Amber/Steel Songs, a tale as old as time. One of my personal favorite decks since The First Chapter, continues to maintain a strong presence both locally and nationally given our most recent double Disney Lorcana Challenge results from both Las Vegas and Birmingham. I myself decided to take this deck to Las Vegas for the main competitive event. While not converting to day 2, 8 of the top 64 decks heading into the finals were Amber/Steel Songs. (One being one of our stronger local players, Alex "Woahchuck01" Brosseau.) This ends up making 3rd, falling behind the well expected Ruby/Sapphire and surprisingly, Emerald/Amethyst. Let's take a deep dive into a few of these lists to see how they navigate the current meta and see what we can learn heading into set championships coming up.

Amber/Steel Songs | Alex Johnson | 18th Place Disney Lorcana Challenge Las Vegas

• Characters (40)
• 1 Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy
• 2 Ursula - Vanessa
• 3 Cinderella - Stouthearted
• 3 Piglet - Pooh Pirate Captain
• 4 Ariel - Spectacular Singer
• 4 Cinderella - Ballroom Sensation
• 4 Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate
• 4 Pete - Game Referee
• 3 Prince Naveen - Ukulele Player
• 4 Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing
• 4 Robin Hood - Beloved Outlaw
• 4 Robin Hood - Champion of Sherwood

• Items (2)
• 2 Lantern

• Songs (18)
• 1 Grab Your Sword
• 2 World's Greatest Criminal Mind
• 4 A Whole New World
• 3 And Then Along Came Zeus
• 4 Let the Storm Rage On
• 4 Strength of a Raging Fire

This seems to be a fairly standard and safe list heading into the event. Not having Daisy Duck - Donald's Date is a polarizing choice amongst Amber/Steel players. Some feel safe enough with the support of A Whole New World to possibly discard additional characters drawn from her effect when questing. Any other non-character cards sent to the bottom of the deck are quite beneficial as well. This is the first list we're evaluating with Lantern and Prince Naveen - Ukulele Player to solidify a turn three A Whole New World play with Prince Naveen or a Robin Hood shift line, possibly disrupting the mid and late game plans for your opponent while giving you a full hand to continue applying pressure. Overall, it's a super solid list looking to capitalize on its best matchups and providing some hope for its worst matchup, being Ruby/Sapphire.

Amber/Steel Songs | Scott Alshanski "BumiJr" | 24th Place Disney Lorcana Challenge Las Vegas

• Characters (47)
• 2 Benja - Guardian of the Dragon Gem
• 2 Kida - Protector of Atlantis
• 2 Kida - Royal Warrior
• 2 Robin Hood - Beloved Outlaw
• 3 Prince Naveen - Ukulele Player
• 4 Cinderella - Ballroom Sensation
• 4 Daisy Duck - Donald's Date
• 4 Lawrence - Jealous Manservant
• 4 Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate
• 4 Pete - Game Referee
• 4 Piglet - Pooh Pirate Captain
• 4 Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing
• 4 Robin Hood - Champion of Sherwood
• 4 Sven - Reindeer Steed

• Songs (12)
• 4 A Whole New World
• 4 Let the Storm Rage On
• 4 Strength of a Raging Fire

First off, the exclusion of Ariel - Spectacular Singer is wild, but as you continue to see the rest of the list, it begins to make sense. We're down to 12 songs which devalues her ability to find songs from the top of your deck when she's played. However, we still have the strong draw support thanks to Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing and A Whole New World. Overall, we're looking to flood the board with strong questers for early game aggression. Eventually, you'll end up at a point where you either go all gas and no brakes to get to the finish line, or have a strong back up plan for post board wipes. I really appreciate the Kida shift line here, but be cautious against Ruby/Sapphire late in the game, as a Sisu - Empowered Sibling can counter this very well.

Amber/Steel Songs | Alex Brosseau "Woahchuck01" | 36th Place Disney Lorcana Challenge Las Vegas

• Characters (44)
• 2 Chien-Po - Imperial Soldier
• 2 Cinderella - Stouthearted
• 4 Ariel - Spectacular Singer
• 4 Cinderella - Ballroom Sensation
• 4 Daisy Duck - Donald's Date
• 4 Gaston - Baritone Bully
• 4 Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate
• 4 Pete - Game Referee
• 4 Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing
• 4 Robin Hood - Beloved Outlaw
• 4 Robin Hood - Champion of Sherwood
• 4 Ursula - Vanessa

• Songs (16)
• 1 World's Greatest Criminal Mind
• 3 And Then Along Came Zeus
• 4 A Whole New World
• 4 Let the Storm Rage On
• 4 Strength of a Raging Fire

For our last list to review today, it's by a fellow local player named Alex Brosseau. Alex's list is very lean and consistent, looking to maximize strong lines for early pressure thanks to Daisy Duck - Donald's Date, Mr. Smee - Bumbling Mate. For singers, we're using Cinderella - Ballroom Sensation, Ariel - Spectacular Singer, and Gaston - Baritone Bully. Gaston isn't a common choice for Amber/Steel Songs, but Alex provides some insight as to why he feels it's a good play. During the Ruby/Amethyst matchup, Gaston trades fairly well with Madam Mim - Snake and Madam Mim - Fox. In the Ruby/Sapphire matchup, the opponent must have an Ice Block to activate in order to use Brawl on him. This puts him in a great position to stay alive and get a better chance to sing more than one song over Ariel which has one less strength. Chien-Po - Imperial Soldier is also an uncommon inclusion, but it makes sense when dealing with turns where Maui - Hero to All can be played. This can protect exerted singers and high questers, making it a bit harder to remove them. Having 4 strength keeps him out of range of Madame Medusa - The Boss. Congratulations Alex for making the top cut again!

Conclusion

Even with the pressure from a largely represented Ruby/Sapphire field, Amber/Steel Song continues to remain close behind, and I don't expect those numbers to change anytime soon. While the Ruby/Sapphire deck is a pain to navigate through, we cannot ignore the fact that it's well positioned against many of the other decks compared to Ruby/Sapphire.

What were some of your favorite Amber/Steel Songs decks from each of the Disney Lorcana Challenges in Las Vegas and Birmingham? Do you plan on running Amber/Steel Songs in the upcoming Set Championships? Be sure to let me know on X: _EmeraldWeapon_

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