[6/25 UPDATE] NEW TIER LISTS HERE: @bravetofu/conclave-arcana-tier-updates
Here are my Tier ratings for the Rare class of Conclave Arcana, which has a whopping 24 units (not including the Archons, which will be reviewed separately).
S Tier
#1. Deep Delver: The Deep Delver, in my opinion, is THE definitive S Tier card from the rare class of Conclave Arcana. Corrupted Healing is one of the best abilities in the game, and the reason why the Arachne Weaver is so powerful. In addition to that, the Delver has Rust, which is powerful in the current meta (and there are currently only FOUR cards in the new Modern who have Rust). And finally, it has Deflection Shroud, which is clutch against many different situations and necessary against Eternal Tofu. To boot, the Delver has great attack (4 Ranged) and decent survivability with the 1 Armor and 6 Health. The Speed of 2 is pretty rough, but not enough to sour the rest of the kit. A+ card.
#2. Phlegmunculus: First off, let's get one thing clear - the G is SILENT! The Phlegmunculus is a great card that gets into the S Tier due to the immense value you get for 2 mana - double attack, good survivability, and the chance to give the flu poison up to 3 of your enemies? Solid little card that'll get lots of use.
#3. Arcane Skinwalker: When I first saw the Arcane Skinwalker I wasn't overly impressed. At 8 mana, it's a bit expensive for the stats it has, and I felt Inspire + Silence was an odd match that didn't make it much of a specialist. However, it gets to the S tier because of its Shapeshift ability. Shapeshift is already very strong with the existing Bloodline Tributes and Dominion Archon abilities, but we're all expecting that to get even better when the Airdrop Archons make their way to the game. For that reason I'm speculatively putting the Skinwalker in S instead of A, though I would specify it's a LOW S Tier in my opinion - i.e. it sneaked its way in.
A Tier
#4. Silverleaf Mage: This one may be controversial. It's an expensive card at 11 mana, but it has a very powerful kit that synergizes very well with several summoners. Divine Shield, 3 Armor, and 13 Health is a massively powerful tank, and the Taunt/Ranged combo makes it a perfect backline tank. This is your new Mycelic Slipspawn. Pair her with the Sylvaran Sentinel to get a resurrect, which puts up that Divine Shield again. Pair her with Tofu to get Triage so she's harder to drop. Or pair her with Drath to get her attack up (not too shabby at 4 damage), and she draws attention away from your other attackers.
#5. Aerial Shieldmaiden: I heard this tortoise had even more Armor in the Alpha testing. Well I can tell you, with 4 Armor and 4 Ranged damage the Shieldmaiden packs a huge punch. She's susceptible to Corrosive Ward and Thorns, but can work great in Ranged rulesets or anything non-Magic. Her Speed's a bit low, so she might need some buffs to ensure she doesn't miss. She works great with Nidhoggr too, but with Blast or with Execute.
#6. Water Diviner: This is another one I think might be a little controversial, but look at the value you get for 2 mana - 3 Magic damage, 4 Speed, Opportunity and Stun. That's a massive kit for such a cheap card. Now the Electrify is where it gets interesting: with the new Painforge ability, Water Diviner can be the catalyst for your team to really ramp up its attack. And with Razi (the new Gnome summoner in the Death squad), Water Diviner can help you cook up some seriously mean teams. Just don't expect the battle to last more than 3 rounds.
#7. Happy Quokka: Not a ton to say about this one except that 4 Melee damage Opportunity with Oppress alone would've made it a low A Tier, so that Weapons Training pushes it firmly into the A Tier. Still don't see how this little guy can have the same attack power as Diemonshark, but I'm told I shouldn't overthink it.
#8. Runic Skychonk: AKA the best-named card in the set, the Skychonk has wings, but can't fly. More importantly though, it's a 5-mana card with a massive punch, with 3 Magic damage and Protect, which brings her own Armor up to 7 for her Armored Strike. And the Protect pairs very well with other Hippos Ulund. The Reckless is a double-edged sword as it hurts your allies but can help trigger Painforge in a more surgical way than something like Electrify. Very fun card.
#9. Shadowfey Sheik: Looking at it now, I feel I'm going to be putting the Sheik up higher in the future. At 6 mana, it's got great stats - 3 Magic damage and 8 Health is great. But the awesome part of the kit is the Life Leech / Painforge combo. Stick this guy next to units with Reckless and watch its Magic damage grow, making it literally devour its enemies.
B Tier
#10. Archer Koi: For 4 mana, you get Repair, which is clutch. Koi also has good stats with 3 Ranged damage and good survivability, though its speed is low. Painforge is cool, but a bit odd given Koi's not really an offensive machine. For the 4-mana Repair, and as a specialist of non-Magic rulesets, Koi heads up the B Tier. Fury's a throwaway skill in this kit.
