Pull the Lever!: Strategy Guide

Amethyst/Emerald combo-control. Win by burying the opponent in card advantage while assembling the Lever combo. Every Pull the Lever! you cast goes to your discard the moment it resolves; once one is there, Yzma - On Edge at 6 ink searches your deck for Wrong Lever! and adds it to your hand. That second Lever becomes a 3-ink hard-bottom on any opposing character. Pull's first half already paid for itself with two cards drawn.

The combo activation cost. Pull the Lever! → discard pile → Yzma - On Edge tutors Wrong Lever! → Wrong Lever! Mode 2 puts a chosen character on the bottom of their deck (consuming the Pull from your discard). The combo needs Pull in discard, 6+ ink for Yzma, then 3 ink the next turn for Wrong Lever Mode 2. Lose any leg and you're a fair midrange deck.

Hand-size race underneath the combo. Pacha - Trekmate is a 3-cost 3/2 1-lore body that quests for 3 lore whenever you have more cards in hand than each opponent. Yzma - Conniving Chemist refills to 3 cards on tap. Together they take and lock the lead. The combo line is the finisher; the hand-size race is what gets you there.

Matchup role. Beatdown against control (Pacha + cheap questers race their stabilization turn); controller against aggro (Kuzco - Temperamental Emperor's 4-WP Ward + NO TOUCHY! retaliates, Kuzco's Palace City Walls kills anything that swings in).

Curve keep with a Lever in hand. The target hand: a 2-drop, a 3-drop, an inkable 4-5, and at least one Pull the Lever! or Wrong Lever! to start the combo timer.

Always keep:

• Pull the Lever! — the combo is the deck. Even without Yzma - On Edge, T3 Pull draws 2 AND seeds the discard. Never ship.
• A 2-drop: Yzma - Alchemist scries every quest; Kuzco - Wanted Llama death-cantrips when challenged.
• Pacha - Trekmate — hand-size race anchor. 3 lore for 3 ink when ahead is the deck's best rate.

Conditional keep:

• Yzma - Conniving Chemist on the draw — going second you need T4 refill to keep Pacha live.
• Yzma - On Edge ONLY with a Pull the Lever! already in hand. Otherwise she's a 6-cost vanilla 3/6.

Ship hands:

• All top-end. Skip development, opponent races past Pacha's window.
• All-action. Pull + Wrong Lever! + Hypnotic Strength with zero characters = no questers, no win.
• Yzma - Above It All or Kuzco - Impulsive Llama opening hand — 7-cost dead weight. Ink them.

Ideal T1-T3. Royal Guard T1 → Yzma - Alchemist + Kuzco - Wanted Llama T2 → Pull the Lever! T3 (Pull lands in discard, combo timer started) and quest the 2-drops. End T3: 2 lore on board, hand refilled, Pacha live T4 for 3-lore quests.

Combo core (the win condition):

• Pull the Lever!: 3-ink A-E action. Draw 2 OR each opponent discards. Cast for draw 90% of the time. Goes to your discard on resolution — that's the trigger for Yzma - On Edge.
• Wrong Lever!: 3-ink Emerald action. Mode 1 bounces a character to hand. Mode 2 puts a Pull the Lever! from your discard on the bottom of your deck to bottom-deck a chosen character — unconditional hard removal that consumes the Lever.
• Yzma - On Edge: 6-ink A-E 3/6 2-lore. WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE THAT LEVER? — on play, if Pull the Lever! is in your discard, search your deck for Wrong Lever! and put it in hand. Tutor only finds Wrong Lever!, not any card.

Hand-size race spine:

• Pacha - Trekmate: 3-ink Emerald 3/2 1-lore. FULL PACK — +2 lore while ahead on hand. Deck's best lore rate. Refill behind him.
• Yzma - Conniving Chemist: 4-ink Amethyst 3/3 2-lore. FEEL THE POWER — exert: draw until 3. Keeps Pacha's trigger live.
• Yzma - Transformed Kitten: 2-ink Amethyst 2/1 1-lore. I WIN — when banished and hand parity ahead, return to hand.
• Bucky - Nutty Rascal: 3-ink Amethyst 3/2 1-lore. POP! — draws when banished in a challenge.

Cheap engine:

• Yzma - Alchemist: 2-ink Amethyst 2/2 1-lore. YOU'RE EXCUSED — scry on quest. Digs for combo pieces.
• Kuzco - Wanted Llama: 2-ink Amethyst 1/2 1-lore. OK, WHERE AM I? — draws when banished.
• Yzma - Exasperated Schemer: 2-ink Emerald 2/2 1-lore. HOW SHALL I DO IT? — draw 1, then choose-and-discard. Pitches Pull the Lever! to discard the turn she enters, skipping the cast.
• Royal Guard - Octopus Soldier: 1-ink Amethyst 1/2 1-lore. HEAVILY ARMED — Challenger +1 this turn whenever you draw. Pull draws 2 → Octopus is Challenger +1 those challenges.
• Tipo - Junior Chipmunk: 2-ink Emerald 2/2 1-lore, Evasive. Vanilla flier.

