How to Beat Aeonglass

Act 3 — The Beyond · HP: 512 / 535 (A8+)

High

Every sixth card creates an unplayable Wither in hand. Each Increasing Intensity upgrades all Withers, so late cleanup alone cannot save a deck without a damage clock.

Key Mechanics

Withering Presence: every 6 cards you play adds a Wither to your hand.
Wither is unplayable and deals 3 damage in hand at end of turn. Increasing Intensity upgrades every Wither in your deck, adding 3 damage per upgrade.
Opens with Artifact 3. At Ascension 9+, its attacks are stronger and Increasing Intensity adds 2 Withers instead of 1.

Strategy

Play fewer, higher-impact cards and treat cleanup as time gained, not the win condition. Stabilize against the first two attacks, strip Artifact only when it does not compromise defense, then finish before repeated Increasing Intensity upgrades turn Wither draws into lethal hands.

Moves

Ebb(v0.107.1: 26 · v0.110.0: 22)Main v0.107.1: deals 26 damage (32 at A9+) and gains 33 Block. Beta v0.109.0: damage is 22 (26 at A9+); Block is unchanged.

Eye Lasers(11 dmg)Deals 11×2 damage (12×2 at A9+).

Increasing IntensityAdds 1 Wither+X to your discard pile (2 at A9+), gains 3 Strength, and upgrades every Wither in your deck.

Aeonglass counter hub · v0.107.1 main · v0.109.0 beta checked

Build for the damage clock, not an infinite cleanup loop

Aeonglass tests three things at once: front-loaded block, useful output per card played, and a way to stop Withers from ruining the hand. Cleanup buys time, but repeated Increasing Intensity upgrades mean the fight still needs a finish line.

v0.109.0 Beta change

Ebb drops from 26 (32 at A9+) to 22 (26 at A9+). Artifact 3, the every-sixth-card Wither trigger, Eye Lasers, and Increasing Intensity are unchanged, so the fight still rewards compressed output and a real damage clock.

Official v0.109.0 patch notes ↗

Why strong runs still die

Low-impact card spam reaches every sixth-card trigger without producing enough damage or block.
Artifact 3 delays Weak, Vulnerable, and other debuffs during the two opening attack turns.
Withers are unplayable: discard or Exhaust helps the current hand, but does not replace a real damage clock.
Increasing Intensity upgrades every Wither already in the deck, so late draws become both weaker and more painful.

Good enough before Act 3

On main, block or mitigate roughly 30 damage on demand without spending the entire hand. The Beta lowers Ebb, not the rest of the clock.
Deal meaningful damage with three to five card plays, not only with long zero-cost chains.
Carry at least one repeatable hand-cleanup, discard, Exhaust, or transform line.
If the deck depends on Weak or Vulnerable, bring enough applications to clear Artifact 3 first.
Keep one potion or burst resource for the first reshuffle after Withers enter the deck.

Fight plan

Turns 1–2: respect Ebb and Eye Lasers. Stabilize first; do not spend all resources stripping Artifact if it opens lethal damage.
Before the first reshuffle: convert setup into repeatable output and avoid triggering an extra Wither for a marginal card play.
After Increasing Intensity: treat upgraded Withers as a shrinking turn budget. Clean the hand, then push damage.
At Ascension 9+, budget for Ebb at 32 on main or 26 in v0.109.0 Beta, Eye Lasers at 12×2, and two Withers from Increasing Intensity.

Character adjustments

Ironclad

Exhaust is the cleanest answer, but keep enough attacks to close. A block/exhaust engine without a finisher can still be outscaled.

Silent

Discard prevents end-turn Wither damage in the current hand. Poison needs Artifact removal and enough front-loaded defense; shivs must justify every sixth-card trigger.

Defect

Frost and passive orb output are efficient because they do not require extra card plays each turn. Zero-cost loops need a compressed finisher or reliable cleanup.

Necrobinder

Do not let delayed setup consume the whole clock. Prioritize lines that turn sacrifice or Doom setup into damage while keeping a cleanup option for bad Wither hands.

Regent

Created-card volume is a liability unless it converts into a decisive Star or weapon turn. Bank resources, then spend them in fewer high-impact plays.

Cards to look for by character

This shortlist uses the same current-tier, cleanup, block, damage, and card-tax rules as Boss Prep. Treat it as a starting point; your deck and route still decide the pick.

Act 4 matchup plan

Aeonglass asks whether each card play is worth the clock

Aeonglass punishes decks that need too many low-impact plays before damage or Block arrives. The winning plan is usually a compressed output window, not a long setup chain.

Before entering the fight

Name the turn where the deck starts producing real damage, then count how many setup cards must be played first.
Check whether the main Block plan works while Wither is pressuring the card-play budget.
Keep one answer for Eye Lasers or Ebb instead of spending every resource on early setup.

Why prepared decks lose here

They draw enough total power but spend too many card plays converting it into output.
They add more scaling after the deck already needs draw, energy, or immediate defense.
They treat chip damage as harmless until the fight clock has already closed.

Cards that improve the matchup

Compact cards that do two jobs, like damage plus Block or output plus setup, gain value.
Passive or delayed output is strong only when it starts early enough to matter.
Expensive answers are playable when the deck can still pay for the danger turn around them.

Open Boss Prep Checklist for Aeonglass →