Rise of the Floodborn Set Review: Ruby

With Disney Lorcana's second set only days away from release, it's time to take a look at the full set and evaluate all the cards. In this post, I will be reviewing all the Ruby cards coming in Rise of the Floodborn.

Introduction

With Disney Lorcana's second set only days away from release and all the cards now revealed, it's time to take a look at the full set and evaluate all the cards. Since there are over 200 cards, we will be breaking this series of reviews down by ink color. In this post, I will be reviewing all the Ruby cards coming in Rise of the Floodborn.

Ruby was arguably the weakest ink coming out of The First Chapter. They had a solid control deck in Amethyst/Ruby and... not much else. Will they get more support for their control deck? And might they finally see another deck archetype take hold when set two releases? Let's have a look at the cards and see what Ruby has in store.

Rise of the Floodborn Set Review

Amber
Amethyst
Emerald

Ruby
Sapphire
Steel

Rating Scale

Each card will be rated from 1 to 5. Here is roughly what each rating means:

1 = Garbage - These cards are unplayable in nearly all circumstances. You would never consider adding these cards to your constructed deck and probably don't want to see them in limited formats either. Also sometimes known as "pack filler". When you get these cards, add them to your binder and leave them there.

2 = Kinda Bad - These cards are generally unplayable under most circumstances. They may be good in very specific or very niche situations but you would almost never seriously consider putting them in a competitive deck. They're just too awkward or clunky to see use realistically. They can sometimes be serviceable options in limited formats though.

3 = Fair. These cards are not powerful enough to be deck-defining cards in playable decks nor are they bad enough that you would never consider them. They're somewhere in the middle of the road, and cards in this range could jump in and out of the meta depending on how it changes, either within the current set or possibly even future sets. These cards are never worth dismissing out of hand because it's always possible that they could be good enough to see play if the meta calls for them.

4 = Very Good. These cards are powerful enough that they become staple cards in competitive or serious decks. Cutting it from a competitive deck and trying to swap in something else would almost never be recommended because the card is too important to the deck's overall strategy.

5 = Insane. These cards are the most powerful cards in the set. The meta can shift by their very presence. They are the superstar cards of the best of the best decks. They may be able to singlehandedly move the power of a deck a couple tiers higher in the meta reports than they would otherwise. When people think of the defining cards of the set, they think of these cards.

Baloo - Fun-Loving Bear

Starting things off here with Baloo from The Jungle Book. Nice to see some Jungle Book cards in this set but Baloo is just a boring vanilla. You can do better.

Rating: 1/5

Boun - Precocious Entrepeneur

Another vanilla, another card you aren't excited about including in your deck. Great character from Raya and the Last Dragon, but he gets a boring card.

Rating: 1/5

Card Soldiers - Full Deck

Three vanillas in a row? Yikes. Not a great start for Ruby. I'm trying to think of a reason you would run this over Maui... yeah, I got nothing.

Rating: 1/5

Donald Duck - Not Again!

Here we go, finally a card we can sink our teeth into. Donald Duck is one of Ruby's Legendaries this set and he comes with an interesting ability. Ruby has a theme of self-damage in Rise of the Floodborn and this Donald gives you a nice payoff for damaging him.

The issue I see with this card though is you will have to use one of your self-damaging cards like Teeth and Ambitions to get any value off of this Donald. You can't use him to challenge something, get some damage on him, and then ready him and quest since all of Ruby's readying abilities say you can't quest after readying. You would need to wait until next turn to quest. And that just makes this Donald too slow to be useful, I think.

Rating: 2/5

Felicia - Always Hungry

Felicia is a 1-drop version of Gaston - Arrogant Hunter. Gaston saw a good amount of play as an early game control option and I think Felicia could as well. She is especially good against an opposing Simba. Solid card.

Rating: 3/5

Fidget - Ratigan's Henchman

Fidget is a Ruby reprint of Emerald's Peter Pan. He's just kind of your standard "french vanilla" card, i.e. a vanilla with a keyword. You don't really want to put this in your constructed deck but he's fine in limited formats.

Rating: 2/5

Honest John - Not That Honest

The cycle of "whenever you play a Floodborn character, do X" cards continues in Ruby with Honest John. And this one is probably the worst of the bunch. You don't really care about subtracting 1 lore from your opponent; it has next to no impact on the game. And the 2/3/1 body for 3 ink is just bad. Plus he's uninkable. Yikes.

Rating: 1/5

Lady Tremaine - Imperious Queen

A Floodborn Lady Tremaine that ends up seizing the throne over Cinderella is a fun idea for a card. At Shift 4, she can come down on turn 4 and is a decent 3/4/2 body. And then she has her Power To Rule At Last ability, which generates you even more tempo. The fact that your opponent gets to choose the character to banish is a bit annoying. But sometimes they will only have one character and then Tremaine acts as a much cheaper Maleficent. She also excels in multiplayer formats.

Her being uninkable is a pain though, especially because her Shift target is also uninkable. Having to run 8 uninkables just to be able to Shift her out consistently is a high price to pay. It's going to make for some tough deck building decisions and ultimately means she may not make the cut in a lot of lists, despite being a strong individual card.

