Ohana Means Family: Strategy Guide

Amber/Steel wide-board Alien tribal. 24 Aliens flood the board behind a stacked named-character engine: Lilo on the table makes Pudge - Controls the Weather free, Stitch on the table makes Lilo - Snow Artist quest for 2, and Stitch - High Badness Level gains Challenger +3 whenever a Lilo is in play. The deck closes through Stitch - Carefree Surfer's OHANA draw-2 and Lilo - Rock Star's discard recursion.

Three pace checkpoints:

• Turn 2 — Pudge free-plays: if Lilo is in play, Pudge - Controls the Weather costs 0 ink. You're net +1 card and +1 body without spending your 2-ink play.
• Turn 4 — five-wide quest swing: with Grand Councilwoman - Federation Leader in play, her quest gives every OTHER Alien +1 ◊ that turn. Five Aliens questing = 8-10 lore from a single turn.
• Turn 6 — top-end finishers online: Stitch - Carefree Surfer (7c, OHANA draws 2) or Lilo - Rock Star (6c, Shift 4, recurs a 2-cost from discard every quest). Past T7 the deck closes faster than most opponents can answer.

Quest, don't challenge. This is a quester first. Stitch - High Badness Level's Challenger +3 is there for the one turn you have to trade away an opposing threat — the other turns, take the lore. Every Alien that fights instead of quests costs you 1-2 lore that turn.

Matchup role: beatdown in every matchup. The Lilo-Stitch chain only matters if it's online by T3; behind that pace, the deck wilts.

Named-pair priority. The chain needs both Lilo and Stitch in play by T2.

Priority keep:

• 1-cost x 2 — ideally Lilo + Stitch. Lilo - Snow Artist + Stitch - New Dog is the gold hand: Snow Artist quests for 2 from T2 (Stitch triggers CREATIVE INSPIRATION) and Stitch trades into 1-WP openers as a 2/2.
• 2-cost x 2 — Grand Councilwoman - Federation Leader plus Pudge - Controls the Weather (free with Lilo in play) or Stitch - Alien Dancer.
• 3-cost x 1 — Pleakley - Arctic Naturalist (auto-cantrip with another Alien).
• 1 inkable card.

Conditional keep: Nani - Stage Manager (3c) when you're missing the 1-cost pair. THAT'S YOUR CUE digs top 4 for a cost-2-or-less character — hits 25 of 60 cards in the deck.

OTP vs OTD:

• OTP: prefer two 1-drops + Grand Councilwoman. T2 free-Pudge lands ahead of the opponent's first answer.
• OTD: prefer 1-drop + Nani + 2-drop. The extra draw step lets Nani act on her dig.

Ship blind: hands with no card at 1-2 ink, all-top-end hands (Stitch - Carefree Surfer without a board behind him is a flat body), or one half of the named pair with no Nani backup.

Ideal T1-T3 line: Snow Artist + New Dog T1 → Grand Councilwoman + free Pudge T2, quest Snow Artist for 2 → Pleakley T3 (draws a card), quest all four (Grand Councilwoman's +1 ◊ to the other three Aliens). End of T3: 7 lore, 5 bodies, 1 card drawn.

1-cost openers — play turn 1, quest from turn 2:

• Stitch - New Dog: 1-ink 2/2 1-lore Amber. Vanilla Alien; satisfies "Stitch in play" for Snow Artist and High Badness. S1 — Infinity-only.
• Lilo - Snow Artist: 1-ink 1/2 1-lore Amber. "CREATIVE INSPIRATION: While you have a character named Stitch in play, this character gets +1 ◊." Becomes a 1-cost 2-lore quester the moment any Stitch hits. Hero (not Alien) — Grand Councilwoman's buff doesn't stack.

2-cost spine — named engine and Alien lore pump:

• Pudge - Controls the Weather: 2-ink 1/3 1-lore Amber. "GOOD FRIEND: If you have a character named Lilo in play, you can play this character for free." Net +1 ink, +1 body. Deity (not Alien).
• Grand Councilwoman - Federation Leader: 2-ink 1/3 1-lore Amber. "FIND IT! Whenever this character quests, your other Alien characters get +1 ◊ this turn." Three other Aliens turns her quest into a 5-lore swing.
• Stitch - Alien Dancer: 2-ink 2/3 1-lore Amber. Vanilla above-rate Alien; slot fill.
• Stitch - High Badness Level: 2-ink 3/2 1-lore Steel. "AMPED UP: While you have a character named Lilo in play, this character gains Challenger +3." Challenges as a 6/2 — bank him for the turn you must clear an opposing threat.

