
Sail the Azurite Sea is another ramp card that costs only 2 ink. When played, you can put a card from your hand into your inkwell face down and draw a card. So, although you’re losing a card from your hand to the inkwell, you’re still drawing a card; think of it as a way to filter your hand for a better card while still gaining a card in your inkwell.
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.
Low-cost Challengers
Calhoun – Marine Sergeant can generate Lore for us while she helps control the board. 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.
If you have 4 times in play, you can exert them to play Scrooge McDuck – Resourceful Miser for free. You’re developing a 4|4 stat line Character that looks at the top 4 cards of your deck and puts an Item into your hand.
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 resources.
The Strength of A Raging 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 through cards like Scrooge McDuck – Resourceful Miser or Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker, saving our Ink to continue making plays on the board.
Location Lore Generation
McDuck Manor – Scrooge’s Mansion generates 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. We often want to play after developing Scrooge McDuck – Resourceful Miser or Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker. We can Sing And Then Along Came Zeus to banish a Character and then develop McDuck Manor – Scrooge’s Mansion, making it even harder for the opposing player to remove.
Tamatoa + Lucky Dime
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. However, you’ll mainly want to cheat out the 7-cost Lucky Dime, setting up a powerful turn for Lucky Dime to give you more Lore off of Character.
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 Ariel – Treasure Collector.
Lore Win Condition
Ariel – Treasure Collector is on the list for the Lore generation she offers. When she Quests, we’re guaranteed 3 Lore; however, if we have more Items in play than the opponent, we’ll generate 5 Lore. Since we’re running so many low-cost Items, we’ll usually have more than the opponent, so we’ll get access to the extra 2 Lore. Ariel – Treasure Collector‘s Ward keyword makes her tough Character to remove, and opponents will have to wait until she’s Exerted to remove her, which by then, you’ll already have generated the value you want from her.
Tamatoa – So Shiny! is a win condition that can Quest for more Lore, depending on the number of items in play. It forces the opponent to close out the game as fast as possible or remove 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 the discard, so we usually want to get back Pawpsicle for that card draw and more Lore potential with Tamatoa – So Shiny!.
Ariel – Treasure Collector and Tamatoa – So Shiny! are great targets for Lucky Dime, getting tons of Lore out of them which could set you up to win the game on the spot.
Mulligan
- An early 1-cost item, Pawpsicle or Fortisphere + Belle – Apprentice Inventor.
- ramp cards to speed up your game plan.
- Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker for the card draws.
Other Cards to Include
Last Cannon is a 1-cost Item that plays into your strategy. You could use it later on to give Challenger +3 to one of your Characters, giving them +3 Strength when they attack.
Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate is a strong early Character, offering to banish exerted Characters or to generate Lore.
When played, Benja – Guardian of the Dragon Gem can banish an opponent’s Item, disrupting their strategy if they heavily rely on that item.
Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories is a draw value card, that can replace Scrooge McDuck – Resourceful Miser.
