Silent Build
🔪 Thousand Cuts
Generate Shivs every turn, buff them once, and bury the enemy in free knives
At the start of your turn, add 1 Shiv into your Hand.
Upgraded: Innate. At the start of your turn, add 1 Shiv into your Hand.
Win condition: Build a per-turn Shiv supply (Infinite Blades, Ninja Scroll, Fan of Knives), then make each Shiv hit hard with Accuracy and Phantom Blades. Volume plus a flat per-Shiv buff equals a brutal damage curve.
- A-Tier
- Tier
- Intermediate
- Difficulty
- 10
- Core cards
- Fast, explosive offense
- Power
Deck core
Core cards
The cards this build is built around — prioritize these on every run.
Must-pick
At the start of your turn, add 1 Shiv into your Hand.
Upgraded: Innate. At the start of your turn, add 1 Shiv into your Hand.
Shivs deal 4 additional damage.
Upgraded: Shivs deal 6 additional damage.
Shivs gain Retain. The first Shiv you play each turn deals 9 additional damage.
Upgraded: Shivs gain Retain. The first Shiv you play each turn deals 12 additional damage.
Shivs now hit ALL enemies. Add 4 Shivs into your Hand.
Upgraded: Shivs now hit ALL enemies. Add 5 Shivs into your Hand.
Add 3 Shivs into your Hand. Exhaust.
Upgraded: Add 4 Shivs into your Hand. Exhaust.
Gain 6 Block. Add 1 Shiv into your Hand.
Upgraded: Gain 6 Block. Add 2 Shivs into your Hand.
Add 3 Shivs into your Hand. Reduce this card's cost by 1.
Upgraded: Add 4 Shivs into your Hand. Reduce this card's cost by 1.
Play every Shiv in your Exhaust Pile on the enemy.
Upgraded: Upgrade and play every Shiv in your Exhaust Pile on the enemy.
Discard your Hand. Add 1 Shiv into your Hand for each card discarded.
Upgraded: Discard your Hand. Add 1 Shiv+ into your Hand for each card discarded.
Deal 7 damage. Add 1 Shiv into your Hand.
Upgraded: Deal 10 damage. Add 1 Shiv into your Hand.
Flex picks
Discard 2 cards. Add 2 Shivs into your Hand.
Upgraded: Discard 2 cards. Add 2 Shivs+ into your Hand.
Deal 4 damage to ALL enemies twice.
Upgraded: Deal 6 damage to ALL enemies twice.
Gain 5 Block. Draw 2 cards.
Upgraded: Gain 8 Block. Draw 2 cards.
Gain 4 Block. Next turn, gain 4 Block.
Upgraded: Gain 6 Block. Next turn, gain 6 Block.
Draw cards until you have 6 in your Hand.
Upgraded: Draw cards until you have 7 in your Hand.
Draw 3 cards. Discard 1 card.
Upgraded: Draw 4 cards. Discard 1 card.
At the end of your turn, Retain up to 1 card.
Upgraded: At the end of your turn, Retain up to 2 cards.
Deal 15 damage. Next turn, draw 2 cards.
Upgraded: Deal 20 damage. Next turn, draw 2 cards.
Remove all Artifact and Block from the enemy. Apply 2 Vulnerable. Exhaust.
Upgraded: Remove all Artifact and Block from the enemy. Apply 3 Vulnerable. Exhaust.
Synergy
Relic priorities
What to grab from shops, bosses and chests to power the engine.
Ninja ScrollCore3 Shivs at the start of every combat — instant ammo before your generators even land.
Helical DartCore1 Dexterity per Shiv played stacks fast on Shiv turns, hardening your Block as a side effect.
Ring of the SnakeStrongMore opening cards means you find Accuracy and Infinite Blades sooner.
ShurikenSituationalStrength every 3 Attacks adds to all Shivs at once — another flat per-knife boost.
