Slay the Spire 2 Best Cards Tier List (All Classes, Beta v0.111)

Table of Contents

1. What Moved Since 0.109
2. Preparation: How This Tier List Was Built
3. Ironclad Card Tier List
4. Silent Card Tier List
5. Defect Card Tier List
6. Regent Card Tier List
7. Necrobinder Card Tier List
8. Important Notes and Common Pitfalls
9. Cross-Class Universal Picks
10. Final Take

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What Moved Since 0.109

First, the patch reality check as of my latest testing on Beta v0.111.0 (released 2026-08-14): v0.111.0 is still current. The planned 8/27 patch was cancelled for the team’s holiday break, September shipped no new beta — the “mid-September beta” people were quoting turned out to be old March news recirculating — and there have been no content announcements since 9/22. So this tier list is a clean v0.111 snapshot, not a moving target.

What actually changed for card rankings between 0.109 and 0.111:

Card	Class	What happened	Rating impact
Expect a Fight	Ironclad	Full rework. The old 2(1)-cost “gain 1 energy per attack card played” effect is gone; it is now a 3-cost Uncommon skill: gain 15 (upgraded 16) Block, plus 5 (upgraded 8) extra Block per point of Strength.	Drops out of every energy ramp; becomes a Strength-build defensive payoff instead.
Hyperbeam	Defect	Full rework. Now deals 24 (upgraded 30) damage to ALL enemies and makes you lose 3 Focus for the rest of the turn (Focus returns next turn). Total damage is lower than the old version.	No longer an endgame Focus nuke; now an early board wipe. Ranked in the Defect B-tier below.
Blade of Ink	Silent	Nerf. The Inky enchantment it applies no longer adds damage — it only keeps the Weak application.	Downgraded: you are buying Weak, not extra offense. See the Silent section.
Mirage	Silent	0.110.0 turned it into poison-flavored Block and removed Exhaust; 0.111.0 put Exhaust back and changed the upgrade from “cost 1→0” to “removes Exhaust”.	Situational; only good with Exhaust synergy. See the Silent section.
Refine Blade	Regent	Forge value nerfed from 9 (upgraded 13) to 8 (upgraded 12).	Slight downgrade, still core Forge fuel.
Alignment / Spoils of Battle	Regent	Buffs: Alignment’s Star cost dropped 3→2; Spoils of Battle now lands at 6 (upgraded 9).	Regent’s defensive and utility slots got better.
Regalite (relic)	Regent	Reworked in 0.110.0 from “2 Block every time you create a card” into a finite number of triggers; 0.111.0 cut each trigger from 6 Block to 4.	See the relic tier list.

High-Ascension enemies also got teeth in 0.111.0 (Axebot, Mechaknight, Globe Head, Louse Progenitor, Soul Fysh, Entomancer and more), which quietly raises the value of reliable Block cards like the reworked Expect a Fight. If you are climbing that ladder, my full breakdown is in the Ascension 9 & 10 climb guide.

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Preparation: How This Tier List Was Built

Slay the Spire 2 has 570 cards across 5 characters as of Beta v0.111. That is a massive pool, and most cards are context-dependent — a card that is S-tier in one build is C-tier in another. This tier list ranks cards by their build-defining power: how much they enable your strategy, how flexible they are across archetypes, and what their win rate impact is when picked early. If you only play one class, the class-specific deep dives go further: Ironclad Strength/Block, Silent poison & shiv routes, Defect focus economy, and Regent & Necrobinder builds.

Community data from the slaythespire-2.com wiki shows Silent and Defect as S-tier characters, Ironclad and Regent as A-tier, and Necrobinder as B-tier. Card win rates reflect this hierarchy — Silent’s poison cards average 45–50% win rates at A10, while Necrobinder’s best cards hover around 40–45% because the character himself is harder to pilot.

Tier definitions:

Tier	Criteria	Win Rate Impact
S	Defines a build archetype. Take on sight.	+8–15% win rate when picked Act 1
A	Strong in specific builds. High priority.	+4–8% win rate
B	Solid filler. Improves deck quality.	+1–4% win rate
C	Situational. Take only when nothing else is available.	<1% or negative in wrong builds

Ironclad Card Tier List

S-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Why S-Tier
Whirlwind	X	5 damage × X to all enemies	The single best payoff card in Ironclad’s kit. Scales with Strength, works with Vulnerable, clears multi-target elites. One copy is enough; two is a luxury.
Inflame	1	Gain 2 Strength (no exhaust)	Permanent Strength for 1 energy. No exhaust means it stacks indefinitely. The foundation of every Strength build.
Barricade	3	Block carries over between turns	Transforms every fight into a wall. Once online, you take zero damage while your attacks close the fight.
Offering	1	Lose 6 HP, gain 2 energy, draw 3, exhausts	The best card draw in Ironclad’s kit. 3 cards for 1 energy plus 2 bonus energy is absurd tempo.

