7 best Into the Inklands sapphire cards in Disney Lorcana
Brain beats brawn.
The release of the newest Disney Lorcana set Into the Inklands is fast approaching. Adding a total of 204 new cards to the Disney-themed trading card game, Into the Inklands looks to further cement sapphire ink cards as the thinking-person’s Lorcana ink type. Sapphire is an ink type in Lorcana that rewards careful setup with big payoffs, with its more expensive ink costs offering more impressive rewards.
Into the Inklands’ sapphire cards continue this trend by introducing a collection of new cards that take more advantage of the item cards in the game, as well as providing excellent opportunities for card draw, gaining more ink and cards that just have great stats. Players that have so far enjoyed sapphire’s slow-and-steady approach to the game will love these new cards.
Best Into the Inklands Sapphire cards
- Huey, Savvy Nephew
- Mama Odie, Mystical Maven
- The Queen, Mirror Seeker
- Scrooge McDuck, Richest Duck in the World
- Audrey Ramirez, The Engineer
- Kit Cloudkicker, Navigator
- Gramma Tala, Spirit of the Ocean
Fans of the likes of Disney properties such as Moana, Snow White, Atlantis and Ducktails will discover that some of their favourite characters have found their way into Disney Lorcana, some for the very first time. If you’re looking to up your sapphire ink game with the new Lorcana set, here are seven of the best sapphire cards from Into the Inklands.
1. Huey, Savvy Nephew
Birds of a feather
One of three nephews to the money-loving Scrooge McDuck, Huey is part of a collection of Lorcana cards featuring characters from the animated Ducktails series. Huey, Savvy Nephew is a card costing two ink that is best played alongside his two brother cards Dewey, Showy Nephew and Louie, Chill Nephew.
Not only is this thematically satisfying, especially as all three cards share similar artwork, but also advisable gameplay wise thanks to Huey, Savvy Nephew’s Three Nephew’s ability. This ability means that, if characters named Dewey and Louie are also currently in play alongside Huey, then whenever Huey, Savvy Nephew quests you are able to also draw three cards, as well as gain a lore.
Considering the relatively low ink cost of all three Ducktails nephew cards, getting this ability rolling early on in a Lorcana game is entirely plausible, as well as being excellent gameplay-wise thanks to the advantage that additional card draw can get you. More cards means having more options when it comes to inking and playing, so getting this Huey, Louie and Dewey combo going will pay off quickly.
Add on the inclusion of the Support keyword to Huey, Savvy Nephew - which means that whenever the card quests you can add its willpower to another character in play - and getting these three nephew cards into your next sapphire deck is a great approach.
2. Mama Odie, Mystical Maven
Musical magic
A wise woman living in The Princess and The Frog’s version of New Orleans, Mama Odie isn’t just good at giving out advice, she’s also an accomplished spellcaster. Her magical powers are on full display in this Into the Inklands card - Mama Odie, Mystical Maven, which will enable players to very quickly increase their inkwell capabilities.
A three-cost card, Mama Odie, Mystical Maven is a good card primarily because of its cheap cost and ability: This Going to be Good. With this ability, whenever you play a song card, you will be able to put the top card of your deck into your inkwell, facedown and exerted. This means that players are able to gain additional inkwell power, whilst also benefiting from the effects of the song card they played in the first place.
Gettin Mama Odie, Mystical Maven out there early - which should be doable thanks to the cheap cost of the card - alongside a handful of songs, will very quickly put you into a position wherein you can play a lot more cards per turn or a much more expensive, and more powerful, card a lot earlier than your opponent.
Combine this alongside some Lorcana cards that enable you to check what cards you have coming up in your deck - such as The Queen, Mirror Seeker and Aurelian Gyrosensor - and you’ll be able to avoid potentially inking cards that you want to draw.
3. The Queen, Mirror Seeker
Who is the best Lorcana player of them all?
The eponymous queen from Snow White sure does love a good mirror, especially if she can perform nefarious magic with it. The Queen, Mirror Seeker is a four-cost card that has some pretty good stats: with its two willpower and five health making it surprisingly beefy for its relatively low ink cost.
However, easily the best aspect of this card is its Calculating and Vain ability, which allows the player to look at the top three cards in their deck and put them back in any order whenever The Queen, Mirror Seeker quests. This means that not only are you getting the usual lore everytime you quest with this card but you’re also getting the opportunity to look at, and rearrange, the top three cards of your deck too.
This is a powerful ability thanks to the fact that it allows you to set up which cards you’re going to draw next - thereby putting the pieces you need in place to carry out the strategy you need to win the game. You can combine The Queen, Mirror Seeker with cards like the aforementioned Mama Odie, Mystical Maven and Friend Like Me to ensure that you don’t ink cards you want to play.