Ornamental FanSituational4 Block per 3 Attacks rewards the same play pattern and covers defense.
Pen NibSituationalEvery 10th Attack doubles — trivial to hit when each turn throws many Shivs.
Game plan
How to play
Step-by-step through the run, from opening hands to the win.
Honest take
Pros & cons
Strengths
- Very high, repeatable single-turn burst once Accuracy is online.
- Fan of Knives flips the deck to AoE for swarm rooms.
- Cheap, energy-efficient — Shivs cost 0 to play.
- Knife Trap gives a reliable one-shot tool for Elites.
Opening
Mulligan & priorities
What to keep, what to ditch in your opening hands.
- Keep Infinite Blades or Ninja Scroll — you want a Shiv supply running by turn 1-2.
- Keep Accuracy; it is the single biggest damage multiplier in the deck.
- Keep Fan of Knives against multiple enemies for instant AoE plus refill.
- Toss lone Shivs on the opening hand if you have no buff yet — 4 damage each is not worth the click.
- Keep Cloak and Dagger as a flexible Block-plus-ammo turn-one play.
Map strategy
Pathing
How to route the map to assemble the build and stay healthy.
Hunt the Shiv relics
Helical Dart (Dexterity per Shiv played) and Ninja Scroll (3 Shivs at combat start) are tailor-made. Helical Dart also quietly stacks Block on Shiv-heavy turns. Prioritize routes that pass shops and ? rooms early.
Density matters — remove starters
Your deck wants high Shiv-and-generator density. Use card-removal events and Empty Cage to thin Strikes/Defends so you draw into Infinite Blades, Accuracy and Fan of Knives more reliably.
Avoid these
Common mistakes
- Throwing Shivs before Accuracy / Phantom Blades is down — you permanently lose the buff value on those knives.
- Holding Knife Trap so long the combat ends with knives unspent in Exhaust.
- Not playing Fan of Knives in single-target fights for its 4-5 Shiv refill even when the AoE is irrelevant.
- Forgetting Up My Sleeve discounts itself on replay — keep playing it; it gets cheaper.
- Drafting too many non-Shiv Attacks, which thins the chance of a buffed-Shiv turn.
Quick answers
FAQ
Common questions about the Thousand Cuts Silent build.
Is Thousand Cuts good in Slay the Spire 2?
It is a strong A-tier aggro deck that delivers very high, repeatable burst once your buffs are online. Infinite Blades hands you a free Shiv every turn and Accuracy adds flat damage to every Shiv, so a five-knife turn becomes 40-50 nearly-free damage. The catch is that a bare Shiv deck without Accuracy is anemic, and being an Early Access build the per-Shiv numbers may shift in future patches.
What are the best cards for a Shiv Silent build?
Infinite Blades is your generator, Accuracy is the single biggest multiplier (it buffs every Shiv), and Fan of Knives flips the deck to AoE while refilling your hand with knives. Phantom Blades gives Shivs Retain and a bonus to your first Shiv each turn, and Knife Trap is your nuke — it replays every Shiv you've Exhausted at once for a one-shot on Elites or boss phases.
What relics does Thousand Cuts want?
Ninja Scroll is core, giving 3 Shivs at the start of every combat before your generators even land. Helical Dart is the other keystone, granting Dexterity per Shiv played, which also quietly hardens your Block. Kunai, Shuriken, and Ornamental Fan all reward the high Attack count of a Shiv turn with Dexterity, Strength, or Block.
Is the Shiv build beginner-friendly or good at high Ascension?
It is rated Intermediate — the main skill is sequencing the buff (Accuracy/Phantom Blades) before you throw knives, since a Shiv played first permanently loses that buff value. It performs well at high Ascension thanks to Knife Trap as a reliable Elite-killer and Fan of Knives for swarms, but it is Exhaust-heavy and wants deck thinning to keep Shiv density high in long fights.
Provenance
Sources & video guides
This build's strategy is informed by these community creators.