A-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Rupture	1	+1 Strength when you lose HP on your turn	Core of the self-harm engine. Needs Bloodletting to activate.
Shrug It Off	1	8 Block + draw 1	Best 1-cost defensive card. The draw makes it card-neutral.
Fiend Fire	2	Exhaust hand, deal 7 damage per card, exhausts	Your closer. 5-card hand = 35 base damage. With Strength, 50+.
Bloodletting	0	Lose 3 HP, gain 2 energy	Free energy triggers Rupture. Zero opportunity cost.
Taunt	1	7 Block + 1 Vulnerable	Vulnerable makes every subsequent hit deal 50% more.
Demon Form	3	+2 Strength at start of each turn	Slow to pay off but unstoppable in long fights. Take in Act 2+.
Expect a Fight	3	15 (upgraded 16) Block, +5 (upgraded 8) Block per point of Strength	Reworked in v0.111 from an energy card into a Strength-scaling shield. At 6+ Strength this is the biggest Block number in the kit. Worthless in a non-Strength deck — it is a payoff card now, not a flex pick.

Energy note: the old Expect a Fight quietly powered a lot of Act 1 ramp. With it gone, Offering and Bloodletting are now the kit’s real energy engines — draft them with more urgency than you did in 0.109.

B-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Twin Strikes	1	5 damage twice	Decent early filler. Falls off without Strength.
Sword Boomerang	1	2 damage 3 times randomly	Random targeting is a real downside.
Battle Trance	0	Draw 3, cannot draw more this turn	Good in thin decks. Bad if you need to draw past it.
Cleave	1	8 damage to all enemies	Solid Act 1 AoE. Replaced by Whirlwind later.
Crimson Mantle	1	Lose 1 HP/turn for 8 Block	Decent in fat decks. Not worth a dedicated slot.

C-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Wild Strike	1	12 damage + add a Wound	Deck bloat. Never take unless you have exhaust synergy.
Aggression	1	Return random upgraded attack from discard	Too unreliable for consistent builds.

Silent Card Tier List

S-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Why S-Tier
Noxious Fumes	1	Apply 2 Poison to ALL enemies at start of turn	The best passive damage card in Silent’s kit. Two copies = 4 Poison per turn for 1 energy. Community win rate: 45.8% at A10.
After Image	2	Gain 1 Block whenever you play a card	Converts every card play into defense. Makes Shiv builds viable and Poison builds tanky.
Well-Laid Plans	1	Retain 2 cards	Keeps your key pieces across turns. The single most impactful consistency card.
Corpse Explosion	2	Apply 6 Poison. On Poison death, deal max HP damage to all others	Your multi-target nuke. Kills groups by making one enemy’s death cascade.

A-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Bane	1	7 damage + 7 more if Poisoned	Instant payoff for your Poison stack. Take all copies.
Crippling Poison	1	5 Poison + 1 Weak	Combines damage and defense. Weak reduces incoming damage by 25%.
Dodge Roll	1	6 Block + 4 per card discarded this turn	With Sly triggers, this becomes 18+ Block for 1 energy.
Accuracy	1	Shivs deal 4 additional damage	Doubles every Shiv’s output. Core of the Shiv build.
Blade Storm	1	Add a Shiv to hand at start of each turn	Free damage every turn. Pairs with Accuracy for 8-damage Shivs.

B-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Neutralize	0	3 damage + 1 Weak	Free Weak is always useful. Good early-game filler.
Survivor	1	8 Block + discard 1	Basic defense. The discard triggers Sly.
Poisoned Stab	1	6 damage + 3 Poison	Decent mid-game filler. Replaced by Bane later.
Dagger Spray	0	4 damage twice	Free Shivs. Good for Shiv builds, mediocre otherwise.
Cloak	1	6 Block + retain	Simple defense. Does not excite but does the job.

C-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Backstab	0	Deal 11 damage, exhausts	One-time burst. Too inconsistent for a deck slot.
Footwork	1	+2 Dexterity	Weak without multiple Block cards.

