Another day, another tier list! Today I'm covering the Riftwatchers. Let's get right into it.
Riftwatchers Legendary Cards
S Tier: Inevitable takes the cake as the best Legendary Riftwatchers card, and the best Riftwatchers card overall. His kit and stats combine to make him one of the most powerful tanks in the game, and with the right back-line support he can make a Life team extremely hard to destroy. In second place is one of my favorite cards (and characters) in Splinterlands: Oshuur. All 3 of her abilities are extremely good and the combination is S Tier. Lastly there's Coeurl Lurker, one of the best Taunt cards in the game, with speed and abilities that make him terrific against Melee or Magic alike.
A Tier: Agor is the first A Tier Legendary, with Void Armor and self Heal making him a real pain to take down; great in the front or back line. Immolation's terrific to support Fire's ample choice of sneak Melee attackers, and is a solid tank in his own right, combined with his own solid firepower at 4 magic attack + Blast. Florre is a back to basics beast, but also terrific in other rulesets and pairs extremely well with various summoners like Immortalis and Drath. Raa's double strike scattershot paired with Giant Killer can wreck enemy teams, particularly in high mana matches, and pairs great with many summoners including Cryptic (Poison), Waka, and Nidhoggr (Blast).
B Tier: Sea Wreck's amplify and ranged/magic reflect plus Heal makes him a great tank, and Bloodlust can occasionally see him pop (especially as it can proc on the return damage); he needs support though (e.g. Anasth Soothsayer). Kye has a strong kit on paper but rarely really gets going, and Fury's kind of useless on her. Kain can be deadly on occasion but that starting health is just too squishy.
C Tier: The Redwood rarely gets a great spot. Slipspawn's Forcefield often gets in the way, which makes the Fury very strange. No Close Range means he has fewer spots. Just a weird kit. Mordeus pretty much needs True Strike or Reverse Speed to work out, and will often find himself sniped by a Runi in Reverse Speed.
D/F Tier: Atuat is probably the biggest waste of a Last Stand in the game.
Riftwatchers Epic Cards (Summoners)
S Tier: No S Tier summoners in Riftwatchers.
A Tier: Ilthain is the best summoner in the Riftwatchers set. Not quite S Tier, although pretty close. 4 mana for an extra speed and Return Fire makes him very versatile.
B Tier: No B Tier summoners in Riftwatchers.
C Tier: Sthispa has some spots, and can pair very nicely with cards like Redwyrm Dragon, Nightmare, or Regal Peryton, however she's somewhat situational. Fernheart also has his spots, and can help Ranged cards compensate for lack of Close Range, but the +1 Health is comparatively weak. Skargore's Enraged is very fun, however, it's rarely the best choice.
D/F Tier: Aquatus is almost never the right play, as it's nearly always better to work on increasing the chance of a dodge rather than trying to cause damage from a dodge. With Kelya in Chaos Legion at 4 mana, Aquatus gets zero play. Lastly, old man Dallan is there crippling away by himself...
Riftwatchers Rare Cards
S Tier: Queen of Crows stands alone as the S Tier card among the Riftwatcher rares. Her kit screams "ranged only" BUT she's actually much more versatile than that, frequently finding herself in the 1/2 spot in many rulesets.
A Tier: Uloth's a terrific triage card who also packs a punch; he's sometimes kept under max level to keep his damage at 4 which helps him avoid Forcefield. Corsair Bosun's a great 2nd position card with the Reach/Reflection Shield/Cleanse combo, and works great under Tofu as well as EMP. Runic Skyclaw's a terrific snipe card who deals a ton of damage, particularly effective in high mana rulesets.
B Tier: Runeslinger has a great synergistic kit, but doesn't quite pack enough punch to get into the A Tier. The Technomancer's next, particularly for his Rust and Blind. Tinderblock's ok but doesn't really get enough usage out of that Last Stand.
C Tier: Sea Stalker packs solid punch and is useful to bring in for an extra cleanse against Cryptic. Suidae Shaman, interestingly, is a perfect counter to the best card in the set (Inevitable) but rarely finds that spot due to recharge being such a tough ability to land. The technowizologist has a weird an un-synergistic kit. Water Caller's too slow, 1 mana too expensive, and a bit squishy.
Riftwatchers Common Cards
S Tier: Ash Mirage is a phenomenal card due to its speed, Headwinds, and Reflection Shield. It pairs extremely well with Jacek, with/against Yodin, and with Drath.
A tier: Coastal Nymph is a great scattershot card thanks largely to the Affliction. It became even better with Cryptic, the 5 damage is also terrific, and it's also highly survivable. Junker's great as it's a neutral card who can deal good damage while repairing.
B Tier: Bramble Pixie doesn't get enough love in my opinion. Great stats and self-heal is a solid kit. Whelp Herder's a cheap 3-damage card worthy of a B. Dumacke Exile's solid with the 4 damage sneak, but Fury's lost on it.
C Tier: Night Ghoul's too expensive for what he brings, and his spots are rare. Arachne Thug rarely gets that Trample (or the Knockout) going, despite good stats. Septic Slime's way too expensive, but barely avoid D/F thanks to the self-heal. Rune Crafter's too busy crafting runes to be any use (except for that occasional mega-hit on a Mycelic Slipspawn).
D/F Tier: Lemel Refugee might get a slightly better rating if Diemonshark didn't exist, but also suffers from a very poorly synergistic kit, as the Void Armor prevents Enrage from triggering. Time Meddler is way too expensive for 2 magic damage, and his abilities scream tank but he's pretty much never the best choice there. Lichen Beast just never comes up as the best choice; Enrage is nice but the knockout's useless, and despite decent stats there's nearly always a better choice.
