Discover everything you need to know about the best cards tier list in Slay the Spire 2, including their effects.
Cards in Slay the Spire 2 are your main weapon to fight enemies in combat. They represent your actions in combat, and each has a type, cost, and effect. Choosing the best cards for your build is essential to take down any enemy in your path.
Cards like Corruption, Accelerant, and Time’s Up are the best ones to use based on your chosen character. You choose cards as rewards after fights, events, or from shops. Each character class has its own unique card pool, so use the cards that let you eliminate any threat on a battlefield.
Table of contents
Best Cards Tier List
Below is the best card tier list in Slay the Spire 2 based on their effect, rarity, and energy cost.
| Tier | Card |
| S-Tier | Corruption, Accelerant, Time’s Up, Sovereign Blade, Echo Form |
| A-Tier | Biased Cognition, Genesis, Oblivion, Knife Trap, Hellraiser |
| B-Tier | Rupture, Calculated Gamble, Death’s Door |
| C-Tier | Bulwark, Glass Cannon, Defragment, Scourge |
S-Tier
The cards in this tier can be picked up at any time in Slay the Spire 2 and can change the tide of victory when used at the crucial moment.
Corruption
- Type: Power
- Rarity: Rare
- Energy Cost: 3
This is a powerful Rare Power card of Ironclad that lets you play all Skill cards for free, but each one disappears after you use it. Every Skill card costs 0 energy after using it, and playing multiple copies of Corruption does not stack. Corruption is the major card of Exhaust build, synergizing with the cards like Dark Embrace, Feel No Pain, and Juggernaut. Your deck gets smaller during the fight, allowing you to reach better cards quickly.
Accelerant
- Type: Power
- Rarity: Rare
- Energy Cost: 1
Accelerant is a Rare Power card used by Silent and can trigger the poison for an additional time. The poison damage activates twice per turn when an enemy has poison. Each enemy takes damage equal to the Poison value, but the poison is mitigated by 1 each turn.
It stays active for the entire combat after you use it to get more value. Poison damage happens more rapidly, allowing enemies to die quickly.
Time’s Up
- Type: Attack
- Rarity: Rare
- Energy Cost: 2
Time’s Up is Necrobinder’s card that revolves around the Doom mechanic to deal damage over time in combat. Deal damage equal to the enemy’s Doom. If the enemy has 20 Doom, then playing this card deals 20 damage. This card can immediately finish it if an enemy has Doom equal to half its HP.
Sovereign Blade
- Type: Attack (Colorless)
- Energy Cost: 2
Sovereign Blade is a special Attack card of The Regent that deals 10-16 damage to the enemy in combat. It is the Regent’s signature weapon and works with the Forge mechanic. You can obtain this card from other cards with the Forge keyword.
Every additional Forge card boosts the damage of Sovereign Blade. It also allows you to pull the Blade into your hand based on the used card. It stays in your hand between turns until you decide to use it. Using the Forge cards can boost their damage to deal huge burst damage to bosses.
Echo Form
- Type: Power
- Rarity: Rare
- Cost: 3 Energy
Echo Form is a rare power card of Defect that provides a benefit by duplicating cards you play each turn in Slay the Spire 2. If you use the Echo Form, the first card you play is automatically played twice each turn.
Use this card to gain additional output like damage, block, or other effects without further costs. You can also pair this card with Defragment or Buffer for more powerful effects. Upgrading Echo Form removes Ethereal, allowing you to play when ready.
A-Tier
Cards in this tier provide a unique effect during combat and require some synergy. The output is not much less than the cards on A-tier, but they can let you win every fight.
Biased Cognition
- Type: Power
- Rarity: Rare
- Cost: 1 Energy
Biased Cognition is a Rare Power card for the Defect that allows you to gain 5 Focus. However, you lose 1 Focus at the start of each turn. The effectiveness of Lightning, Frost, and Dark orbs is increased due to the Focus, making them more powerful.
Biased Cognition allows you to get a huge chunk of Focus to deal more damage or provide higher block. This card is cheap to play, but lets you channel Orbs and play other cards.
Genesis
- Type: Power
- Rarity: Rare
- Cost: 2 Energy
Genesis is a Rare Power card for the Regent that provides a consistent resource called Stars. Use this card to gain a passive income of Stars at the start of each turn. This ensures that you start with extra Stars to activate effects or cards that are super expensive. Genesis is very crucial because this character depends on spending Stars for stronger effects and cards.
