Steel Cards

Steel Card

Effect

X1.5 Mult while this card stays in hand

Steel Cards are Enhanced playing cards that give X1.5 Mult to a played hand while held in hand. This enhancement can be obtained or added to cards a few different ways, including:

• The Chariot (Enhances {{hl|orange|1}} selected card into a [[Card Modifiers|{{hl|orange|Steel Card}}]] Available from start. Tarot The Chariot.png) adds the Steel enhancement to 1 card in your hand.
• Incantation (Destroy {{hl|orange|1}} random card in your hand, add {{hl|orange|4}} random [[Card_Modifiers#Enhancements|{{hl|orange|Enhanced}}]] [[Card Ranks#Number cards|{{hl|orange|numbered cards}}]] to your hand Available from start. Spectral Incantation.png), Familiar (Destroy {{hl|orange|1}} random card in your hand, add {{hl|orange|3}} random [[Card Modifiers#Enhancements|{{hl|orange|Enhanced}}]] [[Card Ranks#Face cards|{{hl|orange|face cards}}]] to your hand Available from start. Spectral Familiar.png), and Grim (Destroy {{hl|orange|1}} random card in your hand, add {{hl|orange|2}} random [[Card Modifiers#Enhancements|{{hl|orange|Enhanced}}]] [[Card Ranks#Aces|{{hl|orange|Aces}}]] to your hand Available from start. Spectral Grim.png) can add Steel Number, Face, and Ace cards, respectively.
• Standard Packs can contain Steel Cards.
• Illusion ({{hl|orange|Playing cards}} in shop may have an [[Card Modifiers#Enhancements|{{hl|sblue|Enhancement}}]], [[Card Modifiers#Edition|{{hl|edition|Edition}}]], and/or a [[Card Modifiers#Seal|{{hl|orange|Seal}}]] Buy a total of 20 Playing cards from the shop Upgraded Illusion.png) allows for Steel Cards to be purchased in The Shop.

• Plasma Deck ( Balance [[Chips|{{hl|blue|Chips}}]] and [[Mult|{{hl|red|Mult}}]] when calculating score for played hand <br> {{hl|red|X2}} base Blind size Win a run with any [[Decks|deck]] on the {{Stake|Blue}} difficulty or harder Plasma Deck.png), while worse for Steel Cards than other decks in early antes, will eventually far surpass any other deck in terms of scoring. Because of how score is calculated on the Plasma Deck, your Mult is essentially raised to the 2nd power if its value before balancing is high enough.
• 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) starts with +2 hand size, making Steel Cards more powerful.

• Paint Brush ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Base Paint Brush.png) and Palette ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Reduce your hand size down to five cards. Upgraded Palette.png) both increase hand size, allowing for more Steel Cards to be held in hand.

• Red Seals (Retrigger this card {{hl|orange|1}} time Red Seal.png) retrigger the effect of Steel Cards, doubling their effect.
• Blue Seals (Creates the {{Planet|}} card for final played [[Poker Hands|{{hl|orange|poker hand}}]] of round if {{hl|orange|held}} in hand<br>{{room}} Blue Seal.png) similarly activate when held in hand, allowing for Mult and poker hand scaling to be done simultaneously.

• High Card is the best hand to play when utilizing Steel Cards as it allows for the most Steel Cards to be held in hand.

• Steel Joker (Gives {{xmult|0.2}} for each [[Steel Cards|{{hl|orange|Steel Card}}]] in your {{hl|orange|full deck}} <br> {{currently|{{xmult|1}}}} Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Steel Joker.png) directly benefits from Steel Cards, increasing by X0.2 Mult per Steel Card in your full deck. This can easily be your primary scoring Joker, or be used as a temporary source of scoring while you look for more powerful Jokers.
• Mime (Retrigger all card {{hl|orange|held in hand}} abilities Uncommon Retrigger On Held Mime.png) retriggers the effect of Steel Cards, essentially doubling the number of Steel Cards held in hand.
• Baron (Each {{hl|orange|King}} held in hand gives {{xmult|1.5}} Rare Multiplicative Mult On Held Baron.png) has a similar effect to Mime if your Steel Cards are Kings, giving an additional X1.5 Mult per Steel Card.
• Shoot the Moon (Each {{hl|orange|Queen}} held in hand gives {{mult|+13}} Play every Heart card in your deck in one round. Common Additive Mult On Held Shoot the Moon.png) can benefit from Steel Cards if Queens are moved to the left of Steel Cards held in hand.
• Raised Fist (Adds {{hl|orange|double}} the rank of {{hl|orange|lowest}} ranked card held in hand to Mult Common Additive Mult On Held Raised Fist.png) has a similar interaction with Steel Cards, as moving the lowest ranked card in your hand to the left of any Steel Cards will increase your score.
• Juggler ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Common Effect N/A (Passive) Juggler.png) allows for 1 additional Steel Card to be held in hand.
• Troubadour ({{hl|orange|+2}} hand size, <br> {{hl|blue|-1}} hand each round Win {{hl|orange|5}} consecutive rounds by <abbr title="Discards are OK to use.">playing only 1 hand</abbr> Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Troubadour.png) allows for 2 additional Steel Cards to be held in hand.

