I wanted to get this out pretty quick since it may help some of you win your Enchanted Mirabel. I hope it will help me secure a couple of extra copies as well. The opening weekend for Shimmering Skies Champs just recently occurred, and while I had other obligations on the Saturday I was able to find a rare Sunday tournament within a reasonable drive.

At this tournament it was decided that the Top 8 would get a Mirabel Madrigal - Family Gatherer and the Top 4 would bracket off for the placemats and the cash prize. All the Top 4 agreed to sum up and evenly split the money and unfortunately the two most creative decks in the room had to settle for 3rd and 4th. The other two were a Sisu on Ice and Amber/Amethyst Hyper Aggro deck list that you could find anywhere. But if you've read me at all you know what I truly value is creativity.

The first deck I want to share isn't mine but it was my only loss in rounds. I'm going to use my opponent's Melee name since he didn't give me permission to use his real name. He did however let me take a pic of his cards so I have his list but not the number of each in his deck. I will post it as all 4 of's and you can decide what needs to be trimmed on your own. JOHV was a truly nice and decent guy and I wish he was in my play group. When we played, his 1 ink drop was a Cinderella - Ballroom Sensation.

Now I know what you're thinking. Dan, you said this list was unique, it's obviously Amber/Steel Songs deck. But wait, I'll admit I was on the same bead and not happy about it. You see my worst matchup is A/S Song and in fact I jokingly say a bit of that Sesame Street song in parody form. "Don't worry if you're decks not good enough, to ever challenge mine, I just sing, sing a song." He then made a couple plays to show a valuable tweak to the current list that should be considered, which is why I'm highlighting the deck. I want to show that you can/should make decks your own way, but it's still okay to be of a similar nature to something that is good and competitive.

Before I show you the deck I need to give you the title JOHV gave it. "Singing in a Coal Mine." I tried to make a parody of the classic hit by Lee Dorsey but it didn't come out very well. At that point we wondered and mused on why Lorcana doesn't have a song for Heigh- Ho, Heigh- Ho, it's off to work we go... It has a "ready all characters" kind of vibe to me. Thoughts?

Singing in a Coal Mine | JOHV | Shimmering Skies Champs 3rd

• Characters (40)
• 4 Ariel - Spectacular Singer
• 4 Cinderella - Ballroom Sensation
• 4 Cinderella - Stouthearted
• 4 Doc - Bold Knight
• 4 Happy - Lively Knight
• 4 Lawrence - Jealous Manservant
• 4 Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate
• 4 Pete - Game Referee
• 4 Piglet - Pooh Pirate Captain
• 4 Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing

• Songs (28)
• 4 And Then Along Came Zeus
• 4 Grab Your Sword
• 4 Let The Storm Rage On
• 4 Strength Of A Raging Fire
• 4 The Bare Necessities
• 4 When Will My Life Begin?
• 4 World's Greatest Criminal Mind

• Locations (4)
• 4 Seven Dwarfs' Mine - Secure Fortress

The two big things you should notice are the Seven Dwarfs' Mine - Secure Fortress and the lack of A Whole New World. This allows you to not need the Prince Naveen but I do think his free song is still valuable even if it is only singing a When Will My Life Begin? JOHV decided to up his Knight count instead. I didn't think of this at the time (I am sure he tested it) but Cinderella - Knight in Training would potentially be good in this list as well.

While he lacks the ability to reload his hand with the "Wheel" his point is that many decks since the 10K challenge have been built to take advantage of opponents playing A Whole New World. So, his thought is why should I refill an already depleted opponent. His matchup against Amethyst/Ruby and Amethyst/Steel is weakened since they typically can have a hand greater than 7 so therefore lose cards to A Whole New World. Also, the rebirth of Emerald/Steel discard really screams for the Aladdin love song. Maybe we could replace a couple Life Begins?

As for what I played? Well, I guess you could say I also only adjusted an already played deck but I don't think so. Some of my cards are a must use in the general style of deck but I feel comfortable that my deck is unique and I KNOW it wasn't used by any of the top 64 from the recent Challenges. Since I started playing I have been in love with what I call "Speed Lore". Many of you call it Aggro or Hyper-Aggro but I don't like that term. First, Lorcana isn't an aggressive style game. We don't spend our energies beating up our opponent but rather racing toward a common finish line. Secondly, Aggro implies strength or power to me and the main idea is speed. In fact, most Speed Lore cards do not have power or toughness that is notable. The Amber/Amethyst version can be called Aggro but that's because of Madam Mim - Snake and Madam Mim - Fox not because of Lilo - Making a Wish.

In the process of deciding on a deck I spent a lot of time "Goldfishing" different Speed Lore mixes. The popular version of the deck is Amber/Amethyst and the Amber side of it is obvious. The winner of the Champion Mat this weekend carried that often net decked list. I don't think his deck is better than mine. He won the head to head because he went first and both of his wins were barely there in time while my win was a blow out. If he hadn't gotten the Intentional Draw against his worst matchup in the room the story may have been different.

I honestly worked through Amber/Ruby using Simba - Scrappy Cub along with some self damage healing with Beast - Wounded and Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing. This mix was fast but not as fast as others. The extra muscle did help in the "aggro" decks but the idea is "speed" so I went in a new direction.

Then I spent a lot of time with Amber/ Steel. The secret Tech there was Chi-Fu - Imperial Advisor. He is a crazy lore grabber when left unmolested so of course your opponents will swing at him first. With a 5 back side he typically lived long enough to see a Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing or a Julieta Madrigal - Excellent Cook heal him back up to three lore and draw some cards.

The next phase came from strange inspiration. I was at my local store complaining about my Amber/ Steel Songs matchup (which stinks still) when the conversation turned to a box our owner just opened. Upon seeing the Mirabel Madrigal another player commented on how nice it would be to win a card no one plays. I took this as a challenge and started to think of way to play her. Turns out she has a vital role in my deck even though she doesn't really get "played."

Sure, it's a card disadvantage but that ship sailed a long time ago. If you're going to Speed you might as well Speed!

Speed Queen | Dan Eckstein | Shimmering Skies Champs 4th

• Characters (60)
• 2 Mad Hatter - Gracious Host
• 3 Banzai - Gluttonous Predator
• 3 Robin Hood - Daydreamer
• 4 Baloo - von Bruinwald XIII
• 4 Cursed Merfolk - Ursula's Handiwork
• 4 Daisy Duck - Donald's Date
• 4 Donald Duck - Musketeer Soldier
• 4 Enchantress - Unexpected Judge
• 4 Flynn Rider - Charming Rogue
• 4 Hans - Scheming Prince
• 4 Lilo - Making a Wish
• 4 Mirabel Madrigal - Family Gatherer
• 4 Piglet - Pooh Pirate Captain
• 4 Simba - Protective Cub
• 4 The Queen - Disguised Peddler
• 4 Wendy Darling - Talented Sailor

I really like this deck within the current meta. It Speeds out faster than any other Amber mix. Unfortunately, when facing another speed/aggro the 0.4 turns faster still needs to go first. The Songs matchup really depends on their removal draw. If they land a character heavy hand we have strong chances. Discard rarely depletes our hand before we do. Sisu and Tomatoa control are too slow unless they hit their perfect ramp scenario.

So that's a couple quick new wrinkles for the meta. By the way, the last deck in the Top 4 was Sapphire/Ruby and appeared to be a pretty basic net-deck when I rolled through him in the regular rounds. The Mine deck was close to taking him in Game 3 of the Semi's but when they both got to top deck mode a couple of fortunate draws put the S/R on top.

Until next time remember that all the Ink that is cool can be found at coolstuffinc.com.