Single Card Spotlight: Merlin – Rabbit

Introduction:
In the vast world of Disney Lorcana, every card is a potential game-changer. In our “Single Card Spotlight” series, we dive deep into the basics of different cards in the game, uncovering their strengths, weaknesses, and long-term evaluation of the card. Today, we turn our attention to Merlin – Rabbit, a newly spoiled card from the upcoming Disney Lorcana set – Rise of the Floodborn.

Card Analysis:
Now, let’s delve into the card’s strengths and how it can impact your Disney Lorcana strategy:

1. Strengths:

• Merlin – Rabbit gives Amethyst, already the color with the best card draw, another card which…draws cards.
• This synergizes well with Merlin – Shapeshifter, though I suspect all of Merlin’s forms will do so.

2. Weaknesses:

• Uninkable
• When compared to cards like Maleficent – Sorceress, this seems like a big rate increase for an effect that you’ll need to “set up.”
• 2/3 is not particularly strong for the cost and ability. For context, Maleficent is, herself, a 2/2, and a card like Tinkerbell – Most Helpful has evasive, grants evasive for a turn, and comes with an extra lore attached.

3. Strategic Uses:

Without knowing Merlin – Shapeshifter’s other forms, and how many colors of ink they’ll span, it’s difficult to say for sure whether Merlin – Rabbit, as part of a “Big Bounce” deck would be viable in any way. Merlin – Rabbit does, however, synergize fabulously with Dr. Facilier – Agent Provocateur, which I think we’d want as a consideration in any deck running the bunny.

Fleshing out even a theoretical decklist would be impossibly dumb, because there are so many variables that we can’t account for yet, however, I am looking at my notes, and it turns out that this website is called Dave’s Dumb Decks, so I guess that would be on brand. To wit:

Note: on Dreamborn & Pixelborn, this deck will have 4x Merlin – Shapeshifter in lieu of Merlin – Rabbit. The site is being finicky and not allowing me to add the rabbit to the deck.

This is a more-or-less stock Ruby-Amethyst Control deck, but we’re using some synergies between Merlin – Rabbit and Dr. Facilier – Agent Provocateur, as well as the potential blowout of the rabbit with Dinner Bell to attrition out our opponents by seeing far more cards than they do by continually crashing Merlin – Rabbit into their exerted characters, returning it to our hand via Doc. Facilier, and if it somehow doesn’t die in the challenge, using the Dinner Bell as a sac (short for “sacrifice) outlet. This deck is heavy on uninkables, and I think it’s probably pretty bad, but you could certainly choose worse frameworks to start with than Ruby-Amethyst Control.

4. Combos:

• Merlin – Rabbit will work well with the green bounce spells, which include Mother Knows Best, Bounce, and Genie – On the Job. Notably, all 4 of these cards are uninkable, which, when you add in your 4x Kuzco, makes the payoff…questionable.
• Per above, this also combos very well with Dr. Facilier, Agent Provocateur, giving you a beater (a card that can challenge without apprehension) that recycles and draws you a card each time.
• Cruella De Vil – Miserable as Usual has the distinction of being inkable, low cost (both financially, and to play her), and giving you another way to bounce the bunny, so I think she’d be an auto-include in a deck that was Amethyst/Emerald and looked to exploit the bounce ability.

5. Collectibility and Trading Value:

I’m not going to say I’m anti-speculation, but I have some serious doubts about the power level of this card. If the Merlin – Shapeshifter ecosystem shapes (groan) up to be more complementary than I believe it will, then his rabbit form will very likely be a staple, and I’ll have egg upon my beautiful visage.

Conclusion:
My final verdict on Merlin – Rabbit: he’s a pass. He’s got razor-thin margins, and I think is outclassed by cards that come at a cheaper rate, or quest for more lore, or hit harder in a challenge.

I will caveat with: if we see a Merlinform that reduces the cost of other mentor characters, or an item that allows you to bounce a card repeatedly, all of my doubts probably go out the window, Merlin – Shapeshifter and/or Merlin – Rabbit decks becomes much more competitive deck-building challenges.

Stay Tuned:
Stay tuned for more “Single Card Spotlight” articles as we continue to explore the exciting world of Disney Lorcana one card at a time. Whether you’re a seasoned TCG veteran or just starting your journey, these spotlights will help you unlock the full potential of each card in the set.

EDIT: The Madam Mim – Fox that was revealed this weekend means you can pretty much ignore this whooooole write-up.