Finally normal A20 win

[sandman25dcsss]

I don't count my first win at A20 because it had crazy relics so it didn't require much skill.
This win required less luck, I got Catalyst on just floor 46 and meat on the bone from floor 26 basically saved the run.
https://spirelogs.com/viewrun.php?run=752917
Please let me know if you see some errors with my choices.

[DJDiceZ]

Good block cards on the first few floors are okay, though usually an okay common attack tends to be slightly higher priority than a good block card at the beggining. Perhaps i'd have taken Quick Slash over Leg Sweep.

You got away with taking no attacks all the way up to Act 2 until you took a Slice(?) where like i think i'd have taken stuff like Dagger Throw, Quick Slash and Dagger Spray because you had footworks making block good and Noxious Fumes providing a lot of damage but i think you took a big risk here. Not only did you have not much in terms of damage, you also had so much block it's likely all you were drawing during most turns. I think it'd have been okay to swap out a defensive card or two until that point. Especially Dagger Spray and Quick Slashes.

Then the Cloak And Daggers and Deadly Poison helped quite a bit. Bouncing Flask too.

At champ i'd have honestly picked Die Die Die, not Doppelganger. Like wise, Cursed Key was definitely a go to, while Slavers Collar has technically no downside, Cursed Key in Act 2 means you have to get only 1 curse (or 0 if you decide not to open the chest) which is much more interesting for always having one more energy. Cursed key in general is worth it, but even more so in Act 2.

Concentrate was an okayish pick but i doubt it was anything great either, it would have been fine to just skip.

Was setup just for the lol? Otherwise it's kind of bad, should have just skipped or taken Sucker Punch if you really wanted to take something.

Upgrading Catalyst over resting at the last camp was definitely an option here, though i'm not sure which would have been better. I'd have probably forgotten there's two bosses and upgraded catalyst.

Neat shop at the end though.

But take it all with a grain of salt, if you can win A20, then i'm not a particularly better player or anything. Plus, retrospective outlooks aren't exactly the same as playing the game and weighting out options mid-run.

[Zu]

Does spirelogs show if you found any potions? And can you remember which cards you removed in those early events? It's a strong start but Nob could've absolutely ended your run. LUL

(Asking questions before looking at the rest.)

[sandman25dcsss]

Originally posted by DJDiceZ:

Good block cards on the first few floors are okay, though usually an okay common attack tends to be slightly higher priority than a good block card at the beggining. Perhaps i'd have taken Quick Slash over Leg Sweep.

You got away with taking no attacks all the way up to Act 2 until you took a Slice(?) where like i think i'd have taken stuff like Dagger Throw, Quick Slash and Dagger Spray because you had footworks making block good and Noxious Fumes providing a lot of damage but i think you took a big risk here. Not only did you have not much in terms of damage, you also had so much block it's likely all you were drawing during most turns. I think it'd have been okay to swap out a defensive card or two until that point. Especially Dagger Spray and Quick Slashes.

Then the Cloak And Daggers and Deadly Poison helped quite a bit. Bouncing Flask too.

At champ i'd have honestly picked Die Die Die, not Doppelganger. Like wise, Cursed Key was definitely a go to, while Slavers Collar has technically no downside, Cursed Key in Act 2 means you have to get only 1 curse (or 0 if you decide not to open the chest) which is much more interesting for always having one more energy. Cursed key in general is worth it, but even more so in Act 2.

Concentrate was an okayish pick but i doubt it was anything great either, it would have been fine to just skip.

Was setup just for the lol? Otherwise it's kind of bad, should have just skipped or taken Sucker Punch if you really wanted to take something.

Upgrading Catalyst over resting at the last camp was definitely an option here, though i'm not sure which would have been better. I'd have probably forgotten there's two bosses and upgraded catalyst.

Neat shop at the end though.

But take it all with a grain of salt, if you can win A20, then i'm not a particularly better player or anything. Plus, retrospective outlooks aren't exactly the same as playing the game and weighting out options mid-run.

Thank you for the detailed reply!
Usually I don't pick so many defensive cards that early, I know an offense is a must.But that early Footwork (floor 2) and then Leg Sweep (floor 3) were really great, you can see I actually defeated Lavagulin on floor 18 while taking no damage. Gremlin Nob wouldn't be a problem I think, I got Noxious Fumes on floor 4 and upgraded it on Floor 6, the elite would be weakened every turn.

Yes, probably Die Die Die was a better option indeed. My idea was that I couldn't finish wounded monsters anyway, but then later I found many monsters were low on HP so dei die die would be very useful.

Catalyst was already upgraded because of Toxic Egg.
Yes, the last shop was great. but I visited another one earlier in the same act and it was complete trash so the luck evened out ;)

I feel like my lack of attacks was dangerous indeed, but I am not sure how I could fix it at this point especially since I saw Time Eater which punishes cloak and dagger, shivs etc.

You are much better player than me, it's my 2nd A20 win in 400+ hours and I appreciate the advices!

[sandman25dcsss]

Originally posted by Zu:

Does spirelogs show if you found any potions? And can you remember which cards you removed in those early events? It's a strong start but Nob could've absolutely ended your run. LUL

(Asking questions before looking at the rest.)

I removed strikes, transformed strike as well. Do you think it was a mistake because of too many defends? Spirelog does not show potions I think.

[Zu]

Assume I would've done the same on everything I don't mention.

If you had a damage potion, I could see removing 2 strikes over strike+defend. Another reason is that the first elite was far enough away. Still, F8 would've been a quick slash for me either way because plans doesn't matter much this early. It's a nice +4 upgrade too but neutralize might've been smarter to upgrade because by then you knew it wasn't gonna be sentries again.

The slice pick on F21 was odd indeed but lol spirelogs showing if a card is preupgraded. I would've considered prepared+ on F29. F33 was either ddd or skip indeed. Boss relic I can see myself taking depending on mood.

Probably unnecessary d.poison+ on F37 and very questionable concentrate+ on F39. Also gj winning the run on F43. LUL Odd setup+ on F47 indeed. I guess there was lotsa heavy stuff in the deck but you just got mummy hand. Not sure I would've bought tail on F48. I don't like expecting to die before act 4, but you didn't even go for it so that's neither here nor there. :p

[sandman25dcsss]

Originally posted by Zu:

Assume I would've done the same on everything I don't mention.

If you had a damage potion, I could see removing 2 strikes over strike+defend. Another reason is that the first elite was far enough away. Still, F8 would've been a quick slash for me either way because plans doesn't matter much this early. It's a nice +4 upgrade too but neutralize might've been smarter to upgrade because by then you knew it wasn't gonna be sentries again.

The slice pick on F21 was odd indeed but lol spirelogs showing if a card is preupgraded. I would've considered prepared+ on F29. F33 was either ddd or skip indeed. Boss relic I can see myself taking depending on mood.

Probably unnecessary d.poison+ on F37 and very questionable concentrate+ on F39. Also gj winning the run on F43. LUL Odd setup+ on F47 indeed. I guess there was lotsa heavy stuff in the deck but you just got mummy hand. Not sure I would've bought tail on F48. I don't like expecting to die before act 4, but you didn't even go for it so that's neither here nor there. :p

Thank you for detailed reply!
I had trouble with energy, that's why I picked slice, setup and concentrate and ignored card draw. I had 7 cards on turn 1, then 8 cards on turn 2 (centennial puzzle), then 3 copies of a card from nightmare. Surprisingly mummified hand was not that great, I didn't have many expensive cards. Good point on neutralize!