Fox and the Hound: Strategy Guide

Emerald/Steel Evasive snowball. Every card either has Evasive, grants Evasive, or punishes the exerted body the air-engine creates. Win by parking 2-lore questers (Tod, Vixey, Copper) behind an unblockable curtain and grinding 4-6 lore a turn. The Steel splash is small — Chief - Seasoned Tracker for draw-on-banish, Amos Slade - Tenacious Tracker as a 6-STR Alert anchor that challenges as if Evasive.

Three pace checkpoints — these are the only turns that matter:

• Turn 3 — first Evasive lore lands. Vixey - Forest Friend discounted to 2 ink (with any Tod already in play) quests T3 for 2 Evasive lore.
• Turn 5 — engine online. Emerald Coil out + Tod - Playful Kit questing means every ink action AND every Tod quest mints Evasive on a target of your choice.
• Turn 7 — Tod - Knows All the Tricks closes. Shift 5 onto an in-play Tod for 5 ink. IMPRESSIVE LEAPS re-readies him twice/turn whenever he's chosen by an action or item — and Education or Elimination + Emerald Coil both qualify as the trigger source.

The Evasive rule. Lorcana challenges only target exerted opposing characters; Evasive narrows that to Evasive challengers only. Most midrange decks run zero Evasive. Park Evasive on your 2-lore questers and they grind for free until the opponent draws their narrow answer.

Matchup role: tempo-grinder. You're not racing aggro down and you're not out-late-gaming control — you're stacking small lore increments through targets they can't legally interact with.

Curve + cost-reducer keep. Any 1-drop Tod + a 3-cost play + an inkable 4-cost. The deck runs 8× 1-drops and 12× 2-3 cost characters — almost any opener lands on curve.

Always keep:

• Tod - All Alone + Vixey - Forest Friend in hand. Tod T1, Vixey T2 (SHOWIN' UP discounts her to 2 ink). A 2-ink 1/3 Evasive 2-lore body on T2 is the deck's best opener.
• Copper - Hound Pup with a 2-cost follow-up. FOUND YA reveals an opponent's hand on T1 — plan Boomer targeting from full information.
• Emerald Coil with 2+ inkable cards. Every future ink grants Evasive; the engine starts the turn Coil drops.

Conditional keep on the draw: Chief - Seasoned Tracker if you also have an Evasive quester + Boomer or Dinky — GOOD RIDDANCE only draws off a banish-in-challenge that turn.

Ship hands:

• Tod - Knows All the Tricks without a 4-cost Tod under it. Dead in opener with no Shift target.
• All-non-Tod openers. No Tod = no Vixey discount and no Tod-Playful Evasive distribution.
• Steel-only hands. Amos + Chief with no Emerald 1-2 drop = no early lore, no air shield.

Ideal T1-T4 line: Tod - All Alone T1 → Vixey - Forest Friend T2 → Emerald Coil T3 → Tod - Playful Kit T4. End of T4: 5 lore on board, Coil pumping Evasive on every ink.

Openers — 1-2 cost:

• Tod - All Alone: 1-ink 2/2 1-lore Emerald inkable. Vanilla curve filler and Shift target for Tod - Knows All the Tricks.
• Copper - Hound Pup: 1-ink 2/1 1-lore Emerald inkable. FOUND YA — chosen player reveals their hand. T1 scouting + real 2 STR quester. Shift target for Copper - Champion of the Forest.
• Dinky - Has the Brains: 2-ink 1/2 2-lore Emerald inkable. GET HIM! — each opponent chooses one of their characters and deals 1 damage. Sets up Boomer's exert and EoE's banish-damaged mode.
• Squeaks - Cozy Caterpillar: 2-ink 0/4 1-lore Emerald inkable, Evasive. Air-blocker, not attacker (0 STR). 4 WP survives 1-damage pings.

Midrange — 3-4 cost, the engine:

• Boomer - Has the Beak: 3-ink 4/3 1-lore Emerald inkable. SPOTTED HIM! — on play, may exert chosen damaged character. The interaction lever. Pair with Dinky to make ready blockers legal Chief/Amos targets.
• Vixey - Forest Friend: 3-ink 1/3 2-lore Emerald inkable, Evasive. SHOWIN' UP — pay 1 ink less if you have a Tod in play (effective 2 ink). Best rate in the deck.
• Chief - Seasoned Tracker: 3-ink 2/5 1-lore Steel inkable. GOOD RIDDANCE — ⟳, if an opposing character was banished in a challenge this turn, draw. Activated, not triggered: challenge first, banish, then exert Chief.
• Game Preserve - Protected Land: 3-ink 4-WP 2-lore Emerald location. EASY TO MISS — while there's a character with Evasive here, this location gains Evasive. Park Vixey or Squeaks; 2 lore from location stacks with parked char.
• Emerald Coil: 3-ink Emerald item, non-inkable. SHIMMERING WINGS — during your turn, whenever a card is put into your inkwell, chosen character gains Evasive until your next turn. The engine. Every ink grants Evasive on a body of your choice.
• Tod - Playful Kit: 4-ink 2/4 2-lore Emerald inkable. LOOK AT THIS! — on quest, choose: gain 1 lore, OR chosen character gains Evasive until your next turn. T5+ quests for 2+1 or grants Evasive on a wall.
• Big Mama - Clever and Calming: 4-ink 3/4 2-lore Emerald inkable, Ward. Only chooseable to challenge — removal slides off. At Game Preserve = Ward + Evasive 2-lore bunker.
• Amos Slade - Tenacious Tracker: 4-ink 6/4 1-lore Steel non-inkable, Alert. Challenges as if Evasive. 6 STR clears almost any blocker.

