The Silent is a highly defensive character that excels at rapidly playing cards and overwhelming enemies with a ton of nonstop chip damage. Along with Ironclad, this dagger-wielding huntress from the foglands is one of the starting characters and an excellent way for new players to learn the basics of building deck synergies. 

Like any Slay the Spire character, the best cards for a deck with the Silent will vary by situation. But here’s a list of 10 cards that are more powerful, useful, or versatile than others, and ones you’ll find yourself grabbing nearly every time they pop up.

10. Piercing Wail

This card will save your life. Even though it only debuffs enemies for a single turn, it detracts loads of damage from multi-hitting enemies. While you probably don’t want to have a ton of these in your deck, having at least one gives you a potent defensive option that boosts your survivability.

Why Piercing Wail is great…

• Powerful enemy debuff
• Hits all enemies
• Renders multi-hit enemies useless for a turn
• As a common card, it’s easy to find

9. Noxious Fumes

Noxious Fumes starts slow, so you won’t usually get much value out of it during a typical hallway fight. But against bosses and elites, the scaling damage it builds up over time has an incredible impact on the combat.

Noxious Fumes pairs amazingly well with all of Silent’s poison artifacts, especially Snecko Skull and The Specimen. Even if you’re not running a poisoned-focused deck, this card adds decent damage over time.

Why Noxious Fumes is great…

• Scaling poison is powerful in extended fights
• Can strip away enemy artifacts
• Passive AOE damage

8. After Image

Silent knows how to churn out dozens of cards in a turn, so After Image is fantastic for her. Just one Blade Dance gives you 4 block (and 12 attack from the shivs) for only 1 energy. 

If you’re running a shiv deck and/or have a lot of deck cycling, you can get a lot of value out of After Image. Silent has so many cheap or free cards, plus enough draw and energy recovery to cycle through and play them.

After Image doesn’t scale with Dexterity, so Footwork won’t boost this card. It’s also not as efficient in poison-focused builds, since those cards tend to be more costly. Still, it adds a lot of survivability to your battles.

Why After Image is great…

• Pairs well with Silent’s rapid-card playstyle
• Lets you attack and block on the same turn

7. Alchemize

Potions give you an edge in any Slay the Spire run. Especially during elite and boss fights, having a potent potion or two can win you the battle quickly and save you loads of damage.

Since potions aren’t a guaranteed drop, you usually need to be picky about when to use them. 

Alchemize changes all that. If you can play it once a battle, that’s a potion for every fight. This can add damage, block, extra cards–anything you might need. If you don’t need a potion right away, no problem–you can generate one to carry into the next fight. 

Why Alchemize is great…

• 0 cost when upgraded
• Lets you be more liberal with potion usage
• Helps you stock up potions for future fights

6. Wraith Form

Wraith Form can be a bit tricky to use well, which is why it’s not higher on the list.

The Intangible it grants is fantastic. The damage reduction from playing this card buys you two or three turns of safety. Since some bosses and elites will deal 50+ damage in a single turn, Wraith Form can and will save your life.

But the added cost–minus dexterity every turn–puts a countdown timer on your fight. This card doesn’t work well in slow-moving decks, and it can be hard to draw it on the turn you need it most.

It pairs well with Well-Laid Plans. If you have ways to grant yourself an artifact, even better since the artifact will protect you from the negative Dexterity debuff.

Why Wraith Form is great…

• Can easily save your life
• Buys you 2-3 turns of safety

5. Burst

Silent is very skill-heavy, so there’s no shortage of cards you’d love to play twice.

Part of what makes Burst great is its versatility. Need block? Use it to double play a block card. Need damage? Use it to double up on Blade Dance. In poison builds, using Burst with a Catalyst can instantly win you the fight.

Why Burst is great…

• Silent has many powerful skill cards
• Versatile usage 

4. Die Die Die

For only 1 energy, Die Die Die is a fantastic deal. 13 damage to all enemies is no small number, making it a powerful asset during multi-combat rooms or against minion fights.

The upgraded version adds 5 extra damage, which is huge considering most upgrades only add 2-4.

Why Die Die Die is great…

• Powerful AOE damage
• Only 1 energy cost

3. Footwork 

A combat-long dexterity boost? Amazing.

Silent doesn’t have any innate ways to heal, so she needs to keep herself safe with high defense. Adding 2 or 3 dexterity instantly boosts the effectiveness of every single block card in your deck. It’s especially useful with cards like Dodge and Roll or Blur.

Best yet, Footwork is an uncommon card so it’s not too hard to find during runs. Adding one or two to any deck is a valuable, combat-long investment that will keep your health bar nice and protected.

Why Footwork is great…

• Pairs well with Silent’s defensive tendencies
• Buffs you for the entire fight

2. Well-Laid Plans

Silent’s strength comes in her ability to pull off combos. She has a lot of draw and discard to cycle through her deck and find the pairings she needs, but even that has a luck element involved.

Since so much of Slay the Spire is situational, a card can be amazing one turn and useless the next. With Well-Laid Plans, you can strategize outside your random draw and hold onto cards until the time is right.

Whether you use it offensively or defensively, getting to hold onto a card for the right moment has so much potential. Experienced players know the enemy's intentions well enough to predict what’s coming, and Well-Laid Plans helps you prepare an effective response. 

Why Well-Laid Plans is great…

• Lets you set up combos
• Great for holding onto a safety card like Wraith Form or Piercing Wail

1. Corpse Explosion

Corpse Explosion is all the wave clear you’ll ever need as the Silent. This card’s ability is so powerful that literally any of the characters would be happy to have it.

Corpse Explosion makes multi-enemy fights a piece of cake. It’s powerful against bosses or elites who summon minions, too. If you have Corpse Explosion for the Act 3 boss Donu Deca, you effectively only need to fight one of them.

The card’s only downside is that it’s practically useless against single enemy fights. That said, it makes multi-combat rooms so easy that you can sprint through without taking much damage, then enter the single-combat rooms healthy and stocked with potions. 

Why Corpse Explosion is great…

• Incredible AOE damage
• Lets you focus on one enemy and still kill everyone
• It applies Poison first, which can strip away an artifact before you apply the main debuff

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