The delectable Mealworm. Does your mouth not water at the sight?
The Mealworm is an unlockable Beast card from Kaycee's Mod of Inscryption. It is the sole bearer of the Morsel Sigil, which transfers any stats it has when sacrificed onto the card to which it is being sacrificed for.
Strategy[]
The Mealworm is a support card that is intended to be used as a sacrifice for playing other cards, thanks to its unique Morsel Sigil. As such, any Sigil transfers should be made with this effect in mind. It is also a good idea, if unable to give it Many Lives or Unkillable, to play around with being able to pair it any of multiple cards in your deck, since trying to pair it with just one may hinder it's use. Beyond this restriction, it is quite a flexible card that can find a niche in most decks, with or without Sigils to give it.
At its base stats, pairing the Mealworm on its own with otherwise frail cards, like Wolf or Mantis God can help increase their longevity and by proxy increase your damage output. As such, any cards bearing a Waterborne Sigil should not be paired with this card (unless the Mealworm has been given Power buffs). On the other hand, if you're able to get a defensive card down (particularly either Mole variant), using the Mealworm to buff it may prove valuable in stalling to draw more cards, though this may prove less valuable in a more offensive-based deck. However, as you buff it with Campfire events, it's potential skyrockets and allows it to buff many of these cards to much greater effect.
Mealworm also does well in 3 Blood Cost decks, since even if using a Black Goat, the Mealworm can be selected for sacrifice first to ensure it's stats are transferred before the sacrifice is made.
Good Upgrades
- Any Campfire events should almost always be given to the Mealworm, regardless of if Health or Power is offered.
- Many Lives is one of the best options for Sigils, allowing it to buff multiple cards and maintain itself as a sacrificial unit.
- Unkillable is similarly great at allowing the Mealworm to be used for multiple cards while also effectively cutting its own cost in half each time it is sacrificed and therefore generates a bone.
- Fecundity plays a second copy of the Mealworm into your hand. If you have the Bones to play both, you can effectively double the stat bonus given to your sacrificed card, assuming it costs more than one Blood to play.
- Worthy Sacrifice allows it to act as a better Black Goat, simultaneously buffing and fulfilling the cost of powerful cards with high costs, such as Dire Wolf or Grizzly.
- Waterborne may be useful in instances where a card the player may want to pair with the Mealworm's stats may not be readily available. It also helps in saving health to be sacrificed to the incoming card by keeping it mostly out of harm's way.
- Fledgling allows it to amass even more stat buffs prior to being sacrificed. At its base stats, this would equate to a 1 Power and 4 Health buff to the card it is used as a sacrifice for, which would provide great value as a tank while also giving that card the ability to attack, if it didn't already, which is perfect for defensive cards like the aforementioned Moles.
- Hoarder can add a desired card to the player's hand, which is often enough for an early win.
- Bone King can work as a niche support option in some Bone decks, generating bones when used as a sacrifice for Blood-costing cards. It has potential synergy with the Lammergeier if the Mealworm has no Power buffs, and doubly so if it also has Worthy Sacrifice.
Situational Upgrades
- Ant Spawner provides a functionally cheaper Ant Queen at a lower cost after using the Mealworm to bring in the generated Ant. They will also receive any Power buffs provided by the Mealworm.
- Most defensive Sigils will usually provide some inherent value due to the Mealworm having at least some bulk, but is generally not worth it due to the much higher value the above Sigils provide, as well as the defensive Sigils usually resulting in the Mealworm either dying or reducing the buffs it may grant.
- The Mealworm itself may be used as a Sigil transfer onto a card which has better stats. This strategy is mostly useful in keeping at least one powerful card on the field, such as if using a high-Power card like Great White or Grizzly. However, doing so increases the cost of getting said stats into the field in the first place, which may not be viable at certain points in the player's run.
- Corpse Eater has no downsides but is mostly unnecessary due to the Mealworm's low cost.
Bad Upgrades
- Most offensive Sigils, such as Bifurcated Strike and Trifurcated Strike will be wasted due to the Mealworm's intended use, base stats, and lack of ability to transfer its own Sigils when sacrificed.
- Touch of Death has no value on a base Mealworm and little value even if it is eventually buffed.
- Obstacles generated by Dam Builder and Bellist will bear the Morsel Sigil, but cannot be sacrificed unless the Mealworm also has Worthy Sacrifice, usually via the Mycologists.
- Movement Sigils are useless at best and actively disruptive at worse when applied to a Mealworm.
- The Leader buff will vanish once the Mealworm is sacrificed.
Trivia[]
- When a Sigil is infused on Mealworm its leaf glows.
- Sigils are not transferred when the Mealworm is sacrificed. Similarly, the stats of the Mealworm will not be transferred when using the Mysterious Stones event to transfer sigils, only the Morsel sigil will be transferred.