My good friend JB, a pretty darn good Lorcana player that plays in a lot of the big tournaments, introduced me to a new deck that did particularly well in a recent Seattle event and friends, I am head over heels in love with this location-heavy concept. Especially with Azurite Sea releasing the very day I’m writing this love letter to this deck. Azurite Sea has a lot of location action in the cards and I’m already cooking up my own version of this deck with some of the new newness. But we’ll rap about that later, OK?
Now, as I’ve reiterated about 42 times out of the 42 Mikey Mouse Club articles that the good folks here at Goonhammer have seen fit to print, I am a filthy casual. Whatever the opposite of a sweaty is, that’s me. But I have to say this deck, and the havoc I’ve been wreaking with it in an undisclosed online platform, has me wondering if I might revisit going out to competitive events. Because for the first time in forever, I’m actually winning games pretty consistently with this. And against very sweaty decks at that!
Here’s the original version of this masterpiece:
Now, have a look over what’s on offer here. It is damn near half locations. It’s Amber Steel but nary a song nor a Rapunzel in sight. There aren’t any Legendaries. At the time of this writing, this is $55 deck so it’s squarely in an acceptable price range. I believe Daisy Duck is the money card here, the rest is barely more than a Mickey ice cream bar and a Dole Whip.
And it just works.
Breaking down, it does so because it is an intensely focused build that leans hard into just a couple of synergistic effects and generating lore consistently and effectively. There’s removal and control, but it doesn’t tech hard against items, bounce, discard, or really anything. It survives the turn 7 Be Prepared. If you are set up, discard doesn’t even matter in the mid to late game.
The trick is that in the early stages of this deck, it plays almost like an aggro deck despite the mountain of locations. Steel Hook has been a classic turn 1 drop in Steel quite literally from the first turn anybody ever played Steel. It remains one of the best early game threats and can clear all kinds of early aggression or utility characters. Daisy Duck – Donald’s Date emerged as one of the top cards in Shimmering Skies and although at first I thought WTH is this even, I get it now. Dirt cheap, quests for 2, and gives you early card draw despite the cost actually being that the opponent gets it too. Mr. Smee goes hand in hand with Hook, seeing as he needs to be supervised by a Captain.
So with those characters alone, and running 4 of each, you are very likely to get any or all of them to the table quickly and doing the damn thing ASAP. That’s all a set up for turns 3 and through the mid game when the locations start to pop up and generate lore. Neverland is just a basic 1 drop, The Bayou gives you a draw-discard action that’s always worthwhile. At 2 ink, Pride Lands – Pride Rock’s Lion Home doesn’t do anything in this deck but the +2 Resist is especially good with Hook visiting his pal Scar. Underworld gives you a resurrection option to get those early game characters back. Nottingham is just a tough to shift lore generator. Seven Dwarves Mine – Secure Fortress deals out direct damage. And the most expensive location is only 3 ink, Pride Lands – Jungle Oasis. It invites you to load up characters for a discount on other characters.
Now, the other characters in this deck all interact explicitly with these locations. Fix-It Felix – Delighted Sightseer is a free card draw when you play him after one of those inexpensive locations. And, it’s a shift target for his Floodborn Niceland Steward variant, which toughens up all of your locations and puts everything out of reach of pretty much all location removal tech. Doc – Bold Knight is a mid-game savior because of his light two card draw to replenish your hand (pro tip- play him when you have no other cards to discard) and moving him to Seven Dwarves Mine triggers two damage. Nice. And then John Silver – Greedy Treasure Seeker gets buffed to hell by all those locations and could wind up questing for 4-5 lore as a closer. And what the heck, he can also manage Captain Smee if need be.
Oh, and there is only one action in this whole thing- the time-honored Fire the Cannons for taking out early board threats or applying the finishing touch to characters hit by Hook or Seven Dwarves Mine. See what I mean? This deck has a very intense focus on what it is trying to do and how it can do it.
There are some things I’ve thought about changing around ahead of Azurite Sea, but even though I’m not 100% sold on the two Pride Lands or Underworld, the deck is producing results so what do I know. I also feel like there might could be something more impactful than Neverland and Nottingham. So let’s revisit after Azurite Sea has had some time to marinate!
Next time – Lorcana’s best items!
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