3-cost anchors:

• Pleakley - Arctic Naturalist: 3-ink 2/4 1-lore Amber. "SIGNS OF LIFE: When you play this character, if you have another Alien character in play, draw a card." Auto-cantrip here.
• Lilo - Best Explorer Ever: 3-ink 2/2 1-lore Steel. "COME ON, PEOPLE, LET'S MOVE: When you play this character, your other characters gain Challenger +2 this turn." + "GO GET 'EM: Whenever this character quests, chosen Alien character gains Challenger +2 and 'This character can challenge ready characters' this turn." GO GET 'EM only targets Aliens.
• Nani - Stage Manager: 3-ink 3/3 1-lore Amber. "THAT'S YOUR CUE: When you play this character, look at the top 4 cards of your deck. You may reveal a character card with cost 2 or less and put it into your hand..." The dig when the named pair fails to arrive.

Top end — closers and recursion:

• Stitch - Carefree Snowboarder: 5-ink 4/5 2-lore Amber. "BRING YOUR FRIENDS: Whenever this character quests, if you have 2 or more other characters in play, you may draw a card." 2-lore wall + per-quest cantrip.
• Lilo - Rock Star: 6-ink 3/5 2-lore Amber, Shift 4. "I'LL COUNT YOU IN: Whenever this character quests, you may play a character with cost 2 or less from your discard for free." Shift onto any Lilo for 4 ink; the post-wipe recursion engine.
• Stitch - Carefree Surfer: 7-ink 4/8 2-lore Amber. "OHANA: When you play this character, if you have 2 or more other characters in play, you may draw 2 cards." 8 WP closer.
• Jumba Jookiba - Prolific Inventor: 8-ink 4/5 2-lore Amber. "WELCOMING CROWD: For each character you have in play, you pay 1 ⬡ less to play this character." + "I AM HELPING: Whenever this character quests, you may remove all damage from chosen character." Costs 3 ink at 5 chars in play.

Songs and tempo actions:

• Ohana Means Family (3-ink Amber): "Remove all damage from chosen character of yours. Draw a card for each 1 damage removed this way." Heal-into-multi-draw.
• Akood et Emuti (3-ink Amber song, uninkable): "You pay 2 ⬡ less for the next character you play this turn. Draw a card." Sung free by any 3+ cost char.
• Nearly Indestructible (1-ink Steel): "Chosen character of yours gains Resist +2 until the start of your next turn."
• Hot Potato (3-ink Steel): "Choose one: Deal 2 damage to chosen character. Banish chosen item."

Items:

• Quick Shot (2-ink Steel, uninkable): "Deal 1 damage to chosen character. Draw a card."
• Record Player (2-ink Amber): "LOOK AT THIS! Whenever you play a song, chosen character gets -2 ¤ until the start of your next turn." + "HIT PARADE: Your characters named Stitch count as having +1 cost to sing songs." Songs become combat tools.
• Sunglasses (4-ink Steel): "SPYCRAFT: Exert — Draw a card, then choose and discard a card." Fuels Rock Star's recursion.

Locations:

• Galactic Council Chamber - Courtroom (3-ink Steel, 7 WP, 1 lore): "FEDERATION DECREE: While you have an Alien or Robot character here, this location can't be challenged." Location is untouchable; the parked Alien remains a legal challenge target.

vs. Amethyst/Sapphire Evasive (Unfavorable): Watch for: Dumbo - Ninth Wonder of the Universe, Hades - Looking for a Deal The format's biggest archetype (~22% metashare) and our hardest matchup. We have zero Evasive of our own and no clean answer to Dumbo - Ninth Wonder of the Universe beyond Hot Potato's 2-damage mode (which doesn't kill him alone). Race plan: 15+ lore by T5 before their engine compounds past our reach. Stitch - High Badness Level's Challenger +3 is wasted against Evasive — the deck pivots to pure quester mode, which is exactly what we want to be doing anyway.

