Disney Lorcana Azurite Sea set analysis

Note: This article was written in the week of the release, so this is mainly theorycrafting. Let's get brewing!

Overall

• New Dual Ink Glimmers! Important: you can only use the card if your deck matches both of its ink types. That’s a big limitation in their use, and that’s because they have characteristics of both their ink colors. For example, Bolt – Superdog’s ability Mark of Power is usually an Amber go-wide ability, while Bolt Stare is a Steel targeted removal ability. Nice design, that unfortunately makes our set analysis a bit more complicated (on top of the random numbering of the cards, argh).
• Three new keyword abilities! Vanish (3 cards), Puppy Shift (1 card) and Universal Shift (1 card).
• No locations! Zero! We assume it’s because the story is on an Island and the Glimmers aren’t exploring other locations for now – or Ravensburger just needed design space for the dual ink cards…
• Low Action count: only 17. (Azurite Sea had 26, Shimmering Skies had 28). Amber, Amber-Sapphire, Amber-Amethyst, Amethyst-Steel, and Amethyst-Sapphire each have 1, Amethyst has 3 and Ruby, Sapphire and Steel each have 2. There are only 5 Songs. Amber, Amber/Amethyst, Amethyst, Emerald and Sapphire each have 1. There are three new Singers though, all in Amber, and they’re quite decent.
• Low item count. Amber, Amber-Sapphire, Amber-Amethyst, Amethyst-Steel, and Emeral-Sapphire each have 1; Amethyst and Emerald each have 3; Ruby, Sapphire and Steel have 2.
• No Locations, fewer Actions and just a few Items means more Characters! There’s another insight that leans towards more characters: there is very little “removal” through items or actions. Double Trouble is nice, but Out of Order is just an inkable Dragon Fire that costs 2 more Ink. On Archazia’s Island, you’ll be challenging to banish Characters. Keep it in mind when you play Limited. However, don’t forget about the new Keyword ability: Vanish. These three Characters (2 in Amethyst, 1 in Amethyst/Steel) can be banished by targeting them with any action, even if you give them Bodyguard with So Much To Give. Those cards have a low ink cost for a reason.
• There are 9 cards with 3 Lore Value (slightly below average), only 2 cards with Lore Value 4, none with Lore Value 5, and only Belle – Mechanic Extraordinaire can gain you 6 lore when questing.
• 8 new 101 Dalmatians cards, with Puppy synergies, all in Amber and Sapphire.
• Bolt is here to steal the show (and save Penny!), introducing 8 cards in Amber and Steel. They don’t have exclusive synergy among them like the puppies do, so we’ll discuss them below in their colors.
• The Aristocats are newcomers as well, with cute art, in Emerald and Sapphire with Edgar in Ruby, but none of the six cards stand out.
• The 8 new Lady and the Tramp cards are in Amber and Emerald. Most of them fit in a go-wide deck, including the Emerald cards.
• The 7 new Encantocards are all in Amber and/or Amethyst, and 6 of them have a Song synergy.
• The 8 new Wreck-It Ralph cards in Amber-Ruby, 3 of which have a Racer theme.
• The 8 new Alice in Wonderland cards in Emerald and/or Ruby bring strong additions to “damaged characters matter” decks.
• The new Big Hero Six cards bring a Floodborn synergy.