Disruption and answers:

• Kuzco - Bored Royal: 4-ink Amethyst 1/3 1-lore. LLAMA BREATH — on play, may bounce a character/item/location ≤2 cost. Soft removal on low-cost enablers.
• Chaca - Junior Chipmunk: 4-ink Emerald 3/3 1-lore. IN CAHOOTS — if Tipo in play, chosen opposing character gains Reckless next turn.
• Kuzco - Temperamental Emperor: 5-ink Emerald 2/4 3-lore Ward. NO TOUCHY! — when challenged and banished, may banish the challenger. 3-lore on Ward discourages challengers entirely.
• Kronk - Laid Back: 5-ink A-E 4/4 2-lore Ward. I'M LOVIN' THIS — if an effect would cause YOU to discard, you don't. Protects discard pile and hand.
• Pack Tactics: 4-ink Emerald action. Gain 1 lore per damaged opposing character. Dead vs fresh boards.

Top-end:

• Yzma - Above It All: 7-ink A-E 3/8 2-lore Evasive, Shift 5. BACK TO WORK — when another character is banished in a challenge, return it to its owner's hand; that player discards at random. Symmetric, but random discard hurts opponents more when you're ahead on cards.
• Kuzco - Impulsive Llama: 7-ink A-E 5/5 2-lore, Shift 4. WHAT DOES THIS DO? — each opponent puts a character on bottom of their deck, then may draw. Pairs with Wrong Lever Mode 2 for a two-removal turn.

Combat tricks:

• Hypnotic Strength: 2-ink Amethyst action. Draw 1, chosen character gains Challenger +2 this turn. Pump a 3-strength body to 5 for a profitable trade; replaces itself.
• Kuzco's Palace - Home of the Emperor: 3-ink Emerald 7-WP 1-lore location. CITY WALLS — when a character is challenged and banished while here, banish the challenger.

vs. Amethyst/Sapphire Evasive (Unfavorable): Watch for: their Evasive top-end, fast scry/draw engines The format's top archetype. Evasive characters quest right past your board — Kuzco's Palace only triggers on challenges they refuse. Tipo - Junior Chipmunk is your only Evasive blocker. The combo — Pull T3 → Yzma - On Edge T6 → Wrong Lever! Mode 2 T7 — is your clean answer; save the first Mode 2 for the highest-lore flier, not the first one. Below 10 lore by T7 and you've lost.

vs. Amber/Emerald Aggro (Favorable): Watch for: their early flood plus card-draw that contests your hand-size lead Your best matchup. Pacha needs you ahead on cards, and aggro empties their hand fast — by T4 you're at 3 lore/quest while they top-deck. Hypnotic Strength pings 1-WP questers; Wrong Lever! Mode 1 bounces their biggest 3-drop. Kuzco's Palace ends their flood. Don't get cute with the combo here — just race Pacha + Yzma - Conniving Chemist refill.

vs. Amethyst/Steel Challengers (Even): Watch for: removal that scales with their board, Challenger +N pumps Their removal lags your T1-T3 development. Mid-game danger: a Challenger +2 trading into Pacha is a 6-lore swing. Kuzco - Temperamental Emperor's 4-WP Ward + NO TOUCHY! stops their plan — unchooseable outside combat, retaliates if challenged. Wrong Lever! Mode 2 on their biggest threat buys two safe-quest turns.

vs. Amber/Steel Steelsong (Favorable): Watch for: songs arriving a turn late vs. our combo cadence Songs are slower than direct lore. Kuzco - Bored Royal bounces their 2-cost singers — without a singer their 5-ink songs stall to T5+. Pacha's hand-size lead compounds while they sit on cards waiting for a singer. Race them to 18+ lore by T8.

vs. Ruby/Sapphire Control (Unfavorable): Watch for: efficient single-target removal, top-end finishers that out-stat 7c Their plan starts when yours peaks. Yzma - Above It All's random discard via BACK TO WORK disrupts their sequencing. The Yzma - On Edge T6 tutor must target their key draw piece, not their finisher. If they resolve top-end before you assemble the combo, they grind you out.

vs. Mirror (Amethyst/Emerald Combo) (Even): Watch for: their Pull → Yzma - On Edge → Wrong Lever! Mode 2 Whoever lands Yzma - On Edge first wins the removal race. Tiebreak: Kronk - Laid Back's I'M LOVIN' THIS shuts off Pull the Lever! Mode 2's forced-discard against you, but doesn't affect Wrong Lever! Mode 2 (deck-bottom). Hand-size race subordinates the combo here — Pacha at 3 lore beats two Lever combos.

Against Evasive-heavy meta (decks running 6+ Evasive): -2 Pack Tactics / +2 Tipo - Junior Chipmunk (to 5). Pack Tactics is dead against decks that don't engage; more Tipo contests the air.

Against control-heavy meta (slow value decks with 3+ removal): -1 Royal Guard - Octopus Soldier / -1 Hypnotic Strength / +2 Yzma - Exasperated Schemer (to 4). HOW SHALL I DO IT? lets you discard Pull the Lever! the turn she enters, starting the combo timer a turn earlier without casting Pull.

Against discard-heavy meta (Pull Mode 2 mirrors, Magic Broom decks): -1 Bucky - Nutty Rascal / +1 Kronk - Laid Back (to 2). Kronk's I'M LOVIN' THIS shuts off forced-discard entirely.

Infinity rebuild: Deck is mostly Core — 19 of 21 unique cards are Core through Set 13. Only Yzma - Alchemist (S1) and Pack Tactics (S2) are Infinity-only; both are upgrades. Drop both for Core 2-drop and 4-cost utility if rebuilding Core-pure — minimal power loss.

Outlook: rotation-safe through Set 13. Every Core card is S6+. The Pull / Wrong Lever! / Yzma - On Edge triangle is all S8, so the combo doesn't rotate until S8 does (3+ years).