1. New Royalty on the Steel Throne?
When Beast – Tragic Hero was introduced to Lorcana, he instantly became the 5 drop of choice for the majority of steel based decks with his ability to generate card advantage on a body that could quest for 2. Add into the equation that should he get damaged, he turned into a 7 strength beat stick. Well, with the Reign of Jafar new royalty has arrived in the form of Namaari – Single-Minded Rival. Whilst not providing the raw card advantage that Beast can, the effect she provides of drawing and discarding offers a powerful filtering effect, allowing illumineers to sift and find the cards they need as well as discarding the pesky uninkables – no more multiple A Whole New World, Doc – Bold Knight, and now cards like Beyond the Horizon and Desperate Plan. And if that wasn’t enough, for every card in your discard pile, she gets stronger. It won’t be uncommon to see Namaari with strength to rival even the biggest of characters. Namaari slots nicely into virtually all steel decks, demanding an answer. Don’t be surprised if she becomes a steel staple. She’ll certainly be in mine!
2. And as for that abomination…
Experiment 626 never did follow the rules and this 3 cost uninkable Stitch – Experiment 626 is exactly as he should be. A 3 strength, 3 willpower, 2 quester is a fair stat line but where he shines is in his unique ability. Resembling that of his amber ink partner in crime, Lilo – Escape Artist (Azurite Sea), he can be played from the discard at the start of your turn. To put this abomination into play from the discard is going to cost you an inkable card to the discard pile and, more importantly, it will give your opponent one extra ink to be used on their turn so there are definitely a few pros and cons to weigh up. Arguably late in the game that one ink may not matter to your opponent, and having a 2 quester on the board might just be the reach you need to see out some games. Getting him into the discard shouldn’t be hard either with characters from previous sets such as Mulan – Disguised Soldier (Archazia’s Island) and Simba – Future King (The First Chapter) as well as my favourite card of this set, Namaari – Single-Minded Rival. This is a card I look forward to testing in my Sapphire – Steel ‘Kiwi Bird’ deck.
3. There’s no place I’d rather be …
Staying aboard the Hawaiian Roller Coaster with Lilo and Stitch, is the uninkable, sing together 7 steel card Beyond The Horizon. This card has the ability to shape the meta for set 8 and beyond and being an uncommon, should be fairly easy to pick up in your boosters. But hold onto those foils as this is a card that many will be after. The ability to choose any number of players, including yourself, and discard your hand and draw back up to 3 is hugely powerful. Amber – steel, an already powerful combination now has the ability to sing this song on turn 3 using Cinderella – Ballroom Sensation (Rise of the Floodborn) and either Ursula – Vanessa (Ursula’s Return) or The Troubadour – Musical Narrator (Archazia’s Island). When considering the math, by singing this card on the play, it can leave your opponent in a very tough situation. Expect to see this card pop up in Amber-steel song deck variations as well as Emerald-Steel.
4. From the brain that brought you the Big Ben caper
A film that has always had a special place in my heart is The Great Mouse Detective, especially the character of Ratigan, expertly voiced by the iconic Vincent Price and he joins us in all his legendary glory as an 8 cost inkable character in sapphire. Boasting stats of 6 strength and 7 willpower, this rat (yes, I said it) has some staying power. Did I mention he quests for 4 and has ward too? Once this Greedy Genius hits the board he’s going to be tough to remove and can easily help ramp decks close out games. Which ink pairing he goes with remains to be seen, but hopefully he doesn’t suffer the same fate as another 8 cost, 4 quester in sapphire – Mufasa – Ruler of Pride Rock (Shimmering Skies). Ratigan – Greedy Genius is definitely a card I’d be looking to have a playset of in my collection for when the time is right for a diabolical scheme.
5. Always need a plan B
There are so many intriguing and alluring cards, that picking 5 was not easy. Honourable mentions go to Lilo – Causing An Uproar, Mickey Mouse – Giant Mouse, Prince John – Fraidy Cat and Into the Unknown. But my final pick of a card to be excited about is Desperate Plan. A 3 cost uninkable steel action that allows you to discard your hand and draw the same amount of cards that you discarded, or if your hand is empty, draw 3 cards. This rare card is a cross between Doc – Bold Knight and Beyond The Horizon and is something that you can use to keep your pedal on the gas when card draw is seemingly low. I don’t usually play my enchanted cards, but if I happened to pull one of these, it’d be sleeved up and ready to play at league nights and set championships alike.
