Lore Engine: Strategy Guide

Amethyst/Ruby midrange grind. Every single character in this deck quests for 2 lore. No exceptions. Play one character per turn on cost (2 ink, then 3, then 4, then 5, then 6) with I'm Stuck! as turn 1 disruption, and your unanswered board generates 6 or more lore each turn once three characters are questing.

The sequencing rule. Cast I'm Stuck! on their best EXERTED character in turns 1 or 2 BEFORE you develop your own board. At 1 ink it costs you nothing and buys the development time your curve needs. Friend Owl - Cantankerous Neighbor turn 2, plus Jafar - Lamp Thief turn 3, plus I'm Stuck! locking their best threat: end of turn 3 you are at 4 lore on board with their best character still tapped.

Quest, don't challenge. Every character that challenges instead of questing costs you 2 lore that turn. The opponent has to challenge to slow you down; you do not. Only challenge when an opposing body would actively out-lore you if left alive.

Matchup role. You are the slower deck against aggressive opponents (your 4 to 5 willpower bodies outlast their small questers) and the faster deck against true control (go wide so their removal can't keep up).

Lore math. 3 characters questing = 6 lore each turn guaranteed. You reach 20 lore by turn 7 or 8 without a single combat trade.

Single-pattern keep. Curve over engines. Look for a 2-cost character plus a 3-cost character plus an inkable card.

Always keep:

• Friend Owl - Cantankerous Neighbor (your only 2-ink, 2-lore body)
• Jafar - Lamp Thief (3-ink, 2-lore central piece)
• I'm Stuck! when you already have an early-curve quester in hand. The action goes on turn 1 and buys your whole curve room to develop

Conditional keep on the draw: This Is My Family as a 2-ink song that gains a lore and draws a card (sung free by any 2+ cost character).

Ship hands:

• Only 5 or 6 cost characters with no early bodies. You need to be questing by turn 2, not turn 4. A hand of only 5-cost threats means 3 wasted turns of development.
• All-action hands. I'm Stuck! plus Poor Unfortunate Souls plus You Can Fly! with no characters means no questers means no lore.

Ideal turn 1 through 3 line. I'm Stuck! on their best exerted character turn 1, then Friend Owl - Cantankerous Neighbor quests for 2 turn 2, then Jafar - Lamp Thief quests for 2 turn 3. End of turn 3: 4 lore on board, opponent is one character behind, and at least one of their threats is locked tapped.

Interaction (play before you develop):

• I'm Stuck!: 1 ink Amethyst action. Chosen ALREADY-EXERTED character can't ready at the start of their next turn. Only targets characters already tapped (after questing or challenging). You can't preempt a key play; cast turn 1 on their most dangerous character AFTER they have quested. At 1 ink it's free, and the lockout buys the development time your curve needs.

Curve (play one per turn, quest the next turn):

• Friend Owl - Cantankerous Neighbor: 2 ink, 2 strength, 2 willpower, 2 lore, Ruby inkable. The deck's only 2-ink quester. Always play if in hand. Once his ink dries on turn 3, he establishes early lore pace and 2 willpower survives small challengers.
• Jafar - Lamp Thief: 3 ink, 2 strength, 2 willpower, 2 lore, Amethyst inkable. Turn 3 central piece. Play him on turn 3 (his ink is still wet that turn) and quest from turn 4 onward.
• Sisu - Emboldened Warrior: 3 ink, 1 strength, 4 willpower, 2 lore, Ruby inkable. SURGE OF POWER: gains +1 strength per card in your opponent's hand. Best into slow control matchups where they hoard cards. Worst against aggressive opponents (empty hands).
• Gale - Wind Spirit: 3 ink, 1 strength, 2 willpower, 2 lore, Amethyst inkable. RECURRING GUST: when she is banished in a challenge, return her to your hand. A sticky 2-lore quester, since opponents who challenge her just hand her back to you, so she keeps questing turn after turn. Cheap, resilient lore.
• Earth Giant - Living Mountain / Dolores Madrigal - Easy Listener / Jafar - Keeper of Secrets / Luisa Madrigal - Magically Strong One / Mickey Mouse - Enthusiastic Dancer: 4-ink bodies. Earth Giant - Living Mountain's 4 strength, 5 willpower survives most challenges; quest him freely (2 lore). UNEARTHED lets each opponent draw a card on his entry. Fine in most matchups, weak vs. combo decks. Dolores Madrigal - Easy Listener (3 strength, 3 willpower, 2 lore) draws a card on entry if an opponent has an exerted character. Time her play AFTER they quest. Jafar - Keeper of Secrets (0 strength, 5 willpower, 2 lore) gets +1 strength per card in YOUR hand via HIDDEN WONDERS: deploy on turns you have just drawn, not after spending your hand. Luisa Madrigal - Magically Strong One is a 4 strength, 3 willpower, 1 lore Rush body (uninkable), the Encanto sister to Dolores. Rush lets her challenge the turn she lands, so use her to trade into an opposing quester on defense, or just deploy her as a 4/3 beater. Mickey Mouse - Enthusiastic Dancer is a 2 strength, 4 willpower, 2 lore body (his PERFECT PARTNERS ability needs a Minnie character in play, and the deck runs no Minnies, so the buff is dormant; he is a flat body only).
• Winnie the Pooh - Hunny Wizard / Card Soldiers - Full Deck / Edgar Balthazar - Ambitious Butler: 5-ink bodies. Winnie and Card Soldiers are 5 strength, 5 willpower for 2 lore; Edgar Balthazar - Ambitious Butler is a durable 6 strength, 5 willpower for 1 lore, the deck's top-end finisher body, big enough to trade into almost anything and anchor the late board. By turn 5 with three bodies questing you are at 6 lore each turn and closing fast.

