15 Slay the Spire 2 Cards That Are Totally Game-Changing

Even though Slay the Spire 2 is still in early access, it's chock-full of complex little goodies to unearth. And now that I've personally spent more than 30 hours in early access, I'm finally starting to unearth some truly fun and game-changing cards in the adventure.

No matter if you prefer playing as the Silent, Necrobinder, Ironclad, Defect, or Regent, every character's deck features several cards that totally shift how they play. Perhaps they'll focus more on defense than offense, or maybe they'll focus entirely on a new mechanic that proves to be quite addictive.

In fairness to the quirky cast of characters in the game, we'll be sharing three game-changing cards for each of them. So get ready to discover a new way to play in this epic deckbuilder list!

15 Echo Form

Two for the Price of One

I admit that I saved playing the Defect for last. I'm not always a fan of his orb-focused playstyle, which ranges from slow and steady effect activation to sudden onslaughts of lightning blasts. But with Echo Form, this clunky robot suddenly becomes a lot more powerful. Because not only is it a Power that persists throughout an entire battle, but it makes his first played card each turn activate an additional time.

Now, the downside to this card is that it has a pretty steep cost, and it's Ethereal, meaning you play it or lose it until the next battle. It's best to activate Echo Form when you have some Frost orbs active to provide some defense for Defect. Especially against foes that wallop you on the first turn of combat, which is a recurring theme.

That said, once you have Echo Form active, you can really capitalize on powerful attacks, shifting orbs to Evoke them, or turning zero-cost cards into devastating combos.

14 Forgotten Ritual

An Exhausting Combo

In my experience, the Ironclad is a great tank, but usually doesn't have a lot of spare mana for attacks. Enter Forgotten Ritual. It's a Skill instead of a Power, meaning it only lasts the turn you play it. But if you use it effectively, you can generate a lot of extra mana to power an onslaught of attacks.

The key is having a lot of cards that feature the Exhaust mechanic in your deck, then playing them after you've activated Forgotten Ritual. With that extra energy coursing through the Ironclad's veins, you can set up a massive shield and then aggressively attack all the foes on the field of battle.

Of course, the downside to this card is that it's not a lingering effect throughout the whole battle. But if you build the deck around it, and have multiple Forgotten Rituals and cards with Exhaust, you'll suddenly be playing a much more nimble Ironclad.

13 Pagestorm

Scribbling Ink

Generally, I don't fill up my decks in Slay the Spire 2 with Ethereal cards. They're risky, since if you don't play them, they disappear until next time. But the Necrobinder breaks many of the traditional rules in the game, and can usually generate a lot of Ethereal cards like Souls.

With Pagestorm active, suddenly you'll draw a bunch more cards. Because every time you draw an Ethereal card, you'll draw another card for that entire battle. This can easily fill up Necrobinder's hand with tons of cards, which is risky because it might clog it, but it's still a very strong card that makes the brittle skeleton quite speedy.

Now, I wouldn't say that Necrobinder has a bad deck-thinning game, but it's nice to amplify it dramatically with this card. Just keep in mind you might also need some mana generation to make the most of all the cards coming into your hand.

12 Hailstorm

Pelted By Ice

The Defect has a bunch of different Orbs that he can generate, all of which have a different utility. Some inflict damage to single targets, some attack the whole field, and Frost generates defense. Normally, that makes Frost the least sexy option, but not so when you have Hailstorm active.

With Hailstorm, just having a single Frost orb active means you'll wallop all foes every turn. Sure, it's not a ton of damage, but it adds up. Usually, the only other way to do this is with Glass orbs, which deal less damage unless they're Evoked.

If you complement this with cards that allow Defect to hold more orbs, Hailstorm can become very helpful. You'll be generating a ton of defense every turn, and probably hailing on foes or blasting them with lightning.

11 Stampede

Crushing Weight

Even though the Ironclad is more defensive than offensive, that doesn't mean he can't smash foes. In fact, he has access to some very powerful attack cards. And one of my favorite ways to capitalize on them is with Stampede.