vs. Amber/Emerald Aggro (Even): Watch for: Tramp - Street-Smart Dog, Under the Sea Mirror-shape race — they go wider via cost-reduction enablers. Our advantage is Alien density: their flood maxes around 4-5 questers, ours reaches 7+. Under the Sea as a one-sided board-wipe T5-6 resets our wide board, which is exactly why we run Lilo - Rock Star: her T6 quest brings back any 2-cost Alien we lost (Pudge, Grand Councilwoman, Stitch-Alien Dancer, High Badness). Don't over-commit past 5 questers if you can read a sweeper.

vs. Amethyst/Steel Challengers (Favorable): Watch for: Strength of a Raging Fire, Beast - Snowfield Troublemaker Their removal scales with their own board, not ours, so it lags our T1-T3 flood. We're at 5-6 bodies before they have 2-3. Stitch - High Badness Level as a 6/2 challenger (Lilo in play) trades into Beast cleanly. Galactic Council Chamber denies them a Strength-of-Raging-Fire target if our Aliens are parked.

vs. Amber/Steel Steelsong (Favorable): Watch for: Angel - Experiment 624, He Hurled His Thunderbolt Mirror ink, different plan. Songs are slower than direct lore — by the time Angel - Experiment 624 scales past T5, we're at 15+ lore. He Hurled His Thunderbolt clears 2 of our 2-WP bodies but Pleakley - Arctic Naturalist (4 WP) and Stitch - Carefree Snowboarder (5 WP) survive. Record Player's -2 ¤ song debuff is real interaction here — sing Akood, drop their Angel down a power tier for a turn.

vs. Ruby/Sapphire Control (Favorable): Watch for: Maui - Hero to All, A Pirate's Life Their game plan starts at 4-5 ink while we're at 12+ lore. Maui - Hero to All is a 4-ink Challenger that arrives a full turn after we should have closed. Don't commit 3-drops alone — single-target removal can't keep up with 5 Aliens in play, but it CAN punish isolated threats. Lead with the cheap stuff and chain the named-engine; saving Pleakley + Snowboarder for after they've spent 2 answers is correct.

vs. Mirror (Amber/Steel Alien tribal) (Even): Watch for: Stitch - High Badness Level, Grand Councilwoman - Federation Leader Speed mirror. Whoever lands both halves of the named-engine first wins the tempo race. Stitch - High Badness Level's Challenger +3 is now relevant on both sides — bank yours for clearing their Grand Councilwoman before her quest fires. Galactic Council Chamber is moot (theirs is also protected); race past it.

Against Evasive-heavy meta: -2 Nearly Indestructible / +2 additional Hot Potato or Quick Shot copies. Resist +2 doesn't matter to characters that won't be challenged; we need more ping removal to chip Evasive threats below their WP.

Against board-wipe-heavy meta (decks running Be Prepared, Under the Sea, Stopped Chaos): -1 Sunglasses / -1 Stitch - Alien Dancer / +2 third copy of Lilo - Rock Star. Maximize the post-wipe recursion engine. Three Rock Stars is overkill in most games; in wipe-heavy metas, it's correct.

Core-only variant (no S1-S4 cards; S1-S4 rotated out of Core 2025-09-05): swap 4x Stitch - New Dog (S1 vanilla) → 4 additional 1-cost Amber bodies from S5+. Record Player (S4) is Inf-only post-rotation — swap to a S5+ 2-cost utility item. (Stitch - Alien Dancer has a S9 Core-legal reprint — keep all 4 copies.) The Lilo-Stitch named engine still functions because Lilo - Snow Artist and Stitch - High Badness Level are both S11. Engine identity remains ~90% intact; the lore-pump and named-character chain are unaffected by the S1-S4 removal.

Outlook: S5+ Core-legal through Set 13 rotation. The named-engine pieces (Lilo - Snow Artist, Stitch - High Badness Level, Pudge - Controls the Weather, Pleakley - Arctic Naturalist) are all S11 — fresh rotation runway. Top-end Stitch-Carefree Surfer is S9; safe through Set 13.