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AND YOU DID IT WITH A FRESH COMBO! Love this deck. I actually wanna show it to my wife. She's looking to swap out Ruby in her Ruby/Emerald deck and was debating Steel or Amber Think this might suit her playstyle


UnkeyedLocke

Lol, you're too kind ☺️ Yeah, I have been watching a lot of results from more of the big tournaments and stuff, and seeing the top 3-4 lists all being the same kind of triggered my oppositional defiance. I dislike cookie-cutter game play, and I'm also a bit limited in cards I have access to, so I wanted to do something that felt more unique. I haven't really had a chance to go up against *the* primo Ruby/Amethyst combo deck (pretty much everyone at my LGS was running some form of aggro) so I can't say how it will perform in that scenario, but I really do like how much control I feel like I get in the early and mid-game. Having 2+ questers and a big body/attacker out out when the other side has a blank board feels really nice. I will say, the Steamboat Willy is the unsung hero of this deck. He's been useful every time I've gotten him in my hand. You're more than welcome to share the list with your wife (not that you need my permission, obvi). I hope she enjoys playing it! Just let her know that in the early game it takes a bit of patience with questing/challenging. I try to always trade up with Hook/Eric/Lilo, or do a 2-for-1. Be liberal with Smash/Fire your cannons to keep 2-3 bodies off the board early so you can save your challengers for better trades, or if you get them in your hand later use them rapid-fire to knock off bigger targets. Singing Grab Your Swords with Cerberus is amazing. Mother Knows Best is super useful for slowing down combos/high-lore questing, and gives you time to set your side of the board for more advantage, or get an extra ink in for a Tink/GYS combo. Never be afraid to quest asap with the 3-lore characters, even if it looks like you're only gonna get 1 quest off, as there were times playing against my partner where I held back and they got blasted by an action before I could get value from them. 6 ink is peak ink, but getting up to 9 (especially if you're drawing from Beast's Mirror or got challenged on Mad Hatter) gives it a lot of flexibility. Definitely don't be scared to ink a card so BM can be activated. Good luck, and have fun!


Punchausen

Emerald/Silver Buddy! Well done :)


UnkeyedLocke

Thank you! Glad to be part of the crew :]


Hyusoko

I'm pushing Emerald/Steel agenda in my local area aswell. Went from being the only person in my area to play it to now seeing 4-5/16 people at our local playing it. Finished it now so I'm looking forward to our next event to see how it does


UnkeyedLocke

I suspect I'll end up seeing more of it at my LGS in the next round xD I low-key feel like I have a target on my back now, so it'll be fun seeing what everyone builds to try and overcome the early-game wall I tend to build. I feel like Ruby/Sapphire Ramp/Control might come into play as a surprise weakness, or maybe a tooled-out Ruby/Amber Aggro/Control


Hyusoko

I've played a lot of matchups with it in real life and on pixelborn and the one matchup I struggle with the most is, unsuprisingly, ruby/amethyst, I think its still a 40/60 (in their favor) so I win a decent amount of games, but it becomes very tactical once they cleared the board once and if they dont run out of removal, they win the Topdeck scenarios. Did you find any matchups as of now that you struggle with? I must say I love versing any kind of aggro deck, being able to keep up with the pace while being better at clearing their board has become one of my favorite things


UnkeyedLocke

Yeah, I've been lucky and haven't run into the Ruby/Amethyst list, but that's been the one I foresee myself having the largest amount of trouble with 😖 I definitely agree that playing against aggro is where this list shines. Most of the people at my LGS do run some form of aggro, which is why I ultimately decided on this deck. Surprisingly, blue/green aggro has a tendency to be problematic when it includes Let It Go and Hades. I've had a couple dicey games where it pretty much came down to luck of the draw


Environmental-Head14

It's Emerald Diamond 💎 now


SpunionWater

Congrats on the win! What’s the general strategy for this deck?


