Using Bounce for Fun and Profit – Lorcana Deck Tech
Rise of the Floodborn adds welcome variety to the card pool, opening new deck building options and themes. While most attention is (as of this writing) placed on the card drawing engine of Hiram Flaversham and Pawpsicle, all colors have new options. The one that caught my eye is Amethyst’s bounce subtheme, and not just because Sword in the Stone is in my top 5 Disney movies. By using abilities to return characters to your hand, you can use enter play effects over and over. I have a basic frame using Amethyst only, which you can see at Dreamborn.
The key characters are Madam Mim, Merlin, and Arthur. Every version of Merlin has an effect that triggers when entering or leaving play. Contrasting this, most versions of Madam Mim force you to return a character to your hand or banish her. Arthur has an optional ability that allows you to return a character to your hand when he quests in order to gain 2 Lore. The basic combo is to play a Merlin, quest with Arthur to return a Madam Mim to your hand, then play Madam Mim to return Merlin to your hand.
You want to use Snake or Fox versions of Madam Mim. In general, Goat or Rabbit versions of Merlin are preferred, as directly gaining Lore and drawing cards is powerful. Shapeshifter is less overtly powerful and as such is less likely to become a target for removal. Merlin – Squirrel is great in early turns, as he can help fix your draws. Madam Mim – Rival of Merlin doesn’t interact with the bounce combo, but acts as a source of targeted removal. Tapping her to play Merlin – Crab can make him 6/3 with Rush, letting you snipe a troublesome character. Combine this with Legend of the Sword in the Stone for another +3, which should be enough to take out even the toughest targets.
Other cards in the deck act as support. Archimedes and Chip the Teacup are cheap characters that are usable as ink in later turns. Pascal can gain Evasive easily, which is always useful. HeiHei – Persistent Presence and Kuzco – Wanted Llama don’t interact with the bounce combo, but make great targets for Madam Mim – Rival of Merlin’s ability. Pinocchio – On the Run and Perplexing Signpost bounce a character back to hand if you missed a Madam Mim. Finally, the various Dr. Facilier characters add support. Remarkable Gentleman is used to Sing, Savvy Opportunist is another decent Evasive character, and Agent Provocateur adds recursion.
Another aspect of the supporting cards is their optional nature. Any or all of them are easily removed to add another supporting color. This opens a lot of opportunities. For example, use this with Sapphire to return Nick Wilde to your hand, letting you use the Hiram/Pawpsicle engine every turn. Each color has at least 1 good enter play effect, so there are a lot of directions this can go.
All in all, this is a fun deck with an interesting style. It can be deceptively fast, and while the combo helps, it isn’t entirely reliant on it, as the various enter play effects are useful even when triggering once. Another thing to note is this deck is better in 1v1 games rather than multiplayer. Overall, it’s a fun deck with an interesting mechanic, and I believe it’s worth trying.