Deck Building – Out for Revenge!

Hello again, Illumineers! Your resident villain is back again with another themed deck that puts the spotlight on my namesake. And let me tell you, it’s bigger, it’s badder! Ladies and gentlemen, it’s too much for any hero to handle!

Last article, I was just settling in for the Winterspell, having fun utilizing the Boost mechanic with an emphasis on Disney’s Mickey’s Christmas Carol. There I was, minding my own business, when the harsh weather scattered glimmers and Illumineers throughout the realm of Lorcana. 

This has been extremely inconvenient for my plans to take over the realm, but it has also allowed me to explore some fascinating, newly discovered locations. The Torchlight Peaks allowed me to meet an incredible glimmer whom I think (Spoiler Alert!) has a lot of potential as a future villain! Now I seem to be approaching a Great Empty Sea, where a Sapphire inventor has caught my eye.

I should tell you, I went through quite a few lists to get ready for this article, but man, it wasn’t good enough. I had to make some major modifications! Sure, it was difficult, but you are worth it.

Now I have a decklist that only I could defeat, and when I unleash it . . . wait, you sly dogs, you Got Me Monologuing!

This deck will be centered around Syndrome from Disney and Pixar’s The Incredibles.
From Incrediboy – Buddy Pine to Evil Inventor’s Out for Revenge. If, like me, you’re a fan of this misunderstood genius, this deck will be perfect for you!

As always, we are going to place a focus on featuring as many of the Syndrome-related cards as possible, while still attempting to make the deck as strong as we can!

Syndrome – Out for Revenge is a powerful character card with the potential to become even better as more Robot glimmers are added to the game. He has an ink cost of 6 but can Shift for 4. His ability Got Me Monologuing! Which triggers whenever he quests will return a Robot character card from your discard to your hand, then allow you to play or Shift a Robot character card with cost 8 or less for free! Worth mentioning, you don’t HAVE to return a Robot character card to your hand, to then play one for free. This is a “do-as-much-as-you-can” situation.
 

Currently, there are no Robot characters that cost 8 ink as 6 is currently the highest cost we can utilize for this ability. That said, playing a character with an ink cost of 6 for free still sounds pretty good. In fact, playing a character of ANY cost for free is appealing, so we are going to unlock this potential by putting some of our best Robot’s into the deck. We will get to them soon.

Incrediboy – Buddy Pine is the Shift target that shares the Steel ink of our Floodborn Syndrome. His ability Spoiler Alert allows Incrediboy to count as being named Syndrome for Shift. Nerding Out is another ability that can come in handy, gaining 1 lore when you play him if you have a Hero character in play. Our deck theme is, of course, very villainous, but we are playing a total of 15 characters with the Hero classification, so this ability had good odds to trigger!

The only other Shift target we have in the game right now resides in the Sapphire ink. Syndrome – Evil Inventor has an ink cost of 3, 4 Strength, 3 Willpower, and the Alert keyword, allowing him to challenge as if he had Evasive. Character cards like Genie – Wish Fulfilled immediately come to mind as a card our Evil Inventor will be able to help us deal with, while also serving as a Shift target for our Floodborn Syndrome.

Playing all available Syndrome character cards locks us into Sapphire and Steel as our ink combination, so we will be supporting the strategy with the typical Sapphire cards that help us accelerate our ink, to unlock the high-cost powerhouse characters available in these inks. Because of this, you could choose to just play Syndrome – Out for Revenge on his own without a Shift target, which does make him a little slower. But by taking the typical two-four-six curve play pattern Sapphire enables, you can still play him as soon as turn four. And with his 4 Strength and 6 Willpower, he has a good chance of sticking on the board long enough to quest and start playing Robot character cards for free!

We did, however, say that we would be making the effort to play all of the cards related to this villainous glimmer, so in addition to these character cards, we will be including Syndrome’s Remote, which can stop a chosen character from challenging during their next turn with the Zero Point Energy ability. Plus, Learn From Their Losses states that whenever a Robot character is banished, you may banish this item to discard your hard and draw two cards. This style of deck will often lower your hand size significantly, so this can be a useful extra draw option.

The Island of Nomanisan will naturally be the setting for our evil plans, with this location card granting 1 additional Strength and Willpower to Robot characters there. Plus, whenever any character there banishes another in a challenge, you may do 2 damage to a chosen character. This is one of many ways we can deal direct damage, and believe me, it all adds up quickly!

