Meat on the Bone

Meat on the Bone is a Rare relic in Slay the Spire 2 that upgrades your starting hand at the start of the next combat. This means every card in your opening hand receives a free upgrade, making your first turn significantly more powerful with enhanced damage, Block, and card effects.

An upgraded starting hand transforms your turn 1 from a standard opening into a power play. Upgraded Strikes deal more damage, upgraded Defends provide more Block, and upgraded signature cards gain enhanced effects. This early advantage can set the tone for the entire fight, allowing you to establish your engine or deal with immediate threats more effectively.

Meat on the Bone is universally valuable because every deck benefits from upgraded cards. It is particularly strong with cards that gain dramatic improvements from upgrades, such as those that gain additional hits, reduced costs, or enhanced effects. The relic's value is somewhat limited by only affecting your starting hand in the next combat, but since turn 1 is often the most critical turn in any fight, this targeted upgrade provides outsized impact where it matters most.