Lorcana Deck Guide: Ruby Sapphire Items

Hello, everyone!

Let's go for another deck analysis, with eyes on the last few weeks of Shimmering Skies Set Championships. We've already talked about an aggro deck and a midrange deck, so let's conclude our “trilogy” by talking about a Control deck: Ruby/Sapphire Items!

This deck uses a lot of powerful high-ink cost cards, as well as items that, together with Tamatoa - So Shiny!, can put you in a position to win the game in a few turns!

Let's take a closer look at the deck and understand how it works!

What does “control” mean?

“Control” decks, traditionally, are slow decks focused on responding or interacting with whatever the opponent is doing - and they are usually great at thwarting their opponents' plans. Once control of the game is established, some individually powerful card are used to reach a win condition after a few turns.

However, in Lorcana, fast decks can flood the board with characters, which makes it difficult for slow decks to respond adequately. Therefore, Ruby/Sapphire has several cards that increase the amount of ink available to make plays, thus “breaking” the rule that you can only generate +1 ink per turn. This “acceleration” (also commonly referred to as “Ramp” in TCGs) allows the deck to play 7-8 ink cards as early as turn 5!

So the deck's strategy is pretty focused: you want a mix of acceleration and cards to stop your opponent from winning the game (and it's okay to fall a little behind in Lore for the first few turns - the important thing is to not let your opponent reach 20!), and once you have control of the board and the opponent has little or no resources, you drop your key cards and achieve victory in 1-2 turns.

Let's take a look at an example decklist and understand the role of each card:

These are the cards that allow you to increase your amount of ink beyond +1 per turn. One Jump Ahead and How Far I'll Go help you speed up without losing resources in your hand, while Tipo and Fishbone Quill, allow you to transform cards in hand into ink (even ones that aren't inkable!). In other words, they allow a wide range of options in deckbuilding, since the card being uninkable doesn't mean it won't become a resource in your deck.

Card selection

How to make sure that you have the right answer at the right time to your opponent's threats? That's where these cards come in. Although they don't expand your hand, they select from what's at the top of the deck, helping you find the exact cards to establish control of the game over the next few turns.

Board control

If you were wondering where are the Ruby cards in the deck, good news: we found them! Jokes aside, it is no coincidence that the deck's board control cards are in this ink color - the decklist seeks to complement Sapphire's acceleration and card selection with Ruby's removal and “big” characters.

Items and card draw

The synergy between items and Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker is what allows the deck to increase its resources in the mid-game, keeping its hand full of removals and preventing new threats from the opponents. Notice how Hiram even makes fantastic use of Fishbone Quill when you no longer need ink acceleration. And with 6 defense, it's extremely difficult to take it off the board, meaning you'll probably draw 4 to 6 cards freely with it.

Closing out the game - Tamatoa and Lucky Dime

Finally, these two cards - Tamatoa and Lucky Dime - are your game-enders, and also very synergistic. Scrooge McDuck's coin combines perfectly with Tamatoa, since together they're able to generate 6 to 10 Lore in the same turn! If you also take into account a few Lore points collected here and there from earlier, you can easily reach the 20 points needed to win the game in 2-3 turns.

Analysis and turn strategy

We explained the role of each card in the list, so now let's understand the sequencing with the deck:

Starting hand and first 3-4 turns: Look for ramps and card selection, you will probably fall behind on characters in the first turns, but this is normal. You first need to see and understand what your opponent is playing in order to search for the best answer to their board.

Midgame, turns 4-8: If the opponent has a deck that floods the board with small characters, Be Prepared or Madame Medusa - The Boss will be very important; if they're using larger characters, Maui - Hero to All or Maleficent - Monstrous Dragon should be the preferred option. Besides controlling the board, it is also important to establish some card draw with Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker.

Long Game, Turns 9+: With the game firmly in your grasp, use Tamatoa to win quickly, but stay alert to answer any of your opponent's potential new threats. Be careful with what you put in the inkwell at this point, so as not to lose a relevant card for nothing. Ideally, you will have 12+ ink at this stage of the game, meaning you will be able to make a lot of powerful plays every turn and completely prevent your opponent from trying to get back into the game.

Conclusion

And this is the end of another analysis! Ruby/Sapphire Items is undoubtedly a deck with some of the most powerful cards in Lorcana, but the secret is in the small accelerations that bring these “heavy-weights” to the board a few turns in advance. The deck can sometimes be run over by fast decks, especially when it doesn't find some important cards like Be Prepared, but in a duel with slower decks, Ruby/Sapphire easily stands out.

What did you think of the analysis? What other “controlling” combinations have you used (or still use) to surprise your opponents? Share it with us!

Hugs and see you next time!