Rank 1 Challengers! Tierlist

[DoctorFianchetto]

I returned to Challengers after a hiatus and had some surprising success, often using strategies I've not employed before, I'm now Rank 20.

I am really appreciating the value of Sailor. When I started playing I rated Sailor as one of the most useless cards, but now I see it's the opposite. I wouldn't boldly state it's the best card in the game, but it's high on the list. Great versatility.

One of my games I stumbled on 3 UFOs and had a fun time. I've never fully committed to UFOs before, it was a novel and fun experience, and also quite sad cutting a ton of cards after each round

In the first round I would pick double MUA without question. Double Movie Star? Absolutely not. Movie Star and MUA? That depends on my mood. I think it's a good play but not without risk. You're relying on getting at least one more MUA in the future, preferably without having to go for the A deck on Round 4.

The biggest change I made compared to pre-hiatus is accepting multiple copies of weaker cards. For example, if I see a Talent in the first few rounds, I'm likely to get it. Ditto with Dog in the middle rounds. Previously I would pick something like a Lion over a second Dog, but I think double Dog is better in general. I'm also more open to experimentation, picking cards I haven't played much with before such as UFOs and Holograms. It's working out well.

I love the resources both you and Fletcheese have provided. I'll comment on your tier list in more detail at some point.

[Axet et Clémence]

AndrewSmile, if you have for example in the first R1 a draft of two vanilla 3 and a sailor, do you take the sailor or the pair of vanilla 3 ?

and if it's a pair of A.I or vendor ?

[Andrewsmile]

AndrewSmile, if you have for example in the first R1 a draft of two vanilla 3 and a sailor, do you take the sailor or the pair of vanilla 3 ?

and if it's a pair of A.I or vendor ?

Thank you for the question! Pair of AI/pair of vendor will beat a single sailor, but those are the only pairs for which that is true for me turn 1. If I have a redraw turn 1 I will take a sailor and roll past pair of 3s, but if I roll into it sailor/pair of 3s I will take the pair of 3s only if there is no AI/vendor along with the sailor. Sailor is very powerful on round 1 because it can send your champ to the bottom which is typically where she wants to be since round 1 is such a coinflip and you have the highest chance of winning with your biggest card on the bottom where it can potentially run your opponent out of cards before being captured.

[gabegolfer]

What is your favorite deck to be removed?

[DoctorFianchetto]

My A deck commentary.

Sailor
I don't place Sailor on the pedestal that Andrewsmile does, but it's certainly a very valuable card.

AI
"Only downside is its less likely to pair, but when you do you're probably winning."
Disagree. There aren't enough cards that synergise well with AI. One AI is useless and gets thrown away quickly if I don't find a pair. After learning this lesson I will only pick AIs if two of them appear at the same time. Two AI can be good but it only works particularly well with Band/UFO/Shapeshifter and getting all of them is unlikely especially since everyone is going after UFOs these days. The AI/Vendor combo has a similar problem despite its great reputation. If you draft heavy Yellow, the AIs are on the chopping block, if you draft heavy Red, the Vendors are useless. I'm not sure if there's a happy middle ground. Three AI? Yeah that'll give you good winning chances.

Skeleton/Stable Boy/Gangster/Hermit
I probably underrate these. I no longer maintain that Stable Boy is the worst card, but it relies on too few specific cards to make it effective in the late game. Hermit I rarely pick because I tend to keep my starter cards longer than I perhaps should. Skeleton and Gangster are solid cards.

Jester
Completely agree with your deconstruction of why Jester is not a great card - can't stand on its own and gives you the dilemma when it's time to ditch your Newcomers. Synergises well with a MUA deck.

Merman
Strong card. I've been playing a lot of Shipwreck decks recently, if you get two or three Mermen, you have almost guaranteed 4 power cards for the entire game. Sweep the early rounds, and they hold their own in the later rounds.

Movie Star
I'm shocked this isn't in the "never take" pile along with MUA. In my opinion this card is worthless without MUAs.

Butler
I used to love Butler before realising that it doesn't really allow you to run 8+ unique card decks without benching. The longer I play the less I go for them. Good in a pure Haunted House deck - although unrealistic since multiple Skeletons trump multiple Butlers and you're a lot more likely to find Skeletons. Good if you want to YOLO and aim for as many UFOs and Villains as you can get. That's about it.

[Andrewsmile]

What is your favorite deck to be removed?

