STS2 S-Tier Cards Guide: All 10 Ancient-Rarity Cards Analyzed
~16 min read · Deep analysis of every Ancient card — when to draft, how to build around, and synergy packages.
What Are Ancient (S-Tier) Cards?
Ancient-rarity cards are the rarest and most powerful cards in STS2. Each character has exactly 2 Ancient cards, and they are designed to be run-defining — picking one should fundamentally change how you draft for the rest of the run. Unlike other rarities, Ancient cards often appear from specific events, bosses, or high-rarity reward pools.
| Character | Ancient Card #1 | Ancient Card #2 |
|---|---|---|
| Ironclad | Corruption | Break |
| Silent | Wraith Form | Suppress |
| Defect | Biased Cognition | Quadcast |
| Necrobinder | Forbidden Grimoire | Protector |
| Regent | The Sealed Throne | Meteor Shower |
IRONCLAD — Corruption & Break
🔴 Corruption Ancient
Cost: 3 Energy | Type: Power | Effect: Skills cost 0 [E]. Whenever you play a Skill, Exhaust it.
Why S-Tier: Corruption is the single most powerful card in all of STS2. It converts your entire Skill suite into 0-cost plays while simultaneously thinning your deck for subsequent shuffles. After playing Corruption, every Skill becomes free block/utility, and your deck permanently shrinks to just Attacks and Powers for the rest of the fight.
Drafting Philosophy: Once you have Corruption, draft every Skill you see. Shrug It Off becomes "0 cost: gain 8 Block, draw 1." Impervious becomes "0 cost: gain 30 Block." The downside (exhaust) is actually upside — your deck gets leaner each cycle.
Key Synergies: Feel No Pain Dark Embrace Body Slam Dead Branch Barricade
👉 Full build guide: Ironclad Exhaust Build
⚡ Break Ancient
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Attack | Effect: Deal 20 damage. Apply 5 Vulnerable.
Why S-Tier: 20 damage + 5 Vulnerable for 1 energy is the most efficient damage card in the game. Break is a one-card engine: it deals massive immediate damage AND sets up all subsequent attacks to deal 50% more. In boss fights, applying 5 Vulnerable means every follow-up attack hits like a truck.
Drafting Philosophy: Break fits into literally every Ironclad deck. It doesn't require build-around — it IS the build-around. Pick it 100% of the time.
Key Synergies: One-Two Punch Tear Asunder Bludgeon Demon Form
SILENT — Wraith Form & Suppress
👻 Wraith Form Ancient
Cost: 3 Energy | Type: Power | Effect: Gain 2 Intangible. At the start of your turn, lose 1 Dexterity.
Why S-Tier: 2 turns of Intangible (reduce all damage to 1) makes Wraith Form the ultimate panic button. In boss fights, it buys you 2 free turns to set up Poison, play your scaling Powers, or burst with Shivs. The Dexterity loss is irrelevant if the fight ends before it matters.
Drafting Philosophy: Wraith Form demands you end fights fast. Pair it with high-damage burst (Catalyst, Grand Finale, Shiv spam). Avoid long, grindy block-plans — the Dexterity drain punishes prolonged fights.
Key Synergies: Catalyst Nightmare Afterimage Well-Laid Plans
🎯 Suppress Ancient
Cost: 0 Energy | Type: Attack | Effect: Deal 11 damage. Apply 3 Weak.
Why S-Tier: 0 cost, 11 damage, AND 3 Weak is absurd value. Suppress provides efficient damage while simultaneously reducing enemy attack damage by 25%. It's free to play, so it never bricks your hand, and it works in any Silent archetype.
Drafting Philosophy: Like Break, Suppress is always-pick. It fits Poison, Shiv, and Discard decks equally well. The Weak application makes hallway fights significantly safer.
Key Synergies: Burst Malaise Leg Sweep
DEFECT — Biased Cognition & Quadcast
🧠 Biased Cognition Ancient
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Power | Effect: Gain 4 Focus. At the start of your turn, lose 1 Focus.
Why S-Tier: 4 Focus for 1 energy is an insane rate — it doubles the effectiveness of all your orbs. In a 5-turn fight, you get 4+3+2+1+0 = 10 total Focus-turns. In a 3-turn burst scenario, it's game-winning. The Focus decay creates urgency, but most fights end before you hit zero.
Drafting Philosophy: Biased Cognition rewards aggressive orb-based builds. Lightning spam (Tempest, Storm) converts Focus into damage immediately. Frost orbs (Glacier, Coolheaded) provide massive block before decay. Avoid in long, grindy decks without orb generation.
Key Synergies: Defragment Capacitor Barrage Multi-Cast Echo Form
⚡ Quadcast Ancient
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Skill | Effect: Evoke your rightmost Orb 4 times.
Why S-Tier: For 1 energy, Quadcast triggers your rightmost orb's evoke 4 times. With a Dark orb (accumulated damage), this is 4× stored damage. With Plasma, 8 energy. With Frost, massive block. The versatility makes it the best evoke card in the game.