Oblivion
- Type: Skill
- Rarity: Rare
- Cost: 1 Energy
Oblivion is a card tied to the Necrobinder in Slay the Spire 2 that helps you stack Doom on an enemy rapidly. Using this card in a turn allows you to apply 3 Doom to the enemy. It dies instantly when its Doom value is greater than or equal to its HP.
The rest of that turn, every card you play creates Doom to be applied. Up to 15 Doom is applied when you play 5 cards after Oblivion.
Knife Trap
- Type: Skill
- Rarity: Rare
- Energy Cost: 2
Knife Trap is the Silent’s card in Slay the Spire 2 that allows you to play every Shiv in your Exhaust Pile on the enemy. It also plays all Shivs in your Exhaust Pile with enhanced effectiveness when upgraded. The game replays every Shiv that has been exhausted earlier after playing this Knife Trap.
You can deal massive damage when you generate multiple Shivs in a fight. Make sure to pair it with Blade Dance, Hidden Daggers, and Infinite Blades to get more output.
Hellraiser
- Type: Power
- Cost: 3 Energy
- Rarity: Rare
Hellraiser is a Rare Power card for the Ironclad that modifies how your deck deals damage by strike attacks in combat. Whenever you draw a card containing Strike, it is automatically used against a random enemy.
The game immediately plays its attack effect when you draw a Strike card. Hellraiser triggers it the moment it enters your hand, so you don’t need to play it manually. Pair it with the cards like Pillage, Battle Trance, or Pommel Strike to increase the number of Strike triggers.
B-Tier
Cards in this tier have a decent section of reach deck, and they’re more flexible in combat.
Rupture
- Type: Power
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Energy Cost: 1
Rupture is an Uncommon Power card that transforms self-damage into Strength gain in Slay the Spire 2. This allows you to become more powerful by taking damage from your own card. Whenever you lose HP from a card, gain 1 Strength. It includes cards like Bloodletting, Hemokinesis, and Offering to get self-damage. Each HP loss from a card play gives one trigger per Rupture stack.
Calculated Gamble
- Type: Skill
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Energy Cost: 0
This is another Uncommon Skill card for the Silent that allows you to discard your hand, then draw that many cards in combat. Your hand is sent to the discard pile, and you draw new cards from your deck. All cards in your hand are discarded by playing Calculated Gamble. After that, you draw the same number of cards you discarded, allowing you to reshuffle your hand instantly. Use this card to get new cards faster when your hand isn’t helpful.
Death’s Door
- Type: Skill
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Cost: 1 Energy
Death’s Door is a card for the Necrobinder that lets you combine Block generation when the doom is applied in Slay the Spire 2. If you applied Doom this turn, gain Block 2 additional times. Pair this card with Deathbringer, Scourge, and Negative Pulse to trigger Block 2 additional times. The card scales with Doom usage during your turn, so make sure to apply more Doom. You still get 6 Blocks if you don’t apply Doom before playing Death’s Door.
C-Tier
These cards are best for the early game to defeat the smaller enemies in combat. Using them against the bosses or elite enemies can leave you vulnerable in most cases.
Bulwark
- Type: Skill
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Energy Cost: 2
Bulwark is a defensive card that helps you increase the Forge for Regent in Slay the Spire 2. You gain 13 Block and add 10 Forge points for the rest of the combat. Each point of Forge permanently increases the damage of your Sovereign Blade. Bulwark allows you to choose between surviving and powering up.
Glass Cannon
- Type: Attack
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Cost: 2 Energy
Glass Cannon is a decent card (Defect) to use early on in Slay the Spire 2 that grants AoE damage and orb support to tackle multiple enemies. Glass Cannon hits all enemies at once, allowing you to deal massive damage to a cluster of enemies. Pair this card with the cards that evoke cards, trigger orbs, and boost orb power.
Defragment
- Type: Power
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Energy Cost: 1
Defragment is a core Power card for the Defect that allows you to gain 1 Focus that further maximizes the orb effects. Use this card to gain Focus for the rest of the combat and channel orbs to trigger more effects. Focus increases not just one effect, but all your Orb outputs. This makes the Defragment a must-have card in your deck early on.
Scourge
- Type: Skill
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Energy Cost: 1
Scourge is a doom-based card for the Necrobinder that allows you to apply 13 doom to the enemy and draw 1 card. The exact Doom amount may vary based on card upgrades. Using this card adds a large stack of Doom to the target enemy, allowing you to take down enemies quickly.
After applying Doom, Scourge draws you 1 card to maintain momentum and play more cards in the turn. I recommend adding Doom even when enemies have high health in mid-game.