I think having haunted house out is my favorite, I feel like not a lot of people dip into the C deck turn 6 and since I am digging for hologram I can usually find at least 1 which can be enough to win when opponents arent expecting it. I also like the mind games of playing 2 holograms on turn 7 against someone I know will be in the final even if they lose, then when I face them again in the final I have to decide whether I cut both holograms because they know they are coming and fake them out if they are playing around it by only running 4-5 uniques or if I think they are risking it.

AI
"Only downside is its less likely to pair, but when you do you're probably winning."
Disagree. There aren't enough cards that synergise well with AI. One AI is useless and gets thrown away quickly if I don't find a pair.

Movie Star
I'm shocked this isn't in the "never take" pile along with MUA. In my opinion this card is worthless without MUAs.

I don't know that I understand your take that there arent enough cards that synergize with A.I. there are more 2 power cards than anything else in the game it feels like. Perhaps you mean that there aren't enough cards that synergize with A.I. that you also want to bring to the final, and even there I think sailor, necromancer, stable boy, hermit, cook, and especially mascot are enough. 1 can go into the midgame but agree without a pair it probably gets cut for the final.

Regarding movie star, I can see why this seems like a contradictory opinion for me to have. The simple reason is that on its own it actually has some of the highest potential upside of any deck A card in the first 3 rounds (4 power over 3 cards, good against multiple small cards OR a big card, and one of the only deck A cards that can trade favorably into the champion). If I see a pair and nothing else Im not super unhappy but they do typically get cut by the midgame. Good with sailor. Still not a great card but pickable which is why its in 2nd to bottom tier for me

[DoctorFianchetto]

I don't know that I understand your take that there arent enough cards that synergize with A.I. there are more 2 power cards than anything else in the game it feels like. Perhaps you mean that there aren't enough cards that synergize with A.I. that you also want to bring to the final, and even there I think sailor, necromancer, stable boy, hermit, cook, and especially mascot are enough. 1 can go into the midgame but agree without a pair it probably gets cut for the final.

That's what I was getting at, yes, but I admit that a Mascot/Cook/Necromancer deck with AIs is very strong.

[DoctorFianchetto]

I have no real objections with your categorisation for the B deck cards. Like Sailor, UFO isn't strong enough for its own special tier. I would be inclined to move Director and Mime into the tier below, they are not as useful as the other cards in your top tier. I never pick Knights, but I admit I do have an unreasonable bias towards defense cards (Cook, Treasure) over attack cards (Gangster, Knight). Blacksmiths are not useless: they boost Mascots, Champions, Fan Buses, and synergise well with MUA and Movie Stars. However, I still almost never pick them, bottom tier is the right place.

Same for the C deck, the ranking is more or less spot on. My only real objection is Siren. Its effect is only good against very specific decks, and highly dependent on the draw order. Siren really needs a buff to be viable, but I'm not sure what that would be. I'd never take a Siren over a 7 animal. Sci-Fi geek is draftable if you have some weak Red cards to remove.

Your complete disdain for the starter cards amuses me, and it's my biggest weakess. I have Champion in the final round more often than not, and when I think about it I'm not really sure why. I guess because I cut most of my lower power cards first.

[Theter]

Movie Star
I'm shocked this isn't in the "never take" pile along with MUA. In my opinion this card is worthless without MUAs.

I've won several games with movie stars, blacksmiths and bards. Add some deck control and luxury necros/vamps and the deck is strong. Sure it's not gonna beat a dedicated boosted deck like AI or Vendor, but it can be deceptively powerful.

[Andrewsmile]

Like Sailor, UFO isn't strong enough for its own special tier.
...
Same for the C deck, the ranking is more or less spot on. My only real objection is Siren. Its effect is only good against very specific decks, and highly dependent on the draw order. Siren really needs a buff to be viable, but I'm not sure what that would be. I'd never take a Siren over a 7 animal.

For me personally, sailor and UFO get their own tier because they are the only cards I will pick even if I see a duplicate. For example, say round 1 I pick a treasure and a gangster. Turn 2, I see treasure, gangster, sailor, and 2 cards I don't care about. I think many players take the two duplicates here but I take sailor and a duplicate. Sailor and UFO are the only cards for which I will pick this way, hence their own tier.

I think what is important to understand about siren is that you don't pick it if you don't need it (like if you know your opponent is already running some butlers so you'd just be helping them). But when you pick it, the potential upside (and this is just my personal opinion) is worth the 1 power loss over a vanilla 7. Cutting a cook, vendor, MUA, AI, band, card that they want to necromancer, orange card to nerf teenager, etc happens more than you would think in my anecdotal experience and will instantly make up the 1 power deficit and more. I have to rate cards in a vacuum so siren is relatively low but when you would pick it it is better than I think many people think