The Reign of Jafar is almost upon us. Ahead of the expansion's release tomorrow, we thought to go over some of the best cards each Ink Color has to offer to its players.
As a general disclaimer, there is no listed order for ranking these cards. These cards were chosen based on what they could offer their deck as a whole, no matter the ink color pairing.
Also, we will just be focusing on single ink colored cards. Dual Ink cards can be really powerful, but are locked behind specific ink color combinations. On the other hand, in-house tools will always be available as long as they’re in legal rotation.
Amber: Lady - Family Dog
It was a tough choice between Lady - Family Dog or Goofy - Groundbreaking Chef. The latter had the better overall stats for its ink cost and came with a recurring healing package that could be used to protect more fragile characters.
Ultimately, however, we went with Lady - Family Dog for her ability to accelerate board presence or card advantage.
No matter what ink color partner, Family Dog can easily bring down a lot of the utility 1 or 2 ink cost characters with her.
Just off the top of our heads, Amber-Sapphire could deploy Lady and follow up with the upcoming Ludwig Von Drake - All-Around Expert.
On curve, that’s two bodies for the price of one, and the latter can even force a discard from the opponent.
Family Dog is not without faults, though. Playing her too early tips the opponent to what you may have in hand, which is never ideal. This can be increasingly obvious when you don't have much in your hand.
Amethyst: Scarab
As much as we would’ve loved to put the titular character on this list, Jafar - High Sultan of Lorcana is a Dual Ink card. So instead, we’ll be giving the Amethyst spot to this little item.
The value of the Scarab in Amethyst is heavily tied to the usage of Illusion characters. Scarab allows players to explore a deck composition that doesn’t strictly rely on the presence of the High Sultan of Lorcana.
For just 2 ink and an exert, Scarab can bounce back an Illusion character to the hand.
In the mid to late game, resource fatigue can be a real problem for some decks. Having the ability to keep bringing back a resource repeatedly, even if it can be deleted by just a single Action card, is invaluable.
Emerald: Flynn Rider - Breaking and Entering
Breaking and Entering is poised to be one of Emerald’s best mid-game pressures, as the opponent has to respond to this card in one way or another. If left alone, that 3 Lore will easily close the Lore race.
Without direct board removal like Brawl or Sisu - Empowered Sibling, Flynn Rider can still end up with the last laugh as the opponent will still have to give up 2 Lore or a precious card in hand to get rid of him via challenge.
That’s assuming that whoever challenges Breaking and Entering can do so in one swing.
Ruby: Most Everyone's Mad Here
While not the easiest card to wield on this list, Most Everyone’s Mad Here can offer any deck using Ruby more than just the archetypical board removal. This Action card can also close out the Lore race if necessary.
That said, this card's cost and uninkable nature mean players probably should not run more than two copies of this card. This cost, however, isn't necessarily a disadvantage, as late game is when the heavy-hitting cards with huge Willpower come out to play.
As long as a player is able to keep in lock-step with the opponent on Lore, then match point can easily be had at 16-18 Lore if enough damage can be spotted on a character.
You can also make a cheeky play by banishing your own character after questing or making a challenge with them. Most Everyone’s Mad Here doesn’t necessarily force you to target an opposing character.
“There’s a fine line between genius and insanity”, and this Alice in Wonderland-inspired card shows it very well with this kind of versatility.
Sapphire: Down in New Orleans
Down in New Orleans may seem a little expensive, but its nature of being a Song allows it to be cheated out a turn or two early with the right Floodborn character. Alternatively, using Amber at the partner ink color could allow you to power this Song out.
As it so happens, Prince Naveen - Ukulele Player shares the same inspirational source as Down in New Orleans, The Princess and the Frog. With this in mind, it's little wonder that these cards synergize so well with one another.
On curve, this kind of acceleration can cheat out late game characters like Tamatoa - Happy as a Clam way earlier than normal. Even for Sapphire, a color that specializes in ink acceleration, that’s saying a lot.
Steel: Beyond The Horizon
Like Amber earlier, it was a tough choice between Beyond the Horizon and Nathaniel Flint - Notorious Pirate.
Nathaniel Flint offered a very robust 2 ink drop, with the condition that the controlling player has to damage an opposing character first before being played. Despite this strength, we had to give this slot to Steel’s first Sing Together card.
Not only is this Song another tool for Steel to draw cards in-house, it can also pull double-duty as a hand nuke for the opponent on demand.
While A Whole New World may be considered Steel’s premier draw card, it’s only for the current rotation. We have no word yet if A Whole New World will be reprinted come the 9th set, Fabled.
Should there be no reprint, then Beyond the Horizon is poised to take up the mantle that A Whole New World will be leaving behind.