In Card City Nights, rushdown strategies are immensely powerful, and with a modicum of initial effort it is possible to build a deck that will single-handedly crush every NPC in the game.

These overpowered decks are viable due to three major factors:

• Firstly, the Hype Snake cards (Hype Snake Head and Hype Snake Body) are blatantly unbalanced. They are extremely easy to set up, as they have easily chainable arrows, and a standard 3-card chain does a substantial 5 damage.
  
• Secondly, the Bomb and Health Potion cards have major effects, but require only a single card to pull off. Not only that, but they are hard to react to unless the opponent already has an attack combo prepared. The Health Potion allows the player to recover from most standard attack-combos, and the Bomb allows the player to, with the right hand, pull off incredibly quick wins. In four turns, the player can pull off a Hype Snake and a Bomb, which is enough to win the game.
  
• Thirdly, the Young Lichious Turnip is straight up broken. It stops all incoming damage to the player, and, combined with the Health Potion, allows the player to set up an impenetrable defense quickly, effectively, and without relying on a complicated combo.

Together, these minor imbalances allow the player to put together a deck that can deal absurd amounts of damage in just a few turns, that can instantly react to and recover from enemy attacks, and that can protect the players HP very simply. In short, if you put these cards together and throw in a few extras to cover any weaknesses, you're nigh on unbeatable.

When building any deck in Card City Nights, it is essential to pick cards that will connect to one another in as many variations as possible. You can come up with an incredibly potent potential combo in the deck editor, but if it relies on you having all the right cards at the right time, and your opponent not screwing with you, then it's going to be a rubbish deck to actually play.

The key is adaptability. When building this deck, I worked on the principle of sticking to only one or two axis of connection; using only cards that had arrows in certain diagonals/directions. Since the Hype Snake Cards use vertical arrows, it makes sense to use attack cards that connect vertically. Relying on purely one axis, however, leaves you constrained by the board size. It is a good idea to also use cards that connect in one diagonal axis, as this allows the player, with the correct card choices, to easily build 'N' shaped chains out of up to 5 cards.

It is also worth noting, at this point, that the key to a successful deck is to avoid too many 'special' cards. Multiples are key in ensuring that you're always flexible, and as such a deck should rely on its Commons and Uncommons. This is not to say that the player shouldn't use Rares and Legendaries, but these cards should never be relied upon to make the central gimmick of a deck work. Doing so opens the player to being completely hamstrung by a single untimely attack, and makes the deck vulnerable to NPCs that cause forced player discard.

Bearing this is mind, I chose the vertical axis and the top-left to bottom-right diagonal as my connectors, and chose the following cards as my basic setup:

• Hype Snake Head x3: Obviously, as this is the setup for one of the most overpowered combos in the game
  
• Hype Snake Body x5: See above.
  
• Skull Buni x3: This card deals extra damage, making it extremely powerful if used correctly.
  
• Fire Sword x3: This card allows the player to build a 5 card chain with a Hype Snake Head, two Hype Snake Bodies, and a Skull Buni. This does a total of 8 damage, including the Fire Sword's placement damage. The instant 1 damage is also valuable in itself, allowing the player to act quickly and finish off an opponent at one HP before they can react.

Once the player has put together their set piece, and established the chains that will deal the bulk of the damage, it's time to add in everything else.

Firstly, it's time to add the elements I mentioned in the first section:

• Bomb x3: The Bomb, as previously mentioned, is very powerful in a rushdown scenario. It leaves the opponent little time to react, deals a decent amount of damage, and cleans up after itself. It's not flashy, but it's powerful when used correctly.
  
• Health Potion x3: This card is vital to recover from any damage the opponent can do. Playing rush-down is all about tempo advantage and keeping on the pressure, and having a single card be blocked in the middle of a chain can completely ruin a players attack. The Health Potion allows you to keep up an attack, and batter the opponent down before they can do the same to you.
  
• Young Lichious Turnip x3: The problem with a rush-down strategy is that, if you get unlucky with the draws, the opponent can potentially kill you before you can build momentum. The Young Lichious Turnip blocks this in the most unfair possible way by blocking any damage done to your face. Once you've got two of these down on the board, the opponent is in serious trouble, and properly supported by Health Potions this card is utterly overpowered. Essentially, it's all the defense you need.

This takes the card-count up to 23, which leaves just enough room for a Legendary and a Rare. When choosing these special cards, it's important to think about the weaknesses of the deck, and here the weakness is very clear. Both the Skull Buni and the Bomb cannot be revived, and, as such, can prove a massive pain to deal with if knocked out. It therefore makes sense to select a Rare or Legendary that can remove your own cards, and Princess Pitch DX is perfect for this task. Not only do her connecting arrows fit nicely into our pre-estiblished chain, but her ability (Attack Combo: Remove all cards) also enables the player to entirely bypass any defences the opponent has set up, as any enemy copies of Young Lichious Turnip or Portal Block will be removed before the attack. Having thereby fixed the last major weakness of the deck, the player is left with some freedom regarding the final card. Personally I chose the Ultra Fishbunjin 3000, as it provides yet more attack damage, chains easily with most of my other attack cards, and its two attack counters lend the deck yet more reactive flexibility.



And that's it; a 25 card rush-down deck, built to be as flexible and dangerous as possible. All that's left to do is to choose a snazzy icon.

When using this deck, your strategy should be largely dependant on your initial hand.

• If your hand has a Young Lichious Turnip or two in it, you should strongly consider playing these immediately. This is particularly true if your hand contains Health Potions.
  
• If your hand instead contains the basis of an attack chain, try and get it set up as quickly as possible, and use it before the opponent can knock out a card or shore up their defenses.

After that, your strategy should simply be as offensive as possible. Here are some final tips:

• Try and build 5-card combos using a Skull Buni, Flame Sword, and a Hype Skake Chain. They do immense damage, and one of them is usually enough to win the game.
  
• Remember that Flame Swords do damage upon placement. It allows you some easy wins on one-health opponents.
  
• Put your support cards on the left, and your attack chains on the right. This just helps you avoid accidentally blocking yourself.
  
• Remember, you can use Health Potions and Bombs to essentially skip a go, which can help you build up major attack combos.
  
• Save Princess Pitch DX until you need her. Against later opponents, she can be a game-changer.
  
• Count the damage. Don't try and show off, you're playing against an AI. Maybe just using the Ultra Fishbunnjin 3000 isn't as cool as a 5-card combo, but if it knocks out the opponent a turn quicker it's a better play.