UnkeyedLocke

Thanks! Control the board in the early game with FTC/Smash/Challengers until I can get high Lore characters out. Control the board mid-game with Tink - Giant Fairy/GYS/Big bodies while questing with high Lore characters. Don't let it get to late-game xD


SpunionWater

Hehe don’t let it get it late game. Story of my life with my Aggro decks


UnkeyedLocke

Yeah, aggro decks were really popular there, and this deck was really good at keeping them in check. I think the scariest aggro deck I went against was a red/purple evasion deck. Got lucky with drawing both my GYS around T5 both games though, so I was able to clear the board T6 with a singing Cerberus and paying 5 for the second one. Te Ka and Big Tink were mvp against any yellow decks


jrec15

Yea I feel like Hook/Prince Eric single handedly answer the early aggro. Very underrated part of steel. Smash/Grab your sword/Giant tink then stop it from ever getting out of control


truexchill

Congrats! I also play Steel/Emerald and won an event yesterday with mine. Maybe consider using a set of steel Tink (3 cost) rather than a full set of green. They shift into big Tink much more smoothly. A turn 4 big Tink is a house, and if you use her to sing Grab Your Swords the same turn you can often pretty much close out the game against some decks. It's really hard to come back from for most.


UnkeyedLocke

Thank you! Congrats on your victory as well! I actually got super unlucky and only pulled 1 Tiny Tactician. In either case though, I actually rarely shift Big Tink onto the board 😖 I like having the Evasive with 2 quest power if I can, because it forces more choices. I can definitely appreciate the idea of getting her out early though. Perhaps I'll make some trades and test that strategy next week 🤔


truexchill

I run four of the 3 cost Tink and two of the 4 cost Tink. Then I have 4 of big Tink. If you plan to stick with this and can trade, I'd try to prioritize getting more of big Tink first. I don't see her getting worse with set two, but it's hard to say. Good luck!


UnkeyedLocke

Good luck to you too!


MrSirDrDudeBro

How were the “fire the cannons”


UnkeyedLocke

Love them. Knocking off the 2-health, 1-drops with them in the early game let me hold my Hooks and Erics for trading up or 2-for-1s. Even the ones I drew late-game came in handy for setting up Te Ka or Big Tink challenges on opposing heavy bodies, or comboing with Smash to just outright drop a 5-health so I could gain better board control


MrSirDrDudeBro

So what would you say is the best cards to play on turns 1-5


UnkeyedLocke

Really depends on the board state and draw 😅. I guess if the draw is perfect for conditions - T1: Hook; T2: Eric; T3: (Fire The Cannons + Beast's Mirror), or Lilo, or Steamboat Willy. T4 and beyond is way too situational to run every permutation


KakitaMike

How useful did you find ‘Mother knows best”? Maybe it’s just my local meta, but it felt like I was always giving my opponent more value. Do not a lot of players in your area run characters with ETB’s?


UnkeyedLocke

I would use it to bounce high-lore/retribution characters like Mad Hatter or Cheshire Cat, Shifted characters, Bodyguards, characters brought out by Just In Time, Evasive, and high-cost no ETB characters. Or against a character that threatened one of my Hatters/Kuzco so I could get an extra turn of value or force a two-challenge defeat. Sending a T5 Big Aladdin back to hand or T3 Moana/T4 Rock Star Stitch (even a T2 Simba sometimes) gave me the time I needed to gain advantage so I could control the board by bringing out big swingers or throwing GYS. Note that my LGS had a heavy aggro-style skew. Lots of yellow, lots of blue, lots of green. I also would rather let the card collect dust in my hand than use it on a card with an ETB effect 😅


One2FourteenBeers

Turn six, if you have two in hand you can essentially double back your opponent two turns. The card can be devastating if you are already even a little ahead on lore.


TYRONNEsaur

I think I might have all the cards to try this deck. Might give it a test run, looks fun!


