9 Kings: How to Beat King IX-IX with 100% Winrate

Steam Community guide by şişkebap.

Strategy

This build utilizes the insane scaling that the Pagoda offers. Every level doubles the damage of the summoned Imps. But to able to use the summons efficiently, you will need to use manual targeting. This allows us the snipe the enemy backline and reduce the damage output to a minimum.
The issue with the Pagoda is, that the summoned Imps dont draw aggro. So we need some way to delay the enemy units. For that we use the Imps. The Imps combined with the cemetery buys us enough time to destroy the enemy carries.

Perks

• Ingenious: Now we can level our base up to level 15 which is just insane
• Summoner: Even more damage
• Cultist: 4 Imp cards in our starting hand helps us with the early game
• Persistent: +3 rerolls for consistency
• Politician: Helps us to get our War Horns and Evil PactsOptional:
  Pagan, Blighted, Expansionist, Castellan

Royal Decrees

I will only mention the most important decrees. On higher difficulties, having these will make or break your run.

• War Horns: Boots summon stats by 50%. Instant pick. On King 9+ this one is mandatory.
• Evil Pact: Doubles the number of imps summoned by the Pagoda. Very good if our Base is leveled up.
• Embalming: Turns 10% of killed enemy units into allies. Units summoned by this draw aggro. Can be very useful in the lategame.
  Honorable mentions:
  Sharp Blades, Eyeglass, Iron Fist

Matchups

Most Kings are doable with this build and offer some useful cards with a few exceptions:
King of Progress:
Very bad matchup, but not unwinnable. Consider resetting if its a starting King.
Overhaul is very good.
Kings of Spells:
Bad fight. The warlocks burn through our Imps with their AOE damage.
Offering is very good.

Rainbow Cards

With the newly added encounter, we are guaranteed to get at least 1 special card per run.
I only mention the good ones:

• Razing: Insane. Allows us to get more War Horns, Dark Pacts etc. always pick
• Scapegoat: Very good. More gold = more rerolls
• Shrine: Always pick
• **Patronage: ** Very good if we need to level our base
• X-Ray: Decent

Gameplay

• Prioritize leveling up the Pagoda. Every levelup doubles the attack and adds 25% HP to our summoned imps
• Make sure to get 2 or 3 cemeteries and place them so that they always affect multiple units
  
• Use manual targeting to snipe the enemy carries
• Save money for rerolls

Tips

• Having an extra backline unit (archers, goats etc.) can help distract the enemy units
• Orchard can be used to slow down the enemy waves
• Over-Invest can be used on the Pagoda

Conclusion

Thats it, I hope this guide helped you crush the highest diffuculties of 9 Kings.
Let me know, if you have any questions or suggestions

Changelog

25. July:
    Updated Perks
    Updated Matchups
    Added Rainbow Card section
26. July:
    Updated Perks
    Updated Rainbow Cards