Beast – Relentless is a card I was interested in ever since it made waves for insane preorder market price ahead of the release of Rise of the Floodborn.

Today, the Green Beast card is fetching incredible prices on the secondary card market in anticipation of what many are considering to be the new best Lorcana deck: Beast – Relentless/Steel. Bolstered by incredible new cards and combos courtesy of Into the Inklands, Beast – Relentless is a powerful and intimidating foe to face.

In this Beast – Relentless/Steel deck we will be giving you the ins-and-outs of how to pilot one of our absolute favorite Lorcana decks to victory.

*Updated February 21 2024 to Into the Inklands.

Beast – Relentless/Steel Midrange Deck List

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3 Ba-boom!
4 Enchantress - Unexpected Judge
4 And Then Along Came Zeus
4 Beast - Relentless
4 Captain Hook - Forceful Duelist
3 A Whole New World
4 Tinker Bell - Tiny Tactician
4 The Bayou - Mysterious Swamp
4 Tinker Bell - Giant Fairy
4 Sheriff of Nottingham - Corrupt Official
4 Robin Hood - Capable Fighter
4 Robin Hood - Champion of Sherwood
2 Benja - Guardian of the Dragon Gem
4 Donald Duck - Perfect Gentleman
4 Ring the Bell
4 Let the Storm Rage On

Beast Relentless – Deck Strategy

Beast – Relentless is one of the most powerful characters in the game. With him you can clear your opponent’s board through challenges, or continually quest for lore to win in a tight spot. But to get him to work correctly, you need plenty of cards capable of dishing out damage on command.

Low cost characters are highly offensive

Until you get to your three-cost Tinker Bell, every one of your low cost characters has a competitive edge to them. Captain Hook can challenge more powerful characters to help keep your opponent at bay, while Enchantress can help you gather lore while fending off challengers.

Robin Hood – Capable Fighter is critical to this deck

While these other low cost characters are indeed powerful, they aren’t as critical to your strategy as Robin Hood. Robin Hood has an ability called Skirmish which lets you deal one damage to any chosen character. This has massive implications for this deck’s strategy at every point in the game, but it pairs especially well with Beast, enabling you to ready him each time you do damage.

Get Tinker Bell – Tiny Tactician ready to shift

Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy is crucial to this deck, enabling you to spread damage and wear down your opponent. She also has the vital shift ability, making her playable for only the cost of four ink. To get her into play earlier on, however, it’s helpful to have the smaller Tinker Bell in play.

Three cost Tinker Bell has pretty strong stats, with an impressive four will power. She also has an ability that lets you draw an extra card. Although it’s better to shift her right away, this ‘Battle Plans’ ability can come in handy when you don’t otherwise have the cards you need.

Donald Duck provides a powerful draw engine

While this deck does run Whole New World, you aren’t always going to want to play that card. For scenarios where you really just need to keep the cards coming, you have Donald Duck – Perfect Gentleman. Donald Duck’s ‘Allow Me’ ability lets you draw an extra card at the start of your turn. And while your opponent also has the chance to draw a card, they won’t be able to use it, of course, until it is your turn, making the ability much more beneficial to you than to them.

While many players will prefer to run Beast – Tragic Hero in their steel decks for additional draw support. There are a few reasons why I prefer Donald Duck. Those are:

Donald Duck is way cheaper: Beast – Tragic Hero is one of the most expensive cards in the game. Donald Duck is dirt cheap and gives you pretty much the same draw power.
Donald Duck doesn’t get shut down when he has a damage on him unlike Beast.
Donald Duck is only a cost four character, making it easier to play him.

Play Beast – Relentless in tandem with songs and characters

When you get to the point in the game where you are able to play Beast – Relentless (hopefully by turn six), the very next turn, look to play as many cards that deal damage as possible. This could be your Robin Hood, Queen of Hearts, or Tinker Bell, or the handy four-cost Beast. Make sure to use the Beast to either Quest or challenge a character in between playing cards that deal damage, as you will be able to use his “Second Wind” ability to ready himself each time.

