Kripp's Freeze Pygmalien Build

Freeze builds by nature don't typically come online until the mid to late game, making them exist as more of a pivot build. That said, playing an opening Burn line can make for an easier transition as you pick up the pieces.

Core Synergies

• Matchbox can carry the early game with its fast Burn spam. Utilize low Cooldown, Small non-Weapon items for the most efficiency.
• • Marbles fits perfectly adjacent to Matchbox to further help the fast item spam.
  • Orange Piggles L / Orange Piggles R are a great source of Burn scaling. If you can't find one, rely on early Burn skills and/or Cinders.
•  Premium Orange Piggles is another solid Burn item that essentially comes with built-in scaling, since you can play Premium Piggles alongside it.
•  Robe gives the build a bit of defense, while also providing more fast triggers for Matchbox.

Tips & Tricks

• Piggles and Premium Piggles spawn RNG will definitely have an impact on the build's power early on.
• • Finding the Orange ones can make Matchbox playable for a little while longer, but otherwise you'll need to adapt/pivot as soon as you can.
• Be sure to pick up an Economy item or two when possible. Business Card and Rewards Card are ideal since they occupy less space.
• Jungle Ruins and ATM are almost always worth it to help kickstart your Income.

Common Filler Items

• Heirlooms
• Hot Stones
• Pepper Spray
• Piggles Protectors
• Ring King Gauntlets
• Steam Ladle

Core Synergies

• Private Hot Springs combines a strong Burn output with a massive double-sided Freeze lock.
• • It's a flexible addition to an existing Matchbox opener, allowing it to find use before other Freeze items come into play.
• Igloo enables a more defensive setup that can create large amounts of Shielding with enough Freeze triggers.
• • Aurora Dome pairs perfectly alongside it as a source of Freeze and Shield scaling.
  • Reinforced Steel can enable some interesting setups since most Freeze items are Properties, allowing you to slot-in a Small Weapon for more offense.
• Cold Room is the premiere supporting Freeze item thanks to its fast Charging capabilities.
• • Snow Globe can also fulfill a similar role, but does have some semi-awkward positioning restrictions.
• Steam Ladle offers strong mid game scaling potential, providing a more definitive win condition.
• • It's particularly useful within more defensive Igloo setups, but is less necessary alongside Private Hot Springs (although still decent).

Tips & Tricks

• If you're hoping to pivot towards a full Freeze build, consider purchasing and Stashing items ahead of time.
• • Keep in mind this will require ample Stash space, which can be a conflict with certain Economy-based builds that need plenty of room for buying/selling.
• Freeze builds truly begin to shine once multiple items are acquired, and even more so once you find upgrades.
• • Upgrades are absolutely vital as they greatly reduce the Cooldown, which can make a big difference towards establishing a Freeze lock.
  • If you happen to hit zero prestige early with a board/Stash full of Silver-tier Freeze items, choosing the Gold-tier upgrade will provide a huge power spike.

Mid Game Filler Items

• Gavel
• Ice Cream Truck

There are three Freeze pillars that generally define the archetype: Private Hot Springs, Igloo, and Yetarian Club. Each of these can be played together, but at the very least you'll want one of them as the baseline.

Core Synergies

• Private Hot Springs and Igloo share more similarities, generally focusing on Burn and utilizing fast triggers from Cold Room.
• • Steam Ladle can still be a sufficient win condition in the late game, but does require a strong defense to buy enough time for its scaling.
• Yetarian Club is more flexible and can fit into a multitude of setups. It has a high base Damage, but may need a bit of extra help during longer runs.
• • There are variants which can make use of Fort or Gramophone, providing valuable speed control or CDR.
• Stopwatch, Keychain, and Ice Luge are all excellent utility items in the right setup.
• • Stopwatch creates an absurd amount of Freeze triggers, as long as you can reliably use it in time.
  • Keychain is excellent alongside Igloo and/or Cold Room for even more Freeze with minimal board space (less useful with Private Hot Springs).
  • Ice Luge can enable spammy setups with its flat CDR. This works best at Diamond, and with a single extra point of Ammo (more will slow you down).

Tips & Tricks

• Bootstraps is a great way to help upgrade your board, as long as you've got a strong enough Economy.
• • Pay attention to what you're buying/selling and avoid holding extra items that could steal the random upgrade.
  • If you find an upgrade at a shop and have enough funds to proc Bootstraps, you can "dupe" that item by upgrading yours before buying the other.
• Startup time is the build's biggest weakness, so keep an eye out for unique off-Hero item/skill combos that can help speed things up.

Situational Variants

• Iceberg is insanely strong on Pyg thanks to his massive Health pool and Freeze synergies. It's strong enough to be a single source of Freeze if needed.
• • Kripp showcased good use of Billboard + Abacus to effectively grant Yetarian Club Multicast (and greatly ramp up its Damage potential).