Table of Contents
Since the First Chapter, Lorcana has been teasing a potential deck around the Magic Broom synergies. We've always had 001-051 available, and more interesting support came along the way, such as 003-068 in the third set. With Ursula's Return, it seems like Ravensburger wanted to give it a real push, with multiple Magic Brooms, alongside 004-059 and 004-187. Plus, even if the card isn't directly connected to the Broom synergy, 004-039 is a potential new win condition for the deck.
With these new additions, I felt like not testing a Magic Broom list would be a shame, so I built the deck on Pixelborn and took it for a spin. Honestly, the results are pretty good, and the fun is even better.
Is this the time for the Magic Broom deck to be a thing? Let's find out!
Decklist & Card Breakdown
Key Synergies
The Magic Brooms are obviously the stars of the show, but not the one to bring the win on many occasions, instead, it is the support cards we want to build our game plan around:
- 001-051 wants us to play a very tempo oriented early game, ideally without committing too many of our Magic Brooms doing so. Then, you can play your discount engine safely, and leverage its ability in the following turns. 003-068 works the opposite way. First, develop your Magic Brooms and then attach all of them for free for a massive lore gain on the spot. Both cards will reward you for seizing initiative, and earning the right to develop without the pressing need to answer what your opponent is doing.
- 004-187 is the Swiss army knife of this deck. You can shift it early to have a singer for your 5-cost songs (001-195 for refill or 001-198 for board control), or use it as a removal piece with "Sweep Away" later in the match.
- 004-059 is used for its draw ability, first and foremost, so make sure to get that extra card whenever possible. If you get to lore for three with it, and it isn't removed by your opponent, it usually means you are in a great spot.
- 001-195 allows us to just play our hand a bit carelessly as we know we will get a refill soon. You will often just pay its cost due to not having anything to do if you emptied your hand already. However, keep in mind you can now sing it with 004-187.
- We have a decent capacity when it comes to removing opposing cards. 004-188 has a couple of good targets in 003-046 or 004-049. Paired with 002-201 and 001-198, we have enough tools to seize the board before we have to play 001-195 for refill, or 003-068 and 004-039 to start gaining lore.
- Unless you have seen no Mickey Mouse cards all game, you will always pick "Magic Broom" when naming a card for 004-039.
What to Ink?
The deck runs 51 inkables, which makes it very safe in that regard. Most of the time, you want to get to five ink so you can pay for your songs if 004-187 is not around to sing them. Past that point, you need to assess how much ink you will need in the future. Usually, if you have 001-195 planned in the coming turns, there is very little downside to adding cards to your inkwell.
As for what to ink, there isn't a specific rule, as we have so many choices with 51 eligible cards. Here are two guidelines to keep in mind:
- Magic Brooms can be thrown back into your deck with 003-045 or 001-047 for 004-039's ability. They can't be returned when in your inkwell. As such, you might want to consider other cards if the game state allows it.
- Non-Magic Broom cards will often have the most impact on the board state, or your ability to gain lore quickly. Then, those can be more important to hold later in the match, or in contested situations, while the Magic Brooms are better when you can just develop without caring too much about the opponent.
Alternate Cards to Consider
I wanted to make the deck as explosive as possible, as I don't believe the Magic Broom synergy wants to go too deep into a match. Hence, apart from changing the ratio of those already in the deck. I don't recommend including 003-044 or 004-186, although that second one is inkable at worst.
The most flexible part in the deck are the songs. Not only can you play with how many copies of each you want in the deck, there are other songs to consider as well.
Friends On The Other Side
I don't think we need more draw, but it can be frustrating to not find 001-195 and we have enough 3-costs to sing this one. Replace 004-196 if you aren't facing many item decks.
Let The Storm Rage On
Another card you can consider to add a little more draw in the mix. We have so many inkables you could replace 002-201 if you only deal two damage with it on most occasions.
001-200 is also a possibility if you have specific three Willpower cards in mind and don't want to gamble having enough characters in play at the time.
And Then Along Came Zeus
If you see you are up against a lot of locations, this card could have its merit as a hybrid removal instead of 001-198 or 002-201. 004-195 is another card you could consider against location decks while keeping a small AoE potential.
Rise Of The Titans
Same logic as the previous entry, you could also consider 003-198 instead of 004-196 if you wanted a hybrid removal for location or items instead of just items.
