Equipment
- Damage core
- Mangler
- Support cards
- Imp, Cemetery; optional Demon Altar
- Enchantments / tome actions
- Support for the remaining screen
- Board state
- Developed plan; adjust to actual draws
Skills
- Card access
- Mangler, Imp, Cemetery and Demon Altar are Blood cards. Current Mangler is a summon source, not the old direct artillery description.
- Effect condition
- B1 and C2 Imp plots are cardinal neighbors of B2 Mangler. Cemetery at C1 touches both B1 and C2 Imp plots for adjacent-troop destruction. Its battlefield-death summoning is a separate trigger; consumption, battlefield death and troop-plot destruction are not interchangeable.
Best for
A distinct Blood route when meat-troll summons and affordable fodder are available.
Avoid if
The consumption engine removes the only useful screen, or the summon route is still too weak to replace the fed troops.
How it works
Mangler consumes adjacent units and summons meat trolls. Current summons inherit summon-related benefits; Patch #31 also adds health gain on unit destruction. Cemetery and an optional Altar can use deaths without making every troop expendable.
Equipment priority
| Priority | Equipment | Instruction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Stabilize | Mangler | Build a usable troop supply before making Mangler the only hope of damage. The B1 Imp is an illustrated feed connection, but the army also needs troops that remain useful after consumption. A reward for another Mangler level is not an automatic improvement when feed is already unaffordable. |
| 2 · Connect | Imp, Cemetery; optional Demon Altar | Place Cemetery at C1 to connect both B1 and C2 Imp plots. This position gives a clear adjacent-troop-plot destruction route. Ordinary battlefield deaths supply a separate Cemetery role; do not treat a consumed battlefield unit as proof that the troop plot itself was destroyed. |
| 3 · Develop | Support for the remaining screen | Mangler at B2 has two Imp connections and summons meat trolls under the current rework. Cemetery at C1 and an optional Altar at C3 can add related value, but their triggers still need separate checks. Patch #31 adds Mangler HP gain when it destroys units; that does not make its consumption cost disappear. |
Build order
- Build a usable troop supply before making Mangler the only hope of damage. The B1 Imp is an illustrated feed connection, but the army also needs troops that remain useful after consumption. A reward for another Mangler level is not an automatic improvement when feed is already unaffordable.
- Place Cemetery at C1 to connect both B1 and C2 Imp plots. This position gives a clear adjacent-troop-plot destruction route. Ordinary battlefield deaths supply a separate Cemetery role; do not treat a consumed battlefield unit as proof that the troop plot itself was destroyed.
- Mangler at B2 has two Imp connections and summons meat trolls under the current rework. Cemetery at C1 and an optional Altar at C3 can add related value, but their triggers still need separate checks. Patch #31 adds Mangler HP gain when it destroys units; that does not make its consumption cost disappear.
How to play
After a feed action, inspect what actually remains and who receives enemy pressure. If the army becomes weaker before the summons make up the difference, stop increasing consumption. A late Altar consumes a tile and an upgrade opportunity; defer it if the existing Mangler still needs basic protection.
What can break the build
Adding more consumption while B1 Imp is the last working protection can leave the valuable units exposed. The build then loses the time required for the meat trolls to contribute. Preserve remaining screening first, rather than reading the larger Mangler statistic as a complete battle result.
Evidence limit
Mechanics checked against the official card reference and developer Patch #29, #30 and #31 notes on 2026-10-13. Layouts and priorities are editorial recommendations for 0.9.8; no fresh-run clears, win rates, damage benchmarks or universal difficulty guarantees are claimed.