Blade of Ink and Mirage after the v0.111 changes

Two Silent cards moved around in the 0.110/0.111 patches and are not in the tables above, so here is where I stand on them now:

• Blade of Ink (nerfed). The Inky enchantment it revolves around no longer adds damage — all it does now is leave Weak. That turns Blade of Ink from “extra damage plus a debuff” into “a Weak applicator with extra steps.” It is still serviceable in a defense-first Silent shell, because Weak cuts incoming damage by 25%, but if you were drafting it as an attack payoff, downgrade it a full tier in your head. I now treat it as a B-tier situational pick at best. For the full enchantment picture — including the Nonupeipe’s Beautiful Bracelet random-enchant rework — see the Enchantments mechanics guide.
• Mirage (Exhaust is back). The patch history here is genuinely confusing: 0.110.0 turned Mirage into poison-flavored Block and removed its Exhaust; 0.111.0 put the Exhaust tag back and replaced the old “cost 1→0” upgrade with “upgrade removes Exhaust.” So the card’s real upgrade value is now the Exhaust removal, not the discount. In a normal poison deck I rate it C-tier — exhausting your own defensive card is a bad trade. With Exhaust payoff engines it climbs to solid B.

Defect Card Tier List

S-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Why S-Tier
All For One	2	Deal 10 damage + 1 per Orb in your slots	With 4 orbs, this is 14 damage for 2 energy. With Focus, it scales further. The best single-target attack in Defect’s kit.
Frost Orb	1 (passive)	Channel a Frost orb (gains 2 Block/turn)	The foundation of the turtle build. 4 Frost orbs = 8 Block per turn passively.
Dark Orb	1 (passive)	Channel a Dark orb (deals 8 damage on pass)	Your damage engine. With Focus +2, each pass deals 16.
Capacitor	Passive	+2 Orb slots	More slots = more orbs = more everything. Take immediately.

A-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Biased Cognition	1	+4 Focus, lose 1 Focus at start of turn	Net +3 Focus permanently. The best Focus card in the game.
Loop	1	When your orbs pass, trigger their effect again	Doubles your orb output. Pairs with Dark Orb for 16 damage per pass.
Recursion	1	When you channel an orb, trigger the oldest orb’s passive	Extends orb lifespan. Essential for the turtle build.
Fusion	1 (passive)	Channel a Plasma orb (deals damage and gives Block)	Balanced orb that does both offense and defense.
Meteor Strike	3	Channel 3 Plasma orbs + deal 12 damage	Expensive but game-ending when it resolves.

B-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Cold Snap	1	6 damage + channel 1 Frost	Decent opener. The Frost orb adds immediate Block.
Hologram	1	4 Block + retain 1 + add a card to hand	Versatile utility. The retain is the real value.
Beam Cell	0	3 damage + apply 1 Vulnerable	Free Vulnerable is always welcome.
Ball Lightning	1	7 damage + channel 1 Lightning	Solid early-game damage. Falls off without Focus.
Hyperbeam	—	24 (upgraded 30) damage to ALL enemies; lose 3 Focus for the rest of the turn	Reworked in v0.111. Focus returns next turn, so this is no longer a Focus-scaling endgame nuke — total damage is down from the old version too. It is now an early-to-mid board wipe you fire before your orb engine spins up. B-tier at best; do not build around it. Full analysis in the Defect focus economy guide.

C-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Double Energy	3	Double your energy this turn	Too expensive. You spend 3 to get 3 more, netting zero long-term.
Overclock	0	Draw 2 + add 2 Burns	Deck bloat for card draw. Not worth it.

Regent Card Tier List

S-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Why S-Tier
Manifest	1	Add Sovereign Blade to hand + 1 Forge stack	Your Blade retrieval engine. Without this, the Forge build does not function.
Furnace	1	Add 2 Forge stacks to Sovereign Blade	Permanent Blade upgrades. Two copies means 4 stacks per turn.
Crescent Spear	X	Damage = Blade damage × Stars spent	Your finisher. Scales with both Forge and Stars investment.

A-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Shining Strike	1	Deal damage + generate 1 Star	Your Star economy. Take 3–4 copies.
Reflect	2	Gain Block = current Forge stacks	Emergency defense that scales with your Forge investment.
Genesis	3	Generate 5 Stars	Expensive but game-changing for the Stars build.
Radiance	1	Draw 2 cards	Consistency tool for finding your core pieces.

B-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Big Bang	3	Spend all Stars for massive AoE damage	Win condition for Stars build. Needs 8+ Stars to be worth it.
Charge!	1	Deal damage + draw 1 if you have 3+ Stars	Card advantage when your economy is online.
Defensive Stance	1	8 Block	Simple defense. Does not synergize but fills a slot.

C-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Royal Decree	2	Apply debuffs based on Stars spent	Too Star-expensive for the effect.

v0.111 balance notes for Regent

Refine Blade’s Forge value was cut from 9 (upgraded 13) to 8 (upgraded 12) — an honest nerf, but it stays core Forge fuel because nothing else replaces that much Forge in one card. On the buff side, Alignment’s Star cost dropped from 3 to 2, and Spoils of Battle now lands at 6 (upgraded 9). Both make Regent’s Star economy looser than it was in 0.109, which partly offsets the Forge slowdown. On the relic side, Regalite was reworked into a finite-trigger effect and cut from 6 to 4 Block per trigger in 0.111.0, so the Colorless-generation defensive package is weaker than it looks — the full build implications are in the Regent & Necrobinder builds guide.

