Deck Deconstruction: Steel Song
As different sets come out, cards in the popular decks will change. As decks change (or new decks are added to the meta and old ones drop off), the card choices in decks need to change as well. It is rare (or arguably impossible) for a deck to be perfect as it is forever because if a deck is a top performer consistently enough someone is bound to find a combination of cards to dethrone a king.
So, how do people make decisions about which version of a deck to build, and how do they decide which cards should change and which ones should stay the same? Well, it’s a mixture of art and science. Everyone will have their own process, but it comes down to research and playtesting.
I am currently trying to deconstruct my Steel Song deck to see if I can make it the best I can for my playstyle. Part of this is guesswork as decisions I make in the deck design process will be dependent on what decks I expect to play against. Sometimes you guess right, sometimes you don’t. For the times you get it wrong though, you want to make sure your core choices about your deck are strong enough to give you the best shot at less-than-ideal matches. When you guess right you can have a great day! (That is assuming your deck cooperates too!)
Steel Song Deck Design: The Core Deck
Cards have been added, taken away, and some re-added again to Steel Song, but in many cases the core deck has remained the same, so what is the core of the Steel Song Deck?
Well, it is as its name suggests the Singers and the Songs. The Singers allow you to be able to play more cards in a turn than you have ink, and the songs let you do tricks (mostly damage to opponent’s characters, drawing cards, or taking cards from your opponent's hand).
So, what is needed in the deck then?
Early Game Singers (Cinderella Ballroom Sensation, Ariel)
Early Game Pressure (Smee)
8+ pieces of Removal (Strength of a Raging Fire, Let The Storm Rage On)
A Singer 5 (Ariel, Robin Hood, Prince Naveen)
Ways to Draw Cards (Rapunzle, Let The Storm Rage On, A Whole New World)
Late Game Pressure (Cinderella Stouthearted, Robin Hood)
So here is what the core of the (current) version of Steel Song looks like:
(image: Little Cindy, Smee, Strength, Strom, AWNW, Big Cindy)
That’s 22 cards (26 with Naveen). You’ll notice there are a lot of cards missing that should be considered necessary, and they might well be. Cards like Ariel, the Robin Hoods, Prince Naveen, Rapunzle, Grab Your Swords, And Then Along Came Zeus, and Ursula are played in (almost) every Steel Song list I have looked at recently. Though a number of them will end up in my final design of this deck, what I am doing right now is trying to strip the deck down to only the most necessary cards and then adding in the cards that either match my play style or are good against the decks I expect to see.
So how did I decide on what cards were in the core of my deck?
Cinderella Ballroom Sensation - she always feels good on turn one and I am always sad if she is removed (but totally understand why she was!) The fact that I would opt to play her over any other turn one play (depending on my hand that is) shows how important I feel she is, and the fact that if an opponent can banish her they do also says that other people recognize her strength. The purpose of Little Cindy in the deck is to be able to sing a removal song turn two to control your opponent’s board. If she sings Let The Storm Rage On, she can get rid of a Flynn Frenemy, almost all aggro cards (except Smee or Daisy Duck), Piglets, etc.
Smee Bumbling Firstmate - Smee is a good turn two play. He is a 3/3 so if you need him to challenge characters he can and will most likely survive. Most of the threats a turn two Let The Storm Rage On cannot deal with he can, and in the case of a Daisy Duck he can banish her with the help of a Let The Storm Rage On. If you don’t need him to challenge characters he does quest for 2 lore which is awesome and most opponents will not want to let a Smee stick around for long. What's great is having 2 damage on him then playing Rapunzle to draw cards and heal him allowing him to quest or challenge again.
Strength of a Raging Fire/Let The Storm Rage On - both of these cards fill the same slot, they are removal songs that can do 2+ damage. Let The Storm Rage On draws you a card, and Strength of a Raging Fire does more damage the more characters you have in play. Both can be sung with Little Cindy as well allowing you to control the board and remove threats early while keeping your characters as damage-free as possible.
A Whole New World - is key to the deck. This can be used to refill your hand and disrupt your opponent’s hand. Though sometimes it can be bad to play this card, most of the time you would prefer to have the option to use it if you need to. To go along with A Whole New World you’ll also want a Singer 5. Typically this is Ariel, but you’ll notice she is not on my Core list. This is because there are more options now and a part of me wonders if Ariel is the right card to play now. I know she lets you search the top 4 cards of your deck for a song, but whenever I seem to have her in my hand she either misses this and I don’t find a song, or I already have the A Whole New World I wanted in my hand and I am only drawing a card to discard it next turn. She might make it into my final(for now) build of this deck, but as of right now she is not in the Core of it.
