Shimmering Skies Set Review: Amethyst

Shimmering Skies is the fifth set for Disney Lorcana. In these series of posts, we will be analyzing and reviewing each card coming to the game with this set, this time looking at the Amethyst cards.

Introduction

Shimmering Skies is the fifth set of Ravensburger's Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game. At this point in the game's lifecycle, the card pool has grown significantly. For cards to make an impact, they will either need to bring something new to the table or just be an all-around powerful card. We are reviewing all the cards in this new set and seeing which might make the biggest splash, continuing with the Amethyst cards.

Amethyst has always relied on its abundance of card draw tools and strong early game tempo from its bounce package to remain relevant in the meta. Both of those elements have been key components of what is probably the best all-around deck in Lorcana's history, Ruby/Amethyst Control. Will we see more cards that power this deck archetype? Or could we see the emergence of some new Amethyst decks? Let's take a look.

Shimmering Skies Set Review

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.


Shimmering Skies Amethyst Cards

Maleficent - Formidable Queen

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Kicking things off with this Super Rare Floodborn Maleficent. The art on this card goes hard, but the effect is a bit strange. The bounce effect is nice, but you need a deck full of Maleficents to really take advantage of this ability. And I don't think there are enough good, cheaper Maleficents that you would want to run.

Now, her ability does count herself, so you could just use her as a sort of 001-075. But considering her cost and uninkability, you really need to get max value out of her to make her worth running. Just bouncing one thing probably isn't it.

So I don't see it for this card. It feels like another one that will be playable in the future, with enough good Maleficents printed, but right now it's too expensive for an ability that is hard to take full advantage of.

Rating: 2/5

The Nokk - Mythical Spirit

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The Nokk continues the theme of damage moving that has been present in Amethyst since Into the Inklands. So far, that effect has not been very useful. It's hard to reliably have damage on board that you want to move around. And if you can't move damage, The Nokk just becomes an expensive 5/5/1 vanilla character.

Rating: 2/5

Cogsworth - Illuminary Watchman

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I like the theme of clocks being synonymous with Rush, between this and 001-068. Speaking of Pocket Watch, this card is just significantly better than it in nearly every way. It's much cheaper, it gives you some board presence, and can even be used without another character on board (you can target Cogsworth himself with this ability, turning him into a 1/1 Rush).

Not to mention how well this card synergizes with Amethyst's bounce stuff. Play Cogsworth, give something Rush, then bounce him back to your hand to do it again later. The fact that he is so cheap just makes him so easy to squeeze into turns alongside another character you want to give Rush to. And being able to do that multiple times with one card is very powerful. This card will definitely see play.

Rating: 4/5

Merlin - Turtle

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The wizard battle between Merlin and Madam Mim has produced some of the best cards in all of Lorcana. Madam Mim - Fox, Madam Mim - Snake, Merlin - Goat, and Merlin - Rabbit have all been meta staples. So it is exciting to see more cards from that sequence.

Unfortunately, I don't think the Turtle will be joining their ranks. Goat and Rabbit are both so good, that another 4-cost Merlin would need to be fantastic to replace either of them. And this card just isn't it. A bit of scry (a Magic term that means to look at a certain number of cards on the top of your deck and move them from the top to the bottom) is not enough for me to want to play this card.

Rating: 2/5

Archimedes - Exasperated Owl

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This Archimedes is a decent Evasive threat for budget decks or limited formats. We may even see him sneaking into constructed decks, as he can deal with Diablo - Devoted Herald in some matchups or just be a solid quester in others. 3-cost Evasives that can quest for 2 lore are certainly playable, as we've seen with Minnie Mouse - Stylish Surfer. Archimedes obviously isn't as good as Minnie with only 2 Willpower, but he's still decent and borderline playable.

Rating: 3/5

Bruni - Fire Salamander

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Bruni is another Evasive character, with actually the exact same stats as Archimedes, but you pay 1 more ink for him and in return get his Parting Gift ability. All the same things I said about Archimedes apply here so the question is is it worth paying 1 more ink for the ability to draw a card? I would say the answer is yes. I think this card can definitely see play, probably in aggro decks, as a way to keep applying pressure while not losing card advantage. Good card.

