u/dgj212

For me, at first I was thining out my deck as much as possible at the shop or events at every opportunity and avoided curses, like greed, like the plague.

Now though i barely bother removing cards unless its an egregious curse or the last store to the act boss, and i dont mind curses any more, recently I broke into ascension 9 with Regent with two greeds in my deck, banking that I could get cards that exhausts them(and I did).

I also started doing more math on paper.

TL;DR: Hellraiser paired with cards like battle trance, pummel strike, or seeker strike is based. Especially if you use Headbutt to get battle trance again or Shrug it off to defend and get a card. Bag of preparation relic helps as well. Hellraiser works best with cards that get you more cards so that you don't end up with basically an empty hand.

Long Version:

Honestly, it's one of the power cards i normally avoid after trying so hard to make it work. Like it was cool that it would play every strike card, but the cards I was left with either didn't do enough to matter, or I just didn't have a hand to play. Whenever I try to make it work, it just doesn't. I buff my deck out with strike cards but it doesn't work.

Finally on AC8, been trying to beat it with ironclad(no not quitting to restart the fight) but the furthest I've gone is the hive, sometimes I rarely reach the first boss. This time I went with Neoh's ancient scroll and got three cards where one was Battel Trance, zero cost- draw 3 cards but cannot draw again(also got havoc and twin strike). Ended up randomly upgrading it at an event at the cost of my HP so it draws 4, not really thinking too hard on it, mostly trying to figure out how to best use havoc(not my most favorite card either). Then I beat the shroom and slime duo and got hellraiser, I dunno-I wasn't thinking too hard-forgetting that earlier i got pummel strike, I was mostly resigned to another stinker.

Went up against the first elite, the bird, and killed it in four turns.

Like Battle trance, pummel strike, it allowed me to just run through my deck with hellraiser, getting everything with strike in it, and using my energy for shields or to set up my next turn, and I used both Havoc and Ritual to make sure I could use the cards I had. It worked.

upgraded hellraiser right after, and fought the second elite right after, the statue, and downed it in five turns, and right after I got the shovel to dig up relics at firecamps-did it right away instead of healing and got Bag of Preparation that lets me start combat with 2 additional cards. Bought perfect strike, seeker strike. Dug again before the floor boss instead of healing, it was The Kin trio, took a while but got them in 8 turns.

upgraded 4 cards with Yummy cookie, and yeah. I was ending rounds fast that even with that healing card Iron clad has, I just didn't need to heal at rest sites, I just kept digging relics and getting cards that either helped me get more cards, or get Battle Trance next round like with headbutt, or worked with my Hellraiser, like a second perfect strike card(both upgraded) that did a lot of damage thanks to all the strike cards (and got the strike dummy too). Don't get me wrong, it was not a pure strike deck, it had other cards like Anger, Stomp, and Unrelenting+, which allowed me to really hit hard when Strike wasn't in play. Kinda wish i had Mangle tbh.

On glory, i basically skipped all the elites and prioritized getting the camps instead, made it to the boss, three-headed experiment. Basically started phase 3 on round 3. I sadly, did not win, I just didn't have the right timing and cards to handle the thing reducing all my hits to 1 point. I guess I shouldn't have avoided elites are all cost in glory, might've gotten mangle or fairy in a battle or a relic that let me survive the experiment on AC8.

But man, I'm tempted to try that hellraiser build again, definitely not something to go for unless you have a way to basically draw your entire deck into your hand.

I kinda just bike everywhere, I'm able to get by without a car(plus I feel i get distracted too easily behind the wheel to be responsible with a car), so I never really thought of about planning a weekend trip if i can't bike there and back from waterloo.

I kinda never plan for anything unless it's for the holidays to visit family, but a recent trip to toronto via Via Rails had me thinking that it may not be the best but I can take a morning bus or train to wherever it does go and just get lost in city or town for a weekend. I'm introverted, but trying to get out more and maybe leaving for a different city once a month or so for a weekend might be a cool thing to try and get to learn more of Ontario. Who knows I might just find a new hobby and make new friends.

Any tips would be appreciated, even if its something different but related, like budgeting for a weekend trip in ontario.