The Lagavulin Matriarch begins the fight asleep for three turns, during which she has Plating that reduces incoming damage. Stripping all Plating while she sleeps triggers a stun.

Sleeping Phase (Turns 1–3)

After Awakening

• Use the sleeping turns entirely for setup — Three full turns without retaliation is exceptional setup time. Place Powers, build Strength, establish draw engines and energy scaling. What you build here determines how the rest of the fight plays out.
• Don't let Soul Siphon run long — Post-awakening, every cycle permanently degrades your Strength and Dexterity by 2 each. The longer the fight lasts, the weaker you become. Rush her down immediately after she wakes.
• Block-bypassing damage is optimal during sleep — Poison and Doom deal damage that ignores Plating, so they can be stacked during the sleeping phase without any resistance. Poison strategies generate damage even before she wakes.
• Multi-hit attacks can strip Plating for a Stun — Dealing enough hits during sleep to reduce Plating to 0 triggers a Stun, buying additional preparation time.

• Dedicate all three sleeping turns to setting up Powers, Strength, and draw engines
• Start stacking Poison during the sleep phase to build momentum before she wakes
• Immediately go all-in after awakening — Soul Siphon's cumulative Strength and Dexterity drain is permanent and irreversible
• Use multi-hit cards during sleep to strip Plating and trigger a Stun for extra prep turns
• Build a high-Block composition to cushion the Dexterity loss from Soul Siphon cycles