Rating: 4/5

Earth Giant - Living Mountain

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Earth Giant is the opposite of card advantage as you are paying 4 ink for a bigger-than-usual body but with the downside of giving your opponent(s) an extra card. Now, in the right deck, that downside can be mitigated or even turned in your favor, as we talked about in our Amber review with Daisy Duck - Donald's Date. But I don't know if Earth Giant fits in the decks that want to do that. His stats aren't quite big enough for me to want to play him. If he quested for 3 lore, as an aggro player, I would be very intrigued. But at 2 lore, he isn't really an aggro card.

His best fit would be in a mill deck, where you attempt to make your opponent draw all their cards as quickly as possible and lose the game. In that deck, he is fantastic. But mill decks, despite being very fun, have not been very good. So I don't think this Giant is going to see any serious play.

Rating: 2/5

Gale - Wind Spirit

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Gale, another Frozen 2 card (the last three cards have all been from Frozen 2, for those wondering), is sort of like Bruni in that it can "draw" you a card when it is banished. But the card it draws is always itself. The things making it not quite as good as Bruni are it doesn't have Evasive and it has to be banished in a challenge for its effect to trigger. That last one is a big one because, at only 2 Willpower, this thing will die to a lot of Songs and Actions and then you don't get it back in your hand.

Still, it's 1 ink cheaper than Bruni and, in an aggro deck, you just want cards that put lore pressure on your opponent. The fact that this does that while threatening to keep coming back into play over and over again is nice. I think Gale is probably slightly worse than Bruni but can still be playable in certain decks.

Rating: 3/5

White Rabbit - Royal Herald

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White Rabbit finally makes his appearance in Lorcana, four sets after White Rabbit's Pocket Watch. Unfortunately, he's just a plain old vanilla 3/4/1 for 3 ink. The fact that he doesn't have Rush is kinda disappointing. He's even holding his pocket watch in the art!

Rating: 2/5

Madam Mim - Elephant

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A new Madam Mim, to go along with the new Merlin. Unlike the Turtle though, this card looks potentially quite strong. For 4 ink, you are getting a 3/7/1 that bounces something back to your hand. The bounce, as we've learned, is almost more of an upside than a drawback. And 7 Willpower is a lot on a 4-drop. This thing will be able to take out a lot of stuff and survive the challenge.

And that's important, because the Elephant's second ability lets you move damage off of her onto an opposing character at the start of your turn. So you banish something of the opponents with your Elephant, she takes some damage and then, at the start of your turn, you can heal 2 damage and deal 2 damage with her. That's pretty good.

Now, for this card to get its full value is a bit slow. You have to play her, wait a turn to challenge, then wait another turn for Sneaky Move to proc. This is where a card like 005-037 will be good. Giving the Elephant Rush is very powerful, as it gets her ability online one turn sooner and then it can start to snowball on your opponent.

But even without her secondary ability, we've seen how strong bounce cards can be. And she is a good one at the 4-drop slot, which we didn't have before. Just playing her as a 3/7 that demands an answer, while bouncing something back to hand for you to ink or get value with later is going to be good enough much of the time.

I hope you aren't getting tired of bounce decks just yet, because they are not only going to be sticking around, but probably getting even better now with Elephant.

Rating: 5/5

Luisa Madrigal - Entertaining Muscle

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Luisa Madrigal is a big body that quests for a lot and that's about it. For 6 ink, you get a 4/8/3 which will be very hard to remove. But she doesn't do anything when she's played, she's uninkable, and is just overall pretty unexciting. A draft/limited bomb, but not constructed worthy.

Rating: 2/5

Anna - Mystical Majesty

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Now this card looks constructed worthy. Anna gets a Floodborn and it looks pretty strong. Amethyst has long been the ink color of "exerting your opponents stuff" but so far that ability has been limited to one character at a time. Anna does that board wide the turn she comes into play. That is quite powerful.

