St. Canard's Finest: Strategy Guide

Thirty-nine of the sixty cards in this deck are Detectives, and two cards turn that shared word into an engine.

Judy Hopps - Lead Detective gives your Detective characters Alert and Resist +2 during your turn. Alert lets them challenge as if they had Evasive, so nothing on the other side is out of reach, and Resist +2 means they survive the fights they start. Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator then draws you a card every time one of your Detectives banishes a character in a challenge, and Lead Detective is what makes those challenges lopsided.

Three checkpoints:

• Turn 2. A one-cost Detective in play: again, this is a decision about turn five, because everything expensive shifts onto it.
• Turn 5. Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator down for 3: the draw engine starts here.
• Turn 6. Judy Hopps - Lead Detective down for 4: now every challenge is profitable and the deck takes over.

The rule: get Lead Detective down before you start fighting. Challenging without her is how this deck loses characters for nothing. With her, Resist +2 means your 4 strength, 3 willpower bodies walk away from fights that should kill them.

One banish, three payoffs

This is the part the card list hides. A single successful challenge can trigger all of the following at once:

• Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator: whenever one of your Detectives banishes a character in a challenge, draw a card.
• Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest: whenever this character banishes another in a challenge, gain 2 lore.
• Mrs. Incredible - Determined Rescuer: whenever another character is banished in a challenge, ready a chosen Super character. They cannot quest for the rest of the turn, but they can challenge again.

So the ceiling turn is: challenge with the namesake, banish something, gain 2 lore and draw a card; challenge with a second Detective, banish something, and ready the namesake; challenge again for 2 more lore. The deck runs 17 Super characters, so that readying ability almost always has a target.

Note it does not care whose character died. If one of yours is banished in a challenge, it still readies a Super. That is resilience, not just reach.

The namesake counts as two names

A character whose name line contains an ampersand has two names, and an effect looking for a specified name only needs to match one of them. Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest is therefore named Darkwing Duck and named Launchpad, which matters twice:

• Launchpad - Trusty Sidekick exerts to draw, then discards unless you have a character named Darkwing Duck in play. The namesake satisfies that.
• The Terror That Flaps in the Night deals 2 damage, or 3 with a character named Darkwing Duck in play. The namesake satisfies that too.

So your count of Darkwing enablers is not 11 across three versions, it is 15.

Shift is a tempo trick, not just a discount

A shifted character takes on the state of the character it was placed on. Shift onto a body that has been in play since your last turn and the new character is already dry, so it can challenge immediately. Play Darkwing Duck - Crime Fighter on turn one, and the namesake you place on top of him later can attack the moment it arrives instead of waiting a full turn cycle.

Your first game, turn by turn

The rule this deck lives on: a character played with Shift, on top of a character that has been in play since the start of your turn, can quest or challenge that same turn. Every expensive card here is really a cheap card if you set it up two turns earlier.

Turn 1. Ink a card, then play Darkwing Duck - Crime Fighter or Nick Wilde - Sly Fox Sleuth. Both are 1 ink for 2 strength and 2 willpower with no ability, and both are the discount on something much larger later.

Turn 2. Ink, quest with the one-drop, then play Launchpad - Trusty Sidekick or Darkwing Duck - Drake Mallard. Launchpad cannot be inked, so play him rather than sitting on him.

Turn 3. Ink to three. Darkwing Duck - Shadowy Superhero is 2 strength and 5 willpower and deals 1 damage to a chosen character when he arrives, which is often enough to finish something. Francine - Eyeing the Evidence with Resist +1 is the other good three-drop.

Turn 4. Ink to four. Judy Hopps - Uncovering Clues looks at the top 3 cards of your deck when she is played and every time she quests, taking a Detective. With thirty-nine Detectives in the deck she misses about one time in twenty-five, so she keeps your hand full for the rest of the game.

Turn 5. Ink to five and Shift Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator onto your Nick Wilde - Sly Fox Sleuth for 3 ink. CASE CLOSED is now live: every time one of your Detectives banishes something in a challenge, you draw a card.

Turn 6. Shift Judy Hopps - Lead Detective onto any Judy Hopps for 4 ink. This is the turn you start challenging, not before. Your Detectives now have Alert and Resist +2 during your turn.

Turn 7 and after. Shift Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest for 5 onto any Darkwing Duck or Launchpad. VICTORY POSE gains you 2 lore every time he banishes a character in a challenge during your turn, which is the fastest clock in the deck.

