I would love to start this article with a "Dearest Reader" (Imagine the Lady Whistledown background voice over). Alas, I cannot since I have not been faithful enough in my writing to inspire any loyalty from you in reading my work. I am hoping to get back to a weekly effort soon.

My lack of writing does have a source. It is strictly due to a lack of inspiration. My Local League is too focused on fairness. So, we all build from a starter deck and add 1 or 2 packs to our card pool each week. While it makes the winner less dominant it significantly deemphasizes deck design, which I LOVE.

Even my strange concoctions didn't feel unique enough to warrant weekly articles. Sure, I won some Mirabel Madrigal - Family Gatherer by actually playing Mirabel alongside a The Queen - Disguised Peddler. And I was able to run a race at Sugar Rush Speedway - Finish LIne well enough to earn a Scar - Heartless Hunter. I still haven't been inspired.

Now I stand with just one card in hand and enough juice from that one card to drive multiple articles. In fact, this one card has so much potential that trying to make just one article would only cause scrolling which is bad for business if you're an internet article writer.

So, I am making a series out of it. This week, I am going to reveal the card and highlight some cards that share its color and can be used with it. Then, future weeks will find me forming full decks by adding different sister colors and those will have the full decklists we all love to see. That way you can just click the deck and buy the whole thing from CoolStuffInc who we all know has all the coolest Ink Lorcana has to offer.

So, what is the card?

You don't have to walk around the internet very much to catch a lot of the buzz around this card and I believe it has useful strategies with every color option. In fact, my plan is that at the end of this series you'll find yourself debating which deck is the best version to play. Maybe the final installment will be a battle royale between all the options.

First though we need to discuss the Emerald cards that want inclusion and due to color have the ability to be in every final list.

Let's start with this classic 9-cost inkable. Questing for 3 with Evasive is good but not worth 9 or the risk of the Shift chain failing. Remember who we are here for. The Return only cost 5 making Phillip a great target. Mix in the fact that he will remove a good chunk of your opponent's board (or maybe even all) and we are good to go.

Next, let's consider Clarabelle - Light on her Hooves. Her value on the field is indisputable. The problem has always been the ease of cutting her Shift chain. Now Return can bypass that issue.

Maybe we just want to grab lore and a lot of it. Enter Robin Hood - Timely contestant. We may find times wher he's a dead end since he isn't inkable. But 4 lore each turn from a very hard to remove character is pretty good.

Do you see what I see? A non-exerted King and some source of damage that he may or may not be married to is a soft lock. They can't challenge due to damage and they can't quest /gain lore since they can't challenge. There are very few answers to that puzzle.

Here's a final trick. Lady Tremaine - Wicked Stepmother can be played with The Return and then return The Retun to your hand to play another character for 5.

Watch for the next Episode where I will explore Each color for additions and build some official lists.

Until then, remember. All things that are cool to Ink can be found at coolstuffinc.com.