And, while she costs 7 as a base, she is Shiftable for only 4 ink. A discount of 3 on a Shift is always exciting. I only wish she was inkable, as well. But her ability is powerful enough, that I suppose it's warranted. She could easily find a home in a "challenge matters" deck, turning all your opponent's stuff sideways so you can get value from challenging seems pretty good. Or just a controlling deck that isn't relying on hard removal but instead can use their own characters to remove stuff.

The biggest question with Anna is will there be good enough Shift targets for her. In Amethyst, there is only Anna - Heir to Arendelle currently, which is not on curve, so not a great option. We are getting Anna - Eager Acolyte this set as well, which definitely seems like the intended target. But she is also uninkable and having to run a full playset of both of them could be awkward. Outside of that, there are a couple Annas in Sapphire and one in Emerald. So not a ton of options.

The lack of Shift targets could be what holds this card back, at least right away. But this card will eventually find a home, it's just a case of when and where.

Rating: 3/5

Archimedes - Electrified Owl

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This Floodborn Archimedes is a great option for taking out opposing Evasive characters, such as Diablo - Devoted Herald. You will often be able to Shift him onto Archimedes - Highly Educated Owl on curve, putting a good Evasive body on board on turn 3. You can also fit in a Blue Fairy - Rewarding Good Deeds on turn 2. That's pretty decent. So yeah, nothing too flashy here, just an all-around solid Floodborn character.

Rating: 3/5

Elsa - The Fifth Spirit

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Yet another Evasive card for Amethyst this set, this Super Rare Elsa is like the Diablo - Devoted Herald killer. You can always banish it when you play her since she has Rush, Evasive and the Crystallize ability. (I know I'm harping on Diablo a lot in this set review, but he is the biggest Evasive threat in the format right now, so ways to deal with him are going to be paramount.)

Outside of her usage as a Diablo counter, she is just a decent body that can Rush down lots of cheaper characters, even when they are readied. I would love it if she had more Strength, as 2 is going to be just a tad too little to take out all the various Evasive threats. There are a lot of Evasives with 3 Willpower, it turns out. But maybe you can use cards like 004-113 or 002-009 to buff her Strength?

Also important to note, she is (finally!) a good Shift target for Elsa - Spirit of Winter. Spirit of Winter has seen play in Amethyst control decks throughout Lorcana's lifespan, but has never really been Shiftable. But now, with The Fifth Spirit, she is Shiftable on curve. You play this Elsa, banish something with her Rush and her ability, than next turn Shift out Elsa - Spirit of Winter, to really lock up the game. It seems pretty good.

Overall, we like Rush cards, especially when they are inkable. The fact that you get an Evasive body with a strong ability and a powerful follow-up Floodborn play as well is just frosting on the cake (you see what I did there?).

Rating: 4/5

Genie - Main Attraction

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The first of Amethyst's Legendaries this set is Genie - Main Attraction. He is a 7-cost uninkable 5/5 that quests for 2. So you aren't playing him for his stats, clearly. His ability is a powerful one, blocking all opposing characters from readying at the start of your opponents turn. The caveat being, the Genie has to be exerted for this effect to trigger.

That makes him very slow. You have to play him for a full 7 ink, then wait a turn to quest or sing or challenge with him, then the following turn your opponent is locked out. He's pretty telegraphed and gives your opponent plenty of time to either remove him or attempt to play around Phenomenal Showman. Sure, once he's exerted, he becomes tough to deal with as your opponent can't rely on their already exerted characters and has to play stuff from hand and wait for the following turn to act with them. Or, more likely, they just immediately take him out with Maui - Hero to All.

I think he's just going to be too slow and too expensive to be good. If he had Shift, and could come into play and immediately be exerted, I would like him a whole lot more. But just as a standard character, he's not doing it for me.

