Challenges (Kaycee's Mod)

This is a page with information and strategies for the Challenges and decks in Kaycee's Mod.

## Decks

### Vanilla Deck

* Stoat, Bullfrog, and Wolf

This is the default deck. Although it has a fairly balanced cost/power which allow it to power through early fights, it has low synergy with other cards. These cards don't have strong sigils and require Campfire buffs to hold their own against strong opponents, which make it less reliable as the game gets harder.

### High Cost Deck

* Black Goat, Moose Buck, and Mole

This starter deck gives the player the advantage of being able to run with and play more expensive cards, leading to some powerful plays.

The main crux of this deck is the Black Goat, which can be used to quickly summon the powerful Moose Buck instead of using three Squirrels. It is therefore important that the Black Goat is the ONLY 1 Blood cost card in your deck, whether it be the singular card of copies. Giving it Unkillable or Fecundity is recommended so that it may be used multiple times.

The Moose Buck is a good starting card given its high **Health** and **Power**. Upgrading the Moose Buck at Campfires allows it to quickly win battles if drawn on the first turn. It is also an early candidate to sacrifice the Mole's Sigil onto, thus removing it from the deck and making it easier to draw the Black Goat.

The Mole is a bonus card intended to be used as a sacrifice unit onto the more expensive cards. It is not advised to keep it in your deck for too long, though - remove it as early as possible. A good method would be giving its Sigil to the Moose Buck, which has the equal highest base *Health* of any obtainable card in the game.

After gaining multiple or reusable Black Goats, the deck can be benefited by more 3 Blood cards such as Grizzly and Great White. Urayali is also a possible candidate, though it does require one extra card along with the Black Goat to be summoned. This deck is fairly slow at generating Bones, but it is at the very least consistent in doing so. If you have a means to generate more Bones quickly, Lammergeier can be an option, but otherwise should be avoided in favour of Bone cost units.

If you have a Hooved Totem, you can consider taking other high-cost cards from the tribe as well, such as Wild Bull and Pronghorn. Most Sigils can be used with this deck via the totem, since the majority of the cards have high **Power** and/or **Health** already. But be sure to keep the Black Goat in mind so as to not compromise their use.

### Ant Deck

* Ant Queen, Flying Ant, and Skunk

As Ants' **Power** is determined by how many there are on the board, the purpose of this deck is to create an overwhelming army of Ants. This can be difficult as Ants all require at least one Blood to be played, limiting how many can be played at once.

The Flying Ant is Airborne and can hit over obstacles but has only 1 *Health*. It's good to play behind Boulders or other terrain where it can stay alive to boost other Ants' power while also doing damage. The Ant Queen is a 2 Blood card that is hard to play because of its high cost. The Worker Ant it summons is also hard to play as to have both down in one turn, you need at least two separate sacrifices that total to 3 Blood. Sigils that allow you to bypass the play cost can prove effective, such as Rabbit Hole and Many Lives.

The Skunk can be used to stall and to hog a lane, and then used as a sacrifice when the Ants are ready to be played. It is also a good early candidate for certain events: the Stinky sigil works well when sacrificed onto the Flying Ant, or the Skunk can be increased in power via the Campfire to drastically improve its effectiveness.

Cards that count as Ants include Worker Ant, Ant Queen, Flying Ant, and Amalgam. Keep in mind this does not mean that the Amalgam will gain extra *Power*, it just means that Ants on the board will. The trait of Ant cannot be transferred to other cards.

Good cards to acquire with this deck are Ants, and cards that can be used to generate more Blood for Ants such as Warren and Cat. Keep in mind there are only four lanes, most of which need to be utilized in order to increase the power of all Ants, so having non-Ant cards take up space can weaken the Ants overall.

An Insect totem is also worth considering, especially one that can enhance the effects of the Ants. Ant Spawner can generate more whenever you play one - acting as an Ants-only version of Fecundity - and Leader will enhance neighboring Ants even further.

