Ceremonial Dagger

Ceremonial Dagger

Effect

When Blind is selected, destroy Joker to the right and permanently add double its sell value to this Mult
(Currently +0 Mult)

Rarity

Uncommon

Unlock Requirement

Available from start.

Stats

Buy Price

6

Sell Price

3

Type

Additive Mult

Activation

Independent

Compatibility

Copyable

✓ Yes

Perishable

✗ No

Eternal

✓ Yes

Ceremonial Dagger is an Uncommon scaling Additive Mult Joker. It starts at +0 Mult, and at the beginning of each round, it will destroy the Joker immediately to its right and gain Mult equal to twice the destroyed card's sell value. If it is the rightmost Joker, it will not destroy anything. If the Joker to the right of it is Eternal (), the Eternal joker will not be destroyed, and no Mult will be added to the total.

Since the destruction happens only on Blind selection, Ceremonial Dagger can be safely reordered with other jokers during a Blind to apply its Mult bonus in the most beneficial order.

• Yellow Deck ( Start with extra {{Money|10}} Discover at least {{hl|orange|50}} items from your [[Collection|collection]] Yellow Deck.png) is a good option, as the early bonus money allows players to get to $25 quickly and be able to save up a lot for the Dagger.
• Black Deck ( {{hl|orange|+1}} Joker slot <br> {{hl|blue|-1}} hand every round Discover at least {{hl|orange|100}} items from your [[collection]] Black Deck.png)'s extra Joker slot is very helpful, as one can still have four safe Jokers while scaling Dagger.
• Similarly, Five-Card Draw ( )'s 2 extra Jokers slots is even better, as one can still have six Jokers while scaling Dagger.
• Anaglyph Deck ( After defeating each [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Boss Blind}}]], gain a [[File:Double tag.png|24px]] [[Tags|{{hl|orange|Double Tag}}]] Win a run with any [[Decks|deck]] on the {{Stake|Black}} difficulty or harder Anaglyph Deck.png) is occasionally a good choice, as the Double Tag can provide lots of economic buffs when presented. However, skipping a blind means skipping a level of scaling.
• Inflation ( ) might work with Ceremonial Dagger, as this deck permanently increases prices by $1 on every purchase, including the sell price. This Joker can scale very fast thanks to Jokers' inflated sell prices.

This Joker can sometimes make it more difficult to change your deck due to needing a constant supply of money to fuel its destruction of other Jokers. As a result, it might be best to prioritize easier-to-play hands. However, the hand you play doesn't really matter, as the Mult Dagger provides will always apply.

Ceremonial Dagger is, at its core, an economy-based scaling Joker. Therefore, having more money makes it better, as one can afford more expensive Jokers to scale it. There are many options, but it's recommended to go for more powerful ones, like Cloud 9 (Earn {{Money|1}} for each {{hl|orange|9}} in your {{hl|orange|full deck}} at end of round <br> {{Currently|{{Money|4}}}} Uncommon Economy N/A (Passive) Cloud 9.png) or Golden Ticket (Played [[Gold Cards|{{hl|orange|Gold}}]] cards earn {{Money|4}} when scored Play a 5 card hand that contains only {{hl|orange|Gold}} cards Common Economy On Scored Golden Ticket.png), as Joker slots are limited with Dagger.