Amber

• Puppy time! 8 new 101 Dalmatian cards are introduced, in Amber and Sapphire, 7 of which have a Puppy interaction. Pepper – Quick Thinking Puppy and Pongo – Dear Old Dad bring a new type of interaction, really bringing forth the character of Pongo – rescuing the puppies! Lucky - Runt of the Litter provides card draw, and Freckles – Good Boy costs 2 ink, which combines well with the new and old Perdita. Combining them with the Dalmatians of set 3 Into the Inklands should give interesting go-wide recursion tactics. Have a look at that set analysis for further insights. These new cards sure make Amber Sapphire an interesting color combination for puppy decks.
• As mentioned, the new Encanto/Madrigal cards are in Amber and/or Amethyst and like Songs. Isabela Madrigal – In the Moment may act as win condition and is playable (as opposed to Mirabel Madrigal – Family Gatherer). Mirabel Madrigal – Musically Talented can return a song with cost 3 or less to your hand. Combining them with a few more Madrigals from previous sets and fitting songs should make an interesting brew.
• Aurora – Waking Beauty is a bit of an odd one out in this set. She’s a Singer like the Madrigals, but has heal synergy. Julieta is the only Madrigal with heal synergy, so this Aurora likely fits better with the Rapunzels of set 1 and 2.
• The Troubadour – Musical Narrator is interesting for Amber Steel song decks, due to his Resist +1. Best 2 cost Singer so far.
• So Much to Give is interesting as you can sing it with a character, give that Character (or another) Bodyguard and draw a card. Nice!
• Restoring the Heart draws a card and removes 3 damages for a character or location for just 1 ink and it’s inkable. Strong!
• The three Amber-Ruby characters from Wreck-It Ralph bring a Racer theme, slotting well into the previous Racercards (there are 19 now) and the Sugar Rush Speedways, using the new Calhouns to protect and return your Racers. King Candy – Royal Racer should be a nice deterrent or may have you set your Racers into kamikaze mode.
• Mittens – Sassy Street Cat fits in a Bodyguard deck as she can give your other Bodyguards +1 Lore Value. Previous sets had a few cards with Bodyguard synergy.
• Minnie Mouse – Storyteller is the dream for combo decks that can play multiple Characters in 1 turn. +1Lore Value per Character you play, and when she quests, she’ll drop the Strength of an opposing Character. However, can we do that? She has 0 Lore Value, so in a fair deck, she’d have 1 and sometimes 2 Lore Value when she quests. Even in a go-wide deck, she’ll rarely go to 3 Lore Value. Considering we already have Piglet – Pooh Pirate Captain and Daisy Duck – Donald’s Date, 4 2-cost 3Lore Value Characters in other colors, and now the 3 cost 3 Lore Value Koda – Smallish Bear, will Minnie be fast enough in a go-wide aggro deck? Hence, she may fit better in a combo deck where you can draw and play multiple characters in a turn due to cost reduction, or where you have a character recursion cycle somehow. Can we do that already?

Amethyst

• The three cards with the new keyword ability Evasive are Illusions, which synergize with Treasure Guardian – Foreboding Sentry (card draw) and Jafar – Newly Crowned (get your Illusions back). This Jafar strongly resembles Mickey Mouse – Wayward Sorcerer for Brooms. That Mickey is essential for Broom decks, so if you consider building around the vulnerable Illusions with high stats, test out Jafar. However, like Brooms - we likely need more Illusions to build a deck around them.
• Hades – Fast Talker shows the restraints of dual ink cards: you can’t play him with Lilo – Escape Artist. Same issue with Madame Medusa – Diamond Lover. The new Hades and Madame Medusa would work with Amethysts move damage counters cards, like the new Mother Gothel – Vain Sorceress which can trigger multiple time a turn, and “if damaged” cards from previous sets though.
• Te Kā – Elemental Terror will be a back breaker with the many Amethyst cards that can exert opposing characters IF you can play her. She’s a 10 cost for a reason. She has Shift7, but there are only 2 other Te Kā cards in her Inks which both cost 6 so you may not want to use them as Shift target. We may need to wait a bit longer for cheaper, more dormant state of Te Kā to use her Shift ability?
• Elsa – Trusted Sister is an ok Shift target for a Floodborn Elsa, like the new Elsa – Ice Maker. Both cards need an Anna and are luckily both Heroes for the Anna cards of Set 4 Ursula’s Return).
• Bucky – Nutty Rascal shouldn’t give trauma this time round.
• Amethyst-Emerald bring a discard theme, with Kronk and Kuzco, which we'll discuss under Emerald.
• Donald Duck – Flustered Sorcerer brings a new type of ability: as long as he is in play, your opponents need 25 lore to win the game, instead of 20. BIG watch-out here: he has nice stats, but is uninkable, doesn’t have Evasive or Ward and when he’s banished or returned to hand when an opponent has 20-24 lore, they win. I may be proven wrong, but I wonder if a deck needs this expensive speedbump.
• The Queen – Jealous Beauty works great against recursion decks and would work nicely late game in a control deck. It’d be extra cruel if you can ready her multiple times in a turn.
• Magical Maneuvers is a possible addition for a Merlin – Madame Mim deck?
• This Is My Family is an uninkable 2 cost, but it’s a Song that draws a card and gives 1 lore.
• Restoring The Crown could swing a game in your favor if the board is filled – take out opposing characters and gain 2 lore each.