Rating: 2/5

Olaf - Happy Passenger

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As we talked about in our Amber review, each ink color is getting a card like this: huge base cost but with an ability that makes it cheaper to play. Amethyst's version is this Olaf who becomes cheaper the more exerted characters your opponent has in play. As a 6/6/3, how cheap does this need to get to be worth it? You are probably fine paying 6 ink for this body, although not too thrilled about it. If you paying anything more than that and it's starting to feel pretty bad.

So you'll want your opponent to have three or more exerted characters. That's kind of a lot. If you've played competitive Lorcana at all, you'll notice that boards don't get very big. Two characters on board is probably average with higher amounts like 4 or 5 being pretty rare. And for all of them to be exerted at once is even less likely.

So I don't rate this Olaf too highly. Maybe if we see more "go wide" decks popping up, Olaf could be a decent inclusion as a 1 or 2 of. But I don't ever see him becoming some sort of staple card in Amethyst.

Rating: 2/5

Maleficent - Vexed Partygoer

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Maleficent is a 0/4/2 for 3 ink which is not the best stat line. I guess you never want to challenge with her any way, since her value is in her ability, which triggers off of questing. But I don't love the cards which trigger off of questing and also aren't Floodborn as you have to wait a turn to get value from them.

And then even when she does get to quest, I have to discard a card to bounce something of my opponents'? So I'm losing card advantage to gain some tempo. And it's slow since I can't do it immediately. And the bounce is limited to things that cost 3 or less. Blech.

This just feels like a much worse Kit Cloudkicker - Tough Guy. Yes, it's repeatable and can also target items or locations as well. But the loss in card advantage is too high of a cost for me.

Rating: 2/5

Monstro - Whale of a Whale

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Monstro is the 001-176 of this set. Cards like these are fine in limited formats, but you never want them in your constructed deck.

Rating: 1/5

Magica de Spell - Cruel Sorceress

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The Bucky counter is here! Oh wait, it's a little too late for that. This card could still see some play though, as I don't think discard decks are going away any time soon. They will just pivot to the other broken discard stuff instead.

Hate cards like these are necessary for the game to remain balanced. When one card or strategy becomes too strong, there needs to be a card in the game that players can add to their decks to shut that strategy down. This leads players to start playing less of the original card or strategy and that in turn leads to the tech card becoming unnecessary, which then leads to the original strategy coming back into the meta, and so on and so on. There ends up being a constant back and forth in the meta between these two poles, instead of one strategy becoming overwhelmingly oppressive. This is how you keep a meta balanced. It's just a shame that this card is coming out in this set and not in either of the last two sets.

So yeah, as a tech card that will help against discard decks, Magica does the job. She will never be an auto-include in decks but is always a good option for when discard decks are prevalent in the meta.

Rating: 3/5

Maleficent - Vengeful Sorceress

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Maleficent is a vanilla 2/2/2 for 2 ink, the same stats as 001-140. I like that we now have the hero and villain of Sleeping Beauty with the same cards in different ink colors. Other than that, not much to say about this card.

Rating: 2/5

Rafiki - Shaman Duelist

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Rafiki always gets some of the best art on his cards. This is another straight-up banger, this time from Giulia Riva. The card itself looks pretty fire as well. For 4 ink, you get a 1/4/2 with Rush. But his Surprising Skill ability gives him Challenger +4 the turn he's played, so he's more like a 5 Strength Rush character.

Dealing 5 damage for 4 ink reminds me of And Then Along Came Zeus, which has been a staple card in the meta. Now Zeus is probably better, it's singable and can target readied characters. But Rafiki is a body that could potentially survive the challenge and then quest for 2 each turn. He's also bounceable, so you can play him as a 5 Strength rusher again. Lastly, he's in an ink color that has multiple ways to exert opposing characters, leaving them open to challenges from Rush characters.

All in all, I like Rafiki a lot. I think he will be a nice option for midrange and control decks to help fight for board control while leaving a body behind for additional board presence or for bounce shenanigans.

