Long Live the King: Strategy Guide

Amber/Emerald Hyena tribal + Scar draw engine. Win by ganging up on damaged opposing characters — every Hyena challenge into a damaged target snowballs lore via Shenzi - Head Hyena and refills your hand via Scar - Vengeful Lion. The deck has two halves that share one keyword: damage. You inflict it, then your Hyenas eat it.

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

• Turn 2 — Pride Rock or a 2-cost body lands. If you opened with Pride Lands - Pride Rock plus a Prince/King in hand, you've armed LION HOME for the rest of the game.
• Turn 4 — Hyena pack online. Banzai + Shenzi-Accomplice + Ed by end of T4 gives you a 3-Hyena board to start swinging.
• Turn 6 — Shenzi - Head Hyena lands. From here every Hyena challenge into a damaged opposing character is +2 lore via WHAT HAVE WE GOT HERE. The deck closes from here.

The damage rule. Hyenas need damaged targets to be efficient. Banzai - Taunting Hyena exerts a damaged opposing character (turning a ready blocker into a legal target). Ed - Laughing Hyena finishes wounded blockers via CAUSE A PANIC. Rafiki's Bakora Staff BONK is the cheapest damage source you can deploy on T2. No damage on the opposing board = no engine — open with the staff or a -STR debuff before committing the pack.

Matchup role: midrange controller. You're not racing — you're grinding the opposing board into damaged scraps that your Hyenas predate.

Curve + Pride Rock keep. A 2-cost body + a 3-cost Hyena + Pride Rock or a damage enabler. The deck is heavy at the 2 and 3 slots — almost any keep lands on curve.

Always keep:

• Pride Lands - Pride Rock with any 2-cost Prince/King in hand (Simba - Protective Cub, Simba - Playful Pouncer). Active LION HOME from T2 onward = every 4-cost Hyena drops a turn earlier all game.
• Banzai - Taunting Hyena + Shenzi - Scar's Accomplice in the same opener. Banzai exerts a damaged char, Shenzi-Accomplice challenges it for +2 STR via EASY PICKINGS. Two-card combo, both at 2-3 ink.
• Rafiki's Bakora Staff + any 3-cost Hyena. The staff's BONK damages on T3-4, then Ed-Laughing or Banzai converts that damage into a banish.

Conditional keep on the draw: Scar - Vengeful Lion if you also have a Hyena and Pride Rock — gets you to a T4 Scar (3 ink with LION HOME), which is the draw engine going.

Ship hands:

• Simba - King in the Making (7-cost) without a 2-3 cost curve under it. 7-cost in opener = dead card for 5 turns.
• All-action hands. Remember Who You Are + Hakuna Matata + Vicious Betrayal with no characters means no Hyenas means no damage means no engine.
• No damage enablers (no Rafiki's Staff, no Sarabi, no Simba-Pouncer, no Stampede). Hyenas without damage are 2/2 vanilla — they need damaged targets to matter.

Ideal T1-T4 line: Pride Rock T1 (or 2-cost char) → Simba-Protective-Cub at Pride Rock T2 (LION HOME armed) → Banzai + Rafiki's Staff T3 → Shenzi-Accomplice T4 (3 ink via LION HOME), Staff BONK for 1 damage, Banzai ETB exerts the damaged target, Shenzi-Accomplice challenges for clean banish. End of T4: 3 Hyenas, 1 location, ~3 lore, opposing board damaged.

Damage enablers — play these BEFORE your Hyena pack:

• Rafiki's Bakora Staff - Item: 2-cost Emerald item. READ THE OMENS — exert, 1 ink: draw + discard. BONK! — 1 ink, banish this item: 1 damage to chosen character. Cheap T2-T3 deploy, doubles as a card filter. Save BONK until you can chain it with a Hyena ETB the same turn for a clean banish.
• Simba - Playful Pouncer: 2-cost 2/2 1-lore Amber inkable. YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE — on play, chosen opposing character gets -2 STR until your next turn. Cheap combat-softener — turn a 3 STR blocker into a 1 STR Hyena-snack.
• Sarabi - Protecting the Pride: 4-cost 4/4 1-lore Amber inkable. FEARSOME SNARL — exert: chosen opposing character gets -4 STR until your next turn. ⟳ activated, NOT ETB. Drop her one turn, exert her to debuff the next turn. -4 STR turns most big bodies into 0 STR targets.
• Stampede: 1-cost Emerald action. "Deal 2 damage to chosen damaged character." Cheap finisher — wounded chars die to it, untouched chars are illegal targets. Save for when something's already on 1-2 damage.

