This is my last article in a six-part collaborative series with WordsWriteWill. Last, but certainly not least, we have Amethyst.

In the previous two sets, The First Chapter and Rise of the Floodborn, Amethyst was probably one of the most flexible inks to consider for your deck. There were a ton of tools available that paired well with other strong inks. This is no different for Into the Inklands, as Amethyst has some absolute picks to consider. Let's review them below!

Top Tier Picks

The Queen's Castle is a strong play as it absolutely requires an answer from your opponent. The ability to grant card draw per character at that location AND generate 2 lore per turn is quite amazing. If you maintained control of the board state, dropping this at the right time could spell disaster for your opponent. My favorite has been playing it on turn four after singing with Ursula and Mother Knows Best to bounce two of the opponent's characters back to their hand, ensuring I can get a bit of lore for the next few turns.

In any TCG I've played so far, card advantage is usually a good indicator on who can control tempo for the rest of the game. Playing this Action - Song can help solidify your next few card draws, giving you an upper hand on what to expect. If you're playing the Jafar - Striking Illusionist deck, it can get you much closer to the key cards you need for playing A Whole New World as soon as turn five. Also, consider strategically playing this card to try and put A Whole New World on or near the top of your deck to avoid cards like Bare Necessities or Ursula - Deceiver.

We couldn't leave this tier without at least mentioning this card, right? It's only the one card that everyone thought was going to break the game in combination with A Whole New World, right? Surprisingly, we're not seeing much representation of this card yet outside of the combo deck, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad card. I just think people are a bit more apprehensive in playing cards that break the combo, rightfully so. I believe Jafar will have a place, and it doesn't necessarily need to be only in the current combo deck.

Great Additions

I'm really happy to see another Rafiki card represented by Amethyst. What I did not expect was to see an amazing stat line for such a low cost. Having Challenger +3 means that Rafiki can swing up pretty high, and possibly even more with some help from other cards granting Challenger +x as well. I've definitely included him in my new Ruby Amethyst deck for dealing with other characters with 3 Willpower or less.

Magic Carpet does really well with helping reduce the cost of moving your characters to locations, giving a bit more accessibility to them and using their effects. We've seen some locations have a cost as high as 3 just to move them there. It also having Evasive is good for possibly keeping it on the board longer. It can even target itself which may be situational, but still.

Chernabog's Followers does really well in its spot because of the utility. With a 2/1 stat line, you're looking at the ability to swing into troublesome characters or chip away at a location. If none of those are an issue, just banish yourself to draw a card. It pairs well with Chernabog himself as fueling the discard pile with characters ultimately makes him much cheaper. Check out WordsWriteWill's article on Amber to get more details on Chernabog himself.

Conclusion

Amethyst continues to support other inks quite well for the Into the Inklands set. With the initial excitement on the reveal of Jafar - Striking Illusionist, we were a bit afraid on how to deal with him and A Whole New World. However, things seem to be doing okay since we're not really seeing much of him in the small sample size of top cuts we have. He's definitely someone to keep your eye on. Not mentioned previously, but I am also excited to see Magic Brooms back with support of 3 new Magic Broom characters, as well as location specific for supporting Magic Broom.

So, with the conclusion of a 6 ink analysis articles, what are you planning on playing in your locals and upcoming events? Will you play it safe with Ruby Amethyst, or perhaps Emerald Steel with both new Ursula character cards? With the metagame just starting, it's too hard to tell what will stay on top. However, I here for all of it.

I've been Stefen and I hope you've enjoyed this article, brought to you by CoolStuffInc, your number one place TCG singles for Lorcana, and many other popular TCGs. See you out in the Inklands!