Season 1

Shadow Thief

Complexity: 5/6

Health / CP (1v1): 50 / 2 CP

How to play Shadow Thief

Overview & game plan

An attrition thief: hoard CP, let poison tick, then convert CP into damage.

If after roll 1 5× Shadow for Shadow Shank! are reachable. Keep 5× Shadow and reroll all dice not needed, aiming at Shadow Shank! (5 dice). If fewer than 5 matching dice remain after roll 1, switch to Insidious Strike. Shadow Shank! deals a documented 12 damage, so the 5 committed dice stay on the table.

Strengths

Shadows negates an ENTIRE enemy attack phase
Insidious Strike deals damage equal to your whole CP pool – without spending it
Pickpocket steals CP directly from the opponent

Weaknesses

Very tame early: Dagger Strike only deals 4–8
Needs 5+ turns before the CP pool gets dangerous

Dice & symbols

🗡 Dagger · 2/6 (faces 1, 2)💰 Bag · 2/6 (faces 3, 4)🃏 Card · 1/6 (faces 5)👤 Shadow · 1/6 (faces 6)

Most likely attack

Pickpocket

Requirement: 2× 💰 Bag · Chance: 97.1%

Attacks & odds

Ability	Requirement	Chance	Damage	Damage type	Effects
Dagger Strike	3× 🗡 Dagger	84.2%	4 damage	Normal	poison
Shifty Strike	Small straight (4 in a row)	58.7%	about 4 damage	Normal	–
Pickpocket	2× 💰 Bag	97.1%	–	–	–
Insidious Strike	Large straight (5 in a row)	24.9%	about 7 damage	Normal	–
Shadow Dance	3× 👤 Shadow	35.5%	about 2 damage	Pure	–
Carducopia	2× 🃏 Card	69.9%	–	–	–
Shadow Shank! Ultimate	5× 👤 Shadow	1.3%	about 12 damage	Ultimate	–

How you defend

Two options: Shadow Defense (4 dice – 2 shadows = whole hit negated + sneak attack) or Counter Strike (5 dice – retaliate 1 per dagger, poison on dagger+shadow). Both only prevent with luck.

Concrete dice decisions

If after roll 1 5× Shadow for Shadow Shank! are reachable. Keep 5× Shadow and reroll all dice not needed, aiming at Shadow Shank! (5 dice). If fewer than 5 matching dice remain after roll 1, switch to Insidious Strike. Shadow Shank! deals a documented 12 damage, so the 5 committed dice stay on the table.
If after roll 1 a large straight for Insidious Strike are reachable. Keep a large straight and reroll all dice not needed, aiming at Insidious Strike (5 dice). If fewer than 5 matching dice remain after roll 1, switch to Shadow Shank!. Insidious Strike deals a documented 7 damage, so the 5 committed dice stay on the table.
If after roll 1 3× Dagger for Dagger Strike are reachable. Keep 3× Dagger and reroll all dice not needed, aiming at Dagger Strike (3 dice). If fewer than 3 matching dice remain after roll 1, switch to Shadow Shank!. Dagger Strike deals a documented 4 damage and applies poison, so the 3 committed dice stay on the table.
If after roll 1 a small straight for Shifty Strike are reachable. Keep a small straight and reroll all dice not needed, aiming at Shifty Strike (4 dice). If fewer than 4 matching dice remain after roll 1, switch to Shadow Shank!. Shifty Strike deals a documented 4 damage, so the 4 committed dice stay on the table.
If after roll 1 3× Shadow for Shadow Dance are reachable. Keep 3× Shadow and reroll all dice not needed, aiming at Shadow Dance (3 dice). If fewer than 3 matching dice remain after roll 1, switch to Shadow Shank!. Shadow Dance deals a documented 2 damage and ignores defence and prevention, so the 3 committed dice stay on the table.

Concrete playing rules

Mid game

Build Shadows and Sneak Attack, use Insidious Strike for CP banking.

Late game

Work toward Shadow Shank! with as much Sneak Attack bonus as possible.

Resources

Combat Points: Your weapon: Shifty Strike = half your CP (rounded up), Insidious Strike = full pool, Shadow Shank! = pool + 5. The CP are NOT spent. Pickpocket 2–4 (with a shadow: 1 of them stolen from the opponent), Shifty/Insidious/ultimate +3 each before the damage, Dagger Strike +1 with a bag. Barely spend! Only buy cards when the turn is otherwise empty – every CP is future damage.
Shadows + Sneak Attack: Shadows: all attacks in one enemy turn fizzle completely (lasts through your next full turn). Sneak attack: +1d6 on one attack. Shadow Dance (3× shadow) grants both; Shadow Defense on 2 shadows out of 4 dice. Activate Shadows BEFORE the opponent's strongest turn – e.g. when their ultimate symbols are already showing.

Statuses & timing

Shadows: positive, per the burst note a prerequisite for the Sneak Attack escalation.
Sneak Attack: positive, per the burst note adds an extra d6 to the ultimate.
Poison: negative, triggered as a conditional inflict via Dagger Strike, Shadow Defense and Counter Strike.
Prioritise Pickpocket/Carducopia when no high-chance attack is available, since they are pure economy turns with no damage per the data set.

Shadows + Sneak Attack: Shadow Dance (3× shadow) grants both; Shadow Defense on 2 shadows out of 4 dice.
Shadows + Sneak Attack: Activate Shadows BEFORE the opponent's strongest turn – e.g. when their ultimate symbols are already showing.

Avoid these mistakes

No reliable data is available for this section.