Reflections and lessons learned from new 2014 rankings…$1-$2 cards
I have been busy, but watching the rollout of the card rankings and comments when I have time. Had a little more time the last couple days to think about what it all means to me so thought I would post some of my reflections and lessons learned from the new rankings. I’ll start with the $2 cards, and work my way through the lists until I catch up with the $5 card ratings that are currently being rolled out. As I am a relatively newer player, I was really looking for opportunities to learn and improve my own play.
It took me a little time to figure out how to consider all the rankings and comments. I finally decided to approach it like this:
1) First I made a spreadsheet and my rankings of the cards in order.
2) Next I entered the new consensus ranking next to it which allowed me to see how different my individual rankings were.
3) At this point I paused to consider what I was looking for. What I really wanted to see were cards for which my own ranking differed significantly from the consensus ranking. I rather arbitrarily decided to highlight cards for which my ranking deviated by more than 10% of the total number of cards for the cost. Seemed like a good starting point. So for the $2 cards where there was a total of 22 cards, I just wanted to focus on cards where my rank was 3 or more different. I might still not agree with the consensus, but at least it would give me a few cards to focus on.
4) So using that, I highlighted cards which I either significantly overrated or significantly underrated. I also assume that I will probably have more to learn by focusing on cards which I underrate, although I might be buying too many of cards I overrate, so worth noting those as well.
5) Finally, I looked over the shorter list of overrated and underrated cards, and tried to identify and cards which I felt I was was underutilizing. To me it seems like my biggest opportunity will probably be to find cards which I both underrate and underutilize.
So here is my short lessons learned on the $2 cards:
Overall I was pretty close on most of the cards. Fully a third of my rankings exactly matched the consensus.
My most overrated $2 card was Beggar. Not that I rated it highly (only 4 higher), but there have just been a few times when the ability to function as a late gold or the reaction to gain silvers in response to an attack was helpful. Not a big lesson learned.
Squire, Embargo, and Poor House all tied for my most underrated cards. I do use Squire frequently, but not so much with Embargo and Poor House, so perhaps something to be learned about using them more often.
My biggest lesson learned was definitely Fools Gold. I underrated it by several spots, and I think it is my most underutilized card of the top cards. I did not expect it to be #2, as I still had Hamlet in that spot. I will definitely keep my eyes open to the payload potential of Fools Gold.
Where I still differ: I still think Hamlet is useful in a lot more situations than Courtyard or Fools Gold…but…at least you all have me keeping my mind open. ; )
Thanks again to Qvist for coordinating this, and to all the great input in the comments from the more experienced players.