Grail Run Planner
Fill this after every player battle. Change one node, not five.
Copy this loop into your head. After each end-of-day fight, answer the lines in order. If you skip a line, you are shopping on vibes. Pair with how to win a run and PvP battles.
Opening (once per run)
- Hero: Ratagnan / Mabel / Zappy
- Sentence of the run (from starter builds): ______
- Opening bonus taken: health / gold / random trait
- Why that bonus: ______
If you cannot write the sentence, stop and open starter builds. Do not enter day 1 as a collector.
After every fight (monster or player)
- Did a card sit unfilled? Yes → sell or take low energy shop. No → continue.
- Which card did the most? Name it. That is the anvil target. Upgrades.
- Which card did nothing? Name it. That is the sell target.
- HP high or low? High → you may spend gold. Low → heal or skip side quests.
- Gold high or low? High → shop or anvil. Low → free node or sell.
- Card count vs last day? Up by 2+ without a new seed → cut.
After every player battle (the scoreboard)
- Wins / losses: __ / __
- Opponent plan in five words: ______
- One answer for the next node: strip / thinner / faster cycle / gold / heal
- I will take this node type: shop / free / side quest / blacksmith / trait / skip
- I will not take: ______
Only one answer. Two answers is how four losses happen. Energy if the answer was “nothing played.” Status effects if the answer was a named status.
Day 4+ extra lines
- Three traits: 1. ______ 2. ______ 3. ______
- Any trait that names a missing type? Hold-remove it.
- Blistered cards I can no longer sell: ______
- Am I waiting for an Iconic? If yes, stop waiting.
Day 8–10 extra lines
- Lives left: ______
- If at 3 losses, skip side quests even if they pay.
- Day 10 boss: do I have strip or over-heal? Yes / no
- Deck thinner than day 3? Yes / no. If no, sell before the boss.
Trophy line (between runs, not mid-run)
- Trophies: ______
- Next spend: Mabel 200 / Zappy / cosmetics 40 / nothing
- I will not open chests until: ______
Worked example
Hero: Ratagnan. Sentence: bleed chip. After a player loss to a shuffle deck: unfilled? No. Most damage: Toothpick. Did nothing: a 3-pip rare. HP low. Gold medium. Card count +3. Answer: thinner. Next node: skip the 8-gold shop, sell the rare, take a 0-gold node. Not: buy canal because they had poison. That would be a second sentence.
When to close the planner
When you can do the loop without looking. Until then, look. The synergy checklist is the other tab if the sentence itself is the problem. The tools hub links both.
This planner cannot click Steam for you. It can stop you from taking a mushroom event that costs 8 gold into a C trait. That is enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
How often do I fill the run planner?
After every player battle, and after any fight where a card sat unfilled.
What if I want to change two things?
Change one. The planner is a brake, not a redesign workshop.
Can I use this on Mabel or Zappy?
Yes. Swap the sentence at the top. The loop is the same.
Does this replace the map?
No. Look at banner prices, then pick the node the loop named.
Where are the builds the sentence comes from?
On the starter builds page.
What if I took a node before filling the sheet?
Fill it anyway after the next fight. The sheet is a brake, not a diary you must keep perfect.
Should I track gold to the coin?
No. High or low is enough. Banner prices of 0, 2, 4, and 8 already tell you if the next shop is legal.