Lorcana Deck Tech: Competitive Amethyst/Steel Bounce Guide

Geeky Domain Crew
2026-05-03T09:27:22-07:00

Amethyst/Steel is the undisputed king of the Lorcana midrange meta. Learn how to pilot this highly adaptable deck by combining the relentless card draw of the Amethyst bounce engine with the surgical, board-clearing spread damage of the Steel ink color. Discover the complete tournament list and the best Enchanted slabs to invest in.

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Deck Tech: Competitive Amethyst / Steel Bounce

Master the ultimate midrange hybrid. Learn how to combine Amethyst's relentless card draw with Steel's surgical spread damage.

In Disney Lorcana, deck archetypes generally fall into three categories: Aggro, Midrange, and Control. While Ruby/Amethyst holds the crown for late-game Control, the Amethyst / Steel Bounce deck is the undisputed king of the Midrange. It is the most adaptable deck in the format, capable of shifting its strategy based entirely on the opponent sitting across the table.

If you are playing against a fast Aggro deck, Amethyst/Steel plays the control role, using songs like Grab Your Sword to wipe out their low-willpower characters. If you are playing against a slow Control deck, Amethyst/Steel becomes the aggressor, flooding the board with resilient characters and relentlessly drawing cards to outpace their single-target removal.

This guide will break down the mathematical synergy between the Amethyst bounce mechanics and Steel's "ping" damage, providing you with the exact tournament-ready list and highlighting the premium Enchanted slabs you should target for your collection.

→ Master the Meta Math

Before sleeving up your deck, understand how playability dictates the secondary market value of Lorcana singles.

Read the Lorcana Playability Multiplier Guide

In This Guide

→ The Anvil: Steel's Spread Damage

→ The Centerpiece: Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy

→ The Loop: Weaponizing the Amethyst Bounce

→ The Fuel: The Merlin Advantage

→ The Nuke: A Whole New World

→ Board Clearance: Grab Your Sword

→ The Arsenal: The Standard Tournament 60

→ The Vault: Upgrading to Enchanteds

→ The Geeky Domain Verdict

The Anvil: Steel's Spread Damage

The defining characteristic of the Steel ink color is its ability to deal direct damage to opposing characters outside of standard combat challenges. This is referred to in TCG terminology as "pinging" or "spread damage." It allows you to soften up massive threats or outright banish smaller lore-gatherers without ever exerting your own characters.

The backbone of this strategy relies on highly efficient actions and songs.

The Action Suite: Ba-Boom! & Let the Storm Rage On

Ba-Boom! is a cheap, 2-ink action that deals 2 damage to a chosen character. It is your primary tool for removing early-game aggro threats like Lilo - Making a Wish before they can generate uncontrollable lore.

Let the Storm Rage On is the upgraded engine. For 3 ink, it also deals 2 damage, but it additionally allows you to draw a card. Because it is a Song, you can exert a 3-cost character to sing it for free, effectively generating a free card draw and free removal simultaneously.

The Centerpiece: Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy

If Let the Storm Rage On is the tactical strike, Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy is the nuclear option. She is the single most important card in the Steel ink pool, and she dictates the mathematical flow of the entire mid-game.

The ETB (Enter the Board) Effect:
When you play Tinker Bell, she instantly deals 1 damage to every single character your opponent controls. Against an aggro deck, this often wipes out two or three characters simultaneously the second she hits the table.

The Banish Trigger:
Whenever Tinker Bell banishes another character in a challenge, you get to deal 2 damage to a different opposing character. She effectively turns every combat victory into a two-for-one trade, systematically dismantling your opponent's board presence.

The Loop: Weaponizing the Amethyst Bounce

Steel's massive enter-the-board (ETB) effects are powerful, but normally, you only get to use them once. This is where the Amethyst color identity breaks the game open. By pairing Steel with the Madam Mim "Bounce" package, you can trigger these devastating effects multiple times per game.

Not That: Sacrificing Damage

In a pure Steel deck, if your Tinker Bell takes 4 damage from an opponent's challenge, she is functionally dead on the next turn. You have to leave her on the board, vulnerable, hoping to squeeze out one last lore before she is banished.

Do This: The Mim Rescue

In Amethyst/Steel, when your Tinker Bell is heavily damaged, you play Madam Mim - Fox. Her required deployment cost allows you to "bounce" the damaged Tinker Bell back to your hand. You just healed your best card, established a 4/3 Rush character, and now you can replay Tinker Bell next turn to trigger her 1-damage board wipe all over again.

The Fuel: The Merlin Advantage

Steel provides the damage, but it lacks inherent card draw. If you are constantly playing actions to remove opposing characters, your hand will empty quickly, leaving you top-decking for answers. Amethyst solves this problem entirely through the Merlin package.

Just like in the Ruby/Amethyst control variant, Merlin - Rabbit is your primary source of fuel.

