One day at a time, the Reign of Jafar release date takes another step closer. We’re now looking at the rest of the Emerald line-up as we continue our closing reveals for this set.
Wilhelmina Packard - The Radio Operator & Napoleon - Clever Bloodhound
While not contributing any special effects in their own right, both Wilhelmina Packard and Napoleon offer surprisingly robust bodies for their ink cost.
It may not be the most glamorous thing in the game, but just having staying power for board presence can be a stable foundation to work on.
Tramp - Observant Guardian & Jock - Attentive Uncle
Both these canine characters have pretty standard stats and inkable nature. This makes them good filler cards for players starting out in Disney Lorcana.
For those with a wider card pool to work with, the former is pretty niche with his temporary Ward giving, and depending on what Emerald’s partner ink color may be, there are better-suited characters for cards in this slot.
Jock on the other hand suffers from Ravensburger’s inclination for building a wide board. The 2 Lore Jock gives upon deployment can definitely help skirt out an extra lead in the Lore race. This, however, will only work if the deck is designed to field multiple characters to begin with.
Tramp may not see use just because there are currently better choices in the card pool. Jock may seem some rogue use as a sort of Lore bomb if players are aiming for a 18 Lore match point win condition.
Chaca - Junior Chipmunk & Tipo - Junior Chipmunk
Tipo comes with both average stats and Evasive, making him fairly robust for his weight class and a good body to field if resources are lacking.
Chaca, meanwhile, exemplifies the kind of field manipulation that Emerald likes to do by forcing the Reckless ability on an opposing character to deny their Lore gain. Or, at the very least, Chaca can force the chosen character into a challenge trade.
While Tipo can be used very easily, Chaca’s ink cost makes her stats subpar. It also hurts Chaca’s viability that she’s wholly reliant on spotting an allied Tipo on the board for her ability.
Copies of Tipo are currently limited to Junior Chipmunk and Growing Son. Thankfully, Junior Chipmunk being in-house means that Chaca will always have a path to accessing her abilities.
Between the two, Tipo can still find use just by being a good body on the field. Chaca, on the other hand, is a tech choice and may not see much play outside of meta calls.
Chip - Quick Thinker & Dale - Bumbler
Chip comes in as a rather fragile 4 ink cost drop whose value is in denying the opponent card advantage. Chip’s discard on play already gives a -1 to the opponent’s overall card count. If Chip can also banish an opposing character, then it’s an overall -2.
While not the strongest of 4 ink cost characters, Chip plays well into Emerald’s focus on discarding and board presence manipulation.
As for Dale, he’s a standard, vanilla body like previous cards. With an inkable nature, Dale can fill in card slots if supplies aren’t enough.
Gadget Hackwrench - Quirky Scientist
Sharing the same statline as Quick Thinker, Quirky Scientist takes a more supporting role.
The controlling player can play this version of Gadget Hackwrench as a way to catch up to the opponent if they’re running away with card draw. Her 2 Lore compared to Quick Thinker’s 1 Lore also makes her a viable threat to the Lore race that would need a response eventually.
Similar to Clarabelle - Contented Wallflower, Quirky Scientist may not bring the most exciting changes to the board, but it does offer consistency over the course of a match.
Fred - Major Science Enthusiast & Fred - Giant Sized
As a 3 ink cost drop, Major Science Enthusiast offers a pretty standard body and excellent item removal if the meta calls for it. More importantly, Major Science Enthusiast offers a sturdier body for Giant Sized to be cheated with.
Giant Sized offers a very sturdy body with Shift 5. With a 3 in Lore, the opponent must respond to this card’s deployment as soon as possible. To add to the danger, Giant Sized can search out the first Floodborn character that appears in the deck when questing.
By this point in the ink curve, a majority of Floodborn characters can easily be deployed by just their ink cost alone.
If left unchecked, Giant Sized’s controlling player will end up having a steady supply of characters to keep dropping every turn if need be.
That said, most Emerald decks in the competitive scene play a little low to the ground. Focusing on a high number of early to mid-game characters, the top end of most Emerald decks is 5 ink.
For the current set rotation, there may not be a place for any of the copies of Fred, but the status quo for Emerald decks will change come the release of the Fabled set.
Players will need to fill out the holes left behind once a lot of their current tools will be rotated out of legal status, and Fred may be a quality tool for decks aiming to play into the late game.
March Hare - Hare-Brained Eccentric
March Hare offers another control tool as he can banish any of the early game bodies so long as they have a 2 Willpower. Unfortunately, that is where the value of March Hare ends.
With a standard stat array, March Hare’s value sits firmly in the hands of the controlling player to pilot. On a more positive note, his vanilla nature means that Hare-Brained Eccentric is just a good all-around body to field if you’re not sure what else to put in the deck.
Basil - Undercover Detective
On paper, Undercover Detective offers excellent card advantage control as well as a standard body to trade with in either challenges or in the Lore race. In practice, this card may be more the low-hanging fruit an opponent can easily pluck.
With a 7 ink cost, that 4 in Willpower and lack of either Ward or Evasive makes this version of Basil paper-thin. While Undercover Detective can force an opponent to discard a card, there’s no way to make it activate the same turn it is played due to the lack of Shift.
Basil’s controlling player would have to find a way to cheat him out, or else it would be a major investment in a character who can easily be removed from the board.
Bill the Lizard - Chimney Sweep & Louis - Endearing Alligator
As much as the protection Chimney Sweep generates for itself is nice, there are a good number of staple characters that see play that can bypass Evasive. With only 2 in Willpower, an opponent can easily fling two damage or outright banish him if necessary.
As for Endearing Alligator, he basically functions as a pseudo-Bodyguard at the least, an assassination tool at best.
With the Reckless he forces onto an opposing character, Louis can force priority targets to crash onto himself if they're the only dry character available.
Between the two, Louis would probably see more playing as being the more abled body.
Unfortunately for the Alligator, though, the competition between card choices for mid-game slot is pretty fierce already. So it will be up to the player’s decision and testing to see if Louis is worth it.
Archimedes - Resourceful Owl
Coming at 3 ink cost, Archimedes has an all-around stat block of 2. This is pretty brittle considering most characters at this weight class tend to have at least a 3 Willpower.
With this alone, Archimedes’ staying power and trade potential is already suspect.
His ability to banish an item is also highly dependent on the matchup and the current state of the meta. While his ability to dig through the deck is appreciated, it’s still conditional.
Unless the deck itself makes consistent use of banishing items, then Archimedes' value is significantly lowered.
Mad Dog - Karnage's First Mate
Unfortunately, the unexciting design for Emerald’s list continues with this character. Like the earlier mentioned Chaca, Mad Dog suffers from needing to spot an allied character (Don Karnage) to get the most value.
Unfortunately, Don Kanrage himself isn’t exactly the best choice of roster members, even if played in a Pirate-focused deck. Remove Mad Dog’s ability to discount himself, and he’s no different from any vanilla body. For a 4 ink cost card, there are a lot more flexible tools.
He Who Steals and Runs Away
Rounding out the Emerald list, we have a surprising tech choice. At 3 ink cost, this Action card can find itself on the same level as current Action staples like Strength of Raging Fire, but for items.
While the ability to banish problematic items is good, a player has to carefully consider the competitive scene and the type of decks likely to run item cards before choosing to slot this card into the deck list.
Thankfully, the sting of using He Who Steals and Runs Away is cushioned by the Action card’s inkable nature and ability to replace itself if ever it is used.
Emerald Players may want to keep a few copies of this card in the back pocket. While it won’t necessarily be used in every game, just having the option to get rid of a problematic item may be a welcome one if or when the time comes.