Damaru, I've come to bargain (Slay the Spire)

[@Sagemel]

Yes, Hexaghost, the hexagonal ghost, a RHOMBUS.

[@vynashe4442]

You're mistaken friend. Hexaghost isn't real. It was Rhombugast all this time.

[@jatelitherius9842]

It’s just BOX GHOST

[@thesilverskeeter]

Slay the Spire videos never fail to put me in the eruption state

[@id319]

You do need to upgrade something specifically early - Eruption costing 1 means instead of having to have 4 energy or pop your miracle to go Vigilance Eruption you can do it right away

[@cppilgram]

This is one of the better pieces of simple advice that makes a huge difference, especially early.

[@HackionSTx]

I love upgrading the "right" starter card for every class. Eruption I do EVERY TIME, it pretty much wins Act 1 Hallway fights.

[@iphatbass]

Exactly! In 99% of times that's the first card I upgrade on Watcher

[@MehYam2112]

Eruption is actually a broken starter card. Compare it to Ironclad's 2 coster

[@yoomeanie]

hey nl would love to see you experiment more with divinity even if it means losing more runs. seems like it could be powerful and fun

[@jacobhegy3487]

I’m with you. When I play Watcher runs I love going for divinity. With retain synergy and a couple mantra based cards you can be in divinity every two turns or so with consistency. It’s a really fun playstyle I wish he’d explore a bit more

[@dakota9139]

M

[@JrTheDragon01]

Absolutely agree. It's easier to say this in hindsight, but if he'd taken divinity after boss 1, and then bought a second divinity for 34 gold in the shop, that would have been 5 mantra per turn. Pretty easy to pog off with divinity guaranteed every second turn.

[@bluerazz3069]

With how much the egglord talks about retain cards. It makes me wonder why he doesn't do a mantra deck

[@heykak]

Too much math

[@nickcrusaire]

the problem is he also likes stance exiters so alot of his damage and block also exit stance. if you watch the last video, he tries blasphemy and screwed it up royally because he mindlessly played empty fist.

[@audaxxaudaxx160]

Difficult when your favourite card is freaking 'empty fist', sadly

[@donaldshults8957]

He’s had a pretty good win rate with the cards the game keeps offering him. Super focused theme decks tend to fall to the wayside as you go up in ascension anyway, so I doubt he’ll get a lot of incentive to just pivot into the other themes the game may offer.

[@nickp.4419]

@@nickcrusaire a lot

[@ChainsawDude2008]

"When your deck is so small, it doesn't matter... give me an empty fist"

[@ClaeFace]

Isn’t Eruption just the best starting deck upgrade for the watcher?

[@rokcetman6913]

Almost definitely

[@2oflanh956]

Always

[@pogusmaximus7162]

Unless you start with a very run changing relic or rare card then yeah

[@ClaeFace]

Alright cool. I’ve just been wondering if there’s a reason NL has just been completely ignoring it in order to get like 4 more block out of some other card

[@pogusmaximus7162]

@@ClaeFace nah he just hasn’t stored it in his brain box that it’s good yet

[@michaelvalladares]

Another great Slay the Spire video! Thanks for the return of this series NL, as you move the enemies closer to death you help me enjoy my movement through time towards death. Appreciate your thoughtfulness in playing out the turns in your head in this series and particularly this ep!

[@RSmeep13]

Youve inspired me to play slay the spire again nl, I got it on my phone last week after not having played in years. I finally beat a run with the silent this morning after trying a poison build instead of the discard+draw+energy build I usually attempted. Corpse explosion+ + Burst+ + Catalyst+ killed the final boss (donut and diamond guys) in just two turns!!! It was so cool.

[@sausig773]

Poison builds are fantastic. It's great for removing artifact. I often take noxious fumes before elite fights just in the hope I get the three diamonds and can get rid of all their artifact in one turn. Poison can also destroy that irritating ball boy on floor two and three because poison damages regardless of shield. Lots of fun uses

[@jackhall9842]

"Just call me Nathan Lane, we're going to The Birdcage" the speed of this man, the wit of this man, true pog has been reached

[@sam03137]

Starting the vid off with egg man talking about small decks

[@ljthepirate170]

Don't worry it is how you use your deck that matters the most

[@bazdarinothebizier9085]

It's not the size of your deck but how you use it. Dicks on the other hand ...

[@justinenguyen7578]

Pls upgrade Eruption for that sweet sweet 1 cost! You get more energy back to work with as a result especially during the early stages of the game.

[@hawkstar978]

Catching up on the last couple days worth of videos, loving this stuff keep it up!

[@Vetches]

24:51 Ah yes, some call him the Gremlin Leader, but to his friends he's Matthew Wannado.

