Slay the Spire: Defect A20H Strategy, Key Cards That Don’t Rely on Rares, Part 3: Recycle

Image credit: © Mega Crit Games, LLC. Slay the Spire (PC/Steam version). This article uses a limited number of screenshots to explain gameplay strategy. The screenshots are from the Japanese version of the game.

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Note: This article is about the original Slay the Spire and assumes Ascension 20 and an attempt to beat the Heart.

This continues my series on key Defect cards that don’t rely on rares. So far, I’ve covered Loop and Sunder.

Part 3 covers the uncommon Skill, Recycle.

The Defect’s only card that can exhaust other cards

Recycle is the Defect’s only card that can exhaust other cards.

It’s strong in long fights, and in the right deck it can be very powerful. In the early game, however, it’s pure dead weight.

Strong when your hand grows easily and in fights where you cycle your deck many times

Recycle is extremely effective in situations like these:

• When your hand grows easily thanks to draw, Runic Pyramid, and so on
• When your deck is thin and an infinite loop is within reach
• In fights where you go through your deck many times

So it’s a card that really shines in decks where you’ve removed unnecessary cards, or in decks with strong draw.

It can increase your Energy

Note that Recycle can also increase your Energy. If you exhaust a high-cost card, you gain Energy.

What makes it especially strong is exhausting an X-cost card. An X-cost card counts as costing your current Energy, so exhausting an X-cost card nearly doubles your Energy.

The Defect’s X-cost cards are Reinforced Body and Multi-Cast. If you have Recycle, these cards become even more valuable.

For example, by playing TURBO and then using Recycle to exhaust an X-cost card, you can easily generate a large amount of Energy.

If you have All for One, be sure to upgrade it

Another strong example is its synergy with All for One.

Upgrading Recycle makes it cost 0, so All for One can return it to your hand to play again. When you have All for One, be sure to upgrade Recycle.

Against the Heart, you can get rid of status cards

Also, against the Heart, you can exhaust the status cards the Heart shuffles into your deck, such as Wound, Slimed, and Burn. In a deck where an infinite loop is within reach, this helps too.

Skip it until you have the strength to get through Act 1

As for when to take it, I think it’s better to pass on it while you don’t yet have enough strength to beat Act 1 Elites and the boss.

My sense is that it only starts pulling its weight in your deck from around the Act 2 boss. So it isn’t suited to surviving the middle of Act 2. If Act 2 looks dangerous, it’s better to choose another card that helps right away.

That said, if you’ve already picked up plenty of draw cards like Skim and Compile Driver, or your card removal is well along, it’s reasonable to take it when you see it with the later game in mind.

Its upgrade priority is fairly high. However, it becomes much higher when you have All for One or when you’re short on Energy.

I recommend taking one or two copies.

I hope this helps!