• The Serpent ( Boss The Serpent.png) gives +2 hand size per discard and hand if only 1 card is played or discarded.

• Five-Card Draw ( ) does not work well with Steel Cards due to the decreased hand size and banning of hand size-increasing Jokers.

• Merry Andy ({{hl|red|+3}} discards each round, <br>{{hl|red|-1}} hand size Win a run in {{hl|orange|12}} or fewer rounds Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Merry_Andy.png) gives -1 hand size, which can drastically reduce the scoring potential of Steel Cards.
• Similarly, Stuntman ({{Chips|+250}},<br>{{hl|orange|-2}} hand size Earn at least 100 million (100,000,000) Chips in a single hand. Rare Chips Independent Stuntman.png) gives -2 hand size, which can drastically reduce the scoring potential of Steel Cards even more.

• Ectoplasm (Add [[Card Modifiers#Editions|{{hl|edition|Negative}}]] to a random {{hl|orange|Joker,}} {{hl|red|-1}} hand size Available from start. Spectral Ectoplasm.png) permanently reduces hand size by 1, and this reduction increases by 1 each time it is taken. The downside of this can be somewhat negated by the +1 Joker slot, but Ectoplasm should still be used with caution if going for a build that utilizes Steel Cards.
• Ouija (Converts all cards in hand to a single random [[Card Ranks|{{hl|orange|rank}}]]<br>{{hl|red|-1}} hand size Available from start. Spectral Ouija.png) also permanently reduces hand size by 1, though its upside is significantly less helpful than Ectoplasm's. This Spectral card should be avoided entirely if utilizing Steel Cards.

• The Manacle ( Boss The Manacle.png) reduces hand size, therefore allowing fewer Steel Cards to be utilized.
• The Hook ( Boss The Hook.png) can discard Steel Cards before scoring.
• The Psychic ( Boss The Psychic.png) can be devastating if your score is reliant on held in hand effects.

To get the most scoring from Steel Cards, the best strategy is to play a High Card with a full hand of Steel Cards, ideally all with Red Seals (Retrigger this card {{hl|orange|1}} time Red Seal.png). It is also important to increase hand size whenever possible, either with vouchers or Jokers. If going for a deep endless run, Baron (Each {{hl|orange|King}} held in hand gives {{xmult|1.5}} Rare Multiplicative Mult On Held Baron.png), Mime (Retrigger all card {{hl|orange|held in hand}} abilities Uncommon Retrigger On Held Mime.png), and Blueprint (Copies ability of [[Jokers|{{Hl|orange|Joker}}]] to the right Win a run Rare Effect Blueprint.png)/ Brainstorm (Copies the ability of leftmost [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]] Discard a {{ph|Royal Flush}}. Rare Effect Brainstorm.png) are essential. Steel Cards are also an essential element in achieving naneinf, along with the previously mentioned Jokers (see the naneinf guide here).

Card order matters! It's always best to put cards that give flat Mult when held in hand before any Steel Cards. For example, if you have Shoot the Moon (Each {{hl|orange|Queen}} held in hand gives {{mult|+13}} Play every Heart card in your deck in one round. Common Additive Mult On Held Shoot the Moon.png) and your hand looks like this:

Then the optimal order could look like this:

The exact order doesn't matter, only that the Queen is to the left of the Steel Card. That way, the +13 Mult from the Queen is multiplied by X1.5 Mult, giving +19.5 Mult.