As this starter deck revolves around Ants, it is important that your prioritize finding more Ants. Having the Clover is crucial in order to reroll cards in order to get Ants, but if it is disabled via the Cloverless Challenge, there are still methods to finding Ants. The Prospector Event is a good way to get more Insect cards whenever he is encountered, as is heading to a Tribe Card Choice event and choosing Insects. Gaining a variety of Pelts from the Trapper for trading may be useful.

### Mantis God Deck

* Mantis God and 2 Ring Worms

Ring Worms should be used at the Campfires until you have free upgrades there. It's better to avoid using the campfires for other cards (e.g. Mantis God), since with a bit of luck, the first (or 2nd) Campfire will both eat a Ring Worm and provide free and risk-less 2x upgrades later on. Always boost the weakest Ring Worm, so the 2nd surviving Ring Worm can be used as a decent stats cheap card.

Mantis God's sigil can be sacrificed to another creature (e.g. Skink, which then provides Trifurcated Strike tails, or Cuckoo, to get a flying trifurcated creature on a blocked lane) in order to increase the deck power, but keep in mind this may make it tricky to place other useful sigils such as Unkillable or Fecundity on it. If you do choose this strategy, selecting easily findable cards allows to later use The Mycologists on them, which is very hard for Mantis God itself. A short and consistent deck is thus easy to achieve here.

After the first Ring Worm is eaten, the second *cannot* be eaten or sacrificed to another creature as it has no sigils. This means the only way to remove it from your deck is the rarer Bone Lord event. Because of this, the Annoying Starters challenge is not as harmful with this deck as with others, as it can allow you to sacrifice the ring worm to another creature, thus getting rid of it.

This deck gains a lot from having backup win conditions. A boosted Mantis God can win many encounters in one turn, but you may struggle when you don't find your copy within the first two turns. It's also of little use in The Moon fight if you don't apply at least 2x health to it beforehand (or use the Magickal Bleach etc).

A strategy that can be employed to *always* draw your Mantis God (or other 1-blood Trifurcated card) is to get rid of the two Ringworms via the Bone Lord or the previously mentioned strategy of using the Annoying Starters challenge, and make sure no other cards costing one blood or less enter your deck throughout the run. The game has a hidden mechanic that makes sure a card with no cost or one blood cost (besides the squirrel) will always be in your starting hand. In this case, this will mean your Mantis God or other 1-blood Trifurcated card is always drawn.

Utility sigils like Hoarder will turn Ring Worm from dud draw into a significant play.

Whether from a sacrifice or totem, Unkillable or Fecundity can protect your Mantis God, smoothing out difficult battles and protecting your strategy against The Prospector and The Trapper.

Goobert's event is great for a boosted Mantis God or other Trifurcated card, as the copied card is often very powerful.

### Waterborne Deck

* 2 Kingfishers and Great Kraken

This starter deck at first glance might seem a bit tricky to use, but in fact is a great deck that embodies the essence of Leshy's game. Having 2 Kingfishers means that the player is able to play one early and then use it as a sacrifice later for more powerful cards. Further enhancing the Kingfishers with sacrifice-oriented Sigils such as Many Lives and Morsel can make them anchors to the deck.

Boosting the Kingfishers through Campfires and combining through the Mycologist event is great for getting a powerful 1 Blood card that can win in one turn. Unless one of them has Morsel, avoid boosting the *Health* of Kingfishers as their Waterborne means they will almost never use it.

Due to the presence of the Kingfishers, this deck can easily pivot into an Avian deck filled with cards such as Sparrows and Ravens. When doing so, be sure to focus mostly on increasing the *Power* of the cards, as almost all Avian cards have Airborne and will strike directly, as opposed to damaging cards unless they have Mighty Leap.

Great Kraken is random and unreliable, but placing it on the leftmost card slot sometimes works for maximizing damage if it changes into the Bell Tentacle. Alternatively, combining its Sigil with Dam Builder or Bellist allows you to have multiple tentacles on the field at once.

