11 of the top 16 decks at the North American Championship were Emerald Steel. Not a plurality. Not a lean. More than two-thirds of the top cut.
Dan Arnold Lorcana breaks down the whole field in his NACC breakdown video, and it is worth watching before you sleeve anything for Set Champs. We verified every card he mentions against the Core-legal catalogue and priced each one from our daily feed. The judgements about what is strong, what to cut and what beats what are his.
- Emerald Steel was everywhere. 11 of 16 top-cut decks, 41% of the top 32.
- Amber Amethyst won the whole thing. Dylan the Molstar took it with a midrange list built to beat the dominant pair.
- Amber Steel was the wildcard. Joe Quigley's songs build was one of very few in the room and still earned a top 8 finish and a worlds invite.
- The cheapest way in is Emerald Steel. Most of its engine cards sit under $1.00. The expensive slots are Ohana Means Family at $24.41 and Circle of Life at $25.18.
Emerald Steel had the weekend
Dan's headline figure is simple. 25% of the full day-one field was Emerald Steel. By top cut that had grown to 41%. Seven of those players were preparing together as a team, all on the same pair.
The core engine makes sense once you see it on paper. Finnick - Tiny Terror costs 1 ink. Play him, pay 2 more, and you return a chosen opposing character with 2 strength or less to their player's hand. That is pressure at turn one for a card that currently prices at $0.08.
Enigmatic Inkcaster at 2 ink builds on that tempo. Exert it after playing two or more cards in a turn and you gain 1 lore. Potion of Malice at 3 ink does the slow grind.
Exert and pay 1 ink to put a damage counter on a character. Then exert and banish the item itself to give every damaged opposing character Reckless until your next turn. They cannot quest and must challenge if they can.
Tod & Copper - Best of Friends at 4 ink anchors the board. Shift 2 ink and Evasive on the same card. He Hurled His Thunderbolt at 4 ink deals 4 damage to a chosen character and can be sung for free. Strange Things at 4 ink locks up to two characters out of questing and replaces itself.
The ceiling is Under the Sea at 8 ink, which puts all opposing characters with 2 strength or less on the bottom of their players' decks in any order. Dan says Sky's 2nd place list included You Broke My Smolder at 1 ink, discard your hand and draw 2. A hard reset on a bad opener.
No full decklist was published for Sky's Emerald Steel build, so if you want the complete 60-card version you'll need to track it down elsewhere.
The deck that actually won
Dylan the Molstar won the whole event on Amber Amethyst midrange. Dan calls it "a thorn in the side of Emerald Steel."
Ohana Means Family at 3 ink is the card Dan singles out. Remove all damage from a chosen character of yours, then draw a card for each 1 damage removed.
That is recovery and card advantage together, and it makes the Emerald Steel removal package less decisive. It prices at $24.41, which is the most expensive single card in the verified list.
Circle of Life at 8 ink closes games. Sing Together 8, and you play a character from your discard for free. Raging Storm at 8 ink banishes all characters.
Safety Rope at 2 ink puts a character card from your discard on top of your deck when it enters play, then can be banished at end of turn to draw a card. Small pieces. They accumulate.
The Horseman Strikes! at 3 ink draws a card and can banish a character with Evasive. That matters in a format full of Evasive threats on the Emerald side.
No full list was published for Dylan's Amber Amethyst build here, but Dan's video covers the card choices in detail.
The most unusual top 8
Joe Quigley brought Amber Steel songs. Dan describes it as "an out of context deck." Almost nobody else registered it. It still earned a top 8 finish and a worlds invite.
The angle, according to Dan, is playing bigger characters than the field expects. Dr. Hamsterviel - Evil Observer at 3 ink has Alert, meaning he can challenge as if he had Evasive.
Angela - Night Warrior at 3 ink gives a chosen character Challenger +2 and Resist +2 until your next turn when she enters play. That is a swing that can happen the same turn you play her.
Card Advantage at 2 ink draws 2 cards if an opposing character was banished in a challenge that turn. The Twins - Lost Boys at 6 ink deals 2 damage to a chosen character when played, if you have a location in play.
He Hurled His Thunderbolt at 4 ink pulls double duty here, dealing 4 damage and giving Deity characters Challenger +2 this turn.
No full list was published for Joe's Amber Steel build.
The rest of the top cut
Mark Landers ran Amber Emerald aggro into the top 16. Dan covers it in the video and notes a specific absence in the list. No full list was published here.
Junkai's Amethyst Steel build featuring Maleficent & Diablo - Evil Incarnate made top 32. That card costs 7 ink on its face but has Shift 5, and its FOOLS! ability lets you shift it for free if you put 5 character cards from your discard on the bottom of your deck.
RAVEN'S CALL then draws you a card every time it exerts during your turn. Strong late-game engine. It prices at $0.87.
Caillou's Amethyst Steel GP Retro Device list also made top 32, built around an item engine. Dan says he considered it himself and explains in the video why he passed on it. No full list was published.
Dan's own pick for Set Champs is a Book Control build running Enigmatic Inkcaster and Potion of Malice as the engine. He didn't play it at the NACC but calls it his recommendation going forward. No full list was published for that either.
11 of the top 16 decks were Emerald Steel. Not a plurality. More than two-thirds of the top cut.
What to build first
If you want to start with Emerald Steel because the NACC result makes a compelling case for it, the engine is cheap to assemble. Finnick - Tiny Terror is $0.08. Enigmatic Inkcaster is $0.32.
Potion of Malice is $0.27. You Broke My Smolder is $0.18. The price jumps come from Ohana Means Family at $24.41 and Circle of Life at $25.18 if you want to hedge toward the Amber Amethyst matchup.
The verified list of 29 unique cards prices out at $68.17 for one copy of each, but a real 60-card deck runs multiples of most of them, so treat that as a floor, not a budget.
Start by picking up Finnick - Tiny Terror and Enigmatic Inkcaster at under $0.40 combined, watch Dan's breakdown at the link above to settle on the full 60, then build from there.
Prices update daily. Price any list as you build it in the deck builder, which reads the same feed as this page, and every card above links to its own page in the card library.
Source: Dan Arnold Lorcana
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