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 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 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 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 |
🔥 Build around your Ancient cards:
Card Database & Tier List · Corruption Build Guide · All Character Builds