Adaptive Strike

Adaptive Strike is a rare Defect attack costing 2 Energy that deals 18 damage and adds a 0-cost copy of itself into your Discard Pile. This self-replicating behavior means each Adaptive Strike spawns a free copy, generating increasing offensive pressure as copies accumulate in your deck throughout the fight.

Adaptive Strike naturally feeds into All for One, which retrieves the 0-cost copies from discard for repeated play. Feral returns the first 0-cost Attack each turn to hand, and the copies count as 0-cost Attacks for Scrape's filtering effect. Hologram retrieves copies from discard for additional plays.

For the Defect, Adaptive Strike bridges the gap between traditional damage and 0-cost synergies. Against long boss fights like Kaiser Crab and Test Subject #C10, the accumulating copies create a snowball of free damage. The initial 2-cost play is fair but becomes exceptional once copies enter circulation. Pair with All for One for a recursive damage engine that grows stronger every turn.