Ruby is fairing well in the new metagam, with Ruby/Amethyst Mim Control taking a massive slice of the pie. It's only fair that the deck most likely to counter the current King of the Hill shares in all the good Ruby cards. On top of that, our deck today features one of the fastest growing singles on the market. Seemingly over just a few days Mufasa - Betrayed Leader skyrocketed from $6 to $25 where he sits as of this writing.

Mufasa is the key component to this deck, creating significant value against removal. He's a 3 Strength, 3 Willpower body with 2 Lore for 5 ink. This is under the curve compared to other 5-cost, but the truth is in the text. When Mufasa gets banished (no matter how) he lets you play a character from the top of your deck for free. He replaces himself, and you might even trade up since there are no cost restrictions on the ability. This is best utilized on your opponent's turn - waiting for them to challenge Mufasa or allowing you to face check Be Prepared or Dragon Fire. This allows you to play a character out of turn, and even though it enters play exerted its ink will dry during your next turn be available to immediately use.

Amber/Ruby Mufasa Midrange | Steadfast

• Characters (58)
• 4 Stitch - New Dog
• 3 Simba - Protective Cub
• 4 Mother Gothel - Withered and Wicked
• 3 Queen of Hearts - Impulsive Ruler
• 4 Doc - Leader of the Seven Dwarfs
• 4 Minnie Mouse - Stylish Surfer
• 4 Hades - Lord of the Underworld
• 4 Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing
• 2 Namaari - Nemesis
• 4 Maui - Hero to All
• 4 Mufasa - Betrayed Leader
• 2 Queen of Hearts - Sensing Weakness
• 4 Stitch - Rock Star
• 4 Lady Tremaine - Imperious Queen
• 4 Stitch - Carefree Surfer
• 4 Maleficent - Monstrous Dragon

• Items (2)
• 2 Lantern

The foundation of this deck is all about value trading. It expects its cards to be banished, and finds ways to bring those cards back, or get more cards in the process. Not only does Mufasa rock this, but we see it Hades - Lord of the Underworld and Maleficent - Monstrous Dragon. Get your characters back and banish your opponent's cards, all on decently sized characters of their own.

Let's talk about our drawing package. Amber has a few good characters to help us run through our deck to find the key pieces. If you read my Top 10 Super Rares and Legendaries in The First Chapter, you'll know how crazy I am about Stitch - Carefree Surfer. We also get Queen of Hearts - Sensing Weakness here, which can be a good engine for a turn or so. If you're card starved, make sure to keep her ready, or at least protect her with Stitch - New Dog. You can also let her take a soft hit to get more cards out of her by healing with Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing who was also on my list. And finally, with Stitch - Rock Star you can expect to draw a few cards off his trigger with 14 eligible characters. This A+ draw package will get you into your key components and win conditions in no time.

All these value trades help the deck stand out, but it wouldn't be a decent Midrange deck without some helpful ramp. The ramp package here feels a little soft compared to decks running Sapphire, but Amber brings Doc - Leader of the Seven Dwarfs and Lantern. Since we're running 58 characters, we're discounting just about everything in our hand. Another part of our ramp is our Stitch package. Thankfully New Dog only costs 1, which means we can play our 6-ink Rock Star as early as turn three with a Lantern.

But how do we win? Well, we quest. We're running a lot of 2 lore characters like Doc, Stitch - Carefree Surfer, Maleficent, and Lady Tremain that we can use to build up our lore in the first half of the game. When it comes to closing the deal or getting ahead, we rely on Stitch - Rock Star and his 3 lore, and Minnie Mouse - Stylish Surfer whose evasion protects her from challenges.

With only 12 uninkable cards most opening hands are going to be strong. Specifically, though I'll be looking for Doc and a draw engine, or Stitch - New Dog to start some early lore growth. Doc, or at least Lantern, will help play my more expensive cards faster. The goal is to get early value trading, which means getting to play Mufasa or Maleficent. A trap this deck may lure you into is playing your Simba - Protective Cub's early. Keep your Bodyguard ready for something that will get you the value trade or win you the game. Your early Queen of Hearts - Impulsive Ruler doesn't need to be protected, and unless you have Rock Star in hand, neither does your Stitch - New Dog.

This deck will continue to see tournament play far in the future. Once this deck hits gas and lands one of those value trade cards, it's all uphill from there. It's adaptable to different metas and goes toe-to-toe with Mim Control. It's also new-player friendly in a way that Mim Control isn't.

Lorcana YouTuber Steadfast, who plays this list, went 8-0 against Amethyst/Ruby Mim Control. That's quite a feat, and proves that the price jump in Mufasa is well worth it. Hopefully we'll see Mufasa slotting into other decks to prove his value. Keep an eye on this deck as we see what Locations and the rest of Into the Inklands does for Mufasa Midrange.