One hundred and twenty eight players entered the Woodzshack CCQ. Five of the decks that made top cut were the same deck. Not the same archetype loosely defined, the same sixty cards, down to the one copy of Dumbo.
- Emerald Amethyst control put five lists into top cut at one event, in a set where the pairing was written off early and had barely been seen since.
- Retro Evolution Device is the deck. A three ink item that turns a five drop into a nine drop for free.
- The finish is a two card board wipe that costs nothing on the turn it happens.
- One of the five ran sixty one cards, apparently on purpose.
- Full list below, one click into the deck builder.
A deck nobody had seen for a whole set
This pairing had a moment right at the start of the set, when people muttered about a green purple evasive shell. It did not perform. It went away. For most of the format it was simply not part of the conversation.
Written off in week one. Five copies in top cut by the last event before the North America Championship.
Then five copies of it walked into the last major event before the North America Championship, and all five made top cut. The presenter covering the event put the obvious question out loud rather than pretending he knew the answer.
Has this been the hidden deck that players have been trying to keep secret?
He does not answer it, and neither will we. What can be shown is the deck itself, and why a room full of prepared players might all have arrived at the same sixty cards at the same time.
The whole deck is one three ink item
Retro Evolution Device costs three. Exert it, pay one ink, banish one of your own characters, and play a character costing up to two more than the one you banished, for free. It is a ladder, and this deck is built as rungs.
Five to seven to nine. A Hades becomes Milo Thatch. A Milo Thatch becomes Prince Phillip. Neither jump costs you a turn.
That is why the list runs four Hades, two Chernabog and two Taran at five ink, then four Milo Thatch at seven, then four Prince Phillip at nine. Cards that would be unplayable at their printed cost are the whole point.
The two cards that end the game
Malicious, Mean, and Scary puts one damage counter on each opposing character. It is a song, so any character costing three or more can exert to sing it for nothing.
Sing it for free. Any character costing three or more can exert to pay for it, which means the song never competes with the rest of your turn.
Prince Phillip banishes all opposing damaged characters when he enters play. Sing the song, then bring Phillip in off the Device, and every character on the other side of the table is damaged and then gone.
A full board wipe, delivered by a nine drop and an eight ink song, on a turn where you spent one ink.
Taran is in the deck to fix Chernabog
Chernabog shuffles an opposing character into their deck, which is about as clean as removal gets. The price is steep: that player may then play a character from their discard for free. You remove one threat and hand back another.
Removal that gives something back is only a problem if there is anything left to give back.
Taran, played earlier, puts up to two cards from a chosen discard on the bottom of that deck. Aim it at the opponent and the pile Chernabog would have paid out from gets smaller, and possibly worse. Taran also has Rush, so the turn is not wasted either.
Two ink, and it drains lore. Lyle Tiberius Rourke draws one and discards one, then takes a lore from each opponent at end of turn if two cards reached your discard. This deck fills its own discard constantly, so that trigger is not a coincidence.
Sixty one cards, on purpose
Four of the five lists are functionally the same. The fifth is where it gets interesting.
Sixty is the minimum, not the limit, so a sixty one card deck is legal. It is still a choice most players would call a mistake, and it came fourth in a one hundred and twenty eight player event.
Five lists, four skeletons, one card of disagreement. That is what a solved deck looks like before everyone else finds out.
The full sixty
This is the SplooshMcgoo and HaZzed list, the one four of the five were built on. Hover any name to see the card.
Loads all sixty cards and prices them live, so you see what it costs today rather than what it cost when this went up. Swap the Dumbo for a Mrs. Incredible from there if you want Hector's version.
If you are building it
The expensive rungs are the ones you cannot skip, because the Device needs somewhere to jump to. Prince Phillip is the top of the ladder and Milo Thatch is the step that reaches him.
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Watch the rundown
The full video walks all sixteen lists, not only these five, and the differences between the Emerald Amethyst builds are easier to follow when someone is pointing at them. It is worth the time before you commit cards to this.
Decklists from the Woodzshack CCQ, covered on Lorcana Villain. Decks piloted by SplooshMcgoo, Hector Heras, HaZzed, Arg03 and Yappy Butterfly. Event hosted by WoodzshackTCG.
For the other half of this format, we covered the Ruby Amethyst list that won the CCS Invitational, which is the deck this one has to beat. And for something at the opposite extreme, there is the deck that plays no characters at all.