[@lunarshining7964]

Lol okay this one made me actually laugh out loud

[@jamesbaurus5928]

NL. First off thank you for bringing back STS. Second, you are legit teaching me different intriguing ways of playing the watcher I wouldn't have considered on my own and playing way better than I am on my own runs. The only thing I ask is please, please upgrade eruption as a priority number 1 as many others have suggested. It will make everything you are already doing well easier to pull off!

[@mawillix2018]

Although upgrading Eruption is really strong, a lot of people are saying to rush to the first available campfire and try to upgrade Eruption as a goal of it's own. Upgrading Eruption is really strong, and if your only choices are the starting cards, it's the strongest upgrade, and should be prioritised over the other starting cards. There's many other priorities to consider when starting a run like: Pathing through the 3 easy fights (if it doesn't lock you into a bad path) to see more potential cards to add to your deck, as well as getting some random rewards. Early shops for powerful relics, a chance to find early pivot cards, picking up a potion for an elite fight, or in the worst case, removing a card. (most likely defend, for a more consistent fight against Gremlin Nob) If you after all of that, still don't find anything better than Eruption, making sure to hit a campfire before your first Elite to upgrade Eruption, makes you more likely to survive Gremlin Nob, which is one of the main reasons Eruption is a great upgrade. As the game goes on, Eruption falls off as a card, and there's a lot of cards that are more powerful when upgraded. (Tantrum comes to mind) Having a cards like Rushdown, or Empty Fist make Eruption an even bigger priority to upgrade.

[@infamousDynaset]

That devotion on sale made me cry when he didn’t buy it

[@xion900]

This series brought me back to your channel and now I'm hooked.

[@saberaxe]

Man these StS videos are so nice to have with my coffee in the morning. Thanks for the daily pogs.

[@O-M-0]

"Weird Rhombus" also known as Hexaghost lol

[@ufospiral3199]

Even with many stance exiters, divinity is still free energy

[@Redhotjoepeppers]

So happy this series is back!

[@okamimemos1716]

Doctor Egg and the Spire of Madness

[@kmuralikrishna1998]

When you think nl can't come up with any more stance names Mantra stance: Allow us to introduce ourselves

[@vertex546]

"I really want an Eruption..." Proceeds to play a 0 cost card to draw any attack Picks Cut Through Fate to try and draw Eruption instead of just picking Eruption.... Never change, egg. Never change.

[@Somegak]

We see you putting effort into the video titles and we appreciate it. They're real treats. Thank you.

[@sathrielsatanson666]

I constantly have a problem with my hand being full. Guess I take Draw 3 card, eh?

[@lemonslimes7416]

NL 5 'empty' cards to one eruption and one exhaustable wrath card is a bit ridiculous

[@jatelitherius9842]

I believe you entered divinity once on this run. On this run where damaru was the second relic :(

[@problemmachine6964]

If you watch carefully at 39:47 you can see the specter of Dan's understanding of statistics invading NL's mind

[@MocharaidThree]

Every time he doesn't upgrade Eruption, I cry.

[@rosemarygrant6424]

The ending was worth it just to watch you melt the boss from full health in one turn

[@moddedsoul677]

Well, i'll be damned. But I don't want to bargain. But I guess you already knew that. But hey

[@leviasin8379]

I really feel like devotion would have made this run pop. Even if you do exit the stance on the first card you play, that's 3 extra energy. In that last boss fight you would have been able to play so many more smites!

[@locustsun]

For what it’s worth, Scrawl probably is fitting for a mantra/divinity build because of the power/energy boost allowing for cards to be spent.

[@mantar008]

Hey NL, I think you'd really mesh with some devotion picks and mantra. If you can get to 5 per turn, you're turning into triple damage every other turn without the enemy getting double damage! I like to think of it as an eruption or better wrath stance that is super regular, so you don't have to fish for stance enablers. It's extremely strong! Loving the videos so far and so happy StS is back!

[@Honorablepleb]

If you run Battle Hymn + Establishment with a mantra deck you can get unbelievably pogged burst damage. Worship is great for that build too as its upgrade allows you to retain it for reduced cost and controlling when you enter divinity. Hope this helps :^)

[@Honorablepleb]

Should also add that any deck with a mantra core clashes pretty hard with stance change/exit cards which is important to note if you end up trying to build for it

[@galen981]

I saw your tweet and believe me brother, I ain't sleepin on these titles

[@wordtomyflag]

Skipping conclude hurts me. Just a ridiculous strong card. It does more than an upgraded Cleave without factoring in wrath. Love ya NL good titles recently!