When the draw does not cooperate: the one-cost Detective on turn one matters more than the perfect three-drop on turn three. If you have to choose, play the body that something Shifts onto.

How this deck loses

You start challenging before Lead Detective lands: your mid-curve Detectives sit at 3 or 4 willpower. Without Resist +2 they die in the fights they start, and you have handed the opponent free removal. Quest until turn six, then fight.

You never challenge at all: the opposite mistake and just as costly. Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator only draws when a Detective of yours banishes something in a challenge, and Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest only gains lore the same way. After turn six this is a combat deck, not a questing deck.

You misread Alert: it lets your Detectives challenge characters that have Evasive. It does not let them defend, because there is no defending in Lorcana. A ready character cannot be challenged at all and an exerted one can, and that is the whole of it.

You hard cast the top end: Nick costs 3 by Shift and 5 from hand, Judy costs 4 by Shift and 6, and the pair costs 5 by Shift and 7. The exception worth knowing: Mrs. Incredible - Determined Rescuer has no Shift target in this deck at all, because there is no other Mrs. Incredible here. She is a genuine 7-ink card, so plan for that rather than holding her expecting a discount.

You quest with Drake Mallard and expect him back: Darkwing Duck - Drake Mallard has 4 strength and 1 willpower. Ward stops opponents choosing him with actions and abilities, but it does not stop a challenge, and one damage finishes him. Quest with him and accept the trade.

You bury an item and forget what it does to their ink: HIDDEN CLUES on Judy Hopps - On the Case puts a chosen item into its own player's inkwell, facedown and exerted. It removes the item, and it also hands that player an extra ink from their next turn onward. Against an engine item it is still worth it. Against a minor one it is not.

Matchup role. You are a midrange value deck. You are rarely the fastest and rarely the most powerful, and you win by trading better than the other side.

Two opening keeps.

• Option 1. Shift keep (default): Darkwing Duck - Crime Fighter or Nick Wilde - Sly Fox Sleuth plus a five or six drop in hand. The one-drops are cheap Shift ramp, and landing Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator on turn five for 3 ink is the whole plan.
• Option 2. Value keep: Judy Hopps - Uncovering Clues plus any two-drop. She looks at the top 3 and pulls a Detective when played and on every quest, and with thirty-nine Detectives in the deck she almost never misses.

On the play vs. on the draw:

• On the play: Shift keep. A turn-five discounted threat while they cast at full price is a full turn of tempo.
• On the draw: value keep. Judy Hopps - Uncovering Clues replaces the card you are behind by, every single turn she quests.

Never keep: an opener of six and seven cost cards with no one-drop to shift onto. Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest at seven ink is unplayable without a Darkwing Duck or Launchpad already down. Also avoid keeping multiple copies of Let It Go in an opener; it is a five-cost answer, not a development card.

What to put in your inkwell

Fourteen cards here have no inkwell symbol: all four Launchpad - Trusty Sidekick, all four Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator, all three Darkwing Duck - Shadowy Superhero and all three He Hurled His Thunderbolt. Notice that your main draw engine is on that list, so a Nick Wilde in hand is always a card you have to cast rather than a card you can bank.

Ink in roughly this order:

• A spare copy of your top end. Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest and Judy Hopps - Lead Detective are four copies each and you will cast one or two in a game. The extras are your best ink.
• Let It Go past the first copy. Three copies of a five-cost answer is one more than most games need.
• The Terror That Flaps in the Night past the second. It is efficient removal, and it is not what you are short of on turn two.

Keep out of the inkwell: your first one-cost Detective, because Shift only works if that body is on the board, and the single Ranger Plane, which has no replacement in the list.

Ideal line. One-cost Detective on turn 1. Launchpad - Trusty Sidekick or Darkwing Duck - Drake Mallard on turn 2. Judy Hopps - Uncovering Clues on turn 4 to keep the hand full. Turn 5, shift Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator for 3. Turn 6, shift Judy Hopps - Lead Detective for 4 and start challenging profitably.

The three cards that decide the game

Darkwing Duck - Crime Fighter is a plain 1-ink body with no ability, and it is the card that makes the rest of the deck affordable. Play him turn one and Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest costs 5 instead of 7 on turn seven. He also turns on the bonus damage on The Terror That Flaps in the Night and the draw on Launchpad - Trusty Sidekick.

