Grimm Troupe, The

## Overview

   *Hollow Knight’s Grimm Troupe will invite you to take part in their Ritual, fueling ever more powerful cards while slowing down the game to buy you the time to play them. If you can collect enough Nightmare Flames, the Nightmare King will awaken and complete the Ritual, restarting the cycle anew with a new Troupe Master.*

The Grimm Troupe will stall bases to "set up shop" and lock down, giving time to play many weak actions that eventually summon a powerful Titan; alternatively, they have a couple ways to undo their stalling when they want to break their chosen bases.

### Details

#### General

* Name: The Grimm Troupe
* Author: Berryl
* Complexity: 3/5
* Version: 1.4
* Last updated: March 19, 2023

#### Mechanics

* +1 Power Counters
* +1 Power Counters on actions
* Titans
* Discard/Milling

#### Special details

Featured in the Hollow Knight custom expansion

### Breakdown

The Grimm Troupe has the standard 10 minions and 10 actions. They have the standard total minion power of 30, or an average of 3 per minion. Among their actions, there are:

* 3 play-on-minion actions: 2x Grimmchild, Carefree Melody.
* 3 play-on-base actions: 2x Nightmare Lantern, Nightmare Heart
* 4 standard actions, 2 of which directly affect one or more minions (in **bold**): **Nightmare Flame A**, Nightmare Flame B, Nightmare Flame C, **Banishment**

### Minions

* **1x Troupe Master Grimm (5):** Place a +1 power counter on each of your Grimmchild cards OR this turn, your cards which increase bases’ breakpoints instead decrease them by the same amount, and your cards which decrease minions’ power instead increase them by the same amount.
* **2x Grimmkin Nightmare (4):** Talent: If this minion has an action on it, draw a card OR Until the start of your turn, all other minions here have -1 power.
* **3x Grimmkin Master (3):** Talent: Until the start of your turn, increase this base’s breakpoint by 3.
* **4x Grimmkin Novice (2):** Search your deck and/or discard pile for a Nightmare Flame or a Grimmchild and draw it.

### Actions

* **2x Grimmchild:** Play on one of your minions. Search your deck for a Nightmare Flame and place it on top of your deck. Talent: If this card has a +1 power counter on it, look at the top two cards of your deck, discard any number of them, and return the rest in any order.
* **2x Nightmare Lantern:** Play on a base. Reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal a minion, draw it, and shuffle the rest into your deck. Ongoing: This base’s breakpoint is increased by 3.
* **1x Nightmare Flame:** Place a +1 power counter on a Grimmchild. For each +1 power counter on your Grimmchild cards, you may place a +1 power counter on one of your minions. Shuffle this card into your deck.
* **1x Nightmare Flame:** Place a +1 power counter on a Grimmchild. For each +1 power counter on your Grimmchild cards, you may draw a card. Discard cards equal to the amount you drew. Shuffle this card into your deck.
* **1x Nightmare Flame:** Place a +1 power counter on a Grimmchild. For each +1 power counter on your Grimmchild cards, you may shuffle a card from your discard pile into your deck. Shuffle this card into your deck.
* **1x Nightmare Heart:** Play on a base. Ongoing: This base’s breakpoint is increased by 3. Talent: Play an extra action.
* **1x Carefree Melody:** Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion has -3 power. After this card leaves play, place three +1 power counters on one of your minions.
* **1x Banishment:** If Nightmare King is not in play, remove all +1 power counters from your Grimmchild cards and destroy any number of your actions. Give one of your minions +2 power until the end of the turn for each +1 power counter removed and/or action destroyed.

### Titan

Nightmare King

* Special: On your turn, if your Grimmchild cards have at least five +1 power counters total, you may play this titan at a base where you have a Grimmchild. If Troupe Master Grimm is in play on another base, move it to here.
* Ongoing: This base's starting breakpoint is 0.
* Special: After this base scores, if Troupe Master Grimm is here, place it back in the box. If you do so, return any number of your other cards here to your hand and play them at other bases as extra cards.

