To get off Found a Bone, Maniacal Laugh and 2 decent summonings in turn 1 requires a 7 and 3 nines. This can be surprisingly hard to achieve. For this reason the only upgrade I ever take for Nic is Love Thy Master, and that only when there's some serious killing to be done. Then you only need the 3 nines and you can ensure that Nic begins with 7 stones, which is crucial. If you get off 4 summonings in the first 2 turns it's difficult to lose! I nearly always summon a couple of Necropunks in turn 1. They're almost bound to be useful and they return to full wounds when they activate. I once used a 13 to do this!