Conclave Arcana Quick and Dirty Card Ratings!
Hey guys! Conclave Arcana is here and a lot of people have been asking me "which cards will be meta" and "which cards are must have?"
Anytime that happens I know it's time for a Hive post so here it is!
If you don't know me, you might be asking, "why should I value your opinion?" Well, that is a great question! I was part of the Conclave Arcana play testing team and spent a lot of time doing battles with dudes like @bjangles and @roguepatton.
Since I'm trying to cover all the cards in one post, I can't go very in-depth on all of them but if that's something people want to see let me know and I could make a post for each element and every card.
For this one, I'll give every card a RATING out of 100 with 100 being the best, you'll play this card a lot and 0 being absolutely terrible, you'll never play this guy.
First, all the Archons (aka Summoners) are worth having. Especially if you don't have all of the Rebellion ones. Kavor Skarn is a bit weak but he's also the only dragon archon eligible for little league in new modern.
I got super lucky and pulled my favorite in Black Foil and I think it looks so cool! Let me know which Conclave Arcana Archon is your favorite in the comments down below!
Second, some cards have multiple ratings because they rely heavily on synergy with other units so they might score really high when that synergy is maximized while scoring much lower when it isn't.
With that out of the way, let's dive into some of the cards I think you'll really want to have in new modern!
Fire Element
Oridum Graybrow - 95
Blazebeard Merc - 92
Inept Healer - 89
Swiftbeard Stout With Dwarves - 87 (His Value comes from Bloodline Tribute (Dwarves)
Vicious Giraffe - 84
Canary Keeper - 82
Cavewise Wayfinder - 81 (Good card but I found myself playing Graybrow more.)
Ashen Cindergrim - 80 (Cheap Silence for Magic matches)
Forked-Tongue Sage - 79
Flame For Hire - 77
Portly Cannoneer - 77
Swiftbeard Stout Without Dwarves - 50 (not a great card on his own)
Molten Elemental - 20 (Very hard to make this 9 mana melee card with 6 HP work)
Water Element
Jicarilla The Rime - 98
Zargrul With Orcs - 92 (His value comes from Bloodline Tribute (Orcs)
Aerial Shieldmaiden - 87
Water Diviner - 86 (value as a gnome with pain forge trigger: Electrify)
Archer Koi with a Painforge Trigger - 85
Runic Skychonk - 84
Warwall Juggernaut - 79
Zargrul without Orcs - 78 (Decent taunt on his own but you really want some orcs with him.)
Abyssal Elemental - 77
Archer Koi - 77
Tidal Tsunamist 76
Bludgeon Hucker - 72
Stampeding Calf - 69
Steppe Stalker - 40
Earth Element
Phlegmunculus - 93 (2 mana poison burst!)
Silverleaf Mage - 90 (Great slipspawn replacement)
Sylvvaran Sentinel - 88 (one of very few resurrects in new modern)
Decrepit Windseer with Elves - 85 (Value comes from Bloodline Tribute, Elves)
Sacrosanct Shanker - 82
Mahkah Hemlig - 79
Virid Venomancer - 77 (Can be pulled into Water Orc teams, shield ward for Venka)
Fenmoor Platypus - 72
Folen Flameye - 70
Fenmoor Wood Troll - 68
Buttercup Mauler - 65
Mad Kaboomist - 48
Decrepit Windseer Without Elves - 45
Life Element
Moribund Arrowbait with Ulunds - 96 (Rebirth + Bloodline Tribute: Ulunds)
Caravan Guard - 92 (Echo + Triage)
Calabash Sage - 82
Happy Quokka making use of melee weapons training - 81
Mystic Mudbinder - 80
Thunderous Herald - 78
Silverleaf Ranger - 77 (Can be pulled into Elves)
Happy Quokka on it's own - 76
Leolin Sifu - 75
Auroral Elemental - 70
Owlkin Geodesist - 60
Janni Oracle - 51
Moribund Arrowbait Without Ulunds - 40
Death Element
Lucky Longshot - 97
Filthy Scavenger with Gnomes - 93 (Bloodline Tribute: Gnomes)
Craniax The Quick - 90 (The only card with Final Rest)
Umbral Elemental - 88
Gonach Excavator - 85 (Use his Reckless to proc Painforge)
Deep Delver - 80
