If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the last few weeks agonizing over which deck to play at Lorcana’s first Set Championship. If this event had started last season, it would have been a much easier decision: play Ruby/Amethyst, tech the mirror match, and hope for the best. Thankfully, Into the Inklands’ meta is much more healthy and diverse, and there are quite a few decks that have a realistic chance of winning at your local game store’s championship. Unfortunately, that also means choosing the right deಌck to play isn’t very straightforward.
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each deck is the most important part of deciding what to play, so let’s break down all the options. The main contenders are Ruby/Amethyst control, Ruby/Sapphire Pawpsicle, Amber/Steel Steelsong, Sapphire/Steel, Emerald/Steel discard, and Emerald/Amethyst tempo bounce. There 📖are 📖other options besides these six that we’ll touch on later, but these are the core competitive decks in the meta that the vast majority of your opponents will be playing.
Ruby/Amethyst
The safest choice is still Ruby/Amethyst. While it hasn’t taken the top spot at many cash events this season and it isn’t nearly as dominant as it was in the past, Ruby/Amethyst is still a powerful deck that has incredible draw power and board control. It got some grea🐟t new tools this set like Rafiki, Mystical Fighter; Madame Medusa, The Boss; and The Queen’s Castle, Mirror Chamber that have helped it become even more consistent.
It has even-to-favorable matchups against almost every deck too, with it🌱s biggest threats being Emerald/Steel and Emerald/Amethyst, which can drain its resources and outpace it. Hyper Aggro is also a threat, but it’s unlikely you’ll see much of that at your event. Overall, this deck is a great choice if you want to be prepa෴red (pun intended) for anything.
Ruby/Sapphire
Ruby/Sapphire is incredibly popular this season. While it had some early 🎶success during Rise of the Floodborn, it was crushed under the heel of Ruby/Amethyst. With the addition of Lucky Dime, it can now stand toe-to-toe with Ruby/Amethyst and dominate most midrange decks. Its weakness is that it’s a slow deck that can easily run out resources, so aggressive decks and Emerald decks punish it quite easily. This is the more polarizing control deck option, but if it fits your playstyle, it might be the right choice for you.
Amber/Steel
Amber/Steel Steelsong is better than ever this season and has proven itself in multiple tourn🍸aments already. It’s the quintessential mid-range deck that can shift between aggro and control depending on the situation and has the potential to completely disrupt the opponent’s game plan with The Bear Necessities and A W꧒hole New World. It has pretty even matchups against Ruby/Amethyst and Ruby/Sapphire, and it dominates all aggro decks.
Its worst matchup is Sapphire/Steel, which can devalue many of its tools simply by putting𝐆 a Cogsworth in play. The biggest downside of this deck is just how difficult it is to pil🌠ot; it’s the most difficult deck in the format and it requires nearly perfect execution to play correctly. If you’re not already well-versed in Steelsong, it might be best to look elsewhere.
Sapphire/Steel
Sapphire/Steel, or Blue Steel, may be a little underrepresented in the current tournament standings, but it’s an extremely powerful deck worth considering for the Set Championship. It’s not quite as grindy as Ruby/Sapphire, and it has much more favorable matchups against Steelsong and aggro decks. Unfortunately, the Ruby/Sapphire matchup is extremely unfavorable to Blue Steel, and given that deck's popularity this season, it’s pushed Sapphire/Steel down the ranks quite a bit. If you don’t anticipate much Ruby/Sapphire at your event, Blue Steel could be a great choice.
Emerald/Steel
Emerald/Steel is a bit of a dark horse choice, but you can be certain there will be a♍t least a few at your event. This deck is designed to drain resources from control decks like Ruby/Amethyst and Ruby/Sapphire, and punish players that don’t have a way to answer Ursula, Deceiver; and Ursula, Deceiver of All.
However, it is weak to other Steel decks that cꩵan use A Whole New World to refill their hands, so Steelsong and Blue Steel are generally favorable. If I anticipated most of the people at my event were going to be playing a control deck, this is the deck I’d play.
Amethyst/Emerald
Emerald/Amethyst is a tempo deck that makes great use out of Amethyst’s bounce cards to maximize the value of each turn. It🐲 has a bit of Emerald/Steel’s discard tech that limits the opponent’s resources, and it can be frustrating to deal with as it typically takes an early lead, forcing the opponent to catch up and wrestle control back before it’s too late. Steel decks are its biggest weakness because they have so many ways to remove threats from the board before you get any value out of them, but if you want to play a more aggressive deck without having to commit to the weakness of true Aggro, this is the best choice.
There are other viable choices. Amber/Ruby Mufasa is a Good Stuff deck that can sometimes feel like it has the perfect answer to anything, but it can also struggle with cards. Amethyst/Steel Aggro is a budget deck that dominates c﷽ontrol and other aggro decks, and one I would consider playing into a control-heavy field. You’ll just have to pray you don’t run into any Steelsong players. Other aggro decks like Amber/Emerald Lemon Lime or Amber/Amethyst Hyper Aggro might see some representatioܫn too, but that’s an extremely high-risk, high-reward choice in a format with so much Steel.
Every single deck has poor matchups, so there’s no use fretting over them. Ultimately, the best deck to play is the one you’re most comfortable with. If you do💦n’t enjoy grinding matches out with a control deck, there’s no reason to play Ruby/Sapphire no matter how good it might seem.
It’s important to consider the matchups and what you know♓ about the local meta, but the best thing you can do with one week before the big day is to pick a deck and start practicing - especially if you can practice against the decks you’re weakest to. Sometimes the difference between a bad matchup and an even one is a couple of clever tech cards, and you’ve still got time to figure out what your deck needs to help ensure that skill is the most important factor in yo𝓀ur matchups. Good luck.