• Egg (Gains {{Money|3}} of {{Hl|orange|sell value}} at end of round Common Economy N/A (Passive) Egg.png)'s sell value grows by $3 per round, which can be a big windfall when fed to a Ceremonial Dagger.
• Gift Card (Add {{Money|1}} of {{hl|orange|sell value}} to every [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]] and [[Consumables|{{hl|orange|Consumable}}]] card at end of round Uncommon Economy N/A (Passive) Gift Card.png) adds $1 of sell value to all owned Jokers at the end of a round, getting some more power out of Jokers before they're put to the altar.
• Swashbuckler (Adds the sell value of all other owned [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Jokers}}]] to Mult <br> {{currently|{{mult|+1}}}} Sell a total of {{hl|orange|20}} Joker cards Common Additive Mult Independent Swashbuckler.png), which also benefits from higher sell values, can act as a sort of mini-Dagger until you find it.
• Riff-Raff (When [[Blind|{{hl|orange|Blind}}]] is selected, create {{hl|orange|2}} [[Common Jokers|{{hl|blue|Common}} {{hl|orange|Jokers}}]] <br> {{room}} Common Effect On Blind Select Riff-Raff.png) can supply joker cards to scale the Dagger. This alleviates the economic strain before one can obtain strong sources of money.
• Joker Stencil ({{xmult|1}} for each empty [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]] slot <br> <small>Joker Stencil included</small> <br> {{Currently|{{xmult|1|}}}} Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Joker Stencil.png) will provide increased XMult when Ceremonial Dagger consumes one Joker at the start of each blind, since an empty slot is created.
• Chaos the Clown ({{hl|orange|1}} free {{hl|green|Reroll}} per shop Common Effect N/A (Passive) Chaos_the_Clown.png) grants a free reroll, making it a bit cheaper to hunt for Jokers to feed to the Dagger.
• Credit Card (Go up to {{hl|red|-$20}} in debt Common Economy N/A (Passive) Credit Card.png) has a buy and sell value of $1, which translates to a very efficient conversion rate of money into +Mult.

Strong sources of XMult are very much appreciated, as they push Ceremonial Dagger's Mult even higher and allow one to win faster, therefore getting more money.

Note that if Ceremonial Dagger is to the left of a different Joker that triggers "When Blind is selected" (such as Cartomancer (Create a [[Tarot Cards|{{hl|purple|Tarot}}]] card when [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Blind}}]] is selected <br> {{room}} Discover every Tarot Card. Uncommon Effect On Blind Select Cartomancer.png), Riff-Raff (When [[Blind|{{hl|orange|Blind}}]] is selected, create {{hl|orange|2}} [[Common Jokers|{{hl|blue|Common}} {{hl|orange|Jokers}}]] <br> {{room}} Common Effect On Blind Select Riff-Raff.png), or Burglar (When [[Blind|{{hl|orange|Blind}}]] is selected, gain {{hl|blue|+3}} Hands and {{hl|orange|lose all discards}} Uncommon Effect On Blind Select Burglar.png)), the Ceremonial Dagger will destroy the other joker before it can trigger.

• Reroll Surplus (Rerolls cost {{Money|2}} less Base Reroll Surplus.png), Reroll Glut (Rerolls cost an additional {{Money|2}} less Reroll the shop a total of 100 times Upgraded Reroll Glut.png), Overstock ({{hl|orange|+1}} card slot available in shop Base Overstock.png), and Overstock Plus ({{hl|orange|+1}} card slot available in shop Spend a total of {{Money|2500}} at the shop Upgraded Overstock Plus.png) all make it easier to look for more expensive Jokers to scale Ceremonial Dagger.
• Hone ({{hl|edition|Foil}}, {{hl|edition|Holographic}}, and {{hl|edition|Polychrome}} cards appear {{hl|orange|2X}} more often Base Hone.png) and Glow Up ({{hl|edition|Foil}}, {{hl|edition|Holographic}}, and {{hl|edition|Polychrome}} cards appear {{hl|orange|4X}} more often Have at least 5 Joker cards with Foil, Holographic, or Polychrome (or Negative) effect Upgraded Glow Up.png) make it more likely for editioned Jokers to appear, which have a higher sell value, helping Ceremonial Dagger gain +Mult.
• Antimatter ({{hl|edition|+1}} Joker Slot Redeem Blank 10 total times Upgraded Antimatter.png) provides +1 Joker slot, allowing the player to have five Jokers while scaling Dagger.