Cinderella Stouthearted - Now, she comes in and out of the deck but right now she seems key. She can be shifted which is great because that means you get to play her on turn 5, she cannot be removed by Madam Medusa without some work from Ice Blocks, her resist 2 means she is hard to banish with damage, she quests for 3 AND can possibly challenge ready-ed characters. This all makes her one of my favourite late game cards, though I will admit she is the lesser card in the Core List.
Steel Song Deck Design: The ‘Maybe’ Cards
So now that we have a Core Deck, we have to decide what cards to add in. I have 22 cards in my core deck, which means I have 38 spots left to fill, and 4 of these spots need to be filled by someone who is a Singer 5. So, what are our options?
Singers
Little Cindy is not the only Singer, nor should she be. There are a number of singers out there, and good reasons for playing many of them.
Ariel Spectacular Singer - Solid card, and considered a core member of the deck by everyone but me it seems 😛. Her ability is amazing when she hits a song, but he might be less good with Prince Naveen as an option. Also, we will count the songs we are going to have in the deck, less songs means less of a chance for her to find a song with her ability.
Cinderella Gentle and Kind - I don’t think anyone plays her. She quests for 2 though and heals princesses, but I don’t think that is enough to warrant playing her
Gaston Baritone Bully - Some people were playing him. A Singer 5 and a 3/3 means he can challenge and banish characters, but again there are better options now.
Ariel Singing Mermaid - She sings for a lot for a character with a 4 ink cost, but there is nothing I want to sing for 7 in this deck and her stats are too small to keep her around for long. There are better options right now
Cinderella Melody Weaver - Kind of the same as above, she sings for a lot, but there are no songs we are playing that cost 9, so she is not needed. Her ability that gives other princesses +1 lore is a cool one, but I don’t think there are enough princesses to make her worth playing.
Prince Naveen - he is awesome and I almost want to move him to the Core Deck List. Originally I was not sold on his ability and thought it might sound better than it was, but I love it! Being able to play A Whole New World for free when he comes into play is great, but so is any removal song.
Ursula Vanessa - She’s the first I want to cut from the normal lists, but people to play her. She can sing And Then Along Came Zeus or any other removal/damage song. Her 4 defense means she survives most early game challenges, but I ink her all the time because there are so many other things I want to play on turn 2.
Songs
I have three songs that are in the Core Deck: Strength of a Raging Fire, Let The Storm Rage On, and A Whole New World. That is 12 songs, and for a deck about singing I feel like we can add more, so what are our options?
Be Our Guest - I have seen some lists that run this card, but I think I can cut it from mine right away. There are a lot of characters in the deck, but there are better songs to play. Searching for a character might be good and might be needed, but Rapunzel, A Whole New World, or Let The Storm Rage On also draw you cards and do something else (heal, do damage, or draw you many cards). It feels lack-luster compared to the other options out there.
Grab Your Sword - This deals damage across all opposing characters and is a nice way to deal with characters with ward or get rid of characters that are small. That being said, I am not seeing a lot of aggro lists, and the lists I have played against I have not needed Grab Your Swords for. It is uninkable meaning if you don’t use it it is a dead card. I’m thinking seriously of cutting it
Painting the Roses Red - It might be nice to make some characters smaller and drawing a card is always nice, but I feel like there are better songs. Not worth adding right now.
World’s Greatest Criminal Mind - This card might be needed after the number of big character decks I have seen. It deals with Sisu, Maleficent and Maui nicely, but sadly not a Mufasa. It is also inkable so if you don’t need it you can ink it.
Zero to Hero - I like this card, but I don’t think it is worth playing. I want to play an aggro deck and the only card I might want to play with it is Big Cindy. There are better things to do with two ink or better songs to sing.
The Bare Necessities - Also a good card for now. It can take a Queen’s Castle out of the hand (or any location for that matter), and those locations can be hard to remove for Steel Song. It also lets you look at your opponent's hand, which is sometimes enough. Even if you don’t get to take a card from them you at least know what they have which makes some decisions easier to make. It’s great to get rid of a damage song, or a Be Prepared as well.
And Then Along Came Zeus - everyone play this card, but again I am not sold. There is a number of things that are nice to banish that have a 5 Will Power, but it is uninkable and apart of me wants a better card in this spot.
Aggro Cards
This is the deck I want to play! There are versions of Steel Song that are not aggressive, but I think that it is a solid plan. That being said it is also good to have late game cards like Cindy or Robin Hood.
Lilo Wishing On A Star - she is too small, too easy to banish, and uninkable. I know she is a great aggro card, but there are better and safer options now.
Doc Leader of the Seven Dwarfs - I used to play him, but I think better cards have come out. When looking at cards you want to compare them to what else you’d play on the turn you could play them, and Doc is not the best card for turn 3. However, if I cut Ariel I my 3 drop slot is emptier which is why he was on my list to consider. He quests for 2 and makes the next character cost less. He will get banished, but he is a small trick that could be useful.