4. Scrooge McDuck, Richest Duck in the World
Be in the business of winning
Scrooge McDuck, uncle to his three plucky duck nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, is perhaps best known for his undying love of money. This characteristic is rather accurately portrayed in the Lorcana card Scrooge McDuck, Richest Duck in the World - which depicts the character standing atop literal piles of gold, jewels and treasures.
This card is certainly worth its weight in gold for any sapphire player as its two abilities have some fantastic benefits. I’m Going Home! Grants Scrooge McDuck, Richest Duck in the World the Evasive keyword during the player’s turn, thereby enabling them to challenge other characters with Evasive. Buff up this character with some additional willpower - such as through the likes of Huey, Savvy Nephew - and it’ll be able to banish those pesky opposing Evasive characters.
More importantly, Scrooge McDuck, Richest Duck in the World has the ability I Didn’t Get Rich by Being Stupid - which allows players to play an item for free whenever this card banishes another character on their turn. This ability is very good when combined with I’m Going Home! as it means that Scrooge McDuck, Richest Duck in the World can take out Evasive characters to fuel getting items played for free.
Sapphire has some great items, including several new cards in the next set such as Aurelian Gyrosensor and Lucky Dime, and Scrooge McDuck, Richest Duck in the World can allow you to play these without paying a single ink.
5. Audrey Ramirez, The Engineer
Get fixed quick
Audrey Ramirez, The Engineer is one of several cards referencing characters from the 2000s’ animated Disney movie Atlantis found in the Into the Inklands set. As the card suggests, Ramirez is a talented engineer who is capable of fixing up almost any machine she gets her hands on.
Whilst this card has the useful Ward keyword - meaning that it cannot be targeted by anything but a challenge - what makes it really shine is its ability: Spare Parts. This ability means that whenever Audrey Ramirez, The Engineer quests, players are able to ready one of their exhausted items. Doing this will not only get players two lore from questing but also enable them to use an item more than once a turn.
This is a fantastic card to pair with the above Scrooge McDuck, Richest Duck in the World thanks to its shared affinity with boosting item decks. By getting Scrooge McDuck. Richest Duck in the world to banish a character, players will be able to play an item from their hand for free. Then with Audrey Ramirez, The Engineer, players will be able to ready the items they’ve just played once they’ve used them - so that they can use them again.
Audrey Ramirez, The Engineer is one of several cards featured in Into the Inklands that proves that the sapphire cards in this set are perfect for players who want to take full advantage of item cards.
6. Kit Cloudkicker, Navigator
One high-flying Lorcana card
Kit Cloudkicker, Navigator may initially seem like a Lorcana card that isn’t that great. Costing a hefty six ink and having decent stats certainly won’t help you stand out or get put into the deck of a player seriously looking to compete.
Nevertheless, it’s this card’s Shift keyword that makes it well worth putting into pretty much any deck featuring sapphire cards. Shift enables cards to be played at a reduced ink cost if they’re placed on top of another card matching the requirements for that card. In the case of Kit Cloudkicker, Navigator, the player may play this card on top of another card named Kit Cloudkicker at half its usual asking price - or just three ink.
For a two willpower and five health card that gets three lore every time it quests, three ink is an incredibly good deal. Most Lorcana cards with these kinds of stats usually cost at least five ink to be played, so being able to play this for just three ink is definitely a bargain worth taking advantage of.
What’s more is that Kit Cloudkicker, Navigator has the Ward keyword too, meaning that it cannot be targeted by opponents unless through a challenge: thereby giving it even more longevity and thus even more opportunities to quest for three lore a turn.
7. Gramma Tala, Spirit of the Ocean
Prepare for a spirited win
Kind spirit guide to Moana, Gramma Tala features twice in Into the Inklands - though both cards are good, this one is absolutely the better of the two. Gramma Tala, Spirit of the Ocean is a seven-cost card that has excellent stats: with four willpower, a whopping eight health and the option to quest for two lore.
This would already make it a good card, but it’s the combination of its Shift keyword and ability that really take the cake. With Shift, players can play Gramma Tala, Spirit of the Ocean for just five mana - instead of the usual seven - as long as they can play it on top of the other Gramma Tala card on the table: thus making this fantastic card that much easier to play.
What’s more is that Gramma Tala, Spirit of the Ocean’s ability, Do You Know Who You Are?, is perfect when paired with many of the other great sapphire cards in Into the Inklands. Do You Know Who You Are? is an ability that allows players to gain a lore everytime they put a card into their inkwell. Even on its own, this is a brilliant ability - as it guarantees at least one lore every turn without you needing to even quest.
However, pair this ability with the likes of Mama Odie, Mystic Maven, which allows you to put a card from the top of your deck into your inkwell every time you play a song card, and get ready for even more lore to come flooding in. Other sapphire cards like How Far I’ll Go and Friend Like Me, are also excellent cards to put into a deck with Gramma Tala, Spirit of the Ocean - thanks to their abilities allowing players to put cards into their inkwell and thus gain yet more lore.