Disney Lorcana: How to upgrade Ursula’s Return’s Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck

Ursula’s Return brought two brand-new Starter Decks to Disney Lorcana. Here’s how to upgrade the Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck from Lorcana’s fourth set.

Disney Lorcana is releasing new sets at a breakneck pace with Shimmering Skies already lingering on the horizon. It feels like we’ve only just gotten comfortable with how Ursula’s Return shook up the meta.

Of course, Disney Lorcana’s fourth set introduced a stunning range of new Enchanted Cards for longtime fans to collect. For newer players, it gave us two new Starter Decks to kick off your journey as an Illumineer.

The Stand Together Starter Deck was one of those and it introduced an intriguing new archetype that has a legitimate chance at earning a place in competitive play. Here’s a quick guide on how to upgrade the Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck from Disney Lorcana Ursula’s Return.

Ursula’s Return’s Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck original decklist

Before we get to work on upgrading the Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck from Ursula’s Return, it’s a good idea to see what we’re already working with. First, we’ll go over what cards come with this particular deck as well as how it’s meant to be played.

The core theme of the Stand Together Starter Deck is synergy between Characters with the Hero keyword. The centerpieces of the deck are Philoctetes – No-Nonsense Instructor and Anna – True-Hearted.

Both cards come out during turn four and offer you the chance to get extra Lore with Hero Characters and push your win condition. To support them, Ling – Imperial Soldier and Imperial Bow beef up your Heroes to strengthen them in Challenges.

This makes the strategy for Ursula’s Return’s Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck is relatively simple: Play Heroes, win. Below is a list of every card that comes with the deck and their quantity:

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Upgrading the Ursula’s Return Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck

For our upgrades to this particular Starter Deck, we’ll do things in reverse. We’ll start with the new decklist for our new and improved version and then go over our rationale for the changes.

Our new Sapphire/Steel decklist is as follows:

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The aim of this upgraded deck is to keep things within a manageable budget and attempt to work with the pieces you have so you’ll notice certain cards sticking around. Most of the new additions are here to shore up certain holes in the base deck.

The first thing we did was fill out a complete playset of Anna – True-Hearted and Philoctetes – No-Nonsense Instructor. These are still your primary means of generating lore so making sure you get ahold of at least one is key.

Going up the Ink curve, we’ve added Simba – Future King and Pawpsicle in the one-drop range to help cycle through cards. Anna – Braving the Storm gets even more value from your one-drop Heroes and Cinderella – Knight in Training facilitates extra cycling.

Judy Hopps – Optimistic Officer exists to eat Pawpsicles for more card draw but also quests for two Lore aiding the deck’s aggressive playstyle. The Prince – Never Gives Up acts as a durable Bodyguard in order to keep your key pieces safe.

At the top end, Aurora – Dreaming Guardian takes advantage of the existing Aurora – Regal Princess as a shift target and can Ward your important Characters to keep them safe from certain removal options. Cinderella – Stouthearted acts as a durable body that requires a tonne of resources to answer, she’ll need to be if she’s paired with Anna – True-hearted who allows her to quest for an insane 4 Lore.

Upgraded Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck strategy

In a very similar fashion to the original Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck, this upgrade’s key aim is to play Heroes and win for it by questing aggressively. We’ve shorn up the ramping options with the addition of One Jump Ahead to assist your Mickey Mouse – Detectives.

The ability to play bigger pieces earlier is nice but the real benefit here is being able to play Philoctetes – No-Nonsense Instructor and follow him up with a number of low-cost heroes in the same turn. This can lead to a massive surge of lore and a wide board.

Card draw can be a little inconsistent with this deck so A Whole New World is a handy last resort and can be played as early as turn three with an Aurora Shift. If you have a ramped inkwell and can land Philoctetes in your revamped hand, all the better.

It can be improved with meta staples like Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood or Beast – Tragic Hero. If you already have them, or you’re willing to drop a few hundred dollars that is.

If this Sapphire/Steel Starter Deck upgrade has wet your appetite, we’ve got more Disney Lorcana content to help you start your TCG journey. Check out our ranking of every Starter Deck released so far or our guide on the six Ink colors.