[@flurble]

NL is throwing out some absolute bangers with these titles

[@wesleygeissler9571]

What is the consensus on rushdown? I feel like it's really good in stance agro decks. If you change into wrath a lot it just provides so much value

[@mawillix2018]

Rushdown is really strong, and increases in strength as your deck gets smaller and/or you get more energy. The negative side of Rushdown is that It is dependant on you both having at least one way of entering wrath, and one way of exiting wrath.

[@DTPandemonium]

I think buying devotion at that one shop was huge for this run if you did it. Damaru + upgraded devotion is divinity every 3-2 turns if you manage to use it early. The stances being screwed up doesn't matter tbh. worst thing is you lose the calm energy but divinity already gives 3 energy and you were overdrawing with all the retain cards in hand without enough energy to use. You can just use the empty cards to exit stance last anyway.

[@Deathwingburn]

so did someone end up telling nl upgraded eruption is bad because he seems to go out of his way to never upgrade it in recent episodes

[@rillip3]

I can't understand for the life of me why he begs for erruption, then when given a chance to get any attack, he doesn't pick eruption.

[@TheFloatingEyeball]

Now I wish Hexaghost was called ‘The Weird Rhombus’ instead.

[@JobroskiSwaqqman]

I wish slay the spire ftl and Isaac had a short mode where you could easily finish in like 15-30 mins

[@mennymoto]

Like start from sector 5 or have a ready Made deck

[@anuaronaibay8628]

Damaru POG

[@nathanielcarlson7821]

Double Devotion, Battle Hymn, Master Reality seems good

[@FlyOnTheWall_22]

So I just want to point out that this run gave NL 2 early devotions and damaru. Now, just imagine passively gaining 7(!) mantra per turn. I'm just saying this because I think that our boy doesn't realize that mantra is powerful when you have 2 or 3 cards that give you it. For instance, if you just add a "Pray" it's not really gonna do much by itself, but add 2 of them and it's kind of a run changer. And maybe don't add some many "Empty x" cards all the time as it sort of walls you off from other strategies. Past few episodes, while I love the series, it's only been tranquility, crescendo, empty this empty that, and it kind of makes for a samey run as your are somewhat in the whim of the relics. Just thought I would point that out. Hopefully no offense was taken as non was meant :)

[@hariman7727]

It's a legitimate strategy.

[@Htown1738]

18:44 i caught that. nice save there NL😭

[@ImperatorZed]

NL said that if your deck is small it doesn't matter

[@zaczxypher3941]

I think, given enough time, NL content could be indecipherable from ai-generated dialogue. Because NL can convey the information using the wrong words so skillfully that the AI can hide in it.

[@HankinoEX]

close to 20 my dude! Lets go!

[@ewag7774]

Egg. Yes.

[@loopymachoopin2262]

"I would play master reality but I don't want to dilute my drawn" ????? It doesn't affect draw. You're sleeping on scry and mantra. Upgrade eruption!

[@nathangalbraith9227]

Would have added a daze into his draw pile on that fight

[@thisdennis623]

What a great frickin title

[@HackionSTx]

Hey NL, some A20 players don't open the chest when they have the Key, I haven't tried it yet but I mean, they're A20 Heartbreakers so they must have something right.

[@amihaiba]

You're really concerened about existing stances huh.. so much so it is practically an exitstancial issue!

[@mvrkz6349]

Please you should really try a divinity based deck, it’s so powerful. Even here you had the opportunity to take 2 devotion and if you count the relic that gives you one mantra per turn you would have been able to practically enter divinity stance every 2 turn. Even if you are gonna lose in the end you should try it nonetheless.

[@MrChelomo]

Seriously, imagine skipping on Devotion when you have Damaru!!!

[@Metdaex]

NL, please take the time to remove basic strikes on the second floor once you have better attacks. This will greatly improve the run

[@swill6500]

24:56 that's matthew wanadu

[@MannFace51]

Scrawling in my skin ovah heya’

[@JackiedudeQQ]

This man really hates saving energy. Eruption and Crescendo is not worth it unless it has a at least 1 or above energy cost! (honestly, just remove Eruption if you're not upgrading it) He did upgrade Scrawl to cost 0, though.

[@brianstark4]

Should definitely remove basic strikes if you're running an upgraded battle hymn.