Shadowfey Sheik - 78 (Make use of Life Leach + Painforge)
Filthy Scavenger without gnomes - 75
SilverLeaf Warlock - 73 (Swiftness and Blind)
Thraghun - 70
Bristleborn Brigand - 69
Thragha - 60
Fenmoor Gorgon - 40
Dragon Element
Desolation - 82
Aranduriel - 80
Songale With Drakoshan's - 78 (Bloodline Tribute: Drakoshan)
Songale Without Drakoshans but trigger painforge - 65 (Reckless to trigger Painforge)
Songale without Drakoshans or Painforge - 30
Neutral Element
Gramel The Hunger - 99 (Shapeshifter fits into any bloodline)
Arcane Skinwalker - 95 (Shapeshifter fits into any bloodline)
Bren Palesworn making use of melee Weapons trainer - 90 (Shapeshifter)
Bellowmancer - 85 (Great Taunt in Neutral)
Taye Loreswift - 83
Grimward Runeshot - 82 (Love the abilities)
Bren Palesworn on his own - 79
Ferrous Brewer - 76
Halfshell seer - 75 (Trigger Painforge with Reckless)
Conclave Artificer - 74 (The only Non attack card in CA)
Anyu Huntswoman - 70
Boring Hobgoblin - 67
Quillstorm Mage - 62
Hodlor - 50
Conclave Tracker - 25
Thanks for reading and I hope this guide helps you build your deck!
Remember these are just my opinions on the strongest and weakest cards of the set. It is still early and even though I did a lot of test battles, cards fall in and out of favor over time as more and more strategies are discovered and counters are found.
I should also note this guide is for max level cards. I didn't spend nearly as much time testing cards at Bronze, Silver, or Gold level and therefore don't feel equipped to give advice on other levels.
Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!
Thanks for sharing! - @azircon

Of course it's Razi! Great write-up hombre.
Thanks DUDE! When we doing the pod again?!
Soon bruv - June!
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Glad I came across this. Just starting to build up my Arcana portfolio and this really helps
That's awesome! Hope you find some good deals.
First of all thank you for the information. Superb post that I will take into account for my strategy completing the deck. Gratz for the pull, Razi is superb and really fun to play, but I also enjoy Fithe a lot. How would u rate the archons? #Vonak!
Thanks for the kind words!
The archons are all interesting and quite a bit stronger than the rares from Rebellion. I think Razi is the best of the bunch but Fithe, Bella, and Gorgug are right there too. I don't like Kaylia as much because I don't think the elf synergy is as good as ulunds or dwarfs for example and gorgug giving venka enrage is by itself insanely strong.
Kavor as I mentioned in my article is the only dragon little league summoner in modern and I think we'll see more Drakoshans in the future. Sheng Xiao, due to the nature of poison burst, can be a little random at times. If you get good poison bursts on the right targets he can be devastating, other times it can feel a little lack luster.
Great post! I'd like to read posts for each element and every card.
Gramel got the best rating, but why does it seem like it's not played much?
Thanks Hanv! When it comes to Gramel, I should have given him a couple situational ratings like I did with some of the other cards. When you play him with Ulunds, Arrowbait, Goff, etc he gets +3 stats, +3 archery dmg, and +3 magic damage and becomes a total power house!
On his own, without any bloodline tributes or bloodline dominion taking place he's much weaker like maybe a 70.
I didn't mention it in the article but I am also factoring in FUTURE archon synergies as I think Gramel and Skinwalker will get stronger with Legendary Blood line Dominion Archons from the airdrop. Imagine a legendary archon that could make him an elf and a gnome for example so he gets execute and painforge!
Great analysis! I agree, Gramel will be more powerful with the future legend Archon. Can't wait to see when Gramel dominates the battle!