Into the Inklands brought to us two additional starter decks for Lorcana players, whether they're new or playing casually. The great thing about Ruby and Sapphire is that they're already a strong color pairing. Let's see if we can find upgrades to bring this deck to another level.

Ink Profiles

Ruby

Ruby, being a really strong support ink, pairs quite well with Sapphire. We have access to really strong Ruby cards such as Simba - Scrappy Cub, Dragon Fire, Maui's Fish Hook, and Agrabah - Marketplace. We'll be keeping these cards in to maintain somewhat of the original identity of the deck.

Sapphire

Sapphire is well known for being an ink that has great items, great ramp, and a great top end to close games out. We'll be keeping the following cards from the starter deck: Scrooge McDuck - Richest Duck in the World and Motunui - Island Paradise.

Goals

So, we're looking to build an efficient, budget-friendly deck that keeps things competitive and interesting at the same time. While opponents may assume you're playing a top tier version of Ruby/Sapphire, we can leverage that assumption to keep our opponent on their toes. Let's jump into the deck list:

Ruby/Sapphire | Stefen Delgado

• Characters (39)
• 2 Duke Weaselton - Small-Time Crook
• 2 Minnie Mouse - Stylish Surfer
• 2 Caterpillar - Calm and Collected
• 3 Agrabah - Marketplace
• 3 Gaston - Intellectual Powerhouse
• 3 Maui - Soaring Demigod
• 3 McDuck Manor - Scrooge's Mansion
• 3 Moana - Born Leader
• 3 Moana - Undeterred Voyager
• 3 Prince Eric - Expert Helmsman
• 4 Gramma Tala - Storyteller
• 4 HeiHei - Accidental Explorer
• 4 Simba - Scrappy Cub

• Items (9)
• 2 Heart of Te Fiti
• 2 Sumerian Talisman
• 2 Vault Door
• 3 Maui's Fish Hook

• Action (8)
• 2 Dragon Fire
• 2 Voyage
• 4 Develop Your Brain

• Songs (2)
• 2 How Far I'll Go

• Locations (2)
• 2 Motunui - Island Paradise

Highlights

This list was a tough one to put together based on the constraints listed above, but I do like the direction so far. We decided to swap in some high questing characters for an early lore advantage to demand an early response from our opponent. Them having characters exerted allows for us to challenge back making favorable trades and trying to get additional value from Sumerian Talisman. The 3 of Maui's Fish Hook helps make those favorable trades by either granting additional Strength or Evasive keywords. Having Maui - Soaring Demigod on board allows the ability to be activated without having to pay additional ink, giving us amazing synergy by being able to play cheaper characters or location in response. Speaking of locations, we're leaving the same count of locations from the original list and using the synergies we already have with cards such as Moana - Born Leader, HeiHei - Accidental Explorer, and Voyage. The item Vault Door also gives our characters and locations a bit of staying power as well thanks to some additional Resist.

Strategies

With 17 cards that cannot be inked, you are going to have to mulligan pretty hard for an early game. You do have cards such as Heart of Te Fiti to help fill your inkwell in the event you have no inkables in your hard, so I would say making sure at least one of those are in your hand is a must. Otherwise, I would look for a strong early curve, such as Agrabah, Simba - Scrappy Cub, and Minnie Mouse - Stylish Surfer. If you're concerned about drawing into early game plays, try to look for a Develop Your Brain. Otherwise, you're mainly looking to quest early and often before the opponent gets online. By the time they have responded, you're already looking to close the game out thanks to Gaston - Intellectual Powerhouse and McDuck Manor. You have targeted removal by the means of Dragon Fire and Prince Eric - Expert Helmsman. A precisely timed challenge from Prince Eric making a favorable trade into a character and using Maui's Fish Hook can effectively make a 2 for 1 trade. Also, Prince Eric puts Steel players in check if they were to play Grab Your Swords. Finally, Voyage and Moana - Born Leader are great cards that save your cheap questing characters by having them ready before the end of your turn while at the same location as Moana. With no other choice but to challenge your locations, this gives your characters even more staying power to quest for an additional turn or 2.

Conclusion

The Ruby Sapphire deck from Into the Inklands is a really good choice when considering getting into the latest set for Disney Lorcana. The original deck does a great job of showcasing a lot of new cards, as well as some old favorites. For a few extra bucks, we were able to take the deck to another level by tuning it to be more aggressive with both characters and locations. On top of that, we were able to stay within the terms of a budget-friendly deck which is always good.

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