ironclad

High Cost

Tier B

Beta

“Cheat out devastating expensive attacks for free”

Core idea

The Ironclad has a few effects that allow you to bypass the cost of your cards, allowing you to play expensive power-swing cards like Mangle and Bludgeon while spending your energy on defense. Upgrade Stampede to make it easy to play out and it usually pays for itself on the first turn. Cascade doesn't care about the cost of the card so is most effective in an expensive deck. Chemical X takes your Cascade to a whole new level. It can sometimes be tempting to play Cascade for less energy by playing a Block out before triggering it, but in my experience if it will play 5 or more cards it will usually either end the combat or provide defense on its own. Unrelenting can help you lean into this archetype while you're missing a few pieces, making for huge swing turns, and since its effect doesn't expire at the end of the turn you can use the discount to cheat out an expensive attack next turn. Slither is an obvious enchantment for this deck, helping smooth out those combats where your Stampede and Cascade are buried at the bottom of your deck. Snecko Eye and Snecko Eye??? can also be a huge find for this deck.

When to commit

When you find an early Cascade, Stampede or Snecko Eye, or see them with some large attacks already in your deck

Key cards and relics

Key enchantments

Slither

When you draw this card, randomize its cost from 0 to 3.

Support plan

Headbutt is incredibly powerful in this deck, comboing with Cascade for a guaranteed hit on an expensive card. Even without Cascade, it can help line up your next turn well, pulling back your expensive attacks for repeated Stampede triggers. Havoc can be used in a similar way, but since it exhausts you'll want to make sure you don't need it again this fight. Uppercut isn't a game-winning card but it's a powerful debuff attack and the only source of Weak in Ironclad, so I'm never disappointed to see Stampede trigger on it. Whirlwind can be powerful, but only pick it if you have Chemical X - if Cascade plays Whirlwind, it will play at 0 energy and waste the effect, but with Chemical X it will trigger twice. Bloodletting can be helpful to make your Cascade larger or to let you play out smaller attacks for a guaranteed Stampede hit, but does slow your deck down. Don't forget to pick up Block - the majority of your energy will be spent on defense and smaller attacks since your big hits will be cheated out. Exhaust effects can help you thin your deck for more effective Cascade turns and also exhaust attacks to guarantee your Stampede hits what you want.

Support cards and relics

Weaknesses

The Act 2 Crab Boss can be devastating for a Stampede deck, since the target is random and it may cause you to turn around. Play this fight very carefully, and consider holding back on your Stampede until one claw is dead. Fight Me! is an awful pairing with Stampede, buffing a random enemy with no way to stop yourself playing it. Infernal Blade can be a gamble for the same reason and is best avoided.