In addition to character cards that deal damage, this deck has a variety of powerful songs from the Steel Ink type. These spells can and should be used throughout to deal considerable damage to your opponent and help you gain the advantage. They are:

Let the Storm Rage On is probably your best song overall, letting you deal damage while drawing extra cards.
A Whole New World: when used strategically, this card can really offset your opponent’s game, forcing them to lose cards that could have been real help to them otherwise. It’s best to use this card when you can sing it with a character. That way you will have plenty of lore to build up your bench and make some big moves to get ahead.
And Along Came Zeus: while Grab Your Sword was our favorite damage dealing song card of previous sets, Location cards are going to be a big deal in the game moving forward. And while this deck benefits more from dealing damage to characters than to locations, it’s still helpful to have something around to deal with them when needed. And Along Came Zeus is a great card thanks to its versatility. You can use it to take KOs against opposing characters or locations.

Ring the Bell on super strong characters

When I first started playing the Emerald/Steel damage combo, I was hesitant to go all-in on Ring the Bell. It seems like a pretty situational card. However, as time has passed, I’ve certainly become a believer. A lot of the time, Ring the Bell is going to be one of those cards that you just ink. However, in certain scenarios it can be quite strong. While dealing damage is great, there are some characters that are just too tough to take out pratically.

Ring the Bell is for all of those characters. Strategically place a damage on Cinderella – Knight in Training, for example, before she shifts into Stouthearted and you can take her out for the cost of three with Ring the Bell.

Similarly, I’ve used Ring the Bell to instant-banish nine-cost Maleficent, seven-cost Hades, and many other beefy characters.

A Whole New World for the Win

Whole New World is exceptionally strong in this deck when used right. To make the most out of it, however, you’re really going to want to use a character to sing it. Once sung, you can use your remaining lore to build up your board and take the advantage away from your opponent.

Just be careful when playing this card when you have absolute control of the pace of play. If your opponent has few characters in play and few cards in their hand, think twice before singing.

Beast – Relentless/Steel flex cards

There are roughly two different cards I include in this deck that – while helpful – aren’t necessary to the overall strategy. These flex cards could be replaced with others. However, I’ve found that for whatever reason, they come in handy when playing in the current meta.

I play Benja because a lot of decks run items right now. Benja helps banish those items while also being a handy quester. Meanwhile, Robin Hood is a strong card, especially when you can use his Shift ability to play him onto one of your two-cost Robin Hood characters.

The Beast, The Sheriff and the Bayou

The last important combo you need to know about when piloting this deck is the interplay between Beast – Relentless and the Sheriff of Nottingham and The Bayou. It’s a pretty straightforward combo but it is critical, and the main reason so many players are touting this deck as the meta killer.

Simply move Beast to the Bayou (an easy feat given it costs just one ink to do so) and then start using him the same way you would normally. Only this time, whenever the Beast Quests, you don’t need to worry about doing outside damage as the damage done by the Sheriff will happen automatically.

When the Beast quests, The Bayou’s ability activates, causing you to draw a card. When the card is discarded, the Sheriff’s ability activates dishing out damage, which then activates the Beast’s “Second Wind” ability. You can basically do this forever until you either a) run out of cards b) run out of opposing characters to damage or c) win the game.

Alternative techs to counter Emerald/Steel weakness

There is one glaring weakness to this Emerald/Steel deck, and it’s worth mentioning int he current meta. A lot of players are running the Sapphire/Steel Resist build, and that deck can be very troublesome to play against given five-cost Cogsworth prevents you from placing single damage on characters.

This deck doesn’t have any effective means for dealing with Cogsworth, so you could consider teching in a Cinderella – Stouthearted. Thanks to her ability, she can attack readied characters, making it possible for you to take out Cogsworth and his five will power, and also doing damage to readied characters, giving your Beast – Relentless additional opportunities to quest.

If you wanted to go this rout, simply swap out the two-cost Enchantress for two-cost Cinderella – Knight in Training and Floodborn Robin Hood for Cinderella – Stouthearted.

While I feel like this tech should work really well in theory (and it certainly has for me at times), for whatever reason the Enchantress/Robin Hood version of this deck runs more consistently. Perhaps its because you have more chances to quest/challenge for lore and get ahead of the competition?

Try it out yourself and let me know what you think in the comments below!

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