Rating: 4/5

Anna - Eager Acolyte

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Hey look, another Bucky counter that is late to the party. This Anna would have been the perfect way to take out a readied Bucky, as her ability forces your opponent to choose a character, getting around Ward. But even without Bucky in the meta, this Anna could still find a place in Amethyst decks. Ward characters are tricky to deal with and any option for dealing with them is worth considering.

She's also a Shift target for the big Anna, although as we discussed, having both of them uninkable is tough from a deck building perspective. As a standalone card, I think this Anna only sees play if there is a big Ward threat terrorizing the meta. Otherwise, her bad stats and uninkability are going to keep her from being a reliable option.

Rating: 3/5

King of Hearts - Monarch of Wonderland

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The King of Hearts is 002-063 on a stick. Except it's not really on a stick because the effect is not an ETB. It's more like a character you play that can then sing an I'm Stuck for you each turn.

We have yet to see a character with an exert ability on them be all that good. They are usually too slow and end up being too easily removed after just one activation of their ability. So I'm not loving this card.

Rating: 2/5

Camilo Madrigal - Family Copycat

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Camilo Madrigal is Amethyst's other Legendary from this set. And, just like Genie, I'm already turned off by the fact that his ability requires him to be on board for a turn to get any value from it.

These "whenever this character quests" abilities need to be on a Floodborn character, or at least something very cheap that you aren't investing a lot of resources into, to be playable. Otherwise, it's likely just getting removed with something like Madame Medusa - The Boss and setting you too far back in tempo.

Camilo's bounce effect is cute as a lore gain and value tool wrapped up into one, I suppose. But there aren't really any good targets for it. Are you targeting Merlin - Rabbit to get one extra lore and a card draw? That's fine, I guess. Maybe Merlin - Goat, letting you "quest" for 3 lore with Camilo? Again, it's fine. I mean, 3 lore is kind of what I expect from a 6-cost character anyway and this is setting me back in tempo to get there. So I'm not thrilled about it. Meh.

I don't get this card. You are tacking on a slow ability onto a character with a stat line that is just asking to get Medusa'd and then not printing any really good targets for him? It feels like something is missing here.

Rating: 2/5

Hypnotic Strength

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This card is similar to 001-132 except you are paying 1 extra ink for the card draw. I like actions that cycle themselves, so I'm usually happy to make that deal. But the Challenger +2 is not going to be super relevant much of the time, so unless you have other action synergies going on, this card isn't going to be worth a spot.

Rating: 2/5

Finders Keepers

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Finders Keepers is the big brother to 001-064. You are paying 2 more ink for one more card draw. That's a bit pricy. Plus it's not a song. Maybe in a 003-042 deck, where you just want as much card draw as possible, this can find a home. Or possibly in a really slow control deck. Card draw is never bad, so I don't want to dismiss the card outright, but it is quite expensive.

Rating: 3/5

We Know The Way

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Another action that cycles itself, although this one is also a song. And includes the upside of potentially being able to play the card you draw for free. That part is going to require some considered deck building and a bit of luck. But if you can hit it, it's great.

This card will feel most at home in Broom decks, where you have a real high chance of hitting another Broom. Probably not much else for now, although maybe the "Oops, all Maleficents!" deck will eventually become a thing and then this can go there too.

Rating: 2/5

Gathering Knowledge and Wisdom

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What is this!? A burn card in Lorcana? It's only something I've been asking for since The First Chapter dropped! This card will be huge for aggro decks. Often times as aggro, you run out of gas at 16, 17, 18 lore and just need to get over the finish line and playing one or two of these will lock up the game for you.

Overall, this is a pretty inefficient burn card but it's at least something. This card will go in aggro decks and only aggro decks. Aggro has gotten a lot of love this set, so I am hopeful that it is now going to be truly viable. Time to finally SMOrc in my Lorcana games.

Rating: 4/5

Magical Aid

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Magical Aid is a similar card to Hypnotic Strength, but the card draw isn't coming from your deck, rather the character on board gets returned to your hand. Assuming it is banished in the challenge, of course.