Closers (deploy when your board is established):

• Honest John - Shameless Schemer: 6 ink, 7 strength, 5 willpower, 2 lore, Ruby inkable. The deck's top body. 7 strength challenges almost anything profitably. Quest when safe; challenge when they commit a body your smaller characters can't handle. Don't use him as your only removal. He is a closer, not a single-target answer.

Songs and additional engines:

• Poor Unfortunate Souls: 2 ink Amethyst song, inkable. Returns chosen character, item, or location of cost 2 or less to their player's hand. Use it to bounce an opposing 2-cost quester (removes their lore-per-turn for at least one turn), or to re-cast one of your own characters with a "when you play this character" trigger. Sung free by any 2+ cost character.
• This Is My Family: 2 ink Amethyst song. Gain 1 lore and draw a card. Sung free by any 2+ cost character. One free lore plus one free draw plus frees an ink for another body played the same turn. The core extra-lore engine.
• You Can Fly!: 2 ink Ruby song. Chosen character gains Evasive until your next turn (only Evasive characters can challenge them). Sing on a key 2-lore quester to dodge a turn of challenges.

vs. Amethyst/Sapphire Evasive (Unfavorable): Watch for: Dumbo - Ninth Wonder of the Universe, Hades - Looking for a Deal The deck you will run into most often. Their Evasive characters quest right past your blockers, and you have no native way to challenge them. Cast I'm Stuck! turns 1 or 2 to buy development time, then race on raw lore: keep three 2-lore questers online and push your total ahead before Dumbo - Ninth Wonder of the Universe stabilizes their lore engine. Past turn 7 their card advantage outpaces your lore, so close the gap early.

vs. Amber/Emerald Aggro (Favorable): Watch for: Tramp - Street-Smart Dog, Grandmother Willow - Ancient Advisor Your 4 to 5 willpower bodies (Earth Giant - Living Mountain, Jafar - Keeper of Secrets) wall their 1 to 2 willpower flood. They can't profitably challenge into 5 willpower (their character dies, yours survives), so every failed attack is wasted development for them. Lean on your tall bodies: Honest John - Shameless Schemer at 7 strength and Edgar Balthazar - Ambitious Butler at 6 strength challenge into their flood profitably when you need to clear a key attacker; otherwise just out-quest them.

vs. Ruby/Steel Challengers (Even): Watch for: Beast - Snowfield Troublemaker, Strength of a Raging Fire Mirror-shape grind. Both decks play 2-lore bodies indefinitely. Strength of a Raging Fire deals damage equal to the number of characters they have in play; keep your 4-willpower threats alive through turn 4 so their early casts deal 2 or 3 damage rather than 5. Cast I'm Stuck! on their Beast - Snowfield Troublemaker after he swings so he can't combo with Raging Fire on their next turn.

vs. Amber/Steel Steelsong (Favorable): Watch for: He Hurled His Thunderbolt, Angel - Experiment 624 Songs are slower than your direct lore generation. Rhino - Power Hamster's Resist +2 doesn't matter when you are not attacking. He Hurled His Thunderbolt deals 4 damage to chosen character, clearing your 2-to-3 willpower bodies, but Earth Giant - Living Mountain (5 willpower) survives. Out-pace their song plan with raw 2-lore quester density.

vs. Ruby/Sapphire Control (Unfavorable): Watch for: Maui - Hero to All, A Pirate's Life Their Maui removes your closers via the Challenger swing; their Sapphire draw refills the answer pile faster than you deploy threats. Go wide and apply pressure before turn 8: deploy multiple 2-lore questers so single-target removal can't keep pace, and force them to answer Honest John - Shameless Schemer and Edgar Balthazar - Ambitious Butler while you keep questing. Past turn 8 their grind wears you down.

vs. Mirror (Amethyst/Ruby Midrange) (Even): Watch for: Honest John - Shameless Schemer, Earth Giant - Living Mountain Whoever keeps more 2-lore questers alive wins the grind. Trade efficiently: Honest John - Shameless Schemer at 7 strength and Edgar Balthazar - Ambitious Butler at 6 strength challenge into their mid-size bodies cleanly, but only spend a turn challenging when removing their quester nets you the lore race. Otherwise keep questing, because the faster board wins.

Against Evasive-heavy opponents (decks running Ariel or anti-Villain Darkwing variants): swap 2 copies of Mickey Mouse - Enthusiastic Dancer for 2 copies of Sisu - Emboldened Warrior. The problem this solves: your 2-lore bodies can't profitably challenge Evasive characters, so they sit there questing for free. Sisu paired with You Can Fly! gives a temporary Evasive trade-in. (Note: Sisu has no native anti-Evasive interaction; don't rely on her SURGE OF POWER as evasion.)

Infinity-format upgrade swap (the Infinity format allows pre-Core sets and never rotates):

• 4 copies of Jafar - Lamp Thief for 4 copies of The Wardrobe - Belle's Confidant (Set 1). Different 3-ink body (3 strength, 4 willpower, 1 lore, more defensive). Trades 2 lore output for 4 willpower walling.
• 4 copies of Poor Unfortunate Souls for 4 copies of Friends on the Other Side (Set 1). 3-ink card-draw song. Different playstyle: the Core build is pure lore rush, the Infinity build is more card-advantage oriented.

Outlook. This deck is sold as an Infinity list. The list is built entirely from two inks (Ruby/Amethyst), with every card mono-Ruby or mono-Amethyst and no dual-ink cards smuggling in a third color. Core Constructed rotated on July 17, 2026 and Sets 5 through 8 left the format, which retired seven slots here including Gale - Wind Spirit, Honest John - Shameless Schemer and This Is My Family. The Infinity format never rotates, so the same shell stays Infinity-legal indefinitely: buy once, play forever.