The Rabbit Loop

Merlin - Rabbit draws you a card when he enters play and another when he leaves play. By using Madam Mim - Snake or Madam Mim - Fox to bounce the Rabbit back to your hand, you guarantee a constant influx of cards. Because Steel relies on specific combos (like pairing a ping-damage action with a Tinker Bell challenge), having a full hand of 7 to 8 cards ensures you always have the mathematical answer to whatever your opponent plays.

The Nuke: A Whole New World

While the Merlin loop provides steady, incremental card advantage, Amethyst/Steel has access to the most explosive reset button in the game: A Whole New World.

This 5-cost Song forces both players to discard their entire hand and draw 7 fresh cards. In a vacuum, giving your opponent 7 new cards is dangerous. In Amethyst/Steel, it is a calculated execution.

The Hand-Dump Strategy:
Because this deck runs cheap 1-cost and 2-cost characters and actions, you can easily play your entire hand by Turn 5. If your opponent is playing a slower Control deck, they will likely be holding 5 or 6 expensive cards they are waiting to play. You sing A Whole New World, refilling your empty hand to 7, while forcing them to throw their carefully sculpted late-game cards into the discard pile.

Free Singing:
Because it is a Song, you do not have to pay the 5 ink. You can exert a 5-cost character, like a shifted Queen - Commanding Presence or Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy, to sing the song for free. This leaves all your ink available to immediately play the new cards you just drew.

Board Clearance: Grab Your Sword

When facing hyper-aggressive decks that flood the board with cheap 1-willpower and 2-willpower characters, single-target removal is not enough. You need widespread clearance to stabilize the game.

Grab Your Sword is your ultimate aggro eraser. This 5-cost Song deals 2 damage to every single character your opponent controls.

The Tinker Bell Combo: If you play Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy, she deals 1 damage to everything. On the following turn, you exert her to sing Grab Your Sword for free, dealing an additional 2 damage to everything. That is 3 unpreventable damage spread across the opponent's entire board, which is mathematically enough to banish almost every relevant aggro threat in the meta without ever risking your characters in a challenge.

The Arsenal: The Standard Tournament 60

This is the optimized, stock 60-card list for the competitive Amethyst/Steel meta. By assembling this exact ratio of bounce mechanics and spread damage, you will have the tools to adapt to any matchup you face at a Set Championship.

Amethyst Engine (30)

4x Chernabog's Followers - Creatures of Evil

4x Madam Mim - Snake

4x Madam Mim - Fox

4x Merlin - Rabbit

4x Merlin - Goat

3x Merlin - Crab

4x Friends on the Other Side

3x The Queen's Castle - Mirror Chamber

Steel Control Suite (30)

4x Captain Hook - Forceful Duelist

4x Smee - Bumbling Mate

4x Tinker Bell - Tiny Tactician

4x Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy

4x Ba-Boom!

4x Let the Storm Rage On

3x Grab Your Sword

3x A Whole New World

*Ready to build? Secure your raw playsets to run the tables at your next local tournament.*

The Vault: Upgrading to Enchanteds

Because Amethyst/Steel is the most adaptable midrange deck in Lorcana, its core engine cards are virtually immune to shifting meta trends. Whether aggro or control dominates a particular tournament weekend, Steel's spread damage and Amethyst's card draw will always be mathematically relevant.

For high-end collectors and competitive players looking to park their capital in proven, liquid assets, the Enchanted versions of these specific meta staples are the gold standard. These are the graded slabs you should prioritize for your vault.

Enchanted Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy

The undisputed queen of the Steel ink color. Her devastating enter-the-board effect and banish triggers make her a mandatory 4-of staple in any deck running Steel. Because she is an iconic Disney character attached to one of the most powerful cards in the game, her Enchanted slab is a premier blue-chip asset in the Lorcana economy.

Enchanted A Whole New World

The ultimate hand-reset and disruption tool. Because Songs can be sung for free, the mathematical ceiling on this card is astronomically high. Its Enchanted rarity commands a massive premium, making pristine graded copies highly sought after by both competitive grinders and nostalgic collectors alike.

The Geeky Domain Verdict

Adapt and Destroy.

The Amethyst/Steel Bounce deck does not force a single game plan; it punishes your opponent for theirs. If they play fast, you become the ultimate control deck, wiping their board with Tinker Bell and Grab Your Sword. If they play slow, you flood the board, bounce your Merlin package to draw endless cards, and reset their carefully sculpted hand with A Whole New World.

To pilot this deck successfully, you must understand the mathematical threshold of your opponent's threats. Never waste a Ba-Boom! when a well-timed bounce loop could solve the problem for free. Assemble the raw 60-card tournament list, invest in the Enchanted slabs for long-term equity, and master the midrange.

Expand Your Arsenal:

→ Master the Control Meta: Ruby / Amethyst Guide

→ Protect Your Investment: The Lorcana Grading Trap

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