Ijiraq in More Detail

This is because with Lunar Strike, the Moon will only attack the player if there are no cards blocking. Ijiraq both blocks the Moon from attacking the player and negates the Lunar Strike attack, so the Moon effectively does nothing every turn until it is destroyed.

Note, however, that Ijiraq only protects itself against attacks. Lunar Strike will still hit any other cards on the board.

When the Moon is bleached, it only attacks the leftmost lane. If Ijiraq is placed in the leftmost lane, it will behave the same as above - it will block the Moon's only attack, and the Moon will do nothing each turn. However, if Ijiraq is placed in a lane other than the leftmost, the Moon will be able to attack.

You cannot softlock Starvation using only Ijiraq.

In order to softlock Starvation, you need Mighty Leap (to block the Airborne Starvations, from the fifth onward) and 1 Airborne damage (to counter the 1 point of direct damage when Starvations are placed, from the ninth onward.) Ijiraq cannot have both Mighty Leap and Airborne, since it can only get one additional sigil via Totem.

This also meant you could not use Trinket Bearer and Fecundity for infinite Pliers, before the V0.28 Fecundity nerf.

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Ijiraq distinctions

Ijiraq’s red glow is the same as the added sigil glow, except red instead of yellow/blue/white.

When received

It will always be mimicking a rare card - it’s only given as a rare card option, so it can only mimic rares to ‘blend in’.

However, the card will have a question mark at the end of the its name. In most cases, it will also have a red glow - see below for disguise variations and exceptions.

When in your deck

It can be disguised as any card, not just rares. The card's eyes and sigils will glow red.

The red glow is the easiest way to identify Ijiraq in your deck. However, you can also identify Ijiraq with these methods:

Your cards are shown in the order you acquired them, so you can find it by remembering when you received it.
You can swap back and forth between the map and your deck, and Ijiraq may change which card it’s mimicking.

Ijiraq is the card furthest right in both examples below.

Dr. Rabbits (Ash):

in this situation it's the ring worm

Because it uses the same glow as added sigils, the sigils will also glow red.

If you have a full deck of only Ijiraq, it mimics a squirrel.

Picture from after V0.24

When in your hand

Ijiraq will mimic a card that you have not yet drawn in your deck.

There is no visual difference between the regular card and the Ijiraq, with a couple of exceptions.

Currently known ways to identify an Ijiraq in your hand, without having already played what it’s mimicking:

If it's the last card in your deck, it will disguise itself as a Squirrel, and you'll pull a Squirrel from your main deck.
If it disguises itself as a card with the Amorphous sigil, the sigil is not randomized when drawn; it stays Amorphous.

*Unknown if bug or feature.

If it disguises itself as the Curious Egg and the Egg’s hatching requirements are met, the Egg will not transform when drawn.

*Unknown if bug or feature.

If Ijiraq "breaks" the topdeck algorithm, you can be sure that one of the first two cards in your hand is the Ijiraq.

See Ijiraq when played > Appearance for explanation.

If you check your deck with Hoarder multiple times, it can change the card it's mimicking.

This won't help you draw it - Ijiraq has is currently bugged with Hoarder; it cannot be chosen and returns a duplicate of the mimicked card instead. See below for explanation.

Changes

V0.26:

Ijiraq no longer changes its disguise when exiting and restarting a battle.

Previously:

~~Another way to identify Ijiraq: save scumming - Ijiraq may change which card it is mimicking.~~

V0.24:

Ijiraq now has its red glow while in your deck.

Previously:

~~When in your deck, Ijiraq will mimic a card exactly, and the red glow will not show.~~

~~Picture from before V0.24~~

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Ijiraq when played

Appearance

Ijiraq will mimic a card that you have not yet drawn in your deck.

Ijiraq’s cost is variable and depends on the card that it’s mimicking.

If you have multiple Ijiraqs in your deck, it can disguise itself… as itself.

Ijiraq disguised as Ijiraq plays free.

Ijiraq flips twice when mimicking itself, because the on-play effect of Ijiraq is to transform into its true form.

Thus, when the mimicked card is Ijiraq, the mimicked card effect activates (it 'transforms'), then the regular card effect activates and it 'transforms' again.

Ijiraq can also mimic Pelts and Squirrels.

Ijiraq mimicking a Rabbit Pelt.

SpiderString#7636:This time I got a rabbit pelt 😂

If Ijiraq mimics a Golden Pelt, the Gold decal effect will stay on the card.

The Repulsive sigil also shifts slightly off-center.

Image from before V0.291. After V0.291, when Ijiraq transforms from a Pelt, its power will not show. This is purely a visual bug. See Bugs below for more details.

SubZero2521#4697:BEWARE THE GOLDEN IJIRAQ

If Ijiraq is the last card in your deck, it will mimic a Squirrel.

Opofo:So Ijaraq can be a squirrel. Thought it was a bug drawing one from my main deck. 😅
Opofo:Not "hard proof" but this is my hand.

Ijiraq messes with how the topdeck algorithm appears, though technically it’s working as intended.

Since Ijiraq’s true form is a free card, it counts as a free, sacrificable card, even if it’s disguised as a higher cost card.

Thus, with a deck like this (save edited for testing):

1 Mantis God (1 blood)

8 Grizzlies (3 blood)

7 Ijiraqs (Free)

you can end up with a hand like this.

You can see here that one of the Grizzlies was an Ijiraq in disguise.

Note that this can actually be used to identify which card is Ijiraq.

Because the algorithm only checks the first two cards before deciding how to roll the third, Ijiraq must be one of the first two cards.

In this example, the game sees the first two cards (Ijiraq-Ouro and Lammergeier) and goes, “Ah, there is a second free, sacrificable card (Ijiraq-Ouro) in the starting hand. Therefore I can roll a 2-blood cost for the third card,” and rolls the second Ouroboros.

If the first card had been the legitimate Ouroboros, the game would have gone, “Oh, there is only one free, sacrificable card in the hand, so I must roll a 1 blood/bone cost card.” It would be impossible for the game to roll another 2 blood (unless you don't have a 1 blood card in your deck.)

CoolKiller28: WHERE IS MY 1 COST

Bugs

When Ijiraq mimics a card with a bone cost, it does not spend any bones.

This is because bones are consumed after the card is placed, and Ijiraq transforms into its true self - a free card - on play, meaning the game considers it to cost 0 Bones when calculating. In contrast, blood costs (sacrifices) are calculated before placing the card, so it behaves as expected when disguised as a blood cost card.

Started appearing in V0.29

If Ijiraq mimics a pelt, its attack will not show after transforming. This is just visual - it will attack as normal.

The Repulsive sigil also continues to be off-center, as seen above.

Casey: My Ijiraq's power displayed as blank. This was a purely visual glitch as it attacked and did damage with no problems. (The battle ended that turn so I don't know if it would have fixed itself after.)I think this had something to do with the fact that it transformed from a Rabbit Pelt.