Torres Assimilate

Crafting cost: 6960

Crystal Skull
800

Torres var Emreis: Founder
15 : 800
Stefan Skellen
13 : 800
Artaud Terranova
13 : 800
Jan Calveit
11 : 800
Vilgefortz
9 : 800
Artorius Vigo
9 : 200
Coup de Grâce
9 : 800
Nauzicaa Sergeantx2
6 : 30
Slave Driverx2
6 : 30
Fercart
6 : 200
Experimental Remedy
5 : 80
Assassinationx2
5 : 80
Amnesty
5 : 80
Mage Torturerx2
5 : 80
Imperial Diplomacyx2
4 : 80
Tourney Joustx2
4 : 30
Battle Preparationx2
4 : 30
Obsidian Mirror
4 : 80

This deck wins by using Jan Calveit to guarantee access, Torres to inject and tag valuable opponent cards, and Assimilate payoffs to convert stolen or generated cards into points. The goal is not to blindly copy the opponent. Their deck is usually built to use its own cards better than you are. Your job is to stop their real engine or converter first, then use Nilfgaard tools to replay, steal, or repurpose their resources. Jan is assumed because the deck runs 12 Tactics. Most mistakes do not come from missing Jan. They come from keeping the wrong hand around Jan, spending low-end cards too casually, or overplaying Round 1 when the correct line is to leave with a better future hand. Mulligans: Keep cards that give you early structure before Jan sorts the deck. Torres, Mage Torturer, Glynnis, Artorius, useful control Tactics, and matchup-specific answers are usually more important than holding expensive golds Jan will naturally draw later. Do not overkeep finishers just because they are strong. If Jan is available, cards like Stefan, Artaud, Vilgefortz, and other premium golds can often be tossed because Jan will place them near the top later. Do not use Nauzicaa Sergeant or Slave Driver before the opponent has won a round. Slave Driver is also much better when it has an active Nauzicaa or other meaningful bronze to copy. Do not casually throw away Battle Preparation. After Jan, a weak card in hand can become a future mulligan ticket into a known premium card. Spending Battle Preparation “just to be safe” can cost more than the points it appears to gain. Round 1: On red coin, default to a controlled soft-contest. You are not trying to win Round 1 at all costs. You are trying to create enough pressure that the opponent must spend real resources, then leave before you damage your Round 2 and Round 3 structure. The normal red coin checkpoint is three cards to 7 cards in hand: Tactic → Tactic → Jan With Torres in hand, use: Torres → Tactic → Jan or Tactic → Torres → Jan Torres replaces one of the three checkpoint cards. He does not reduce the plan to Torres → Jan → pass unless the opponent’s board is already weak enough that this still creates meaningful pressure. If you reach the 7-card checkpoint and the opponent needs to spend to win the round, passing is often correct. This is not surrendering. It is forcing them to buy Round 1 while you preserve Jan’s ordered deck and future mulligans. On blue coin, Crystal Skull lets you develop more safely, but do not use that as an excuse to overplay. Skull can protect Glynnis, Fercart if you run him, or another key development card, but if the opponent is abandoning the round, stop spending. Torres: Founder Torres is usually the preferred form. He gives Spying to opponent units, creates copies in your deck, improves Artaud targets, and gives you more non-starting-deck cards for Assimilate. Do not use Torres as an excuse to ignore a must-answer engine. If the opponent opens with a card that their whole deck converts through, answer it, seize it, lock it, or tag it first unless Torres himself solves the problem. Double Cross: Double Cross is tempo, theft, and information. Use it when at least two of those matter, or when one is decisive. Good leader uses include forcing a key card during a Round 2 bleed, finding reach late in Round 1, triggering Assimilate engines in Round 3, or revealing enough of the opponent’s hand to guide your next decision. Bad leader uses are usually random. Do not press Double Cross just because it is available. If the stolen card does not change the round, the information does not matter, and you have no Assimilate payoff active, leader may be better saved. Artaud and Spying: Tag with intent. Mage Torturer, Torres, and other Spying sources should mark cards you may actually want to replay with Artaud or Coup. Do not give Spying to junk unless you have no better option. Artaud is only as good as the targets you prepared. A smaller but relevant replay is often better than a flashy card that does not affect the matchup. Assimilate Payoff: I currently prefer Glynnis over Fercart as the flex card. Fercart gives smoothing, special compression, and extra Spying, but Jan already solves much of the access problem. Glynnis gives stronger conversion when your generated and stolen cards start chaining. Do not jam Glynnis blindly on red coin. She is better when she can either be protected, immediately trigger, or force removal that would otherwise answer a more important engine. Round 2: If you lost Round 1, look for activated Nauzicaa lines before spending premium golds. Nauzicaa into Battle Preparation, followed by Slave Driver copying Nauzicaa, can defend efficiently while saving your best cards. If you won Round 1, do not automatically dry pass. Ask whether the opponent’s long Round 3 is better than yours. If their deck has a stronger native long round, bleed carefully and force the pieces that matter. Miscellaneous: Do not confuse stolen cards with stolen systems. The opponent’s cards may be worse for you if you do not also have the engine that makes them good. Do not chase every small unit. Kill or deny the card that makes future points matter. Do not overcommit for a pretty Round 1 score. A line can make a lot of points and still lose match EV if it spends the cards you needed later. Use low-end Tactics carefully after Jan. They may be bad current plays but excellent future mulligan tickets. Against Viy and other scheduling decks, do not treat the matchup like normal pointslam. You need to disrupt the access or consume threshold, not simply make reasonable points. Against engine decks, identify the converter first. This deck is much better at punishing a broken system than racing a live one. Final rule: Ask every turn whether you are improving your future structure or spending it to make the current board look safer. This deck is strongest when it forces the opponent to spend while you leave with the better next hand.

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