Deck Guide: Emerald-Sapphire Big Hero Shift!

Hello, everyone!

One of the most interesting things in Lorcana is the ability to transform your character into another version of itself, through the Shift mechanic.

Many times, higher-cost characters can be shifted into lower-cost characters, which gives you a tempo advantage of a strong character a few turns ahead of schedule. Of course, the downside is that you are using two cards as one - that is, any removal from your opponent means a 2-cards-to-1 advantage to them.

To balance this, many cards have tools that mitigate this 2x1 of Shift characters, and now with Archazia's Island, we have a good number of them to build a deck around the mechanic!

Today, we will analyze the Emerald-Sapphire Shift!

Today's deck looks for synergies between smaller characters and their Shift versions, using the mechanic alongside card draw, heal effects and even protection from opponent's removal! It's also a fairly budget list, with no legendaries!

Sometimes its hard to properly visualize these lists, since Shift characters don't always belong to the ink curve on the top corner- after all, the goal is to play them at a discount with Shift, and use their good stats and effects as soon as possible.

The Gameplan

Big Hero Shift is not an aggressive or fast deck - the focus is not on winning after a few turns. On the contrary, in order to establish the deck's engine, we need to setup the necessary parts over different turns.

This does not mean that you have no early plays - quite the opposite! The goal is precisely to have board initiative and maintain characters that can counter the opponent's beginning characters.

The secret of the deck is in the progression of threats. The characters you use in the first turns have little impact as the game goes on - and that's when you see the power of the Shift mechanic! You'll be able to keep making strong plays, as your characters transform into bulkier ones more suitable for a long game.

In addition, we also have some card draw and card selection, which helps with consistency. So, even though it's a budget deck, it feels very resourceful!

So let's analyze the cards on the list and understand their roles:

Early Turns - Small characters and items

The first goal is to establish a board presence to constantly threaten your opponents' early plays.

King Candy and Belle are ideal for turns 1 or 2, remembering that to play Belle we will need a Pawpsicle or Hidden Inkcaster. Both items draw a card when played, so you don't fall behind on cards when you use them to play Belle.

Aurora is an early play and a Shift setup, since the Ward ability protects her from early game removals. Hiro also has a setup role, but no the protection - to compensate, he will give you a draw when you eventually Shift him.

Morph and Yokai deserve some special attention - even though they cost 2 ink, you don't necessarily want to use them on turn 2. Both should be used as a setup for future strong turns, so be careful when playing them!

Morph is very important, since it is a kind of wildcard for the Shift archetype. Sometimes you won't have the appropriate character for the Shift one in your hand, and Morph is the answer to this consistency issue.

Yokai is another piece that helps in preparing a powerful Shift turn. The cost reduction is very good, sometimes allowing an excellent curve of, for example, Yokai on turn 2, and Shift Baymax on turn 3 - a quick 5/5 can cause a lot of trouble for opponents with small characters.

Midgame - Early Shifts and Card Draw

Starting from turn 4, you should at the very least be on board parity, and from this point forward your Shifts will make the difference.

King Candy - Sweet Abomination will immediately draw cards, and with its 2 Lore can quickly become a threat. Aurora - Lore Guardian has a similar role, but instead of drawing cards it gives us card selection from the top of the deck with our items - note that none of the twelve items on the list need to exhaust, so you can always make use of Aurora's ability without fear of losing the usefulness of the items.

It should be noted that these two Shift characters do not depend on Shift for their effects to happen - the bonus is in bringing them to the board earlier than expected.

On the other hand, Baymax and Charging Station will draw cards and, with that, keep the deck going on later turns - Baymax has sixteen possible hits in the deck, so you should often find something when you use it. Charging Station is more of a setup card, so it's best to only use it when you have an even board, at least.

Also remember that Baymax has the Support ability - very important to help trade your smaller characters for bigger ones from your opponent!

Endgame - Big Shifts and Protection

From turns 5-6 onwards, you should be able to use the most impactful Shifts and close out the game.

Baymax - Giant Robot is, so far, the only card in the game with Universal Shift, meaning it can be played on any character. Use this to ensure you have a large character on the board - and also to draw some cards, thanks to Hiro Hamada - Future Champion or Baymax's Charging Station, heal a character with Baymax's own ability, or even just to increase your Lore generation.

Hiro Hamada - Armor Designer is a good finisher, since not only has 3 Lore, but also grants Ward and Evasive to all our Shifts. In other words, with Hiro on the board, the deck can easily change its stance from fighting for the board to race to 20 Lore, and the opponent will need very specific answers - for example, Be Prepared - to stop this plan.

You’re Welcome is the interaction of choice because it is a generic answer to any threat from the opponent - especially cards that are difficult to interact with, such as Locations with high defense or larger characters. Remember that it is also a Song, so if you need to save ink you can sing it.

Variations

Going off-Budget - Diablo variant

Our showcased list is extremely functional, but it is possible to make some changes and use Legendaries with greater impact as well. Of course, some inclusions may also imply other changes, in order to adapt the deck.

For example, bringing Diablo - Devoted Herald as another Shift, which will also draw cards. But it would be necessary to use more Actions, which should pivot the deck in a discard angle - Sudden Chill, Hypnotize, among others.

Other Shifts

You can also change some of the Shift options, especially if you want to focus more on lore generation instead of board control.

For example, swap out the Aurora or King Candy line for a Basil line, which lets you have two different big Shifts: Basil - Great Mouse Detective or Basil - Disguised Detective.

You can also add a Shift line with Belle, ending in Belle - Hidden Archer - a very interesting option if in your local area most of your opponents use challenge-focused decks to control the board.

Finally, if you want a fast variant, consider an Olaf line, ending in Olaf - Carrot Enthusiast - potentially in place of the Aurora line. This is a way to make immediate use of Shift after playing a Baymax’s Charging Station, although you may want to add more items to the list for consistency.

Big Hero Shift can be a viable and consistent deck, while also being a budget option for the current metagame.

In addition, due to the amount of cards in-theme for the movie Big Hero 6, if you are a fan of this one, the deck will be a blast to play!

As we also mentioned, there are many possible variants around the idea, which gives the archetype a lot of flexibility/adaptability to the metagame - especially important when you prepare your list for a specific event at your local store, such as the Set Championships.

Be sure to share if you have played or thought of a similar deck!

Hugs and see you next time!