Grand Finale Build

Build Overview

The Grand Finale build thins the deck as aggressively as possible to make the draw pile empty as often as possible, then repeatedly slams a 0-cost 60–75 AoE attack. Exude cards (Adrenaline, Setup, Dagger Throw, etc.) are pushed hard to compress the deck so that every cycle contains as few cards as possible, creating a near-every-turn window to fire Grand Finale. Retaining Grand Finale with Well-Laid Plans guarantees you can fire it the instant the draw pile empties, which hugely increases consistency. Once the deck is complete, 75 AoE per turn is enough to end most bosses in only a few turns.

Tier: B

To reliably satisfy Grand Finale's "draw pile is empty" clause you need to keep the deck at 10 or fewer cards, which is a high bar. The Exude-focused construction also locks you into one direction from Act 1, so early decisions compound. The finished build is very powerful, but because of its narrow construction and unstable early game, it is Tier B. It is an advanced pick for high-Ascension runs looking for a knockout strategy.

Key Cards (required)

• Grand Finale: a 0-cost 60–75 AoE that can only be played when the draw pile is empty. The core of the build and its biggest damage source. Retain it with Well-Laid Plans and fire it the instant the pile empties.
• Adrenaline: 0-cost, +1–2 Energy, +2 draw, Exude skill. Exude thins the deck and pairs perfectly with Grand Finale.
• Well-Laid Plans: a power that Retains 1–2 cards at end of turn. Mandatory for keeping Grand Finale ready in hand.
• Setup: an Exude skill that discards your hand and redraws the same number. Thins the deck while refreshing the hand.

Candidate Cards

• Dagger Throw: Innate, 0-cost, Exude attack. Adds a consistent 11–15 damage every combat without bloating the deck, and Exude thins the deck further.
• Blade Flurry: Innate, Exude attack. Like Dagger Throw, adds early damage while thinning the deck.
• Acrobatics: 0-cost, 3–4 draw. Great accelerator to empty the draw pile. Uncommon, so timing of pickups matters.
• Heat Shimmer: an Exude skill that grants Block equal to total enemy Poison. Doubles as defense and scales hugely when Poison is on the board.
• Flechettes: like Grand Finale, a card that rewards a low hand size. After spending the hand, both can fire together.
• Backflip: 5–8 Block + 2 draw. Not Exude, but solid draw for a thin deck.
• Dash: attack with damage and Block on the same card. A stable offense/defense tool once the deck is small and cycles fast.

Relic Synergies

• Torii: the first time you Exude a skill in combat, add a copy to your hand. With this many Exude skills it doubles up your Adrenaline or Setup, doing both thinning and resource generation at once.
• Pendulum: draw 1 card every time the draw pile is shuffled. In a thin deck that shuffles constantly, the extra draws empty the pile even faster.
• Abacus: gain 6 Block every time the draw pile is shuffled. The frequent shuffles of a thin deck turn this into a stable defensive tool.
• Tingsha: deal 3 damage to a random enemy every time you discard a card on your turn. Setup dumps the hand for massive damage, stacking on top of Grand Finale.
• Backpack: draw 2 extra cards at start of combat. In a thin deck, those two extra cards can nearly empty the pile on turn 1, putting you into Grand Finale range immediately.
• Gambling Chip: at the start of combat, discard any number of cards and draw that many. Makes it far more likely to mulligan into Grand Finale or Well-Laid Plans on turn 1.

Combat Play

Act 1

Commit to Exude cards early to start thinning the deck. Dagger Throw and Blade Flurry are Innate Exude, so they add power without bloating the deck. Rush Adrenaline as well. Actively remove Strikes and Defends to reduce the deck further. Prioritize picking Grand Finale itself from shops or card rewards. Pick up Well-Laid Plans early to build the Retain-every-turn engine.

Act 2

Aim for 15 cards or fewer. Keep shaving with Exude and run a small elite squad of strong cards. Setup is a huge find: thin and refresh in one. If you also pick up Flechettes, you get a second high-ceiling damage card to fire on the same turn as Grand Finale. Defense leans on Heat Shimmer or Noxious Fumes (passive Poison). Against Act 2 bosses, size the deck so Grand Finale fires within 3–4 turns.

Act 3

A deck of roughly 10 cards is the ideal. The draw pile empties nearly every turn, and Grand Finale becomes a repeatable nuke. Retain Grand Finale with Well-Laid Plans, spend all other cards first, then fire the instant the pile empties, every turn. 75 AoE per turn chunks any boss. If damage is still short, upgraded Adrenaline (2 Energy) gives extra actions to close it out.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Once stable, Grand Finale hits 75 AoE every turn — absurd recurring damage.
• Exude-heavy decks are small and give consistent draws.
• 0-cost means it does not compete with other cards for Energy; you keep attacking while doing everything else.

Weaknesses

• The empty-draw-pile condition is unusual and raises the construction bar considerably.
• Being Exude-heavy ties you to a specific package of cards.
• Before thinning, damage is inconsistent, which makes strong early enemies dangerous.