Rating: 3/5

Lady Tremaine - Overbearing Matriarch

A worse Aladdin - Street Rat, this card is nothing more than a Shift target for the Floodborn Lady Tremaine. And not a very good one at that. I'm confused as to why this card is uninkable. The effect is nearly worthless and a 2/2/1 is understated for the cost. Very strange.

Rating: 2/5

Lumiere - Hotheaded Candelabra

Sacré bleu, yet another vanilla! Lumiere is really only playable in a ramp list and even then you can probably find something better to spend 7 ink on.

Rating: 1/5

Minnie Mouse - Stylish Surfer

A 3-cost Evasive with 2 lore on it is pretty good. She's Pongo - Ol' Rascal with -1 Strength for -1 ink cost. I'll take that deal. I think she can find a home in Evasive heavy lists or just aggressive decks that want efficient questers that are annoying to deal with.

Rating: 3/5

Minnie Mouse - Wide-Eyed Diver

This Floodborn Minnie is also a nice Evasive option. You will be able to Shift her out on turn 2 more often than not, thanks to the Minnie from set one. Her Undersea Adventure ability is hard to proc, but it can be a nice lore burst for you, if you have the actions to play. If we ever get a viable "actions matter" deck, this Minnie will get a lot better. For now, she's just solid.

Rating: 3/5

Minnie Mouse - Zipping Around

Rounding out the Minnies for this set is this vanilla. Maybe you want extra Shift targets for Wide-Eyed Diver and so you will have to play this? Nah, probably not.

Rating: 1/5

Mother Gothel - Withered and Wicked

This is kind of like 2-cost 3/1 vanilla card, which would be very bad. But since she works with Ruby's self damage synergies, she actually offers some interesting uses. You can banish her with Dinner Bell to draw 3 cards or use healing cards like Coconut Basket to heal her when you play her. She's also, amusingly, a good target for Rapunzel's healing. Because of all these interesting synergies, I think she will actually be a useful piece to a lot of decks.

Rating: 4/5

Mulan - Soldier in Training

Another "french vanilla" for Ruby in Mulan - Soldier in Training. At least she has Rush, which is a strong keyword. But she's uninkable and you are probably fine with just running Maui instead of this.

Rating: 2/5

Namaari - Nemesis

This is like a slightly cheaper Dragon Fire that sits on the board until you want to use it. But she's very slow since you can't react to something immediately after your opponent plays it. She has to already be on board when your opponent plays the thing you want to remove. But then you expose her to removal instead. I don't know, this card is really awkward. Just play Dragon Fire.

Rating: 1/5

Queen of Hearts - Impulsive Ruler

A 2/2 with Rush for 2 ink is not bad. It can deal with some early game threats like Lilo or Pinocchio. It can also be used with Shere Khan and Dr. Facilier for some cheeky lore gain shenanigans. And she's inkable, which is rare to see with Rush cards. Decent card.

Rating: 3/5

Queen of Hearts - Sensing Weakness

This Floodborn Queen of Hearts pairs well with the previous Queen of Hearts. Obviously the smaller Queen can be a Shift target but also, she can come down after this Floodborn Queen is in play and challenge something immediately for that sweet, sweet card draw. Ideally, you have a large board up against an opponent's large board and then you play her down and get a bunch of card draw in one go.

She also works well with some of the readying abilities in Ruby, allowing your characters to challenge multiple times in a turn and net you more card draw. Card draw is good and Ruby hasn't really had any up to this point, so this Queen is sorely needed. Overall, a fantastic card and one that I think will go into just about every Ruby deck.

Rating: 5/5

Ratigan - Very Large Mouse

And here's an example of one of those readying abilities that can work with the Floodborn Queen. This one even comes bundled with an exert effect for one of your opponent's characters. It has a restriction on it, but there are honestly a lot of characters with 3 Strength or less that you'll be happy to remove from the board. I think any card that lets you remove your opponent's characters before they have a chance to quest with them or get any value out of their abilities is going to see play.

Rating: 4/5

Raya - Headstrong

This Raya is a weird one. Her Note To Self, Don't Die ability wants her to challenge multiple times a turn. But at only 3 Willpower, will she survive the first challenge? And what can she even effectively remove on turn 4, when she is able to challenge, with just 2 Strength? If this card had Rush, and was uninkable in exchange, I would like it a lot more.

Rating: 2/5

Raya - Leader of Heart

So I guess you don't really want to challenge with the little Raya and instead curve her into this Floodborn Raya on turn 4 and then challenge something that is already damaged. If you can do that, you are going to be quite happy. But it might be tough to always have something that is damaged for you to challenge.

And even though she will survive nearly any challenge on your turn, at 3 Willpower, she's going to most likely be easily banished on your opponent's turn. Unless you are spending extra resources to ready her again before passing turn. I like the idea of this card, but I think in practice she'll not be as good as one might think.

Rating: 2/5

Raya - Warrior of Kumandra

I haven't counted but it certainly seems like Ruby has gotten a lot more vanillas than the other inks? And this one doesn't even function as a Shift target. Rough.