Key Synergies: Darkness Multi-Cast Fusion 鈫?/a> Consuming Shadow
NECROBINDER — Forbidden Grimoire & Protector
📖 Forbidden Grimoire Ancient
Cost: 2 Energy | Type: Power | Effect: At the end of combat, you may remove a card from your Deck.
Why S-Tier: FREE CARD REMOVAL AFTER EVERY FIGHT. This is the most powerful scaling effect in the game. Over a 20-fight run, Forbidden Grimoire removes 20+ cards — you can completely eliminate Strikes, Defends, and any temporary cards. By the final boss, your deck is pure gas.
Drafting Philosophy: Play Forbidden Grimoire as early as possible in a fight, then draft aggressively — you can always remove bad picks later. Remove Strikes first, then Defends, then any filler cards. A lean Necrobinder deck with Forbidden Grimoire is nearly unstoppable.
Key Synergies: Death March 鈫?/a> Seance Reaper Form
🛡️ Protector Ancient
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Attack | Effect: Osty deals 10 damage. Deals additional damage equal to Osty's Max HP.
Why S-Tier: Osty starts with moderate HP, but after buffs from Calcify, Spur, and other summon cards, Protector can deal 30-50+ damage for 1 energy. In a summon-focused build, this is your primary boss-killer.
Key Synergies: Calcify Spur Necro Mastery Bodyguard
REGENT — The Sealed Throne & Meteor Shower
👑 The Sealed Throne Ancient
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Power | Effect: Whenever you play a card, gain [S] (1 Star).
Why S-Tier: The Sealed Throne is Regent's engine card — it converts every card play into Star generation. With a typical 5-card turn, you generate 5 free Stars, which can fuel Forge effects, Sovereign Blade scaling, and Genesis synergy. It's the foundation of every high-tier Regent deck.
Drafting Philosophy: Once Sealed Throne is in play, draft cards that spend Stars efficiently: Sovereign Blade, Forge cards, Black Hole (damage per Star spent). Card draw becomes premium since more cards = more Stars.
Key Synergies: Genesis Sovereign Blade Black Hole Furnace 鈫?/a> Sword Sage
👉 Full build guide: Regent Sly & Star Build
☄️ Meteor Shower Ancient
Cost: 0 Energy | Type: Attack | Effect: Deal 14 damage to ALL enemies. Apply 2 Weak and 2 Vulnerable to ALL enemies.
Why S-Tier: 0 cost, AoE damage, AND double debuff — Meteor Shower is Regent's best utility card. It clears minions, sets up Weak for survival, and Vulnerable for follow-up damage, all for zero energy. In multi-enemy fights, no card does more work per mana.
Key Synergies: The Sealed Throne Monarch's Gaze Dying Star
Ancient Card Priority: Draft Order
| Pick Priority | Card | Character | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 #1 | Corruption | Ironclad | Entire archetype enabler — wins runs by itself |
| 🥈 #2 | Forbidden Grimoire | Necrobinder | Permanent scaling — removes 20+ cards per run |
| 🥉 #3 | Wraith Form | Silent | 2 free turns — buys time for any win condition |
| #4 | Biased Cognition | Defect | 4 Focus for 1 energy — best rate in the game |
| #5 | The Sealed Throne | Regent | Infinite Star engine — defines Regent's playstyle |
| #6 | Break | Ironclad | Most efficient damage card — universally strong |
| #7 | Suppress | Silent | 0-cost damage + Weak — always good |
| #8 | Quadcast | Defect | 4 evokes for 1 energy — Dark orb nuke |
| #9 | Protector | Necrobinder | Scaling damage with Osty — summon-synergy |
| #10 | Meteor Shower | Regent | Best AoE card — dominates multi-enemy fights |
馃搵 v0.106.0 Card Strategy Guides 鈥?In-Depth Analysis
In addition to the 10 Ancient cards above, we've written individual strategy pages for key cards affected by the recent patch. Each page covers How to Use, Drafting Philosophy, Key Synergies, and Pro Tips.
鈿?Ironclad 鈥?Unrelenting
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Attack | Effect: Deal 14(20) damage. Gain Block equal to unblocked damage dealt.
馃棥锔?Silent 鈥?Pounce & Scare (Follow Through)
Pounce: 1-cost Attack, 14(20) damage. Scare: 1-cost Attack, 7 damage, hits additional time with 5+ cards in hand.
馃摉 Full Strategy Guide: Pounce 鈫?/a> | Full Strategy Guide: Scare 鈫?/a>
馃棥锔?Silent 鈥?Predator
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Skill | Effect: Deal 7 damage. Draw 1(2) card(s).
鈿?Defect 鈥?Fusion, Shatter & Synthesis
Fusion: 1-cost Skill, Channel 1 Plasma, Exhaust. Shatter: 1-cost Attack, 7(11) damage. Synthesis: 1-cost Attack, 14(20) damage.
馃拃 Necrobinder 鈥?Death March
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Attack | Effect: Deal 7 damage. All enemies take 4(6) additional damage from Attacks this turn.
馃憫 Regent 鈥?Furnace
Cost: 1 Energy | Type: Skill | Effect: Forge 5(7). Gain 5(7) Block.
🔥 Build around your Ancient cards:
Card Database & Tier List · Corruption Build Guide · All Character Builds