### Bone Deck

* Raccoon, Dire Wolf Pup, and Coyote

This starter deck allows the player to create an effective Bone cost deck.

Ideally, you want to start by sacrificing the Dire Wolf Pup's Sigils onto a cheap 1 Blood cost card. Since the player starts with a Raccoon in their deck, that is the best candidate. Regardless, use this card for your Bone generation at the start of a game. NOTE: Due to an interesting synergy, this card will start generating 2 Bones per turn with Bone Digger once it has evolved with Fledgling.

Ideally, you want to add Bone cost cards to your deck. However, if you are forced to add a Blood cost card, ensure that it is an expensive unit so that you can ensure you draw your Bone Digger card at the start of games. Good alternative Blood cost units to add are Rat King and Lammergeier. If you can sacrifice Rat King onto a cheap unit that spawns additional cards - such as Warren or Beehive - you will have an effective alternative to your Bone Digger card. If you find an Ijiraq, always take it as it will not spend Bones when played.

If you can obtain a Black Goat and quickly use it at a Bone Alter event to obtain the Boon of the Bone Lord, you will give yourself a major power spike.

If you are ever offered a Bone generation Sigil by the Woodcarver, take it. The Canine totem is recommended since not only does it benefit your starting Coyote, but it also benefits Alpha's with are incredibly powerful with this deck. Furthermore, most Canine cards cost 2 or more Blood to play, making them good alternative options if you are forced to take one. Another good technique is to take Dam Builder and combine it with a card bearing the Dire Wolf Pup's Sigils - or the card itself - creating a "bone machine" that can generate a lot of Bones quickly.

If this deck is executed correctly, you can draw continuously from your main deck and almost never have to draw a Squirrel.

### No Cost Deck

* Rabbit, Tadpole, and Geck

This is a great deck to play with powerful sigils. Unkillable is a great sigil to place on any of the cards.

However, due to its low power, it's recommended to keep a high-power 2-cost or 1-cost card early on so as not to get walled in early fights.

### Curious Egg Deck

* 3 Curious Eggs

The Curious Eggs may be hatched into the powerful Hydras by having cards in your deck with **Power** ranging from 1 through 5, **Health** ranging from 1 through 5, and one of each other tribe. Thus, keeping an eye on deck building is crucial. Hatching the Eggs as soon as possible is very important, as once they are hatched the deck itself gains a significant power boost.

Unlike small-deck strategies, it's recommended to look for card granting events and avoid card destroying events in order to hatch the eggs more quickly.

One strategy to fulfill the stat requirements is avoiding item use to collect multiple Pack Rats, which provides fodder for a risky Campfire boost to **Power** or a guaranteed 4/4 with The Mycologists. No card in the game naturally has 5 **Power**, but it can be easily achieved by taking either a Grizzly or Great White to a Campfire event and boosting their *Power* once. Due to the low chances of naturally finding a 5 **Health** card, it's recommended to get two copies of 3 **Health** cards so one can get +2 **Health** with the Campfire.

Curious Eggs can be buffed to any Damage and 3 or 5 **Health** using campfires. Cards with special Damage counts like Lammergeier, Ant Queen, and Tentacles should be avoided as they count as 0 **Power**. Cards with no tribe such as Field Mice and Raccoons should also be avoided in preference of tribe cards.

The Hydra can be guaranteed to be drawn first turn by ensuring all 1 Blood cards have the Sigil due to the GetFairHand algorithm. It will still cost 1 Bone to play, however.

Once the Hydras are hatched, a Boon of the Bone Lord is helpful to ensure that the Hydras can be placed first turn.

## Challenges

###    No Hook - 5 CP

You do not start with the Fish Hook. It is not replaced by another item.

***Tips***

* This challenge makes the player start without having the maximum number of **Consumable Items**, preventing them from getting a Pack Rat from the first Draw Items event.