Hyena pack — the engine:

• Banzai - Taunting Hyena: 2-cost 2/2 1-lore Emerald inkable. HERE KITTY, KITTY, KITTY — on play, may exert chosen damaged character. The challenge-enabler. Lorcana challenges only target EXERTED opposing characters; Banzai's ETB makes ready damaged targets legal again. Quest him T3+ for 1 lore once dry.
• Shenzi - Scar's Accomplice: 3-cost 2/3 1-lore Emerald inkable, Evasive. EASY PICKINGS — while challenging a damaged character, gets +2 STR (effective 4 STR). Best Hyena-vs-damaged challenger in the deck — Evasive plus +2 STR clears most blockers cleanly.
• Ed - Laughing Hyena: 3-cost 2/3 1-lore Emerald uninkable. CAUSE A PANIC — on play, may deal 2 damage to chosen damaged character. Free finishing damage — wounded characters die without a challenge, preserving your tempo.
• Shenzi - Hyena Pack Leader: 4-cost 0/6 1-lore Emerald inkable. I'LL HANDLE THIS — while at a location, gets +3 STR (effective 3/6). WHAT'S THE HURRY? — while at a location, whenever she challenges another character, you may draw a card. ALWAYS deploy her at a Pride Lands location. Off-location she's a 0/6 vanilla; at location she's a 3/6 draw-on-challenge engine.
• Ed - Hysterical Partygoer: 4-cost 2/4 3-lore Emerald uninkable. ROWDY GUEST — damaged characters can't challenge him. 3 lore at 4 ink is above-rate; quest him through the midgame, immune to wounded attackers.
• Shenzi - Head Hyena: 5-cost 3/6 1-lore Emerald inkable. STICK AROUND FOR DINNER — +1 STR per other Hyena in play. WHAT HAVE WE GOT HERE? — whenever one of your Hyena characters challenges a damaged character, gain 2 lore. The payoff. With 3 other Hyenas she's 6/6; each Hyena challenge into damaged = +2 lore. Land her T6 and you start closing.

Draw engine + late-game:

• Scar - Vengeful Lion: 4-cost 4/2 1-lore Emerald inkable, Ward. LIFE'S NOT FAIR, IS IT? — whenever one of your characters challenges a damaged character, you may draw a card. Stacks with Head Hyena: one Hyena-vs-damaged challenge = 1 banish + 2 lore + 1 card drawn. Ward forces opponents to challenge him to remove him, so he always trades for at least one of their bodies.
• Mufasa - Betrayed Leader: 5-cost 3/3 2-lore Amber inkable. THE SUN WILL SET — when banished, may reveal top of deck; if it's a character, play it free EXERTED. Death-replacement free play. Inf-only.
• Simba - King in the Making: 7-cost 5/5 3-lore Amber inkable, Boost 3. TIMELY ALLIANCE — whenever you put a card under this character, reveal top of deck; if it's a character, play it free EXERTED. Late-game free-play engine. With Boost 3, even his entry triggers TIMELY ALLIANCE once.
• Simba - Pride Protector: 5-cost 4/4 2-lore Amber uninkable, Shift 3. UNDERSTAND THE BALANCE — at end of your turn, if exerted, you may ready your other characters. Quest him AND quest your other Hyenas the same turn — Pride Protector untaps them at end-step for a second swing next turn.

Pride Lands locations:

• Pride Lands - Pride Rock: 2-cost 7-WP Amber location. WE ARE ALL CONNECTED — characters get +2 WP while here. LION HOME — if you have a Prince or King character here, you pay 1 less to play characters. Set up T1-T2; park Simba-Protective-Cub (Prince) for the discount. Drops 4-cost Hyenas to 3 ink and Shenzi-Head to 4 ink. Inf-only.
• Pride Lands - Jungle Oasis: 3-cost 8-WP Amber location. OUR HUMBLE HOME — while you have 3 or more characters here, you may banish this location to play a character from your discard for free. Reanimation tutor — once 3 Hyenas have moved to the Oasis, sacrifice it for a free copy of anything already banished (typically Shenzi-Head or Scar).

Songs and utility:

• Vicious Betrayal: 1-cost Emerald action, inkable. Chosen character gets +2 STR this turn; +3 if Villain. Scar (Villain) becomes a 7-STR challenger for one swing. Use to push lethal challenges or close out a damaged big body.
• Remember Who You Are: 4-cost Emerald action, uninkable. If chosen opponent has more cards in hand than you, draw cards until you have the same number. Late-game refuel after Scar's draw engine has emptied your hand.
• Hakuna Matata: 4-cost Amber song, inkable. A 4+ cost character can exert to sing for free. Remove up to 3 damage from EACH of your characters. Heal the whole board — saves Lawrence-style fragile units from a single-damage erasure and resets your Hyenas after they soak return-fire.

vs. Amethyst/Sapphire Evasive (Unfavorable): Watch for: Dumbo - Ninth Wonder of the Universe, Hades - Looking for a Deal Their Evasive questers bypass Shenzi-Accomplice and your damage enablers entirely — you can't BONK + Banzai a character that's never on the board in front of you. Race plan: Pride Rock T1, Hyena pack online by T4, Shenzi - Head Hyena + Scar - Vengeful Lion locked in by T6 for the 2-lore-per-challenge swing. Rafiki's Bakora Staff BONK is your only mainboard way to put damage on Evasive chars; spend it generously. If you can't engage the Evasive lore-leader before T7, the matchup is gone.

