Great wrap-up, solid points. I think players coming over from Magic probably identified the Amethyst bounce package as being cracked ahead of playing with them. Our playtest group managed to get on that train as well as Minnie, Cogsworth, and Pawps week 0. ...which isn't to say we didn't also spend way too much time spinning our wheels trying to make Zero to Hero, Sisu, Beast, and Bounce good lol.

Cogsworth has been my unsung, or sung, hero this chapter. I run a different Sapphire/Steel deck that really utilizes him. I think he will be amazing moving forward, too. Sisu, however, does have value, I run 3 of her in my deck, which everyone probably thinks is crazy. But here's the deal about her. She isn't your turn 3 or 4 card. She is a turn 5-end game card. When you are ramped and can throw down a Benja and her, or Cogsworth/Beast and her same turn. Now you got multiple 2 Lore threats. And the card draw helps you stay ahead without firing another wnw. She is a midgame and a closer. Two of her on the board is usually a game winner for me. And with fishbone, it doesn't matter if she is uninkable.

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Cogworth was slept on in spoiler season. After his reveal I switched out amber to sapphire with steel.

I agree with all of your misses, and I would also add these: 1) Queen of Hearts - they made her a figurehead of the set, and out of four different cards, only two are playable but still niche. 2) Seven Dwarves - half of an entire starter was built around them, and as expected, only Doc has actually seen competitive play. Creating such a fun theme set without proper support only hurts them by frustrating fans. 3) "Challenge a Ready Character" was introduced in this set as it is not an uninkable ability, despite it being used that way on two cards. Legendary Namaari (which is just bad) and Ready to Fight would have actually seen play if they were inkable. This ability requires too many parts to be consistently useful for it to be uninkable. 4) Merlin's cards should have been Emerald. 5) Resist should not have been in the color that deals direct damage. 6) Amber and Sapphire still share too much overlap in their identity, even including resource ramping (just represented in two different ways). The only big difference between the two is items. 7) Alice in Wonderland in general was failed really hard. Down the Rabbit Hole was a massive missed opportunity for a cool card based on the theme and art. Alice herself is not terribly useful and definitely not deserving of Legendary status based on her abilities. Multiple unplayable Cheshire Cats and Queen of Hearts. It is frustrating for a big Alice in Wonderland fan like myself. 8) The design of having characters quest for more based on increased Strength makes absolutely no sense, and those abilities are counter to each other. Increasing Strength is only used for Challenging, so it makes the abilities that could quest for more Lore largely worthless. You cannot make characters weaker because they might once per game quest for more than average.

Do you think about Milo Shift? I am thinking he is insane

Zero to hero has a chance if tokens are a thing

I still think Ruby Amethyst bounce will be the best deck and will probably get better. Control decks in almost all tcgs are always going to dominate the format, yugioh is an exception to that due to different type of playstyle. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ruby gets more removal and amethyst get some more madam mim and merlin cards there are a few forms of both that aren’t in the game yet. Also with locations they could get something absurd considering they are hyping up Jim Hawkings. But that’s just my opinion.

Actually I disagree on Shere Khan I have had great success with him l, but I do concede not many others have. You are spot on with everything else. I think Bippiti Boppity Boo just needs better targets. Which should come eventually. We’ve built emerald steel deck lists locally that have been very successful, showcasing BBB that beat the top decks regularly.

How much of the lack of talking about the “winners” from spoiler season come from not knowing the whole set and being able to see where they would fit in in the grand scheme of things?

Merlin/Madam Mim is far too prevalent. If new mechanics in Inklands and beyond can't match or at least approach similar power levels then I don't think it would be out of the question to start thinking about a ban.