Rating: 1/5

Scar - Vicious Cheater

The second of Ruby's Legendaries in Rise of the Floodborn is this Scar. A 6/5 with Rush is a familiar stat line in Ruby. This card will compete with Maui to make the cut in a lot of lists. But Scar comes with the added benefit of being able to ready himself. At 7 ink, this card is also competing with Be Prepared as a sort of AoE removal option.

I think those two cards go into different decks though. Be Prepared is obviously a control card whereas I think this Scar wants to be top-end for a midrange deck. Clearing two medium-sized threats of your opponent's on turn 7, without having to sacrifice your own board, is a strong play. He also synergizes well with the next card we're going to look at.

Rating: 4/5

Shere Khan - Menacing Predator

Shere Khan is probably my favorite Ruby card this set. I like that he gives us more burst lore gain. Being able to gain a lot of lore unexpectedly makes games more exciting and dynamic. This card works very well with all of Ruby's readying abilities and any Rush character. Removing stuff of your opponent's while gaining lore is pretty nice.

But, mostly, I think he's best utilized as a combo card. And there is already a possible infinite combo with him, Madam Mim, Dr. Facilier and Lefou. You can attack with Lefou for as long as your opponent has exerted characters on board, gaining you lore with each attack. If your opponent has a Resist +2 character in play and exerted, you can gain an infinite amount of lore! Needless to say, that would be enough to win you the game.

Overall, a very cool and potentially powerful card. I'm not sure how much play he will see out of the gate, but I do suspect at some point he will become a key card in a combo deck that will potentially break the game.

Rating: 4/5

Tigger - One of a Kind

Here's another one for whenever an "actions matter" deck becomes a thing. I don't think that is happening this set though, so this is basically a 3/3/1 vanilla card.

Rating: 1/5

Tuk Tuk - Wrecking Ball

I feel like I've compared a lot of Ruby cards to Maui already, but as long as that card is standard legal, that's the bar all other cards are going to have to clear to be playable. And this card does not compare favorably. For only 1 less ink, you get an uninkable card with 2 less Strength and no Rush. No thanks.

Rating: 1/5

Go the Distance

Go the Distance is a nice readying card to go along with the already playable Fan The Flames. This one has the caveat where the character must be damaged first, but you usually are readying after a challenge anyway, so that's not a problem. And it's a song and it draws you a card. What's not to like?

Rating: 4/5

Teeth and Ambitions

A direct damage option in Ruby is interesting. This one has the drawback of having to damage your own character though. And I am less enthused about direct damage in general this set because I think Resist is a very strong keyword that will see a lot of play. This also becomes literally unplayable if you don't have a character on board. It's a song, at least, so I don't want to dismiss it completely. But it has a lot working against it.

Rating: 2/5

The Most Diabolical Scheme

I generally rate hard removal highly but this one is very conditional. You have to have a Villain in play to use it. Plus you are 2-for-1ing yourself when you play this. You are using two cards to remove one card of your opponent's. That's not good. If we ever get a Villain that does something when it is banished, this card might see play. But right now, it's absolute trash.

Rating: 1/5

What Did You Call Me?

Another action card that synergizes with Ruby's self-damage stuff. These kinds of cheap combat tricks have so far proven to be pretty bad and not worth running. Don't think this one bucks that trend.

Rating: 1/5

You Can Fly!

I think this card has potential in a deck that just wants to have a lot of hard to remove stuff. Because the Evasive lasts through your opponent's turn, you can play this on something and it might survive a turn that it wouldn't normally be able to survive. And it's inkable and singable. I think it's decent.

Rating: 3/5

Dinner Bell

Ruby gets another card draw option in Dinner Bell. And it's one that synergizes with the whole self-damage theme. It is very expensive though. I'd like it a lot more if I didn't have to pay ink every time I used it. Maybe it makes the cut in heavy control lists over Magic Mirror? That's the only potential list I can see it fitting into. Floodborn Queen of Hearts is going to be the better draw in most other decks.

Rating: 2/5

Peter Pan's Dagger

Another one for the all Evasive deck, this little dagger can make your Evasive characters pretty deadly. You stack 3 of these and all of a sudden little Minnie is swinging for 5 damage. I don't hate it, but I suspect that it might not do quite enough to be worth running.

Rating: 2/5

Sword in the Stone

Another item for the self-damage deck, this one is much less useful than Dinner Bell. Drawing cards is worth spending ink on, small Strength buffs are not. Just leave this sword where you found it.

Rating: 1/5

And that does it for Ruby. I have to say, I am not super impressed with Ruby's cards this set. I think the self-damage package is not going to be good enough to warrant its own deck archetype. You might run one or two of those cards in other decks, but that's it.

At least it finally got some good card draw in the Floodborn Queen of Hearts and I am really curious what sort of shenanigans we can get up to with Shere Khan. But, overall, not a lot of cards I want to slot into my deck lists.

Maybe the next ink we look at will be more exciting? Keep it locked here for our Sapphire review, coming soon!

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An avid player of card games since he got hooked on the Star Wars CCG back in his teens, Phil "gutshot" Bicking is excited to share his years of expertise to players of Lorcana.

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