###    Smaller Backpack - 5 CP

You can only carry a maximum of two items at once. You will start with a full backpack (**Bottled Squirrel** and Pliers or Hook).

***Tips***

* If the **No Hook** challenge is active, the player will always start with **Pliers** and a **Bottled Squirrel**, allowing them to get a Pack Rat from the first Draw Items event.

###    Cloverless - 5 CP

You don't get a Clover to redraw cards. This is possibly one of the worst challenges for the least amount of CP.

###   Pricey Pelts - 5 CP

The Trapper's pelts are more expensive.

* Rabbit Pelt costs 4 Teeth instead of 1-2 Teeth.
* Wolf Pelt costs 8 Teeth instead of 2-6 Teeth.
* Golden Pelt costs 20 Teeth instead of 3-11 Teeth.
* Skinning Knife always remains at 7 Teeth, as it isn't a pelt.

###    Totem Bosses - 15 CP

All boss battles will have Totems according to their preferred Tribe.

* The Prospector has Canine with sigils such as Guardian or Burrower.
* The Angler has Avian with sigils such as Sprinter or Hefty.
	+ These make the first stage with Kingfishers or Ravens harder, but with no effect on the Bait Buckets of the second stage.
* The Trapper has Reptile with sigils such as Airborne. This applies to Strange Frogs.
* Leshy has Insect with sigils such as Sharp Quills.
	+ Leshy can play Amalgams, which can benefit from his totem as they belong to every tribe.
* Royal Dominguez has Avian.
	+ Royal's totem is actually useless to him, as none of his cards are **Avian,** even though the Zombie Parrot seems like it should belong to this tribe.

###    Tipped Scales - 20 CP

You start every battle with one damage against you.

***Tips***

* This challenge shouldn't be taken lightly, as some battles are designed to do exactly 4 damage to the player if not countered.
* Reaching any second phase in a **Boss** fight removes every Tooth off the scale, rebalancing the fight.

###    All Totem Battles - 20 CP

All normal battles on the map are replaced with a random Totem Battle.

***Tips***

* Early battles might not have much of a difficulty boost, as Leshy plays fewer cards with weaker sigils.
* However, later fights can become tricky if the totem gives Stinky, Sharp Quills, or Fledgling to many creatures.

###    No Boss Rares - 15 CP

Bosses award regular cards instead of Rares.

***Tips***

* Rares may still be obtained through the Trader and Golden Pelts.
* Pack Rats can still be obtained by encountering the Draw Items event while having the maximum number of items in your inventory.
* Amalgams can still be obtained by encountering The Woodcarver event while having the maximum number of totem pieces possible.

###    More Difficult (two copies) - 15 CP

This challenge may be selected twice. The opponent will get more cards with better quality (including stat lines and Sigils).

***Tips***

* One can actually see if a newly placed card is affected by this challenge by taking a look at the red skull icon that appears whenever a challenge affects the game. Furthermore, code will appear in the bottom right to indicate a stronger card has been played.

###    Single Candle - 30 CP

You are limited to one life.

***Tips***

* As you only have one candle, you will never get The Smoke during boss battles.
* Keep in mind that you can quit and restart battles. Use this to your advantage to plan out your strategy whenever a difficult fight shows up.

###    Annoying Starters - 10 CP

Your starting deck's cards gain the Annoying Sigil from Act 3, causing any card in the lane opposing them to gain 1 Power.

***Tips***

* The Annoying Sigil will increase the power of opponents by 1, including inanimate ones like Boulders or Grand Firs. Be wary of using cards with Annoying against cards with Airborne as they will attack you directly with higher damage.
* This sigil **will** be transferred upon being sacrificed.
* One of the best starter decks to try this challenge with is the Mantis God deck, as the Ring Worms are dead weight meant to be removed through Campfires or the Bone Lord. With this challenge on, another means of getting rid of the Ring Worms through sacrifice is possible, as they normally have no sigils and cannot be sacrificed.

