Disney Lorcana · Inks
Emerald Ink in Disney Lorcana: How It Plays and Key Cards
Emerald is Disney Lorcana's green ink: tricksters who are hard to catch. It has the most Evasive and Ward characters, spreads damage counters and then banishes damaged characters, and its characters tie Sapphire's for the highest average lore. This page covers how it plays and the cards that show it, as of November 2026.
Emerald is the green ink, one of Disney Lorcana's six. Evasion, Ward and disruption. Emerald has the most Evasive and Ward characters, chips opposing characters with damage counters, and banishes the damaged ones.
Ravensburger's word for its characters is "flexible." As of November 2026, 207 of the 1,229 cards legal in Core Constructed are Emerald.
How Emerald Plays
Emerald quests with characters the opponent can't easily touch. It has the most Evasive characters in Core (21), which only Evasive characters can challenge, and the most Ward (14), which stops opponents from choosing them with abilities, actions or songs. Its characters also have the highest average lore of the six inks, tied with Sapphire, so each one that survives adds up quickly.
Its removal comes in two steps. Many Emerald cards put damage counters on opposing characters, from Malicious, Mean, and Scary (1 on each) to items that ping one at a time, and many others punish characters that are already damaged: Shere Khan - Fearsome Tiger banishes a damaged opposing character every time he quests. Emerald has the second-most damage effects after Steel and ties Ruby for the most banish effects.
It is also the discard ink. Emerald has the most cards that make an opponent discard (Daisy Duck - Secret Agent does it every time she quests), it can force Reckless onto an opposing character so it can't quest, and cards like Milo Thatch - Getting His Hands Dirty return an opposing character to its owner's hand. The cost is durability: Emerald characters have the lowest average willpower, so a fair challenge often goes the opponent's way.
How inks work in deck building →What It Does Well, and What It Doesn't
Strengths
- The most Evasive and Ward characters, so its questers are hard to challenge or target.
- The highest average lore per character (1.6, tied with Sapphire).
- Removal that builds on itself: damage counters first, then cards that banish damaged characters.
Weaknesses
- The lowest average willpower of the six inks (3.5), so its characters lose fair challenges.
- No cards that remove damage, so a damaged Emerald character stays damaged.
- Its removal often needs two cards (one to damage, one to finish), which is slow against a wide board.
Emerald by the Numbers
Counted by TurnZero HQ from the 1,229 cards in Fabled (set 9) through Hyperia City (set 14), the sets legal in Core Constructed as of November 2026. Each full name counts once, so an Enchanted version or a reprint isn't counted twice, and a dual-ink card counts for both of its inks. The last column compares Emerald with the other five.
Keywords Emerald uses most
Shift is left out because every ink has plenty of it. A card that only gives a keyword to other characters isn't counted.
The classifications Emerald has an unusually large share of: Captain (9), Toy (9) and Prince (8). The Lorcana keywords guide explains each keyword.
What Emerald Cards Do
How many Emerald cards have rules text that does each of these at all, whoever it targets. It shows what the ink leans on, not how strong its cards are: a card that draws one card and a card that draws three count the same.
Cards That Show What Emerald Does
Each is Emerald only and legal in Core Constructed as of November 2026. They show the ink's plan, not a decklist or this month's best cards.
Daisy Duck - Secret Agent
Fabled #93
Discard
Shere Khan - Fearsome Tiger
Whispers in the Well #88
Banishes damaged
Malicious, Mean, and Scary
Whispers in the Well #97
Damage counters
Milo Thatch - Getting His Hands Dirty
Wilds Unknown #82
Ward and bounce
Mushu - Stealthy Dragon
Attack of the Vine! #97
Evasive quester
Elinor - Renowned Diplomat
Wilds Unknown #86
Wide-board payoff
- Daisy Duck - Secret Agent: Each time she quests, each opponent chooses and discards a card.
- Shere Khan - Fearsome Tiger: Evasive, and each quest banishes a damaged opposing character and can put a damage counter on another.
- Malicious, Mean, and Scary: A 3-cost song that puts 1 damage counter on each opposing character, setting up Emerald's banish effects.