#11. Thragha: Like the Sheik, Thraga has the awesome Painforge/Life Leech combo. The problem is that it's a Melee unit with 2 Speed, and that severely reduces its appeal compared to the Sheik. It's meant to go in front, which reduces the likelihood that it'll be able to take off. Of course, you could try to stick it in position 2 with a Flank unit in front of it, but you'll still need to worry about it missing. That said, there's enough going on with this kit that I'm confident it'll find its way into good lineups, especially given that it costs only 4 mana. Wait, what - FOUR mana? Yeah, high B is correct.
#12. Anyu Hunstwoman: There's nothing mysterious about what Anyu is trying to be. With 6 Armor, 8 Health, Void Armor and Flank, this is a tank who'll sit in front of your big damage-dealer and take some serious punishment before going down. The fact that she's Neutral makes her extra versatile. Pair her with a reviver like Goff or the Sentinel to get even more value from that Void Armor.
#13. Fenmoor Platypus: This tiny beast is one of 4 Rust units in the game, and you get that for 3 Mana. Putting that aside, the 3 Melee damage with Reach and Poison are nice additions that solidify it as a good B Tier card.
#14. Swiftbeard Stout: A 7-mana Taunt unit is always nice, but to boot the Stout has Bloodline Tribute. Now there aren't TOO many great Ranged synergies for that Tribute, but the other stat additions for Dwarves are good too. Backfire and Blast feel like slight throwaways in this kit.
#15. Grimward Ruinshot: Several people I've spoken to love this card for the Relentless Strike (ignores Shield/Void and deals 1 extra damage) and Piercing. I agree it's solid, but a solid B in my opinion. It's a good offensive weapon, though the 7 mana isn't cheap and the 3 Speed is a bit low. Dispel is meh.
#16. Flame For Hire: The Flame is a magic-only ruleset specialist with 3 Magic damage and Void for 5 mana. Stun is an OK addition for this kit, and Painforge is nice if you can get it to take off, but you'll need Life Leech on it (via Lorkus) to make sure it doesn't die if you're using Reckless or other means to get that Painforge going. 6 Health is also a bit on the low side. Compare it to the Sheik and you'll see why it's a tier below.
#17. Halfshell Seer: 5 Ranged damage for 4 Mana is nuts, and she's got 4 Speed to boot and decent Armor and Health. Her Reckless can be used to help trigger Painforge on units, but is otherwise a liability. Overall a great card for that mana cost.
#18. Forked Tongue Sage: 2 mana cards are always good, and this sage is no exception, though it also doesn't particularly stand out. It is, as many have said, its own counter with the snipe/magic reflect combo. It's a good filler.
#19. Sacrosanct Shanker: Another card with a cool name :) Self-Revive and Divine Shield pair very well. It's an Elf, which MIGHT give it some synergy with the new Elf Dominion Archon. Overall can't really find a way to place it, but its stats and kit put it in the low Bs for 4 mana.
C Tier
#20. Silverleaf Ranger: Double Strike with 4 damage and Heal with Echo are amaaaazing, but that Weary is really rough for a 6 Mana card. You need to shoot for the battle to be done in 3-4 rounds, otherwise you'll be in trouble. And guess what, there's always a chance it won't even attack in Round 1.
#21. Thraghun: Lots going on in this kit. For 9 mana you get 2 attacks, Reach, Cripple, Return Fire, Weaken, and Poison. It's all a bit of a mess though. At 3 speed, that Double attack is mediocre, and the Reach and Return Fire contradict each other. Cripple and Poison with Dual attack's nice. Overall a bit hard to place.
#22. Janni Oracle: Her kit looks good, but once again it's a bit of an odd one. You're unlikely to place her up front, so the Dodge and self-revive are weird. She might be a good option for Snipe-heavy teams, but those are far from being the meta at the moment.
23. Owlkin Geodesist: Other than being a card with a very hard-to-pronounce name, the Owlkin is another one with a weirdly composed kit. 3 Magic damage pairs nicely with Execute, but then the Enfeeble and Divine Shield don't feel like they add much. Add to that the fact that it only has 4 Health and you've got a fairly mediocre card.
24. Canary Keeper: 3 Ranged damage for 2 Mana is certainly not terrible, and Reflect Damage makes it a good option for Ranged-only matches. But you'll often find better options than the canary. It's certainly playable, which is why it doesn't fall to the D/F tier.
Once again, CA delivers with no cards in the D/F tier in my opinion. I reserve the right to change my mind on some of these with more playtime, but for now I feel this is an incredibly well-balanced set. Let me know if you think I got any of these Tiers wrong.
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