Emerald:

• The new Big Hero Six cards bring Floodborn synergy (there’s no Inventor or item synergy as in the previous set). Hiro Hamada – Future Champion’s stats are ok but he’s especially a good Shift target as he’ll draw you a card. And that’s where Hiro Hamada – Armor Designer shines. Note that he also gives himself Evasive and Ward as well as your other Shifted Floodborn Characters. There are no other Floodborn Hiro cards yet, so we’ll have to look elsewhere. Mrs. Judson – Housekeeper may come out to speed things up, and why not trying to give the errata’d Bucky a chance. The new Baymax – Giant Robot can play a role as he has the new Universal Shift ability, but he just brings a heal and a big body. Baymax – Upgraded Robot (look at top 4, pick a Floodborn) and Baymax’s Charging Station (card draw), Honey Lemon – Chemistry Whiz (heal), Yokai – Intellectual Schemer (cost reduction) all have a Floodborn synergy, but don’t pack a punch. You’ll likely want to include older Floodborn cards to really benefit from the big Hiro. Yes, that’s looking at Diablo – Devoted Herald again…
• Amethyst and Emerald bring a discard theme, with a new twist as Kronk – Laid Back provides you discard protection from any source, not just your opponents. Interestingly he’s Amethyst-Emerald, considering several Emerald cards make you discard a card to counterbalance card draw. As he has Ward as well, he might have a big impact. He’s an uninkable 5cost, so he’ll fit more in a control-oriented deck. Kuzco – Panicked Llama is a good example of a card that combines well with the new Kronk. At the start of your turn, both players can draw a card if you really need one, but with Kronk in play, only your opponent needs to discard. Shere Khan – Infamous Tiger is the first 4 cost card with guaranteed 4 Lore Value, and when you play him, you must discard your hand. We could turn this into an advantage, for example in a recursion deck with Revive, or with the new Kronk we prevent that discard from happening. Unfortunately, Shere Khan costs 4 and Kronk 5 instead of the other way around.
• Several Emerald and Ruby cards care about damaged characters. Queen of Hearts – Unpredictable Bully puts a damage counter on all characters (also your own) when they’re played, so she’s an auto-include in those decks. Mad Hatter – Unruly Eccentric could be another one, because he provides card draw, also when your opponent’s damaged characters challenge yours. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum – Strange Storytellers can bounce big threats or save your characters. Lady Tremain – Bitterly Jealous can bounce characters and make your opponents discard. To end this theme with a bang: King of Hearts – Picky Ruler’s ability prevents damaged characters to challenge yours! Strong with the new Queen of Hearts and especially with Tropical Rainforest – Jaguar Lair. Your opponent’s damaged characters won’t be able to quest or challenge your characters. Lock! Look for older cards like Raya – Fierce Protector to complete the new cards.
• The Return of Hercules seems strong but time it well as your opponent gets to play a character for free as well – even more – without paying 5 for the action. Try to play a card that counters your opponent’s card, like Maleficent – Monstrous Dragon, or staying in theme of the set, why not try Prince Phillip – Vanquisher of Foes to take out all opposing damaged characters!
• The Pirate theme in Emerald Steel brings new options to Pirate / action decks. Mr. Smee – Efficient Captain fits in an Action combo deck (can we build one?). John Silver – Vengeful Pirate also has action synergy. The new Pete cards don't like songs.
• Ink Geyser is another card that needs to be timed well as it affects all players. It’s a reset card that could slow down other decks but also refuel them. Time it well so it is to your benefit. Sapphire’s items and characters could help you bring your cards back into your Inkwell. You may be able to pull off playing some of the cards you got back in the same turn. Don’t forget to exert all your ink before casting Ink Geyser!

