Disney Lorcana’s Starter decks are a great taste of everything The First Chapter has to offer. They might not be the most optimised decks ever designed, but they give you a look into how both of their ink colours work, and give you a nice way to give your collection and early booster.
The Ruby and Emerald deck is all about going wide and rushing to 20 lore long before your opponent can do anything. With lots of cards that stall and disrupt your opponent’s plans, you’ll be sure lots of its cards will find new homes in whatever deck you brew next.
10 Pongo, Ol’ Rascal
Other than Tinker Bell, Most Helpful (who isn’t in this Starter Deck), Pongo is the cheapest Evasive character to have a lore value of two. This means he can be an impressive early threat, building up lore faster than your opponent could deal with it.
He might look like a pretty basic an unexciting character, but Pongo is a menace. Drop a couple of these and he can run away with the game, or at least take down a few early-game Evasive threats if need be. He isn’t the best character of this style – Tinker Bell is better thanks to her Pixie Dust ability –, but he is the best one in this deck.
9 Cruella De Vil, Miserable As Usual
Cruella’s 1/3 stats allow her to take a bit more of a licking than other two-ink characters, making her a decent early play. If you can get this out on turn two, there’s a good chance you’ll be getting one or two quests out of her before she leaves.
The problem with Cruella is that there are similarly-costed cards with the same ability that don’t need you to jump through the hoops of getting her banished. Bouncing cards back to their owner’s hand is a great way to clear potential challengers or retrigger on-play abilities, but the effort you need to go through to get it is a bit much.
8 Peter Pan, Never Landing
At three ink, Peter Pan is the second-cheapest Evasive character in the whole game, beaten only by Pascal, Rapunzel’s Companion. This by default makes him one of the best ways to deal with the threat of early challengers, and also allows him to maybe get a few quests in before a more expensive challenger can be played.
Three Strength is a big win for Peter Pan, too. He hits hard for the cost, allowing him to serve as a sweeper if you do need to get rid of a few Pascals early on. Two Willpower makes him more vulnerable (and puts him in range of a Grab Your Sword), but you shouldn’t be wanting to keep him in play forever anyway.
7 Aladdin, Heroic Outlaw
The second of the Emerald/Ruby deck’s face cards, Aladdin is a great way to pull an opponent storming ahead back down to earth. Directly draining their lore while taking out their characters with a beefy 5/5 isn’t something to sniff at.
The cost is a bit high, though. You can pay five ink to shift it onto another Aladdin, but the cheapest other Aladdin is still two ink, meaning you’ll always be paying full cost for Heroic Outlaw eventually. A 5/5 for seven ink is a big ask, even if it can effectively quest and challenge at the same time.
6 Stitch, Abomination
One of the best cards in the Sapphire and Steel deck is Mufasa, King of the Pride Lands, and, other thank the ink colour and classifications, Stitch, Abomination is functionally identical. Six ink for a 4/6 that can quest for three ink is just good, solid stats, no matter whose face is on the card.
Like Mufasa, Stitch is a magnet for challenges. Less your opponent let you build up three lore with him every turn, they’re going to have to remove him somehow. If they challenge, they’re likely to lose a few characters. Use an action, and that’s one less for when you play something truly threatening. Stitch is a big distraction as you build into better things.
5 Iago, Loud-Mouthed Parrot
Iago is hidden sleeper of The First Chapter, because of how many way there are to absolutely break him. By exerting Iago, you can completely prevent an opponent’s character from questing the next turn by giving them Reckless.
While that does then open Iago up for being the target of the forced challenge, the beauty of reckless is that it also forces your opponent to weaken that character. If there’s nothing small enough to challenge, they could be forced to sacrifice one of their key pieces. With cards like Genie, On The Job and Mother Knows Best, you’ll also be able to get Iago out of the way, safe and sound to taunt characters once more.
4 Steal From The Rich
One of just two Robin Hood-themed cards in The First Chapter, Steal From The Rich does exactly what it says on the tin: takes lore of your opponent, while letting you build up your own. By playing this on a turn you know you’re going to be lots of questing, you could significantly knock your opponent back.
Five ink and being unsinkable is a big ask, but in any go-wide deck full of lots of characters questing, it’ll be one of the biggest sources of lore drain you have at your disposal. It even scales up to multiplayer play, taking lore away from all of your opponents, not just one.
3 Mother Knows Best
The fact this card has already been mentioned shows just how good it is. This is one of the most flexible actions in the game, and for the low, low cost of three ink it’s one you’re going to want to pack into practically any emerald deck.
Choose one of your opponent’s characters to get a scary threat out the way. Choose their Bodyguard characters to hit a key target. Choose one of your own to protect it from a challenge, or to let you replay it to trigger its on-play ability a second time. There’s so many ways you can play Mother Knows Best,, and every single one will be a net negative for your opponent.
2 Jasper, Common Crook
Jasper shares a lot of similarities with Iago, Loud-Mouthed Parrot. They both cost the same, have four Willpower, and can stop an opponent’s character from questing. However, this is a much better way of keeping your opponent on lock.
For starters, Jasper doesn’t force your opponent to challenge with the character, and with two Strength is less likely to be seen as an easy target if they do decide to swing in. Jasper’s ability also activates when he quests, rather than Iago needing to exert specifically for it. You’ll be gaining lore and locking things down all at the same time.
1 Mad Hatter, Gracious Host
It’s easy to love a big quester, and Mad Hatter netting you three lore each turn is incredibly appealing. More importantly, his ability prevents your opponent from wanting to try and take him out, as doing so will let you draw potentially a lot of cards.
No challenge against him will ever be a fair trade. Combine Mad Hatter with some healing cards, and you’ll be building lore, hand advantage, and weaking your opponent’s forces all at the same time.