Now, let’s talk about the Robots! Also joining Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game are Syndromes trusty Omnidroids! V.9 can Shift for a cost of 2 and will deal 2 damage to a chosen character if you did shift it. Fortunately, we also have Omnidroid – V.8, which costs 1 ink and enables us to play V.9 on turn two. Lots of commonly played glimmers, such as Angel – Siren Singer, will immediately fall to this play and give you a strong start to the game!

Lastly, Omnidroid – V.10 has an ink cost of 6 but may Shift for 4, with 6 Strength, 6 Willpower, and the ability Electro-Armor, which gives it Resist +2 while there is a card under it. These are huge stats that will make this Robot tough to deal with and serve as one of our best cards to synergize with Syndrome – Out for Revenge and play for free!

There aren’t too many other Robot characters in the game just yet, but I had to include one that we met on the Azurite Sea, Baymax – Armored Companion! This glimmer has an ink cost of 5 and can help heal our other characters while gaining lore for doing so!
This Robot package should be plenty to showcase the full potential of our Syndrome deck! If you do want more, I would recommend my favorite navigator, B.E.N – Eccentric Robot!

While we may opt for a curve of Omnidroid – V.8 into V.9 where appropriate, often we will take the ramp approach and try to play Tipo – Growing Son on turn two, into Cinderella – Dream Come True, gain ink quickly, and start playing high-cost, high-impact cards as soon as possible. The highest cost card I have included is the new Mrs. Incredible – Determined Rescuer, who gives Resist +1 to all of our characters, including herself. The Regroup ability states: during your turn, whenever another character is banished in a challenge, you may ready a chosen Super character, but they can’t quest for the rest of the turn. She herself is, of course, a Super so she can choose herself, but two of our Syndrome character cards also have the Super classification, allowing them to make multiple challenges, sing songs, or just keep them ready and safe from opposing challenges.

I’ve also included some classic Steel characters, such as Tinkerbell – Giant Fairy, who will help us with dealing more damage. Plus we have Namaari – Single Minded Rival and Goliath – Clan Leader who will help us to keep drawing cards, and potentially put Robot characters into the discard to be later returned by Syndrome – Out For Revenge.
Filling out the slots, I've gone with four copies of He Hurled His Thunderbolt for some intense direct damage and two copies of Let It Go for those bigger bodies like Prince Phillip - Vanquisher of Foes. That’s a glimmer you really want to remove from the board instantly.

If you’re happy taking out a couple of the less impactful Syndrome-related cards, such as Syndromes Remote, The Island of Nomanisa, or even Incrediboy, you could replace them with some more standard metagame inclusions. These could be Pete – Ghost Of Christmas Future, Doc Bold Knight, or even the new location card, Casa Madrigal. The new song card What Else Can I Do is another very appealing card, which you may want to consider. As always, customize this deck however you see fit to best suit your play style, and most importantly, whatever is going to let you have the most fun!


That’s about it from me for now, Illumineers! Wilds Unknown is set to be one of the most impactful sets in Disney Lorcana history. I expect many decks to get powerful upgrades, and for brand-new ones to emerge from the creativity of the incredible players and community. I, for one, can’t wait to start testing some of the newest strategies, but for now, I need to continue my journey through the realm of Lorcana to get back to my lair. Luckily, I've just spotted a young man in a black t-shirt holding a magnifying glass who seems like a stand-up fellow. I may see if he can offer me some directions because there’s a dangerous-looking jungle ahead that I would rather avoid.

Hope to see you again soon, Illumineers, but until next time— as always, be prepared.

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Decklist:
2 Baymax – Armored Companion

3 Namaari – Single-Minded Rival

2 Let It Go

4 Tipo – Growing Son

4 He Hurled His Thunderbolt

3 Omnidroid – V.9

4 Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy

4 Cinderella – Dream Come True

4 Goliath – Clan Leader

4 Sail The Azurite Sea

4 Syndrome – Evil Inventor

2 Mulan – Disguised Soldier

4 Omnidroid – V.10

2 The Island of Nomanisan – Syndrome's Headquarters

2 Incrediboy – Buddy Pine

3 Mrs. Incredible – Determined Rescuer

1 Syndrome's Remote

4 Omnidroid – V.8

4 Syndrome – Out for Revenge