Lorcana Deck Guide: Amber-Amethyst Monstro Combo!

Hello, everyone!

Almost a year ago, I wrote an article about a combo deck, that is, a deck focused on a combination of specific cards that achieved something quite unusual in Lorcana: generating 20 Lore in a single turn.

That article was a guide to the Emerald-Sapphire Mufasa Combo, and as a curiosity, it's still one of my most read articles, which makes me particularly proud!

Honoring this tradition of combo decks, today I will present a list that again fulfills the promise of generating 20 Lore in a single turn! The coolest thing is that it's a very different list from the one I wrote last time.

Let's analyze the Monstro Combo!

With the release of the tenth set, Whispers in the Well, one card caught my attention: The Great Illuminary - Abandoned Laboratory. Not because it's particularly broken on its own, but because of its important interaction with another card from a previous set: Monstro - Infamous Whale.

Understanding the Combo

Basically, if we have a Monstro with dried ink – meaning we controlled it when our current turn started – and we play a The Great Illuminary - Abandoned Laboratory, and pay ink to place Monstro in the Location, we can now draw and discard continuously, until our entire deck is gone. Since, in the Location, Monstro can now be exhausted to draw a card, and then with Monstro's ability you can ready it by discarding a card, this loop of effects allows, as mentioned, drawing and discarding the entire deck.

But what is the purpose of this? Well, with the deck completely empty, since we have two copies of the song We Know the Way, we need one to be in the discard pile and the other in our hand. By playing the one from our hand, choosing the one in the discard pile, and naming it, we can play the song again, now choosing the copy we just played that is in the discard pile. In other words, we create an infinite sequence of songs played.

The missing piece to secure victory is the single copy of Alan-A-Dale - Rockin' Rooster. With it on the table, our chain sequence of We Know the Way will generate, in one go, all the lore necessary to win the game.

Of course, there's the possibility of Alan-A-Dale - Rockin' Rooster being discarded first, and for that we also have a copy of Circle of Life - a card that can return Alan-a-Dale directly from the discard pile to the board, and because it costs 8, it's a song that can conveniently be sung by Monstro - Infamous Whale!

Now that we've explained the combo, let's present the decklist.

The Decklist

Although the Monstro and Great Illuminary combination is entirely in Amethyst ink, which theoretically allows the deck to combine with any other ink, it's on Amber ink that we find Alan-A-Dale - Rockin' Rooster, the card that enables our combo.

Let's then understand and analyze the role of each card in the deck:

The Combo

The combo itself was explained in detail above. The idea here is to remind you that this combo, in the chosen ink combination, requires twelve cards:

— 4x Monstro - Infamous Whale

— 4x The Great Illuminary - Abandoned Laboratory

— 1x Alan-A-Dale - Rockin' Rooster

— 2x We Know the Way

— 1x Circle of Life

To help with consistency, we also use another card that is redundant with the Location effect: Donald Duck - Coin Collector. Even though the effect only lasts one turn, it's all we need to win any game!

Therefore, in total we have fourteen cards here. The remaining forty-six cards will have an important job: keeping us in the game until we unleash the final turn!

Keeping the board under control

In this mix of cheap characters, as you can see, the focus was on cards that are efficient at challenging the opponent's board and, preferably, can go for a second round if needed.

Even if there are opportunities to generate some occasional Lore, that's not the focus of the characters. So, don't hesitate to forgo generating Lore on a given turn if you think it might unnecessarily expose your board. Remember, we don't need to chase after the opponent's Lore, since our combo turn will get us to 20 Lore anyway.

It's also important to mention the Actions, which were specifically chosen for adding card draw along with their effects. Hypnotic Strength allows for many positive trades, especially when used with Royal Guard - Octopus Soldier.

The recently released The Horseman Strikes! deals with Evasive threats directly, and remember: our Dumbo - The Flying Elephant grants Evasive to any character, even the opponent's! And with this synergy, it's possible to eliminate even very strong characters.

Ramp

Monstro, the main card in our combo, costs 8 ink. Since we don't use Sapphire, cards that increase our inkwell are very rare, and are usually non-inkable.

The good news is that at least the second part of the combo, The Great Illuminary - Abandoned Laboratory, already costs little ink naturally, so the main focus is on reducing the 8 ink cost to play Monstro.

Thus, Pluto and Lantern complement this idea well, allowing us to bring out Monstro one or two turns ahead of schedule.

Consistency and Interaction

To round out the deck, here are some cards that help with consistency and interacting with the opponent.

Be Our Guest is excellent for finding one of the four copies of Monster, or even during the combo turn, searching for Allan-a-Dale.

Similarly, Junior Woodchuck Guidebook refills your hand, especially during the combo turn itself, and it won't hinder it, since it has a low ink cost.

Finally, Mowgli - Man Cub can bring a lot of value against more reactive opponents.

And that's a wrap on the new Lorcana combo deck!

Similar lists are being tested in various tournaments around the world, also trying to take advantage of other ink pairs.

Of course, the deck is possible with the release of the 10th set and the new Amethyst Location, The Great Illuminary - Abandoned Laboratory. But it can still also be considered a budget list, if you don't always associate budget with beginner-friendly!

I hope you enjoyed this new analysis! Please leave a comment or feedback below to help us always improve our articles and services for you.

Lots of hugs, and until next time!