Mulan Reflecting - I think she is a neat card and I want so badly to be able to play her, but sadly I do not know is she is good enough. Unless you are playing a lot of songs, she would miss with her ability more than she would hit. She does quest for 2 though and is a 3/3, but by turn 4 her stats are too small to survive for long.
Benja Guardian of the Dragon Gem - he used to be played a lot when items needed to be removed. Item decks are still a problem which is why he is on my list, but I think there are better options and thus he probably will not make the list.
Lawrence Jealous Manservant - he quests for 2 and if he has no damage on him he can banish a lot of characters and cannot be targeted by a Medusa. He is a decent card and with the help of a Smee can remove a Castle. Worth considering
Golden Harp Enchanter of the Land - Good late game card despite it being a 1-drop. Harp is just big enough that she survives most things and quests for 2. I think there are better options now, but she is on the list still.
Daisy Duck Donald’s Date - Sweet 1-drop, great defense, and quests for 2. No complaints with Daisy (other than the fact she could give my opponent cards…)
Alan-A-Dale - he seems interesting, but he is very easy to remove. I do like that he gains lore for each song played as opposed to the one song a turn that flutes gain you.
Piglet Pooh Pirate Captain - awesome card! And he is a captain, so he stops Smee from taking damage at the end of your turn
Other Options
There are other cards that should be considered that are not singers, songs, or aggro cards. Here they are:
Robin Hood(s) - The Little Robin Hood and the Big Robin Hood come together as a package as far as I am concerned. Little Robin Hood is big enough to take out some early game threats and survive, and a turn 3 big Robin Hood to either sing something or challenge characters and gain lore is great.
Rapunzel Gifted with Healing- also great card. She is harder to get rid of with a 5 will power, and the fact that she heals characters and draws your cards allows you to draw cards without letting your opponent. She is awesome
The Queen(s)- same as the Robin Hoods, the Queens are played together. She is fragile, but I can see an argument for her now. When she quests she can make it so your characters can cleanly remove a Daisy, and she also makes it possible to take out a castle in one turn.
Tinker Bell Giant Fairy - decent card, but not played in this deck that much anymore. She is great at dishing out the damage, but I think there are stronger options now. She also is late game and Steel Song seems to shine recently as an aggro deck.
Beast Tragic Hero - Was a staple, but is not in the deck anymore. There are better card draw options, and he can be removed with Medusa. Still, something the remains on my list to keep considering
Perdita Devoted Mother - she was great in Toronto, but I don’t know if she makes the cut anymore. She is uninkable, but it was amazing late game to bring back Piglets with her!
Ariel Sonic Warrior - I have not played her but I see her in lists. I want to play her, but I’m not sure if she is as good late game as Perdita or Big Cindy are. The being able to deal 3 damage to anything when you play a song is nice though, and 3 damage does get rid of (or soften up) some of the threats out there…
Sleepy’s Flute - this was a staple and I see it now and then in lists still. It's a great late game finisher as you do not need to have characters out to use it. It also survives a Be Prepared and is not a character so can’t be removed in the ways they are. I think there are better card though
Lantern - I’m playing this card to test it out currently. It is nice to get characters out a little earlier, but I don’t know if it is as strong as it needs to be. I’d prefer to play anything else on turn 2…
Decks That Are Out There
Obviously, your choice of what makes it into your deck is dependent on how you want to play and what you think you’ll be playing against, so what are we worried about?
Ruby/Sapphire is a problem. It’s hard to beat and has a number of amazing late game cards. The strategy here is to win before they get to that late game, so the aggro cards are best here. Bare Necessities is also nice to get rid of the Be Prepareds. They draw so many cards that A Whole New World might be able to deck them.
Amethyst/Ruby is one of the better matches I think for Steel Song, but again an aggro strategy is good here too. Aggro cards and Bare Necessities to get rid of Castles is a good plan.
Any Aggro List will have a similar strategy. First you want to remove their threats either with songs or characters and whatever you do do not play A Whole New World unless you're desperate. You’ll just reload their hand and give them more cards. Grab Your Swords is good, but you can survive without it. Chances are you are not out-aggroing the aggro list and fighters like Big Cindy are amazing. They will have a hard time removing Big Cindy so she will do a lot of work for you.
The Mirror is also a problem, and one you’ll have to contend with as Steel Song looks like it will be the popular deck. There are two options here, either try to be the faster deck or have the removal to stall them until you can win in the late game. I’m going back and forth on my decisions here…
In Conclusion
So, I have not really built my list yet (as you can probably tell). I’ll pull cards out, put new ones in, and then go back and relook at all the possible cards to see if there is anything I missed. I’ll test more, change things, and then test again. This is a never ending process, but if I want to be ready for Birmingham I’ll have to have a list together soon. I’ll post that when I have it!