The Needle

The Needle

Type

Boss

Description

Play only 1 hand

Stats

Minimum Ante

2

Score Requirement

1x base

Reward

5

Compatibility

Matador

✗ No

The Needle is a boss blind that sets the player's hands to 1 at the start of the blind.

• 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) is a great counter to The Needle, as it bypasses the 1-hand restriction and still gives 3 extra hands. This is improved further by copying burglar with Blueprint (Copies ability of [[Jokers|{{Hl|orange|Joker}}]] to the right Win a run Rare Effect Blueprint.png) or Brainstorm (Copies the ability of leftmost [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]] Discard a {{ph|Royal Flush}}. Rare Effect Brainstorm.png).
• Using Luchador (Sell this card to disable the current [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Boss Blind}}]] Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Luchador.png) or Chicot (Disables effect of every [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Boss Blind}}]] Find this [[Jokers|Joker]] from the [[Spectral Cards|{{hl|sblue|Soul}}]] card. Legendary Effect On Blind Select Chicot.png) against The Needle gives the player their hands back, but keeps the lowered blind requirement.
• Avoid using Card Sharp ({{xmult|3}} if played {{hl|orange|poker hand}} has already been played this round Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Card_Sharp.png), as it becomes completely nullified by this boss (unless the player has 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)).
• Avoid using DNA (If {{hl|orange|first hand}} of round has only {{hl|orange|1}} card, add a permanent copy to deck and draw it to {{hl|orange|hand}} Rare Effect On Played DNA.png) or Sixth Sense (If {{hl|orange|first hand}} of round is a single {{hl|orange|6}}, destroy it and create a [[Spectral Cards|{{hl|sblue|Spectral}}]] card <br> {{room}} Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Sixth_Sense.png), unless the player can score high enough with High Card.
• Using the Justice (Enhances {{hl|orange|1}} selected card into a [[Card Modifiers|{{hl|orange|Glass Card}}]] Available from start. Tarot Justice.png) Tarot card to get the X2 Mult may be worth the risk of the card shattering in order to meet the threshold. If possible, it can be saved in the consumable area to ensure it can be used on the single hand given.
• Because the player can no longer use hands as discards, they may struggle to find their ideal poker hand. Some mitigation methods include:
  • A bigger hand size from the 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), Jokers like Juggler ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Common Effect N/A (Passive) Juggler.png) and 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), or the 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) vouchers.
  • More discards from the Red Deck ( {{hl|red|+1}} discard every round Unlocked from start Red Deck.png), Jokers like Drunkard ({{hl|red|+1}} discard each round Common Effect N/A (Passive) Drunkard.png) and 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), or the Wasteful (Permanently gain {{hl|red|+1}} discard each round Base Wasteful.png) and Recyclomancy (Permanently gain an additional {{hl|red|+1}} discard each round Discard a total of 2500 cards Upgraded Recyclomancy.png) vouchers.
  • More score form Acrobat ({{xmult|3}} on {{hl|orange|final hand}} of round Play {{hl|orange|200}} hands Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Acrobat.png) and Dusk (Retrigger all played cards in {{hl|orange|final hand}} of the round Uncommon Retrigger On Scored Dusk.png).

• The icon for The Needle is the Phoenician letter Qoph (𐤒), which represents a needle eye in the hieroglyphics from which it is derived.
• The Needle () requires precision in reference to the phrase "thread the needle".^[1]