Continuing on my new player onboarding guides, I wanted to put together a Tier List for Chaos Legion Rewards cards. In this article I look at the FIRST edition of Chaos Legion rewards (i.e. not the ones that were souldbound - I'll do those next!).
Buy Or Rent?
Very few of these cards are currently worth buying, largely because the rental prices are just so low, as you'll see from the image above. In general, if you see a rental ROA of <5%, you're generally better off simply renting a card. In this case there are some on the bottom (the Legendary cards) that I think ARE worth buying (and you'll see those ROAs are >10%).
For the Common/Rare/Epic cards unless you want the convenience and pride of owning (which, fwiw, IS worth it), then just begin by renting.
Of course if there are flash-sale level prices, you should consider scooping up some cards, but generally you'll find there are so many of these available on the rental market that you can get by with that (until the time comes when you just want to collect them all, which WILL happen!).
What About Gold Foils?
There are some cards worth buying in Gold Foil here. As usual, before buying, you should always check how much it costs to buy a Gold Foil over the Regular Foil. If the price is only ~10-20% more for a Gold Foil, it's generally a good idea to get that in order to pocket that 10% extra reward multiplier when using it in battle.
Renting Gold Foil versions of the Chaos Legion rewards cards varies in terms of cost-effectiveness, so if you're looking at GF maybe it's worth buying.
Legendary Units
A tier: Buy <$6 IF rental ROA >10%, otherwise rent
- Djinn Oshannus
- Countess Sinash
- Venator Kinjo
B tier: Rent, do not buy (unless it's <$3)
- Jared Scar
C tier: Rent, do not buy (unless it's <$2)
- Harklaw
- Djinn Biljka
Epic Units
A tier: Buy <$4 IF rental ROA >10%, otherwise rent
- Tide Biter
- Uraeus
B tier: Rent, do not buy (unless it's <$3)
- Revealer
- Djinn Renova
C tier: Rent, do not buy (unless it's <$2)
- Lava Launcher
D tier: Do not buy
- Djinn Chwala
Rare Units
S tier: Buy <$3 IF rental ROA >10%, otherwise rent
- Venari Crystalsmith
A tier: Buy <$2.50 IF rental ROA >10%, otherwise rent
- Dhampir Infiltrator
- Naga Assassin
B tier: Rent, do not buy (unless it's <$1.50)
- Vulguine
- Exploding Rats
C tier: Rent, do not buy (unless it's <$1)
- Venari Seedsmith
- Venari Bonesmith
- Venari Wavesmith
D tier: Do not buy
- Twilight Basilisk
- Gargoya Devil
- Vampiric Blossom
Common Units
A tier: Buy <$2 IF rental ROA >10%, otherwise rent
- Pelacor Bandit
- Pelacor Conjurer
- Merdhampir
B tier: Rent, do not buy (unless it's <$1)
- Pelacor Mercenary
- Ever-Hungry Skull
C tier: Rent, do not buy (unless it's <$0.50)
- Venari Heatsmith
- Vampire Bat
- Blood Maker
D tier: Do not buy
- Pelacor Deceiver
- Gargoya Lion
All the Pelacor and most of the Venari cards are super good, I especially love the Pelacor Conjurer, I use that card almost always on low'ish mana battles with LIFE.
And here is sitting on 100+ copies of Deceiver. Looks like I am the one who got deceived. 😅
Well even the Pelacor Deceiver has his day occasionally :)
Interesting approach. I think I mostly agree with your idea. However, there is one import aspect to take into consideration. Since minimum rentals are going to increase to 1 DEC, many of those cards won't be worth renting very soon. New players might as well buy those cards even if it's worth to rent for a little longer, just because they'll end up having to buy them later.
As for the rankings, I believe all legendaries and epics are worth having access to, for new players, as long as they have the respective summoner to use. I say this because they're very cheap and new players won't have the more expensive cards that make these be used less often. Djinn Biljka might be fragile against Magic Reflect, but it's very useful with Obsidian in magic mirrors. Djinn Chwala can be a beast in the right game.
About the rares, even Gargoya Devil can be used sometimes. The other 2 from D rank are unlikely to see play, though. And, for the commons, Gargoya Lion can have some utility in Obsidian mirrors. If you have access to Immortalis, it's much less needed, though. Venari Heatsmith is probably not that useful for new players unless they have some Weapons Training cards.
All good points! Dunno what's going to happen if/when there are changes to rental mechanics, so for now I can only make recommendations based on how things stand today.
Regarding the Legendaries I agree they're all worth it (you'll see I have them all at C or above).
In terms of Gargoya Devil I agree he can be used sometimes. But that's actually part of what's amazing about Splinterlands, all (nearly?) cards have their day at some point. There are very few cards I've never used. In fact I can't really think of one.
Yeah I agree. But what I'm saying about Gargoya Devil is that it can be used somewhat often by new players. The bigger the collection, the less likely it is to get used but being neutral and for new players with less options, it ends up being used in deveral types of games.
Looking forward to seeing the Rebellion tier list from a new modern point of view
Yep that one's coming :) It's probably the set I know best as well.
I can't even find the right words to describe how great your work is!
I'm really curious to see how modern staples will hold up once they rotate out of Modern. Take Tide Biter, for example—if I go Blue, I know I’m covered against Splash, making it a standout in low-mana matches.
Some reflections:
Tide Biter → S Tier
Venari Crystalsmith → S+ Tier (I keep falling back on Venari and Adelade—what am I gonna do when they're gone?). Who designed that Card? even she has evolved with time dispeling those annoying martyrs---
And a special shoutout to Jared Scar, whose kingdom was wiped out by Tofu... If not for Tofu, he’d be an easy S Tier!
Lots of love from Barcelona!
THANK YOU!
Man things will shake up A LOT once Modern rotates. Might have to redo all of these frankly. Right now all my tier lists are really focused on Modern of course, and the dynamics are the way they are because of CL/RB together. So not only the absence of CL but the inclusion of CA will make everything change.
As for Jared Scar, I still love him, and he still has a place, even with Tofu! I think Tofu hurt him a little, but it's mainly that he's been replaced by another better 7-mana piercing monster ;)
If you have other social media outlets, please share these.., HIVE is quite insulated and what we want is outside interest.
Thanks, and I agree! I share on X, but that's about it. You can find me there: https://x.com/bravetofu_
Nice work Tofu - this is a great breakdown for new players especially!
These cards are cheap and easy to pick up so having a guide to help them out is wonderful :)
Thanks cap!
Always Tofu, you have great content - from KPIs to Tier Cards to Comic Books!
Playing mostly with CL deck, I place Naga Assassin and Dhampir Infiltrator on S tier due to them being both dragon units giving utility across different elements as well as they have 4 or less mana which makes them suitable on little league and on low to mid mana battles.
Yeah those two are awesome, but I still think their utility is a bit lower than a 4-mana tank healer. In any case, they're close.
I think its because Crystalsmith played significantly well with Tofu lineups
Now in this time, rent is the answer.
Pro tip: buy only cards, that are at burn value or near burn value.
The first statement I can get behind, but the second I disagree with.
For new players is important to learn the economy of the game. So this will save them the investment, that they made in the first months… and help them make better decisions in the future.