Status

power

Evolve

1

C

Whenever you draw a Status, draw 1 card.

power

Fire Breathing

1

C+

Whenever you draw a Status or Curse card, deal 6 damage to ALL enemies.

This archetype revolves around abusing powerful status-generating cards by negating their offsets. Evolve nullifies most of the downsides of drawing statuses. Fire Breathing turns those statuses into a win condition; no more than 2 are necessary. Add some exhaust options to manage the build up of statuses, since too many Wounds can completely clog up your hand. Couple this with a few reliable draw cards to keep triggering Fire Breathing.

attack

Immolate

2

S-

Deal 21 damage to ALL enemies.
Shuffle a Burn into your discard pile.

skill

Power Through

1

C-

Add 2 Wounds to your hand.
Gain 15 Block.

attack

Reckless Charge

0

B-

Deal 7 damage.
Shuffle a Dazed into your draw pile.

attack

Wild Strike

1

C+

Deal 12 damage.
Shuffle a Wound into your draw pile.

skill

True Grit

1

C

Gain 7 Block.
Exhaust a random card from your hand.

attack

Sever Soul

2

C+

Exhaust all non-Attack cards in your hand.
Deal 16 damage.

skill

Second Wind

1

D+

Exhaust all non-Attack cards in your hand and gain 5 Block for each.

attack

Fiend Fire

2

B+

Exhaust your hand.
Deal 7 damage for each Exhausted card.
Exhaust.

power

Dark Embrace

2

D+

Whenever a card is Exhausted, draw 1 card.

skill

Battle Trance

0

A

Draw 3 cards.
You cannot draw additional cards this turn.

skill

Warcry

0

B-

Draw a card.
Place a card from your hand on top of your draw pile.
Exhaust.

skill

Burning Pact

1

D

Exhaust 1 card.
Draw 2 cards.

curse

Ascender's Bane

Unplayable.
Ethereal.
Cannot be removed from your deck.

Mark of Pain

boss

Gain 1 Energy at the start of each turn. Start combats with 2 Wounds in your draw pile.

A+

Medical Kit

shop

Status cards can now be played. Playing a Status will Exhaust the card.

B-

B-

B-

B-

There are a few Ironclad cards that generate statuses. They tend to be more powerful to account for their downsides, and this archetype offsets the cons. Feel free to draft a few, but not so many that your Evolve takes too long to play.

Draw is important for repeatedly triggering your Fire Breathing. In addition to Evolve, pick up some Shrug It Offs and Pommel Strikes for fast cycle. Warcry is uniquely useful since it allows you to draw Statuses but also put one back on the top of your draw pile, which in some situations is the optimal move.

Feel free to draft some Exhaust cards like Burning Pact and True Grit to help manage the build up of statuses which can become excessive, particularly with Burns and Wounds. Medical Kit can help you in a pinch - if you pick this up, also consider some extra Exhaust synergies like Dark Embrace.

Mark of Pain is a nice boss relic for this archetype.

Ascender's Bane triggers Fire Breathing, which gives it some utility. I wouldn't go out of my way to pick up curses, but some events that give you curses look more attractive when you're running this build. Proceed with caution.