Players are picking up the Steel Amethyst Jafar Wheel deck again, with the meta shifting away from hard removal cards. This is a combo deck that uses Jafar – Striking Illusionist as a main part of its game plan.
Deck Code:
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This deck aims to set up Jafar – Striking Illusionist, exert him, and start drawing cards. This lets you gain Lore quickly with Jafar – Striking Illusionist‘s ability, becoming a win condition and forcing opponents to remove him ASAP.
The Early Start
You’re playing a combo deck that wants to set up all the right pieces in the late game. This means our early game will revolve around keeping up with the opponent’s board development and ensuring they don’t take over the game while we wait to set up Jafar – Striking Illusionist.
Captain Hook – Forceful Duelist and Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate can keep the opponent from freely questing with their Characters. Mr. Smee also offers 2 Lore when he quests, but will damage himself by 1 when he’s exerted. If you have Captain Hook standing by his side, you can bypass that 1 damage and keep Mr. Smee healthy. This will force opponents to challenge Mr. Smee and remove him immediately.
Usually, you don’t want to quest with Captain Hook unless your opponent doesn’t have a character to challenge and banish him. Captain Hook works best if used to challenge since he gains +2 Power when he’s on the attack. You want to avoid losing a card without trading with the opponent’s card.
Robin Hood – Beloved Outlaw is another early character to have on the board. However, if you have Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood in hand, you’ll avoid questing/challenging with your 1-cost Robin Hood as he’ll be more valuable as a Shift target.
We got Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood on the board on turn 3? Well, we’ve successfully kept up with the opponent’s board development and even created a mid-game threat for them to deal with. Getting to challenge and banish characters with Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood gives us 2 Lore, forcing opponents to either avoid questing with their low-power characters or find removal tools to deal with our 5-cost Robin Hood.
Jafar – Striking Illusionist is our main win condition and we want him on the board as early as possible to start generating Lore with every card draw. He’s an Evasive 4|5, so opponents can’t easily remove him off the board, but cards like And Then Along Came Zeus can banish him on the spot.
Playing at 7-cost means we’ll have to wait a full turn before we can exert him and activate his Lore generation ability. This feels a bit too slow, and in a lot of cases, your opponent might have the tools to deal with him and shut down your game plan entirely.
This is why we rely more on Shifting Jafar – Striking Illusionist onto the board, having him “Ready” the moment he’s played, and using Jafar – Striking Illusionist to sing a song, allowing us to exert him and cast A Whole New World. This discards both players’ hands and draws them 7 cards, which means 7 Lore!
The ideal scenario in the late game is to play A Whole New World, gain 7 Lore, draw into another A Whole New World, and gain another 7 Lore. 14 Lore in the late game should be enough to win the game on the spot.
Jafar Shift Targets
Waiting till turn 7 to play Jafar – Striking Illusionist doesn’t sound like the best plan, so Jafar – Royal Vizier and Jafar – Dreadnought can cheat out our 7-cost on turn 5.
Since we’re reliant on Jafar – Striking Illusionist being “Ready” when played to cast A Whole New World, we cannot challenge or quest with Jafar – Royal Vizier or Jafar – Dreadnought on the turn we shift Jafar – Striking Illusionist.
Draw Engines
Card draw is a key part of this deck’s tactics. It wants to look through the deck to find the combo pieces, Jafar – Royal Vizier or Jafar – Dreadnought, Jafar – Striking Illusionist, and A Whole New World.
At the same time, getting to draw cards while there’s an exerted Jafar – Striking Illusionist gives you more Lore. You’ll find Yzma – Scary Beyond All Reason as the ideal play on turn 6 after you’ve already developed Jafar – Striking Illusionist on the board. Make sure you’ve exerted Jafar – Striking Illusionist before dropping Yzma to get that extra 2 Lore from the draws.
You could also use Yzma as a removal tool to get rid of a win condition on the opponent’s side of the board. However, this will give them an additional 2 draws, but in some cases, this play will be worth it to control the board.
If your opponent doesn’t have an Evasive character on the board, Blue Fairy can quest safely without having to worry about opponents challenging her. The Lore she provides can be just what you need to reach 20 Lore once Jafar – Striking Illusionist starts generating Lore.
The Singers
Although these cards offer draw value and board control, they can also Sing 5-cost Songs like A Whole New World, Grab Your Sword, and And Then Along Came Zeus. This comes in useful when we have Jafar – Striking Illusionist on the board, allowing us to cast A Whole New World and potentially draw into a second one to draw 7 other cards or ensure we control the board with our damage songs.
Damage Cards
Yes, we’re a combo deck, but every combo needs time to shine! This is why damage cards like Smash, Grab Your Sword, and And Then Along Came Zeus are needed to remove opponents’ characters and slow down their Lore gain.
Grab Your Sword is valuable against decks that can go wide on the board with low-will power characters. Getting to Banish multiple characters will slow down the opponent’s questing, giving you more time to set up Jafar.
Strengths/Weaknesses
- Can keep up with fast-paced decks using Captain Hook – Forceful Duelist, Mr. Smee – Bumbling Mate, and damage songs.
- Can shut down Evasive win conditions like Minnie Mouse – Stylish Surfer with Jafar – Royal Vizier.
- The draw engines can keep you in the game against discard decks.
- Damage songs and hard removals can shut down your game plan. Your opponent banishing Jafar – Royal Vizier or Jafar – Dreadnought will slow down Jafar – Striking Illusionist development, giving them time until you can get your combo play-off.