Again, I don't know if you want to run this in a deck that doesn't also have some action synergies such as Airfoil. It does feel a bit expensive for what it does, so you may also want or need some action cost reduction as well. That probably makes it a bad card in a vacuum, but could be good in the right deck.

Rating: 2/5

Retrosphere

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Retrosphere basically reads as 3 ink to bounce chosen character, item or location that costs 3 or less. So kind of like Mother Knows Best but with a cost restriction. And you can't sing it. Since it's an item, you can split that cost over a couple turns, if you want. Which is nice, it gives you a bit of flexibility in how to spend your ink. And you can always ink it.

Maybe a better comparison is Befuddle. Would I like to pay 2 extra ink so I can bounce something that costs 3 instead of 2 plus have the option to target locations as well? Probably not. So I don't think this one will see play, unless you have a lot of other item synergies in your deck.

Rating: 2/5

Half Hexwell Crown

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Speaking of item synergy, I think you will need it to play this next card. Half Hexwell Crown is a crazy expensive item for what it does. It is 6 ink to play it and then additional ink to activate either of its abilities. You can either draw a card for 2 ink, which is fine. Or you pay 2 ink and then have to discard a card from your hand, simply to exert a chosen character. That is... not good.

The one good thing I can say about this card is it makes for a perfect on-color target for 003-049. I do think that Magica will be the centerpiece of a legit deck one day and Hexwell Crown will probably go into that deck. But that day is not today. This item is real bad.

Rating: 1/5

Amethyst Chromicon

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Amethyst's Chromicon is a simple one that draws you (and your opponents) an extra card each turn. There are a couple decks where this item is going to be great in. First, aggro decks will like this. They don't care if their opponent draws a card as well, they just need to keep piling on the pressure and this card allows them to do that.

Then there are the 003-042 decks. Again, with Jafar decks you just want to find your Jafars quickly and then draw as much as possible once they are on board. Chromicon is perfect for that.

I suspect this is going to see play in one or both of those deck archetypes, although it remains to be seen how good they will end up being in the meta. But still, this is a decent item.

Rating: 3/5

Elsa's Ice Palace - Place of Solitude

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Elsa's Fortress of Solitude.. I mean, Place of Solitude is a 3 cost location that essentially "freezes" an opposing character in place for as long as the location is around. Flavor wise, I love it. But with only 4 Willpower, the location will not last long. You are gonna get one freeze out of it and then it'll likely be banished, making it a more expensive 002-063. In theory, it is quite cool (heh), but it doesn't seem great in practice.

Rating: 2/5

The Library - A Gift for Belle

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The Library is another card draw location for Amethyst. 003-067 has been unquestionably the best location in the game, so could The Library be as good or even better? You are paying 1 less to play it and it comes with 1 extra Willpower, which is great. But only 1 passive lore on it makes it less of a game-ending threat.

The way the draws are triggered is the biggest difference between the two locations. With Queen's Castle, you are hoping the characters there survive a turn to get the draw. But with The Library, you almost want them to be removed. This makes The Library a better location for more aggressive decks, with cheaper characters that are easier to remove.

It's hard to say which location is better between the two. It really depends on the deck and the meta. But this is definitely at least as good as Queen's Castle and may end up replacing it completely as the card draw location of choice for Amethyst decks.

Rating: 4/5


And that's it for Amethyst. While the Legendary cards for Amethyst this set are very lackluster, it is more than made up for with the other stuff they got. The Rush trio of Elsa - The Fifth Spirit, Rafiki - Shaman Duelist, and Cogsworth - Illuminary Watchman all look very strong. As does the new bounce Madam Mim - Elephant. And, personally, I'm most excited for the aggro cards such as Gathering Knowledge and Wisdom and Amethyst Chromicon.

Amethyst has always been present in the meta thanks to their card draw and strong tempo tools with the bounce package and good Rush characters. And it looks like they have gotten more of the same in this set, so the future is looking bright for Amethyst players.

Next up, we'll dive into the Emerald cards!

gutshot
gutshot

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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