Necrobinder Card Tier List

S-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Why S-Tier
Lash (Whip)	0	Stack Doom + draw 1 card	Zero cost makes this infinitely spammable. Your engine starter and primary Doom source.
Summon Osty	1	Summon/re-summon Osty (+8 HP per summon)	Your minion engine. Every summon makes Osty permanently stronger.
Necromancer’s Mastery	2	Convert Osty’s HP into damage	Your burst window. Stack Osty to 30+ HP, then unleash.

A-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Death Gate	1	Massive Block if you applied Doom this turn	Your defensive core. Always play after Lash.
Nowhere to Run	1	Stack Doom on single target	The boss killer. Fast single-target Doom stacking.
Negative Energy Pulse	1	Apply Doom to all + small Block	Essential for multi-target fights.
Soul Entangle	1	Damage based on souls in discard	Secondary damage source. Scales with deck manipulation.

B-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Borrowed Time	2	Gain extra energy this turn	Ensures you can play Doom + defense in the same turn.
Skeleton Army	2	Summon 6 Osty HP. Exhausts.	Massive Osty buff. Co-op: all players benefit.
Grave Retriever	1	Retrieve a card from the Graveyard	Enables the infinite loop. Needs specific setup.

C-Tier

Card	Cost	Effect	Notes
Bone Shield	1	5 Block	Mediocre defense. Does not synergize with Doom or Osty.
Wither	0	2 damage + 1 Doom	Too weak to justify a deck slot.

Important Notes and Common Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Picking S-tier cards outside their build. Whirlwind is S-tier for Ironclad, but only if you have Strength to scale it. Picking Whirlwind without Inflame or Rupture is like buying a sports car with no gas. Always check that your build supports the card before committing.

Pitfall 2: Ignoring B-tier fillers. A deck of 4 S-tier cards and 10 C-tier cards loses to a deck of 8 A-tier and 6 B-tier cards every time. Consistency matters more than peaks. Fill your deck with B-tier cards that do not conflict with your strategy.

Pitfall 3: Over-valuing one-copy wonders. Some cards are amazing in isolation but do not scale. Meteor Strike is powerful once, but if you cannot consistently draw it, it is a dead pick. Prefer cards that are good in every hand over cards that are amazing in one hand out of ten.

Pitfall 4: Not accounting for the new Affliction system. Slay the Spire 2 introduced Afflictions — enemy debuffs that target your cards directly. Some Afflictions increase a card’s cost or add exhaust conditions. S-tier cards with 0 or 1 cost are less vulnerable to these Afflictions because the cost increase is smaller. This makes Lash (0 cost) and Bloodletting (0 cost) even more valuable than their raw stats suggest.

Cross-Class Universal Picks

Some relics and cards appear across multiple classes and deserve special mention:

Card/Relic	Classes	Universal Value
Vajra (relic)	Ironclad, Regent	+1 Strength at combat start. Applies to any damage build.
Bag of Marbles (relic)	Ironclad, Silent	Free Vulnerable at combat start. Makes every opening hit harder.
Sturdy Cramp (relic)	Regent, Defect	Carry over Block. Essential for any turtle build.
Offering	Ironclad	Best card draw in the game. 3 cards + 2 energy for 1 energy + 6 HP.
After Image	Silent	Converts every card play into Block. Universal defense.

Final Take

The current Beta v0.111 meta favors Silent and Defect for consistency, Ironclad and Regent for reliability, and Necrobinder for skill expression. The tier list reflects this hierarchy: Silent’s poison cards have the highest win rates, Defect’s orb cards have the best damage-to-cost ratios, and Necrobinder’s Doom engine has the highest ceiling but the lowest floor.

The most impactful card in the entire game is probably Noxious Fumes — a 1-cost uncommon that passively applies 2 Poison to all enemies every turn. It does not require setup, it does not exhaust, and it scales with every other Poison card in your deck. If you see it in Act 1, take it.

For the new characters: Manifest (Regent) and Lash (Necrobinder) are their respective S-tier anchors. Without Manifest, the Forge build does not function. Without Lash, the Doom loop does not start. These are non-negotiable first picks that define what makes each character unique.

One last pointer: if you pull these cards into a 4-player co-op run — live since Early Access — the tier math changes. S-tier payoff cards get more valuable when three teammates can set them up, and my full take on that is in the co-op 4-player team synergy guide.