Judy Hopps - Lead Detective is the switch. During your turn your Detectives gain Alert and Resist +2, which means no exerted character on the other side is out of reach, including ones with Evasive, and your Detectives survive the fight. Before she lands you are a questing deck. After she lands you are a combat deck, and the deck is much better as the second one.

Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest is how the game actually ends. Shift 5, 5 strength, 7 willpower, and Ward so opponents cannot choose him with actions or abilities at all. VICTORY POSE gains you 2 lore every time he banishes a character in a challenge during your turn, so with Lead Detective out he is a two-lore-per-turn clock that also removes their board.

Openers. One ink, no text, and that is not the point:

• Darkwing Duck - Crime Fighter: 1 ink, 2 strength, 2 willpower, 1 lore. No ability. He is a Darkwing Duck, which makes him a Shift target for the whole Darkwing chain and turns on The Terror That Flaps in the Night.
• Nick Wilde - Sly Fox Sleuth: 1 ink, 2 strength, 2 willpower, 1 lore. No ability, and the Shift target for Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator.

Two and three drops:

• Darkwing Duck - Drake Mallard: 2 ink, 4 strength, 1 willpower. He has Ward, so opponents cannot choose him except to challenge. One willpower means anything that challenges him kills him, so quest with him and accept the trade.
• Launchpad - Trusty Sidekick: 2 ink, 2 strength, 3 willpower. Exert him to draw a card, then discard a card unless you have a character named Darkwing Duck in play. You run eleven of those, so this is usually a clean draw. He cannot be inked.
• Darkwing Duck - Shadowy Superhero: 3 ink, 2 strength, 5 willpower. PREEMPTIVE STRIKE deals 1 damage to a chosen character when he is played, and five willpower makes him your sturdiest early body.
• Francine - Eyeing the Evidence: 3 ink, 4 strength, 3 willpower, with Resist +1. Survives the incidental damage that clears the rest of your curve.
• Judy Hopps - On the Case: 3 ink, 4 strength, 3 willpower. HIDDEN CLUES puts a chosen item into its player's inkwell facedown and exerted if you already have another Detective out. That removes the item and gives its owner an extra ink, so save it for something that matters. Another Judy Hopps to shift onto.

The engine. This is why the deck exists:

• Judy Hopps - Uncovering Clues: 4 ink. Looks at the top 3 cards of your deck when played and on every quest, taking a Detective character. In a deck with thirty-nine Detectives she rarely whiffs.
• Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator: Shift 3, 5 strength, 4 willpower, 2 lore. CASE CLOSED draws a card whenever one of your Detective characters banishes another character in a challenge during your turn. He cannot be inked.
• Judy Hopps - Lead Detective: Shift 4, 6 strength, 4 willpower, 2 lore. LATERAL THINKING gives your Detective characters Alert and Resist +2 during your turn. Play her before you start fighting, not after.

Top end:

• McHorn - Ice-Cold Officer: 5 ink, 6 strength, 5 willpower. He has Bodyguard, so an opposing character challenging your board has to choose him if it can, which keeps the challenges away from your Shift threats.
• Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest: Shift 5, 5 strength, 7 willpower, 2 lore. Ward means targeted removal cannot touch him at all, so they have to challenge through seven willpower. VICTORY POSE gains you 2 lore whenever he banishes a character in a challenge during your turn.
• Mrs. Incredible - Determined Rescuer: 7 ink, 3 lore. Off-tribe, and there is no other Mrs. Incredible in this deck, so her Shift cost never applies and you pay the full 7. PULL BACK gives all your characters Resist +1, which stacks with Lead Detective's Resist +2, and three lore is the highest in the deck.

Interaction:

• The Terror That Flaps in the Night: 2 ink. 2 damage to a chosen opposing character, or 3 while you have a character named Darkwing Duck in play, which is most turns.
• Strength of a Raging Fire: 3 ink song, free from any character costing 3 or more. Damage equal to the number of characters you have in play, so it scales with your board rather than theirs and is at its best on a full board.
• He Hurled His Thunderbolt: 4 ink song, free from any character costing 4 or more. Four damage to a chosen character. It cannot be inked.
• Let It Go: 5 ink song, free from any character costing 5 or more. Puts a chosen character into their player's inkwell instead of banishing it, which is your only clean answer to something too large to burn down.
• Ranger Plane: 3 ink item. AIR SUPPORT gives your characters Support, so when one quests you may add its strength to another chosen character's strength for the turn. BIG LIFT then exerts to give a character with 10 strength or more +3 lore this turn, which stacked Support can reach. A singleton, but not filler.