[@beavenjnr4187]

matra power card could have turned this run around

[@Rendragon001]

Slay the spire is heavy pog! But i would reccomend upgrading eruption, and playing insights over empty minds when you have the chance to

[@heater194]

the weird rhombus

[@TwistedAttitudes]

Kylo Ren going "more MOAR" but it's NL adding draw cards to his deck while having a full hand 80% of the time lmao, I think you might be better off looking for scrys

[@toastierepublic1722]

My heart bleeds a little when I see early concludes passed up. They're great a solution to a number of fights, especially in conjunction with wrath heavy decks. Doing 12/16 or 24/32 damage for 1 mana is already good, but it's an absolute workhorse in fights like sentries, Gremlin Nob, Slavers where you're just trying to vomit damage. Yeah, it doesn't really have overpowered end-game synergies but it obliterates so many fights it saves a lot of health which ultimately provides more flexibility in upgrades and deckbuilding. The downside is also fairly easy to play around unless you take multiple concludes or vaults (which would still mean you had vault in hand). Still, these runs are a blast. Love the content :)

[@chysero8636]

Title was clever

[@TheSarias]

Good video!

[@connorwhite5926]

Pog central station

[@piiirke]

leaving this for the algorithm

[@PhenomAnon08]

10/10 title tho

[@robertcolbert232]

Okay, does anyone know why he can't go to the heart? Not offered any of the crystals at chests, or burning elites?

[@Wizard9621]

It would seem NL hasn’t, through some weird save issues, “won” with the main three characters, and thus not have access to the heart- or maybe there’s an option to turn it off idk

[@nikjustnik8202]

@@Wizard9621 I think he either played on the beta and now doesn't anymore OR he switched save accounts within slay the spire without realising it

[@nikjustnik8202]

@@Wizard9621 Checked a previous episode from his old lets play and nope, didn't change saves so only the beta is my thought

[@PharaohofAtlantis]

Is Slay the Spire Mystic Ascension Runs replacing Slay the Spire?

[@phobiandarkmoon]

7:00 ish - highly disagree on not taking 7 damage to upgrade Eruption or Vigilance

[@wellshit9489]

Eruption 100%

[@phobiandarkmoon]

@@wellshit9489 I about 80% agree with you, I think there are some scenarios where you get a Tantrum and just remove Eruption instead in which case Vigilance would be the better path, but I think you want both as soon as possible in most circumstances

[@Connor3G]

You turned down two Mantra cards because you have a lot of cards to exit stances, but I don't understand. You can use attacks before exiting stances, and Divinity is a strictly better Wrath. If Wrath didn't include taking double damage, would you turn down entering Wrath every 3rd turn?

[@dylansilva4619]

NL: ignores aoe, Complains about not having aoe

[@PenitusVox]

Doesn't divinity always last one single turn, anyway? Not sure it matters whether you have a lot of exit-stance capability in your deck when it's going to go away after a turn no matter what.

[@ballpack]

24:55 Matthew Wannidoo

[@WaterCat5]

12:15 It's almost like there are a lot of things that interact with number of cards or attacks played or things that encourage you to switch stances often. Perhaps you should pick it up in the hope that you find one of these many enablers :)

[@plolp]

damn this game is real hard on ascension 12

[@Janju76]

I think you should have taken one card that can change the mantra gain. Something like prostrate. That way you can change a little bit when you will get divinity state. Also think about my motion sickness. Could you pretty please turn of screenshake for me NL?

[@gamebot991]

wow great title NL :)

[@biggie_kellogs7919]

alas not all spires may be slain

[@josephdavis2145]

Slay my spire…

[@zunzun1995]

So close!

[@Libidoic]

nl youre doing great but i think youre underrating rushdown and conclude a little bit. you'll always be in wrath at some point atnd more draw is always good. with more careful planning conclude can pop off as a better smite.

[@DarminX]

Let’s go!!!

[@shrimpstance]

have a lil algorithm juicing pog

[@glitchxero4687]

Divinity OP lol If you can get there. 😂😂

[@busorenkin55]

I think you disrespect how good a 0 energy consecrate is when you upgrade it and then use it in the wraith state. Great AOE damage and with divinity it’s even better zero cost card

[@N0ahFence]

@14:23 yes?

[@MindGobby]

So why’s the title this?

[@DuchessEvie]

All in on belief Doubters out 👉🏻🗑️

[@sam03137]

Egg

[@Prophet_of_fire]

Damaru loll

[@frankfilmic]

It's true that NL is sleeping on Eruption as a mandatory upgrade, but don't call the streamer dumb for not knowing it when you also found that out through Google. Let's not go back to the old STS comment section

[@nikjustnik8202]

He knows it, he chooses not to, that's just how the egg man lives

[@cassiuskurei]

Yeah, Divinity would be terrible in this deck that creates a Smite every turn, and an upgraded Devotion with Damaru would only put you in it a third of the time, so you'd never even have a chance to really use it. You might even have to exit stance early sometimes, that's way too risky.

[@DamianWalczak]

pog