• On Gold Stake difficulty, Rental () Jokers offer the most efficient cost-to-mult ratio of 1:2, similar to Credit Card (Go up to {{hl|red|-$20}} in debt Common Economy N/A (Passive) Credit Card.png). This can make scaling the Dagger more affordable in the early game.

• Painted Deck ( {{hl|orange|+2}} hand size, <br> {{hl|red|-1}} Joker slot Win a run with any [[Decks|deck]] on the {{Stake|Green}} difficulty or harder Painted Deck.png)'s reduced Joker amount is bad to combo with Ceremonial Dagger, as the player will only have three Jokers while scaling Ceremonial Dagger.
• Similarly, Cruelty ( )'s reduced Joker amount is even more difficult to combo with Ceremonial Dagger, as the player will only have two Jokers while scaling Ceremonial Dagger.
• Non-Perishable ( ) does not work with Ceremonial Dagger, as all Jokers are Eternal (), and it cannot destroy them and doesn't gain + Mult.

• Abstract Joker ({{Mult|+3}} for each [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]] card<br>{{Currently|{{mult|+0}}}} Common Additive Mult Independent Abstract Joker.png) depends on having many Jokers to boost its +Mult, which it can't do very well with Ceremonial Dagger destroying Jokers left and to the right, which reduces the total Joker count.
• Throwback ({{xmult|0.25}} for each [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Blind}}]] skipped this run <br> {{currently|{{xmult|1}}}} Continue a saved run from the main menu Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Throwback.png) depends on skipping Blinds, and when a Blind is skipped, Ceremonial Dagger cannot be upgraded.

• Clearance Sale (All cards and packs in shop are {{hl|orange|25%}} off Base Clearance Sale.png) and Liquidation (All cards and packs in shop are {{hl|orange|50%}} off Redeem at least 10 Voucher cards in one run Upgraded Liquidation.png) are very bad to combo with Dagger. Their reduced prices also affect sell value, and sell value rounds down, making Dagger much less effective. It is impossible to get more than +4 per Joker after Liquidation except from a few Editioned Rare Jokers, Legendaries, or from scaling sell value effects such as Egg (Gains {{Money|3}} of {{Hl|orange|sell value}} at end of round Common Economy N/A (Passive) Egg.png) and Gift Card (Add {{Money|1}} of {{hl|orange|sell value}} to every [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]] and [[Consumables|{{hl|orange|Consumable}}]] card at end of round Uncommon Economy N/A (Passive) Gift Card.png).

• The On a Knife's Edge ( ) challenge starts the player with an Eternal () copy of Ceremonial Dagger pinned to the left of their jokers.

• Ritual weapons, including knives and daggers, are used in many forms of ceremonial sacrifice in the real world, and as such are found in many fictional works.
• The name and design of this card are likely references to the Ceremonial Dagger item from the Risk of Rain series. In those games, its effect required an enemy to be slain to trigger, similar to how this Joker requires another Joker to be sacrificed.
• This Joker is the main star in the On a Knife's Edge ( ) Challenge Deck. It receives the Eternal Sticker () and a unique Pinned property, which makes it permanently stuck at the leftmost side. As a result, players must constantly "feed" the dagger during this challenge, and it cannot benefit from Blueprint (Copies ability of [[Jokers|{{Hl|orange|Joker}}]] to the right Win a run Rare Effect Blueprint.png) (but it works with Brainstorm (Copies the ability of leftmost [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]] Discard a {{ph|Royal Flush}}. Rare Effect Brainstorm.png) normally).
• Outside of the aforementioned Challenge, Ceremonial Dagger can be used alongside other Jokers once it's buffed up significantly. Simply move it to the rightmost slot at the end of each blind, start a new blind, and move it back to the leftmost side so it can provide maximum effect for other Multiplicative Jokers. This ensures Ceremonial Dagger doesn't consume any other Jokers while still providing +Mult for the round.
• Ceremonial Dagger has a unique slicing sound effect when it destroys a Joker. The pitch of the sound effect changes slightly each time.