## Clarifications

* **Troupe Master Grimm:** If the negative power or breakpoint increase granted by an ability changes after this card is played, the resulting positive power or breakpoint reduction changes in the same way. Negative power or breakpoint increases applied after this card is played (but still in the same turn) are still changed by this ability.
* **Nightmare Flame:** These are three distinct cards that all share a name. They are not copies of each other, but if a Geeks player names Nightmare Flame with Banned List all revealed Nightmare Flames are placed on the bottom of the deck.
* **Banishment:** You can remove +1 power counters from Grimmchild cards and then still destroy those Grimmchild cards, receiving power for each.

## Strategy

### General

The Troupe focuses on stalling the game to play as many Nightmare Flames as possible. The Flames require Grimmchild actions to be in play on your minions, but the most common minion in the deck, Grimmkin Novice, can search out either of these components as you need them. Many of their cards, including five of their minions and four of their actions, will increase bases' breakpoints or decrease minions' power in order to slow down the bases where you play the Grimmchild cards.

Although the methods of stalling don't generally have ways to undo themselves, especially the actions, there are three ways to "flip" the stalling into base breaking: The Titan, Nightmare King, can reduce a base's starting breakpoint to 0 if you manage to amass five power counters on your Grimmchild cards; Troupe Master Grimm can turn stalling into burst or cap off the Grimmchildren to summon the Nightmare King; and Banishment can undo all your stalling and infuse one of your minions with a burst of power. Outside of these, though, the stalling is pretty permanent, so you need to be selective with where you stall.

The deck is equipped with a large amount of milling power in order to find key cards such as Nightmare Flames, Troupe Master Grimm, and Banishment. Do not be afraid to discard cards you do not need in the moment with extreme prejudice, as one of the Nightmare Flames can recur cards you later decide you want back. The thinner you can get your deck the better.

If you manage to bring out Nightmare King with Troupe Master Grimm, you have an opportunity to relocate all of your cards there to another base later. This can certainly result in a double score if you set it up right, but it can also lead into a large Banishment play the next turn which can be secured by several stalling cards that are replayed. Generally Banishment should be saved for the end of the game, but if the opportunity for it never arises then it's not much of a loss; it's a situationally powerful card that doesn't always result in useful output, so don't be afraid to ditch it if you don't think you'll get the chance for it.

### Partner Suggestions

Partners with useful engines to be secured by the stalling of the Troupe will greatly appreciate their kit, as will those who just need a bit of time to set up their plays. The Troupe can act either as headlining or support quite effectively.

#### Published

* **Shapeshifters:** Immediate access to Grimmkin Nightmares will help speed up draw a lot, and there's an opportunity to chain Doppelganger into TMG and cascade multiple bases with either of his abilities.
* **Werewolves:** Although the Great Wolf Spirit will prevent Nightmare King from entering play, the ability to double-tap the talents of Grimmkin Nightmare, Grimmkin Master, Grimmchild, and Nightmare Heart is extremely valuable and makes Troupe Master Grimm's flipping ability even more potent. Grimmkin Nightmare is a great place to stage Leader of the Pack or Moontouched since its ability does not affect itself.
* **Changerbots:** Huffie and Bruiser are safe locations to stage Grimmchildren for their mobility and protection respectively. They also offer potent stalling options with Change Into a Gun which can also serve as a temporary way to enable Grimmkin Nightmare's card draw, and many of their modifiers can be destroyed for net gain with Banishment.
* **Knights of the Round Table:** The Knights' quests can be safely staged on stalling bases, and Knights can play catch-up very well if the need arises. Many of the non-quest modifiers can be freely destroyed with Banishment after they're done providing value.

#### Custom

* **Vessels:** The Troupe's stalling works very well with the slow power build of the Vessels, and persisting Grimmchildren means you don't have to completely avoid bases where you play them.

## Author Notes

This was a really fun take on a concept I've wanted to execute for a while, where a faction focuses on stalling the game rather than accelerating it while still having ways to actually win by breaking bases (as opposed to Aliens who just sidestep the main objective). It was excellent timing that I connected this idea with the Grimm Troupe right around the time I wanted to expand on the original Hollow Knight faction, and I think the theme and mechanics match pretty much perfectly.