Highlights

• Basil’s Magnifying Glass is a useful item that allows you to add items to your hand and battlefield. It costs two inks.
• Merlin, Intellectual Visionary is strong, but he lacks good shift options in Sapphire, as his ability only activates when he is shifted.
• Hide Away allows you to remove items or locations from the game, giving you an advantage by influencing your opponent’s board or gaining more ink.

Not everything that glitters is gold. Sometimes it can be brilliant blue. And that’s exactly what some of the Sapphire cards in Lorcana’s fifth set, Shimmering Skies, do. As with every Lorcana launch, there are characters, actions, items, and other card classifications all vying for your attention.

But which of the cards from the Sapphire part of Shimmering Skies should be included in your deck? Which characters are bursting with power? Which moves will strike fear into your opponents? In this list, you’ll find the best options to consider and consider when changing your deck or building it from scratch.

10 Basil’s Magnifying Glass

Let’s examine this article, shall we?

Oh, look, an item on a Sapphire list. How unexpected. I was just kidding, of course. Sapphire is known for its catalog of powerful items. And while Basil’s Magnifying Glass isn’t the most powerful of them all, it can grant you the ability to find items and add them to your hand and, ultimately, to the battlefield.

It’s a two-cost card that also requires two inks to trigger its Find What’s Hidden ability. It lets you look at the top three cards of your deck and, if you find an item, put it into your hand. This can be used when you need one or more specific items to set up your field, but it can also be used to put the Sheriff of Nottingham into play. More on that further down the list.

9 Merlin, intellectual visionary

Powerful, but at what cost?

Reading through Merlin’s card, you might think he deserves a spot at the top of this list, but this changeable character suffers from his changeable goals. To be more specific, his ability, Overdeveloped Brain, only activates when he’s moved onto the field.

So, yes, Merlin still deserves a spot because he has options to do so and the ability to name any card and put it into your hand is so incredibly powerful. But Merlin doesn’t have wonderful shift options in Sapphire. His best variants are in the Amethyst line of cards.

8 King Candy, sweet abomination

And he would have gotten away with drawing two!

This villain isn’t the strongest option at five cost. However, he can be sent into battle as early as turn three and has a solid target for it thanks to his Sovereign Of Sugar variant. And unlike Merlin, his ability can be used regardless of how he came into play.

This card can become even more powerful when used in a deck that buffs or supports villains. Unfortunately, without this ability, he works best when you first put him into play, as he can change the code, but after that he loses a lot of his value. It’s worth noting, however, that his enchanted card art is incredible.

We have Detective Mickey at home

This Donald Duck is very similar to Mickey Mouse, detective. Their skills are identical, although they are called differently. They both take the top card of their deck and put it in their inkwell to practice. The differences are all in the numbers.

Mickey is cheaper to play, while Donald Duck can gain more knowledge. Donald also has more power and willpower, but he should, since his ink cost is five. This is less about choosing one of these characters for your deck, and more about “why not both?”

Mickey Mouse, Detective is a card you can use in the early game, while Donald Duck, Focused Flatfoot should play more of a mid-game role due to its cost. While this makes Mickey a better early-game option, Donald is at least tattooable.

6 Hide

No object and no place is safe

The first and only action card on the list, Hide Away, can lead to some interesting decisions. Simply put, you can put an item or location that is in play into the player’s inkwell instead. Why is this intriguing? It doesn’t say this has to be an opponent’s card. You can choose your own.

Of course, you’ll most likely want to take one of your opponent’s items or locations off the board. With so many annoying things that can happen, the ability to simply erase either one can take away your opponent’s advantage. But if you’re looking for more ink to make some moves, this could give you what you’re looking for, especially if you feel like an item or location is no longer useful.

5 Scrooge McDuck, lover of antiquities

He knows what he is doing

This Scrooge McDuck variant is just an all-around solid card. He doesn’t have a single ability, not even the more general ones like Bodyguard or Ward. However, for his cost, he’s above average. You’d spend four ink to play him, but he comes in with five power and five willpower stats.

By turn four or five, some characters can deal with him in one way, but not always in both. Either they’re less powerful and can’t banish him, or their willpower causes them to lose their own challenge. Plus, he can gain two Lores, which always sweetens the deal.

4 Chicha, devoted mother

If only she could be tattooed

Chicha is a card that may not seem like a threat at first glance, but can actually help you gain an early lead. The fact that she has support isn’t really a big deal. It’s her ability that sets her apart.

One On The Way lets you draw a card if you put a second card in your inkwell on your turn. Sapphire is full of characters and the like that put cards in your inkwell, giving you a large amount of ink early on. Now you also benefit from card draw. If you prioritize Ramp, you’ll need some Chicha cards in your deck.

3 Kuzco, the selfish emperor

But is he actually not selfish at all?

For a six-cost card, you’d probably expect more power or willpower, but not with the two unique abilities you get. Similar to Hide Away, when playing Kuzco, you can choose an item or location and put it in the player’s inkwell, but it doesn’t say it has to be an opponent’s card. Again, you can choose your own.

Additionally, Invite Only requires you to pay four inks, but this gives all your other characters Resist +1 until the start of your next turn, which is a very selfless gesture if we’re being nitpicky about names. This ability can be a way to get through certain situations, and if you’ve put a lot of extra cards in your inkwell, you can have more than enough left to take advantage of this.

2 Sheriff of Nottingham, Bushel Britches

Play as many items as possible

This character costs nine inks to play. This would normally make him an endgame card and he may never see the light of the battlefield depending on how the game goes. But if you plan on playing a lot of items, you may see him much sooner.

Every Little Bit Helps lets you subtract one ink from its cost for every item you have in play. As mentioned, it’s easy to have a variety of items on the board in Sapphire. And his extra support ability goes so well with the amount of knowledge he can give you. You get four knowledge points and one of your characters can get +5 to their strength? Yes. That’s a valuable card.

1 Mufasa, ruler of Pride Rock

This goat really looks like a lion

Mufasa is a great card, especially because he’s in the Sapphire set. He can search four lore and complete a challenge or two, but those aren’t even close to his greatest strengths. He has two abilities, both revolving around ink.

When you first play it, all your ink is used up and two of your inked cards are returned to your hand. While this means you have less ink available for your next turn, it gives you the opportunity to return some of your strongest cards that you had to ink not only to your hand but also to your board later on. Then, after Mufasa’s quests, all the ink you used on your turn is made available again.

Use as much ink as you can on your turn and then go questing with Mufasa last to get the most out of your inkwell.