This amazing Power lets you play an attack card for free at the end of every turn. The target is also randomized, to keep it fair. But if you combine this with a deck full of high-cost attacks, your opponent might just get annihilated.

Some of the best cards I've played with Stampede active include Bludgeon, Stomp, and Mangle. Each of which does a ton of damage, either to one or more foes, and can even generate more mana. Suddenly, this turtle is more of a kaiju.

10 Calcify

Bone Strength Supplement

You've probably heard the expression "teamwork makes the dream work" before. And one character who embodies that ethos is the Necrobinder, teamed up with her bony pal, Osty. Generally, Osty's attacks don't deal a ton of damage, and many require him to have a lot of base health to really impact opponents.

However, with Calcify, all of Osty's attacks deal 4 extra damage. That sounds small, but trust me, it makes a big difference. Especially since many of them have very low mana cost, and some can become zero-cost cards if played in the proper order.

With Calcify in play, suddenly Osty does a lot more damage. Meaning he can KO opponents faster, and then do his bodyguard routine to protect his mistress. Truly the best friend that any undead warrior could want!

9 Pillar of Creation

Powers of the Godking

On paper, the Pillar of Creation card doesn't look like much. It relies on you creating cards to work, and only provides 3 Block. But when you factor in how many of the Regents cards generate other cards (some good, some bad), then you start to see the appeal. Especially since all that extra defense is necessary to keep this glass cannon from shattering.

Many of these include cards that generate Minion-themed cards, and two of my favorite examples are Crash Landing and Spectrum Shift. The former generates a ton of Debris after smashing the whole field, and the latter is a Power that generates a random Colorless card every single turn.

Perhaps my favorite part about Pillar of Creation is it leaves me free to focus less on the Regent's star cards and Sovereign Blade, and lets me just focus on attacking and defending. Which makes this monarch a lot more flexible.

8 Make It So

Enter Picard Reference Here

I'll freely admit that I chuckled the first time I saw Make It So. It instantly reminded me of the far-flung sci-fi adventures of Star Trek, which I suppose makes sense for the cosmic Regent. Humor aside, it's an incredibly useful attack card.

For one thing, it costs zero mana, which is always helpful. But the best part about Make It So is that it comes back into your hand every time you play three Skills in a single turn. If you think about how many random Skills the Regent uses, this suddenly becomes a very annoying boomerang attack.

If you really want to get the most out of it, fill your deck up with different Skills, and try to get a copy of Void Form in your deck. That's a handy Power that makes your first two cards every turn totally free. Which turns this glass cannon into a machine gun.

7 Up My Sleeve

Daggers, Daggers Everywhere

It's probably clear by now that the Silent is my favorite character in Slay the Spire 2. I love playing tons of cards every turn and poisoning everything in sight. On the other hand, I don't always love using Shivs with her, mostly because they do a minimal amount of base damage. But with Up My Sleeve, Shivs becomes a very powerful gameplay mechanic.

After each time you play Up My Sleeve, the cost goes down by one. Meaning the third time you play it in battle, it'll cost nothing. If the battle stretches on for a long time, that means three free attacks every time you draw it. Compound that pain by playing cards that boost the power of Shivs, and nasty cards like Fan of Knives, which let your Shivs heat all foes.

The game-ending attack with this strategy is Knife Trap, which plays every single Shiv you've played on a single foe. Definitely a fun strategy and one that makes Shivs as powerful as poison, if not more so.

6 Master Planner

So Very Sly

One of the really fun things about playing as the Silent is that discarding cards with Sly activates them regardless. There are several cards that will do things like damage foes, draw more cards, or even generate mana, which also have Sly. Still, not every card has them. At least, that's until you play Master Planner.

This amazing Power turns every single Skill that the Silent plays into a Sly card. Meaning you can play a bunch of cards that draw and discard, and activate every single Skill you discard in battle. It probably goes without saying that it's incredibly helpful, especially in tough boss and Elite battles.

The only real downside to this card is that it takes time to work up, much like Up My Sleeve. But once it gets going, you won't want to play the Silent any other way.