Late game — 5-7 cost closers:

• Copper - Champion of the Forest: 5-ink 3/5 2-lore Emerald inkable, Shift 3. MORE TO EXPLORE — whenever he quests, your Evasive characters get +1 lore this turn. Lore-rate amplifier. Shift 3 onto Hound Pup = T4 for 3 ink.
• Tod - Knows All the Tricks: 7-ink 6/6 2-lore Emerald inkable, Shift 5, Evasive. IMPRESSIVE LEAPS — twice during your turn, whenever this character is chosen for an action or an item's ability, you may ready him. Shift 5 onto Tod-Playful T6. Combo: sing EoE targeting him (readies), quest, trigger Coil on next ink (chosen, readies again), quest a third time. Up to 6 lore/turn.

Versatile split — the flex slot:

• Education or Elimination: 4-ink Emerald song. Sing free with a 4+ cost character. Choose: (a) draw + chosen character of yours gets +1 lore + Evasive until your next turn, OR (b) banish chosen damaged character. The lever. Mode A early, Mode B after Dinky's self-damage.

vs. Amber/Emerald Aggro (Favorable): Watch for: Tramp - Street-Smart Dog, Grandmother Willow - Ancient Advisor Their 1-2 WP flood walks into 4-WP Squeaks and Ward'd Big Mama. Most aggro lists run zero Evasive challengers — Vixey and Tod-Playful quest unopposed from T3. Dinky - Has the Brains + Boomer - Has the Beak exerts their lore-leader for an Amos challenge. Win condition: T4 Coil + T5 Copper-Champion. Race ends T6-7.

vs. Amethyst/Sapphire Evasive (Even): Watch for: Dumbo - Ninth Wonder of the Universe, Hades - Looking for a Deal Mirror-shape air race. Amos Slade - Tenacious Tracker is the key tempo card — Alert lets him challenge their Evasive lore-leaders at 6 STR. Save Education or Elimination Mode B for their 4-5 cost Evasive after Boomer puts damage on it. Whoever assembles Tod-Knows + Coil first wins past T7.

vs. Amethyst/Steel Challengers (Unfavorable): Watch for: Beast - Snowfield Troublemaker, Strength of a Raging Fire Their AOE clears the small-body engine before it stabilizes. Keep Emerald Coil online — every ink granting Evasive is one quester that survives a wipe. Tod - Knows All the Tricks is the realistic out: Shift him onto Tod-Playful T6 for an Evasive 6/6 their Strength doesn't clear. Big Mama - Clever and Calming's 4 WP survives a single Strength tick.

vs. Amber/Steel Steelsong (Favorable): Watch for: He Hurled His Thunderbolt, Angel - Experiment 624 Songs are slower than Evasive direct-lore. Their plan peaks T6-7 but the Resist-stacked bodies still can't challenge your air. Thunderbolt clears 2 of your 3-WP units; the deck replays Vixey + Tod-Playful through their next turn. Education or Elimination Mode A draws while pumping. Win condition: 4-5 lore/turn T5-T8 on Evasive bodies they can't target.

vs. Ruby/Sapphire Control (Unfavorable): Watch for: Maui - Hero to All, A Pirate's Life Maui hard-removes any non-Ward'd quester. Big Mama - Clever and Calming's Ward is the only body Maui has to challenge — costing them their Maui to remove. Apply pressure before T8: Tod-Knows via Shift 5 onto Tod-Playful T6, swing 6/6 Evasive + 2 lore + a song-readying re-quest. Commit only when Coil + 2-3 Evasive bodies all swing the same turn.

vs. Emerald/Sapphire Cow Control (Unfavorable): Watch for: location-removal, their own Education or Elimination Cow shells outscale on cards-per-turn AND share access to Education-or-Elimination — your damaged 4-WP bodies become their banish targets. Don't over-commit to Game Preserve - Protected Land unless an Evasive resident is already on it. Tod-Knows + a single song-readying re-quest is the only realistic closing line — assemble by T7 or concede the late game.

Against AOE-heavy meta (Strength of a Raging Fire, He Hurled His Thunderbolt): -4 Squeaks - Cozy Caterpillar / +4 fourth-copy density on Big Mama - Clever and Calming is already maxed — instead -2 Copper - Hound Pup / +2 Tod - Playful Kit equivalent through Coil density (the deck recovers post-AOE via Ward + Coil re-grants).

Against control-heavy meta (Maui, A Pirate's Life): -2 Amos Slade - Tenacious Tracker / +2 fourth-copy of any Evasive quester in your sideboard pool. Amos is non-inkable dead-weight when control outdraws you; the slot is better spent on a card that keeps the lore-engine alive across removal turns.

Mirror tech (vs. another Evasive deck): -2 Dinky - Has the Brains / +2 keep Boomer maxed at 4. Dinky's self-damage lets the opponent pick the target — they'll use it to clear damage off their own threat. Boomer's exert-target is yours to choose.

S12 Wilds Unknown watch: any new Emerald 1-cost item with Evasive grant or Steel 4-cost Alert + draw would slot directly. Deck is Set 11-heavy (14 of 15 unique cards are S11; Emerald Coil is the lone S7).

Outlook: All 15 unique cards are Core AND Infinity legal as of 2026-05-11 — no rotation risk on the current shell. Watch S13-S14 for any Steel 2-cost "challenge Evasive" effect that erodes the air-shield premise.