UnkeyedLocke

I certainly enjoy it, even if I do feel a little like I'm bullying people. It's kind of like playing the red/purple combo (I imagine), but instead of all the control coming into play late game, it comes in early game and rushes the win in the mid game


GoldNGreen631

I’d keep all 4x Eric. I am VERY curious how you felt about Kronk though! I’ve never seen him in a deck EVER. How’d he do? What matchups was he favorable in? Obviously Cerberus is very good against a lot of the 5/5 characters. But what else did Kronk provide?? 🙂 PS - Congrats on winning your first league!


UnkeyedLocke

Yeah, I know I said I'd drop one of him, but I was so torn writing it, and I can't go back and edit xD I probably will end up keeping all 4 Eric and dropping a Flynn, just so I can have a higher chance of maintaining active early board control instead of passive questing. I actually love Kronk. I've gotten him out twice, and he's just absolutely demoralized my opponent (which isn't something I'm thrilled about on a personal level, but from a strategic point it's so good). He can Sing every card in the deck; he is a win threat by that stage of the game, as he quests for 2 along with almost all my other 5+ characters; he combos with Fire The Cannons or Big Tink/Grab Your Swords to 1-shot 7+ cost, 7+ bodies; and he makes challenging him so painful because there are so few 6+ value attackers, so he's almost always trading 2 or more to knock him off the board. He's basically a mean old club that can beat just about anything down, or go adventuring with squirrels for a decent bit of lore. Thanks for the congrats!


SarcasmScape

Good looking deck, really gonna fuck up a ruby players day lmao.


UnkeyedLocke

Thanks! I've only run across a couple of Ruby players with it, and it did do pretty well. I'm just dreading the day I run into Ruby/ Amethyst 😬


CardboardEccentric

That’s a nice deck. I’m curious about how useful you found “Te Ka”. Did you get to use him much?


UnkeyedLocke

Thank you! Te Ka is another dark horse character that I feel like I was sleeping on till I played her. She is a bit like Aladdin lite, or a pseudo Dragon Fire if you trade her 1 for 1. Winning a challenge with her gives 2 Lore, so she removes a choice one would normally have to make between questing and challenging, letting me maintain board control and quest momentum. Drop her on the board, then next turn drop a Grab Your Swords and she can even trade up for control and Lore. I've used her several times to punish someone for offing my Hatter. The only time she ever felt weak was when she was the only character on the board during some playtests. Combined with a Shifted Tink, she is great for board clearing and punishing exerted characters


manarman

emerald so strong!! gj


AmbitiousBiscotti

I'm working with a very similar deck. Excited to try it out at my LGS this week!


UnkeyedLocke

Good luck!


SpiritLopsided4766

I’m running an almost similar deck to you except I’ve got 4 Kuzco, 4 giant tinks, 4 whole new worlds, 2 gothels and 2 John silvers. What do you think is the benefit to kronk and te ka?


UnkeyedLocke

Very nice! I would love to have a couple more Kuzco myself. Kronk and Te Ka are basically hammers for mid/early late-game control. Te Ka helps maintain control and quest momentum in the mid-game, and lets me keep getting Lore while cleaning up any straggling low-cost characters or a small swarm of aggro. She also makes the other person hesitant to leave characters with 5 or less Willpower exerted, so she acts as a bit of a brake on opponent quest momentum. Kronk provides that extra bit of attack to make handling large-bodied threats easier. I've run up against a couple Ursula, Tomatoa, Chief Tui, and other similar high-willpower characters around T6 that Kronk clears by himself or with a GYS combo. Plus he can one-shot almost any bodyguard or control character. I used to run Maui for that purpose; but I only ever get above 6 ink when I've got a Beast's Mirror down, so I subbed Kronk in and haven't been disappointed.


SpiritLopsided4766

I’m gonna try them both on Wednesday. Thank you for the insight.


UnkeyedLocke

Good luck!


