Slay the spire

[Gustaran]

Well, then maybe you have The Silent figured out.   

I found it's quite instructive to watch people streaming higher Ascension levels. I have to admit there is still quite a lot of room for improvement in my playstyle.  It seems people can indeed get cards working, that I would have rated as "unlucky RNG". 

This guy has a good balance of speed and commentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLUdw4UqijE

[Alhambram]

I happened to play this game too, already reached top with Ironclad, thanks due owing two upgraded offerings (2 extra energy and draw 5 cards, however lose 4 hp) and exhume which revives offerings to able use them aagin at same turn, then combo with upgraded whirlwind (damage x amount energy) combined with extra strength which do over 150 damage to single enemy in one turn.
I have yet reach top with silent, one time very close (lost against last boss with too low hp at beginning of boss fight) with recycling/discarding deck which allows me discard cards over and over again combined with relic which do 3 damage to enemy for every card that got discarded.

[haphazard1]

Sounds like a very good run, Alhambram. Upgraded Whirlwind combined with anything that can give you extra energy is very effective. I have not managed a successful run with the Ironclad yet (keep getting close but not quite ) and Whirlwind is one of my favorites.

[Alhazard]

I personally find the silent much weaker than ironclad because ironclad decks are much easier to build while silent needs to really balance their deck to win. Finally got to ascention 5 with silent today.

[haphazard1]

And another ironclad dies to Donu and Deca. That is three times now, plus another death to the Awakened One. I can get to the Act 3 boss fight with the ironclad, but I just can not quite seem to win it.

[Alhazard]

to be fair, the shapes are the hardest bosses to fight as IC because generally IC decks are defensive but they gain strength so fast to the point that you can't keep-up. Decks that can build 999 armor and searing blow decks do well though.

[Gustaran]

I won quite a few recent Ironclad runs with the Snecko Eye: If you can get it from the first boss, ususally the run can become quite easy.
With Snecko Eye the average cost of cards goes to 1.5, so if you can pick up a lot of 2- and 3-cost cards, you will usually have an easy time in normal mode.
Also very good in that case is card draw, because every new card has the chance to cost 0. I also liked Dual Wield in that deck: Ususally you have one expensive card that rolls a costs of 0, so if for example you use an upgraded Dual Wield on a 0-cost Bludgeon, that's 126 base damage for 1 energy without any other modifiers.

[Alhambram]

Finally managed to reach top with Silent. I think that problem of Silent compared with Ironclad is that all cards of Ironclad combines with each other well while cards of silent are very specializing in certain play-styles.
Poison based cards don't fit well with shiv based cards for example, so if you pick up all cards, you get a very unbalanced deck. Therefore it is better to minimize amount cards in deck to max of 30.

My successful run with silent contains deck based upon recycling and drawing a lot in same turn as example Tools of Trade, Dagger Throw, Flying Knee, Quick Slash, Outmaneuver and Backflip and at same time some weakening cards as Neutralize, Leg Sweep, Sucker Punch and Heel Hook to reduce and control enemy's attacks. Terror is good against bosses or elites, however I did mess up with last one Donu and Deca, using Terror while they got one ancient (negate negative status once).  And as result that last battle was a close one with 2 HP left of 96. 
Fact that I got enough HP left, I owe it to Singing Bowl relic which allows me to add +2 max HP instead card every time, so this way I could control amount cards in my deck and at same time increase max HP. Also I owe to Kunai and Oddly Smooth Stone relic which increased my dexterity (more blocks), also not forget Paper Krane which cause weakened enemy deal 50% less damage instead 25% and it perfectly fits my deck full with weakening cards.
I got many relics with farming elites with Black Star relic equipped which causes elites drop 2 relics instead 1.

[haphazard1]

Sounds like a readlly good run, Alhambram, with a very tense finish! 2 HP left.

Dexterity boosts to get more block can be really useful. I also like the Self-forming Clay relic for some extra block every time your block gets taken out.

[Gustaran]

Current speedrun WR: 5 minutes 32 seconds