Maui – Actions, Challenges & Comebacks
With the new Coconut Maui – Half-Shark, I want to play plenty of actions and keep the character Maui – Half-Shark challenging. My starting point is Amethyst, Ruby and Steel: exert opponents, support Maui in combat and retrieve the right actions from the discard.
The discount and the lore
The Coconut saves 1 
on the first action with printed cost 4 or more I play during my turn. Songs qualify too. With Maui in play, every action I play also gains 1 
. The discount works without the character; the extra lore needs him. I want useful expensive actions alongside cheap support.
Open targets for Maui
Last-Ditch Effort exerts an opposing character and gives my chosen character Challenger +2. One Last Hope gives Resist +2 and lets Maui challenge ready characters because he is a Hero. Challenging another character is enough for his action recursion; he does not need to banish them.
Keep the shark fighting
Charge! gives Challenger +2 and Resist +2 this turn. Mushu – Majestic Dragon gives my characters Resist +2 when they challenge and rewards challenge banishes during my turn with lore. These are the effects I want beside Maui: get more from each challenge and stay around for the next one.
Songs costing 4+ with useful effects
Can't Hold It Back Anymore combines exertion with moving damage. Be King Undisputed makes each opponent banish one of their characters. After a character has been banished, Marching Off to Battle draws two cards. Hyperia City adds Magnificent, Marvelous: two lore and a card. These songs qualify for the discount while serving the deck’s needs. If Maui sings, he normally cannot also challenge without readying; I often want another singer.
Keep the table under control
Be Prepared is my reset when the board gets away from us, although it banishes Maui too. The first qualifying action each turn costs one less ink. A song sung for free saves no further ink, but still uses the first qualifying action slot. Actions, challenges and recursion should keep the plan moving.
Exert, challenge, repeat
I want to open targets for Maui myself. Elsa – The Fifth Spirit exerts an opponent on entry and can challenge immediately with Rush. Anna – Eager Acolyte makes each opponent exert one of their ready characters; Anna – Mystical Majesty exerts all opposing characters. Elsa – Spirit of Winter keeps up to two targets exerted through their next turn. Their smaller namesakes in the list provide Shift bases. Elsa – Snow Queen can open another target each turn.
Turn challenges into lore
Shere Khan – Menacing Predator rewards every challenge by one of our characters with a lore. Fa Zhou – War Hero adds three on our second challenge, while Queen of Hearts – Sensing Weakness draws cards. Scar – Vicious Cheater can ready after banishing a character in a challenge. Pushing Boundaries from Hyperia City keeps a chosen character from taking damage while challenging this turn and gives us an ink drop. Scar can clear several targets while Maui recovers actions to play again.
Rush, Heroes and Maui’s hook
Maui – Hero to All and Darkwing Duck – Darkwolf Dog already have Rush. Elsa – Storm Chaser grants another character Rush and Challenger; You've Got Some Punch does that as an inexpensive song. Maui's Fish Hook grants strength or Evasive for free with a Maui in play. Hero Work and Philoctetes – No-Nonsense Instructor reward our Heroes with stronger challenges and extra lore. While exerted, Hercules – Mighty Leader protects our other Heroes from damage unless they are being challenged. That fits a turn where we are the attackers.
Hero work across the whole table
Hero Work gives our characters +1 strength this turn. Our Heroes also gain a trigger: whenever they challenge another character, each opponent loses a lore and we gain one. Maui can pressure several opponents at once this way. Mushu – Majestic Dragon gives each of our characters Resist +2 while challenging and gains us two lore whenever one of our characters banishes another in a challenge during our turn. Alongside Calhoun and Robin Hood, several fighters can carry the plan instead of leaving everything to Maui.
More characters for the fight
Pick a Fight lets Maui challenge ready characters for 2 ink. Calhoun – Marine Sergeant has Resist +1; she and Robin Hood – Champion of Sherwood each gain 2 lore when they banish a character in a challenge during our turn. Robin Hood – Beloved Outlaw is Robin’s inexpensive Shift base. Darkwing Duck – Cool Under Pressure can challenge ready Villains and Shift onto our small Darkwing. More characters now benefit from exerted targets, strength bonuses and extra challenges.
Ready Maui and go again
After the first challenge, I want to ready Maui. Next Stop, Olympus is a great fit: The action costs two ink, reduced to zero with a character of strength 5 or more; Maui qualifies with his seven strength. This discount comes from the action itself. Playing it gains a lore from Maui, the next challenge gains another, and that challenge can retrieve an action. Go the Distance readies a damaged Maui and draws a card. For a bigger turn, Nothing We Won't Do readies all our characters and prevents challenge damage to them for the rest of the turn. These effects stop questing, but we want Maui challenging again. Damage and available targets determine how often we can repeat this.
Make each action do more
Milo Thatch – Undaunted Scholar gives a chosen character +2 
for the turn whenever we play an action. Those bonuses can go straight to Maui. Ratigan – Nefarious Criminal adds another lore per action while exerted. For draw, I want Finders Keepers: three cards for five ink, or four as the first qualifying action. Friends on the Other Side draws two cards and can be sung. Cheap actions still matter: Maui rewards every play, and challenging lets us retrieve the right action.
Sapphire as another direction
Ruby, Sapphire and Steel have enough direct connections to test. How Far I'll Go puts one of the top two cards into hand and the other into the inkwell exerted. What Else Can I Do? does the same and also grants our characters Ward if sung. Both qualify for the Coconut discount. Sail the Azurite Sea draws a card and allows an additional ink this turn, so we still need a suitable card in hand. Ramp should get Maui out earlier and support several actions later. We give up the Amethyst package for this. I would start small and retain enough challenge support and action payoffs.
The first sample list
The linked list contains four Maui and single copies of everything else. The readying and action-payoff packages are now included. The Amethyst list has the matching draw actions; the second list swaps Amethyst for Sapphire and includes the ramp package. This is a starting point for theorycraft: plenty of actions and draw, with enough characters to keep us in the game until Maui arrives.
Reddit · Maui – Half-Shark · Beta 2
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What do you think of the new Maui Coconut? Which cards and inks would you play?