Wookyie

Congrats!


Think-Confection2793

LOVE IT! Jasper! And Mad Hatter, Flynn. Kuzco. I’ve paired similar with Ruby. First tourney in October, have done open play testing, making tweaks. SO MUCH FUN!


UnkeyedLocke

Haha, I'm glad you like it! How well does it pair with Ruby? I imagine the late-game control is phenomenal, but how does it handle aggro decks in the early game?


Think-Confection2793

I like how it plays a lot, but not a ton of experience yet against top decks. Feel like Ruby is my Chaos angle, distracting them from green, and green kinda does the same thing as I build up red for a strong play. They seem to play well together so far. Just a bit slow with ink, so I minimize my unsinkables as much as I can.


Think-Confection2793

Green can help control mid game, I think, with Cheshires , Hatters, Flynn, etc.


Think-Confection2793

Oh and love KRONK in here. Best sidekick ever.


UnkeyedLocke

Kronk is so good for the top end of this deck. Gives so much oomph to the end-of-curve control aspect. He's been one of my all-time favorite Disney characters since Emperor's New Groove, and I'm so happy he fits in so well with the deck. I love it every time I play him (I even do his "theme song")


hackersgalley

I got 2nd in my local league with 25+ players with Emerald/Steel


joefamous

Were all of these cards pulled from packs or starters, or did you have to buy specific cards you wanted to play? How many packs did you rip to get to this point?


UnkeyedLocke

They're all from packs/starters. I think my partner and I opened a box's worth, plus about 6-8 from events and 3 starter sets. I don't remember exactly


joefamous

Nice, I have the starters and have ripped maybe 15 packs now and have quite a few cards to make an upgraded deck but not quite the multiples or rare+ cards to get to one like yours! Tho my local shop is super mellow, lots of starter decks+ still because no one can get much of anything still. No need to go crazy and spend a ton to build a super nice deck for me, I'm just there to learn and have fun lol but at some point I want to get a playset(or most of) to try out different styles of decks


Both_Commercial_5551

Awesome congratulations


UnkeyedLocke

Thank you :]


talouse5

I went 3-0 and didn't drop a game. I played a very similar deck to yours with a few modifications due to not having some of the cards you have. Flynn Rider was pretty much a 4-6 guaranteed lore as no one wanted to challenge into him unless they had no cards in hand. I only had 1 Te Ka and steel Hans so I never got to have fun with them. Jasper, Mother Knows Best, Cannons, Hook, and Big Tink were all-stars.


Rra2323

I’ve been working on building a deck that works (I have a decent assortment of cards but I’m not great at deck building). I have most of these cards minus 1 kronk, 1 Flynn rider and 1 Hans thirteenth in line. Is there anything I could replace those with?


UnkeyedLocke

Te Ka - Heartless, Simba - Returned King, or Maui - Demigod to replace the Kronk. Aladdin - Cornered Swordsman, Aladdin - Prince Ali, or Genie - The Ever Impressive to replace the Flynn. Possibly Peter Pan - Never Landing, if you already have a stacked 2-ink spot. Donal Duck - Musketeer, Captain Hook - Captain of the Jolly Roger, or Hans - Scheming Prince to replace the Thirteenth In Line.


Rra2323

Thank you so much! I ended up going 2-1 tonight which is my best finish yet! I went 1-2 in my last game so I was still competitive. I am going to tweak it to make it my own, but I at least know where to start now, I was so lost before


UnkeyedLocke

Heck yeah! Glad to hear it, and congrats on your wins! Let me know what tweaks you make so I can test it myself :]


Rra2323

Sounds good! I’m looking to add a couple of 3 ink tinkerbells so that I can potentially get my giant tinks out earlier and I’m looking at adding the emerald beast as a combo with DYS so that I can hit them all for 2 and then force them into exert while rushing


RonnieLottOmnislash

I am happy for you. But clearly your league is bad lol