Reading an opponent you have never seen

Your plan barely changes between opponents: set up, land Lead Detective, then fight. What changes is how long you are allowed to take. Watch their first three turns.

• Cheap characters, questing every turn. They will be at 10 lore before your engine turns on. You cannot afford to wait for turn six, so use The Terror That Flaps in the Night and Strength of a Raging Fire early to keep the board small, and accept a worse Lead Detective turn.
• A slow, careful start with big characters. This is your best case. Take your six turns, land everything on curve, and the Resist +2 makes every fight after that one-sided.
• Characters you are not allowed to challenge. Characters with Evasive can normally only be challenged by characters that also have Evasive. Judy Hopps - Lead Detective solves this for your entire Detective board at once, which is another reason she comes down before you commit to attacking.
• Items and locations doing the work. Judy Hopps - On the Case buries an item, and Let It Go answers whatever character they eventually deploy. Your removal is otherwise mostly dead, so lean on questing and close early.

vs. Amber/Emerald Toys and Elinor (Unfavorable): Watch for: Elinor - Renowned Diplomat, Rex - Protective Dinosaur They go wider and faster than you, and Rex's Bodyguard blunts the challenge plan your whole deck is built on. Strength of a Raging Fire is your best card because it scales with your own board. You need Judy Hopps - Lead Detective early to make challenges profitable before their lore total gets away.

vs. Emerald/Steel Detectives (Unfavorable): Watch for: Angel - Experiment 624, Darkwing Duck - Cool Under Pressure The uncomfortable one, and worth being honest about: the same Darkwing package performs about six points better in an Emerald/Steel shell than it does here. They have your plan with better support cards. Your edge is the Sapphire half, particularly Let It Go as an unconditional answer they cannot match, and Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest dodging targeted removal entirely.

vs. Amber/Amethyst Midrange (Even): Watch for: Demona - Scourge of the Wyvern Clan, Hades - Looking for a Deal A fair fight between two value decks. Whoever draws more cards wins, which means protecting Nick Wilde - Persistent Investigator matters more than any single trade. McHorn - Ice-Cold Officer with Bodyguard is how you keep him alive.

vs. Amber/Emerald Book Control (Favorable): Watch for: Raging Storm, Enigmatic Inkcaster They have nearly no characters, so your challenge engine is dead but so is their board. This becomes a straight lore race that you win, provided you do not overcommit into a sweeper. Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest with Ward is close to unanswerable for them.

vs. Amber/Ruby Boost (Favorable): Watch for: Mr. Incredible - Super Strong, Ohana Means Family They go tall and slow. Let It Go answers their single largest threat cleanly. Once Judy Hopps - Lead Detective is down, their damage-based removal also stops connecting. Take the early lore hits and win the mid-game.

Against damage-based removal, bring a third Mrs. Incredible - Determined Rescuer in over a McHorn - Ice-Cold Officer. Resist +1 across the board stacks with Lead Detective and blanks most incidental pings entirely. Budget the full 7 ink for her, since nothing in this list shares her name.

Against Bodyguard and go-wide decks, cut 1 Let It Go for a fourth Darkwing Duck - Shadowy Superhero. A 2 strength, 5 willpower body that pings something on arrival is worth more than a single tuck effect here. Strength of a Raging Fire is your real anti-wide card and it is already at the maximum four.

Against control, trim 2 The Terror That Flaps in the Night for 2 more Judy Hopps - On the Case. Removal is dead against a deck with no characters, and she buries an item instead, which is exactly what those decks are built on. Judy Hopps - Uncovering Clues would be the better card and is already at the maximum four.

If turn six keeps arriving too late: the instinct is more one-cost Detectives, and you cannot have them. Twelve cards in this deck want a cheap Detective already on the board to be played on top of, and only eight are available, because both Darkwing Duck - Crime Fighter and Nick Wilde - Sly Fox Sleuth are at the maximum four copies. The change that is available is cutting a seven-drop: trim 1 Darkwing Duck & Launchpad - St. Canard's Finest for a fourth Francine - Eyeing the Evidence, so you have a real turn-three play more often.

Outlook, stated plainly. Our own metagame work finds this Sapphire/Steel shell about six points weaker than the Emerald/Steel home for the same Darkwing cards. This deck is built the way it is because it is the version people recognise and ask for, and it is priced as a mid-tier deck rather than a top-table one. The card pool sits in Sets 10 through 13 and survives the October rotation intact, so it will not get worse over the season.