- Milo Thatch - Getting His Hands Dirty: Ward, quests for 3, and when played can discard a card to return a chosen character to its player's hand.
- Mushu - Stealthy Dragon: A 3-cost Evasive character that draws a card each time he quests while an opponent has more cards in hand than you.
- Elinor - Renowned Diplomat: At the end of your turn, with 3 or more exerted characters, deals 1 damage, gains 1 lore and draws a card.
Emerald Ink Pairs
A Core Constructed or Infinity deck uses at most two inks, so almost every Emerald deck is one of these five pairs. Each page covers how the pair plays, its key cards and its starter decks.
Emerald dual-ink cards
A dual-ink card counts as both of its inks, so it only fits a deck built from exactly that pair. As of November 2026, the Core-legal ones are from Attack of the Vine! (set 13), and 5 of them include Emerald.
Woody & Buzz Lightyear - Best Buddies
Attack of the Vine! #28
Amber & Emerald
Aladdin & Genie - Mischievous Pals
Attack of the Vine! #59
Amethyst & Emerald
Carl Fredricksen & Russell - Intrepid Explorers
Attack of the Vine! #98
Emerald & Ruby
Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse - Adventuring Duo
Attack of the Vine! #99
Emerald & Sapphire
Rapunzel & Flynn Rider - Unlikely Pair
Attack of the Vine! #100
Emerald & Steel
Where to Start With Emerald
A starter deck is the simplest way to try an Emerald deck: it arrives as a legal two-ink deck you can upgrade. Ravensburger has made 7 with Emerald; each has an upgrade guide on TurnZero HQ.
- The First Chapter Emerald & Ruby Starter Deck (Emerald and Ruby, Infinity only)
- Into the Inklands Amber & Emerald Starter Deck (Amber and Emerald, Infinity only)
- Shimmering Skies Emerald & Steel Starter Deck (Emerald and Steel, Infinity only)
- Azurite Sea Emerald & Sapphire Starter Deck (Emerald and Sapphire, Infinity only)
- Fabled Emerald & Ruby Starter Deck (Emerald and Ruby, Core legal)
- Whispers in the Well Amber & Emerald Starter Deck (Amber and Emerald, Core legal)
- 2-Player Starter Set: Amber & Emerald Deck (Amber and Emerald, Core legal)
To build your own, the Lorcana deck-building guide walks through the 60-card minimum, copies and inks, and TurnZero HQ's Deck Lab checks your list against Core Constructed or Infinity as you build.
The Other Inks
Frequently Asked Questions
What color is Emerald in Lorcana?
Emerald is green. Its symbol under a card's cost is green and the frame is tinted to match, so players often call an Emerald deck a green deck.
What is Emerald good at in Lorcana?
Questing with characters that are hard to stop, and wearing the opponent down. In the Core sets as of November 2026, Emerald has the most Evasive (21) and Ward (14) characters, the highest average lore per character, and the second-most cards that deal damage or put damage counters, after Steel.
What does Ward do in Lorcana?
A character with Ward can't be chosen by the opponent's abilities or actions, only challenged. Effects that hit every character, or that don't choose, still affect it. Emerald has 14 of the 24 Ward cards in the Core sets.
How many Emerald cards are legal in Core Constructed?
207 as of November 2026, counting each full name once across Fabled (set 9) through Hyperia City (set 14): 155 characters, 14 actions, 13 songs, 19 items and 6 locations. 5 of them are dual-ink cards from Attack of the Vine!.
What ink goes best with Emerald in Lorcana?
It depends on what you want the deck to do, and the strongest pair changes with each set. Emerald can pair with any of the other five inks: Amber (wide boards and evasive lore), Amethyst (evasion and card advantage), Ruby (damage, then finish), Sapphire (ward, ramp and lore) and Steel (discard and board control). Each pair has its own page on TurnZero HQ.
Build an Emerald deck.
The Deck Lab checks your deck's inks, size and copies against Core Constructed or Infinity as you build. Free on iPhone, Android and the web.
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