How to Play
The Magic Broom synergy focuses on basic card games fundamentals:
- Seize initiative early so you can focus on yourself
- Remove opposing cards as cheaply as possible, keep your ink to push your own synergies
- Never run out of gas
If you can do these three things, I feel like the deck has a shot at being more than just a gimmick in the current metagame. Let's dive into what each means:
Initiative is key because none of our Magic Brooms have reactive abilities. We can sometimes leverage a good challenge with 002-188 giving resist to another card, but this requires another character in play. Same logic for 002-201 which is based on the amount of cards we have in play, or 004-187. This deck needs to develop proactively in order to function properly. As such, we need to get into a position where we can play those characters safely, and not fear they will be removed as soon as they enter play.
With this in mind, it is sometimes better not to lore early on, just to keep our cards safe, and build our character count to bolster our future abilities. This is where initiative is so important, as focusing on the opponent too early won't function with this deck, because we'll never get to develop and quickly be stuck in a defensive role we aren't built to assume.
Up until turn five or six, we typically won't have enough ink to play a character and a song in the same turn. As such, we need to make our removal as cheap as possible, so we can focus on developing, as we just said in the previous paragraph. The critical costs we want in play are three and five, so we can sing 002-201 and 001-198.
We have plenty of 3-cost, with 004-049 and 003-046 being quite chunky at four and five Willpower. Then, singing the cheaper song won't be a problem most of the time. Often, we will be good against a single target, able to play characters the turn we want to sing it, and deal three to five damage routinely.
The most expensive songs can be more of an issue, which shifting into 004-187 solves if we can get it done. However, this means playing 004-188 over the other 2-costs, which can be unintuitive at first, even more so as 004-187 won't remove much without several Magic Brooms on the table. This line of play is particularly effective against other decks in need of getting set early on, or if you have 001-051 in hand, and want to clear the board before getting it in play.
Lastly, anticipate the fact that you will run out of cards in hand at some point, typically around turn four, five, maybe six if you found 004-059. With this in mind, you need to plan a turn where most of your ink will go towards playing 001-195, unless you have 004-187 in play. Plus, this also means you have to get to five ink, which will consume the cards in your hand too.
We have 001-195 for refill, and discussed some options to add more draw if you feel the need for it. Yet, it is important to accept that risk of possibly running out of cards, as not finding 001-195 isn't salvageable with just a couple of extra draws. This is another reason why seizing initiative is so influential. With the lead, we can develop 004-039 which is another draw option, or we can take a gamble with 003-068 and hope to leverage it for two turns.
If you feel like you run out of cards too often, here is an alternate build with more emphasis on 3-cost characters and 002-199 included. It also makes sense if you see 004-070 a lot.
This section was long. Just keep in mind: be proactive!
Mulligan
Cards I would always keep are 004-048, 004-059, and 002-199. Once you have these three, you can be more match-up dependent, aiming to find more Magic Brooms for development, or some removal if you expect the need to contest the board early on.
In that second category, you can either keep 002-201 to sing, which can be inked at worse, or the 004-188 and 004-187 pair. However, with a great amount of inkable cards in the deck, targeting those specifically isn't particularly important.
001-195 can be kept with a super aggressive hand you expect to empty by turn five. Do not keep it against an Emerald deck or 003-090 will make you pay for it. 004-196 is a keep against heavy item decks, often Sapphire plus another color.
Weaknesses to Be Aware Of
This is not a guide about a new meta breaking, tier one deck, let's be honest. Obviously, the Magic Broom deck has some weaknesses we have to keep in mind.
First, the deck cannot function without characters on the board or the ability to develop several without already being behind in the game. Your opponent clearing your brooms and setting you back is a thing, but with 001-195 for refill and 001-051 to discount our cards, we can rebuild something quickly.
However, if the same situation happens while we are already behind on board, it is a completely different story, as we either need to spend ink for songs, or hope some of our characters will stay in play to sing next turn.
The second weakness of the deck is the relative weak statistics of our cards. We don't have a big power character to get multiple challenges in, nor do we have a way to exert opposing cards. Also, the only thing we can do against characters with Ward is to beat them to the finish line.
This is why it is important to quickly represent a threat to our opponent and prevent them from being able to safely develop those cards we struggle to deal with. The deck is pretty good at racing to 20 lore if we have 003-068 or 004-039 and 004-059 stay over multiple turns. It is mostly a matter of being in a position to start the race on our terms, not be forced to follow an opponent who got a head start on us.
Closing Words
I don't know if I am ready to recommend the Magic Brooms for a big tournament. However, I will say the deck feels drastically improved when I tested it online or played with friends.
If you aren't looking to win at all costs, I could definitely see this one being a reasonable pick for a store tournament, where you'd be curious to see how the deck might perform with something at stake. Also, it is super fun to play, so you are guaranteed to have a good time, at the very least!
I hope this guide was helpful in learning the Magic Broom deck. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out through my Twitter page.
Good Game Everyone!
