Meta Guides (Decision Engines)
Use this section when your run hits a decision wall: you don’t need more card names — you need a rule that survives bad draws. Each page here is designed like a mid-run tool: short mental models, checklists, and the specific failure modes that usually kill “good” decks.
Pick your problem
Most runs don’t die because you “picked the wrong card.” They die because one of these breaks: stability (you bleed HP), conversion (you never turn setups into damage), or repeatability (your plan works once per run).
Two snapshots that explain 80% of decisions
These are not “evidence dumps.” They’re mechanic illustrations: what a window looks like, and what a decision moment feels like. Numbers will change in EA — the patterns won’t.
Ironclad Scaling Direction
LiveA repeatable plan for Ironclad: stabilize → spike → scale. Includes a draft checklist, heuristics, and failure modes.
- •You keep bleeding HP in Act 1
- •You draft “future synergy” and die before it turns on
- •You spike once, then collapse
Vulnerable Engine
LiveDefine the engine, build it in 3 pieces, keep it small, and avoid timing/clog failures.
- •Your damage feels random
- •Vulnerable is up but you drew no attacks
- •You have good cards but no “winning turns”
Next engines
These target the most common “unfair deaths” in EA: dead hands, missed spike turns, and team grief in co-op. When they go live, they’ll be linked directly from the encounters that punish those mistakes.
Identify the one turn that decides the fight — and plan resources around it.
Stop losing to dead hands: trimming rules + deck shape heuristics.
Anti-synergy warnings for 4-player runs.