vs. Amber/Emerald Aggro (Favorable): Watch for: Tramp - Street-Smart Dog, Grandmother Willow - Ancient Advisor Their 1-2 WP flood walks straight into your damage engine. Every wounded body they leave behind feeds Ed-Laughing's CAUSE A PANIC and Shenzi-Head's 2-lore trigger. Hakuna Matata resets your Hyenas after they soak the opening attacks. Sequence: don't over-quest T2-T3 — let them swing first, blank-trade into Simba-Protective-Cub's Bodyguard, then pack-hunt T4+.

vs. Amethyst/Steel Challengers (Even): Watch for: Beast - Snowfield Troublemaker, Strength of a Raging Fire Mirror-shape grind — they trade into your board, you turn each damaged survivor into a Hyena snack. Strength of a Raging Fire clears your 2-WP Banzai/Pouncer line; keep Pride Rock active for the +2 WP buff (which pushes 2-WP chars to 4 WP at location, surviving the 2-damage AOE). Scar - Vengeful Lion with Ward forces them to challenge him — one exerted body trading into Scar = 1 of your cards drawn. Win the long game with Shenzi-Head out.

vs. Amber/Steel Steelsong (Favorable): Watch for: He Hurled His Thunderbolt, Angel - Experiment 624 Their songs are slower than your damage-and-eat engine. He Hurled His Thunderbolt clears 2 of your 2-WP Hyenas but you replay; Pride Rock keeps the bench discount intact through removal. Their Angel - Experiment 624 scaling plan needs T5+ to peak; you should already be at 8+ lore via Hyena-on-damaged challenges. Hakuna Matata undoes their incremental ping damage on your whole board for free.

vs. Ruby/Sapphire Control (Unfavorable): Watch for: Maui - Hero to All, A Pirate's Life Maui hard-removes Shenzi-Head before her trigger pays off; Sapphire draw outpaces your incremental damage-and-eat plan. Apply pressure before T8 — drop Shenzi-Head with 2-3 other Hyenas already on board so Maui only kills one piece of the engine. Don't bait their removal with isolated threats. Remember Who You Are at T7-T8 closes the card-advantage gap before their late-game finishers land.

vs. Mirror (Amber/Emerald Hyena) (Even): Watch for: Shenzi - Head Hyena, Scar - Vengeful Lion Whoever assembles the Head Hyena + Scar combo first wins. Banzai - Taunting Hyena is the key tempo card — exerting their ready Hyena makes it a legal target for your bigger Hyena. Don't over-commit to questing in mirror; the lore race is settled by who controls the damage exchanges, not who quests for 1 first.

Against Evasive-heavy meta (Dumbo, Hades, S12 sky-fliers): -2 Pumbaa - Friendly Warthog / -1 Sarabi - Protecting the Pride / +2 Zazu - Advisor to Mufasa (third copy) / +1 extra damage enabler. Zazu's Evasive lets him quest past their fliers for 2 lore and trade up in the air; vanilla Pumbaa and a third Sarabi do nothing the engine isn't already doing.

Against location-removal meta (any deck running "banish chosen location"): -1 Pride Lands - Pride Rock / -1 Pride Lands - Jungle Oasis / +1 Shenzi - Hyena Pack Leader (fourth copy) / +1 Ed - Hysterical Partygoer (third copy). Trim location density when their removal would strand Shenzi-Pack-Leader off-location, and lean harder on raw Hyena bodies.

Core variant (drop all Inf-only cards): Pride Lands - Pride Rock (S3), Mufasa - Betrayed Leader (S2), Simba - Protective Cub (S1), Pumbaa - Friendly Warthog (S1), Stampede (S1), Vicious Betrayal (S1), Hakuna Matata (S1) are Infinity-only and rotate. Swap path: -3 Pride Rock → +3 Pride Lands - Jungle Oasis (already Core). -2 Mufasa-Betrayed → +2 third copy of Simba - Pride Protector. -4 Simba-Protective-Cub → +4 Simba - Playful Pouncer (already Core, bring to 4). -1 Pumbaa → +1 third Sarabi. -2 Stampede / -2 Vicious Betrayal → +2 second copy Scar - Vengeful Lion / +2 Ed-Hysterical (third copy). -2 Hakuna Matata → +2 second copy Remember Who You Are. Core variant loses Pride Rock's LION HOME discount; 4-cost Hyenas drop on curve instead of one turn early. ~70% engine efficiency, still functional.

Outlook: Core-legal cards stable through Set 13 rotation. Watch S12 Wilds Unknown for any new "deal damage" item or 1-cost damage action that could replace Rafiki's Staff's BONK at fewer ink, or any new Hyena character that would push the tribal count beyond Shenzi-Head's already-comfortable density.