###    Squirrel Fish - 20 CP

The Squirrels from your side deck become Aquasquirrels, which have the Waterborne sigil.

***Tips***

* This challenge prevents the player from tanking hits with their Squirrels, which can lead to a quick defeat with the **Tipped Scales** challenge, as some fights are designed to deal 4 damage to the player on the first turn if not countered.
* Aquasquirrels should not be paired with the Curious Eggs deck as they can't be used as walls to generate the Bones needed to play Curious Eggs.

###    Grizzly Bosses - 50 CP

Switches the second phases of the first three bosses for 8 Grizzly cards with the Mighty Leap Sigil, similar to what happens in the regular game if you progress too fast.

***Tips***

* No Totems will apply as Grizzlies do not have a tribe.
* Normal second stage events don't happen; e.g. the Prospector doesn't destroy all cards on your side, there is no trading with the Trapper. Despite this, this challenge is very difficult to beat normally as the two rows of Grizzlies can easily overwhelm and defeat you in one turn. The first stage of the bosses should be used to prepare for the second stage.
* Stalling out for Starvation to replace the Grizzlies is possible as Airborne can strike over the Starvation.
	+ Be wary of the fact that the Starvation that spawns with the 5/5 statline and all Starvations onward will have the Mighty Leap sigil, rendering this strategy much worse.
* Using a high Power card with Bifuricated or Trifuricated Strike can open a gap to the left or right for an adjoining 5 Power card to win in one turn.
* A Dire Wolf with 6 Power or any such card with Double Strike can defeat the Grizzly and beat Leshy in one turn.
* Items are the most reliable way to guarantee success as they can be obtained on any run. The Pack Rat, which is guaranteed in the Backpack Event if the backpack is full, can be used to farm more.
* Giving a Porcupine the Touch of Death sigil will guarantee it clearing a lane of Grizzlies, as the Porcupine will instant kill the first Grizzly, and the next Grizzly joining the battle will also instantly die from the Sharp Quills with Touch of Death.

Item strategies include:

* The starting items of the Fish Hook and Pliers. Any bear can be hooked on the first turn; this will give you 4 Damage as the Grizzly attacks the empty spot it was in. The Pliers can then be used to gain 1 Damage, winning the battle. Note that by itself the Fish Hook won't win after turn 1 because the second row of Grizzlies will wall the stolen Grizzly.
* Any card that deals 5 damage, and any item that opens a gap such as Scissors, Skinning Knife, and Wiseclock with an empty left space on your side. You can then play the 5 damage card on the first turn and win.
	+ Be careful to play the 5 damage card **after** the Wiseclock, as otherwise Leshy moves that card to his side.
* Magickal Bleach and Harpie's Birdleg Fan or any Airborne cards that can deal 5 points of damage. Removing the Mighty Leap sigil opens up an avenue to win through Airborne damage.
* Hourglass and any card that can do 5 damage in one turn and any card that can kill a Grizzly in one turn such as having 6 Power or Touch of Death. The Hourglass prevents Leshy from moving cards forward, so you can spend the free turn to open up a gap.

###    Final Boss - 20 CP

Leshy is replaced by Royal Dominguez as the final boss of the run, with his own mechanics and cards.

## Trivia

* Several challenges and starter decks changed between the early build beta and full release:
	+ The Smaller Backpack challenge originally could have been selected twice. The second Smaller Backpack was replaced with the No Hook challenge.
	+ There was originally a challenge called Weak Start where Cards in your starting deck would have had 1 less Health, but only if they had more than 1 Health to begin with. Affected cards would show as 'Weak' before their name. This challenge was replaced by Annoying Starters.
	+ The Bone Starter Deck was originally different, consisting of a Rat King, Warren and Alpha. This was later changed to the version of the starter deck that is present now.
	+ The Waterborne Starter Deck originally had a River Otter instead of a Great Kraken.