Ruby:

• Ruby brings a challenge and a boost Strength theme, with strong Ruby-Steel cards. They want to get boots on the ground and in challenges. Denahi – Impatient Hunter is similar to Calhoun - Marine Sergeant who has shown her worth already. Denahi is better at challenging, but doesn’t gain lore. But the card that steals the show is Mushu – Majestic Dragon. Not only does he give your characters Resist+2 when they Challenge, he also gives 2 Lore when one of your characters take out a character in a challenge. Auto-include!
• There’s a splash of item related cards, which we’ll discuss in Sapphire.
• Baloo – Ol’ Iron Paws doesn't do anything special on his own, but you could combine him with Medallion Weights or other cards that give him +2 Strength to make him excellent at challenging. Maui will likely want to join in.
• Ratigan – Nefarious Criminal would shine in a deck where we can chain cast Actions, but can we do that?

Sapphire:

• The puppies are discussed above.
• Sapphire and Ruby have an item theme that revolves around getting Items in and out of your discard. Belle – Mechanic Extraordinaire is the flagship and win condition for such a deck. Beast – Frustrated Designer takes out threats, Maurice – Unconventional Inventor provides card draw and high Strength, Belle – Apprentice Inventor can be played for free, all on the condition that you banish one or two of your own Items. Unconventional Tool (item cost reduction) and Maurice’s Machine (item recursion) want to get banished by them (Pawpsicle fits as well). Even Monsieur D’Arque – Dispicable Proprietor (card draw on quest) helps banishing your own items and enables Belle (imagine that!). Scrooge McDuck – Resourceful Miser can be played for free, is a 4/4 (only 1 lore) and you should get an Item in hand when you play him, so can be a great cog in your engine. However, he requires 4 items in play to play him for free. That may be counterintuitive for this type of item deck – to be tested. He’ll surely fit in the existing Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker and Tamatoa – So Shiny! decks. Speaking of which, the new Tamatoa – Happy as a Clam brings back 2 items from your discard to your hand and lets you play an item for free on quest (yes, do think about Lucky Dime). This brings a LOT of new options for a type of deck that has already proven its strength.
• The new ramp cards like Kida – Creative Thinker and All Is Found are strong but we likely have faster alternatives.
• Water Has Memory can take out 3 threats and mess up your opponent’s card draw for just 1 ink. Auwch!
• Sapphire Coil is a variant to Ice Block which has proven its worth. -2 Strength combined with Ruby has proven strong synergies, and Sapphire should be able to get one or more cards in your inkwell when you need it.

Steel:

• We’ve discussed several X-Steel cards above, so what else is there to say about Steel? Not that much actually. Steel as usual bring consistency and solid cards, no big surprises or complex interactions like we have with Sapphire or Emerald. Several cards do complement the above-mentioned strategies well.
• Aladdin – Research Assistant brings Ally synergy. There are already +200 Allies with cost 3 or less that he could let you play for free, and he boosts the Strength of your Allies, so they can take out threats and he can keep bringing in new Allies. Jasmine - Inspired Researcher can bring huge card draw, but has a hard condition. Maid Marian – Badminton Ace retaliates when your opponent damages one of your Allies.
• Gantu – Experienced Enforcer is a partypooper as he prevents singing for a turn and increases the cost of actions and items by 2. Watch out as he also affects you. If you think Pete – Games Referee was tough, do let us know about Gantu’s impact.
• Mickey Mouse – Inspirational Warrior will likely need some help to trigger his ability (play a character for free).