Here is my first attempt at a tier list for the new Conclave Arcana Reward cards. I spent a lot of time thinking through these, and have tested out quite a few, though I have not yet consistently played with all of them at max level. Therefore I will likely redo this tier list in about 3-4 weeks. With that said, here's my initial tier list for all the new cards, by rarity, and with some quick rationale for each.
COMMON
- Magmaforged is the clear standout at 3 mana with pinpoint being the killer ability that makes sure Sneak units don't miss (pairs great with another reward card, Grove Doomblade and other Fire sneak attack cards like Gobalano Soldier and Night Stalker). In addition, it'll pair great with LovingTheMoo, which has Elemental as one of it's Dominions which will enable it to bring in Magmaforged along with other Elementals like Halo Wisp and also Nephket, which is another card that struggles from the lack of Speed or True Strike. The Pinpoint will be ESSENTIAL for Lovingthemoo to compete against Cryptic/Slade teams.
- Irongwing Juggernaut is a great tank
- Stonebind Matron has lots of offensive utility with 3-magic damage Opportunity and defensive value with Triage and Poison Burst
- Thornmaw Berserker's final rest is great, especially for a card that has standalone value as well due especially to the life leech / charge combo (something I feel Craniax doesn't really have)
- Palimpsest Prophet is a 3 mana Bloodline Tribute, but Djinns (particularly melee) need something more for it to be above B
- Phlegmor is great value for 4 mana; especially the Protect
- Husk of the Hunter is mainly nice for the Deflection Shroud in my opinion, otherwise really just a ranged-only card
- Grim Bonewhip has a nice combo of abilities, though it's a bit squishy at 6 health with no armor
- Coralforged is basically a baby Slade; not nearly as good though
- Surgeblade is good value for 5 mana, though that speed will be a problem on a Water team that's likely to face Cryptic
- Cullborn Revenant just feels quite circumstantial, especially as there are lots of good Magic options already in the Fire team
- Oshannus Unmade is unfortunately very unmade... not sure where he'll come in handy
RARE
- Withered Old Sage is awesome - we already know how great the spite / resurgence combo is with Greybrow, and this guy brings that for 6 mana plus it has Void and good damage. Stick a Giraffe behind it and it has both magic and melee shields, and you've got your tank. Alternatively it'll also pair great with Lorkus where it can beef up its health from the back line and then resurge at max health late in the match. It'll be a staple for magic-only, but useful in general. I think this one's a must-have.
- Mindless Thrall was nearly S tier for me. This is the Grimbardun Smith killer. The speed+phase is also terrific, and the fact that it's neutral makes it a huge standout.
- Grove Doomblade needs Pinpoint from Magmaforged, True Strike from Drath, or a Reverse Speed ruleset, and it becomes one of the most ferocious cards in the Fire splinter.
- Saltwraith Bulkhead has a MASSIVE ~~neck~~ kit for 7 mana, but it has Weary. It's a good tank on its own, or it'll require a card with Invigorate. There are only two of those right now (Wailsworn Specter in Water and Sakaveth in Death), so you'll either need to use EMP (Life/Water) or if there's a Tideborn dominion Archon coming later we'd be able to pair Sakaveth with him.
- Surgehammer is in the A tier for the cleanse/repair; Opportunity is cool too, but with 3 melee damage he's less of an offensive pick than a defensive one
- Gravebrand Warlock has an interesting kit, but that Soul Siphon really means he NEEDS to be paired with Sakaveth to prevent the Weary from destroying your team; will be tough to use, but awesome with the right synergy
- Pixie-Knife Hurler is a great addition to the Ulund team, particularly with that Heal; he's at B rather than A because there are just better options already from CA core for the Ulund Bloodline Tribute teams
- Torrent Sniper has Painforge, which is awesome, but I can see it struggling against Kelan in Snipe matches where Cryptic's at the helm, and the lack of life-leech means it'll need support to stay alive if you're trying to hurt it to get that Painforge going
- Dragonfang Lancer has mimic, which is cool, but other than that it's a mediocre Ranged card; Reflexes isn't really a great ability IMO
- Careless Badger is just begging to die before it can scavenge
- Swampwrought isn't great for 5 mana, and slow units with slow are kind of silly
- Anchor-Hex Adept is expensive for that kit
EPIC
- Rila Fen is, I think, one of the top 3 cards in the set. Double Tank Heal (thanks to Echo) is ridiculously good (see Jicarilla) and will pair amazingly with Gottem, and Final Rest in the Life team means this is a direct counter to Ulund Bloodline Tribute teams.
- Voss is awesome for 4 mana. It's a terrific Bloodline Tribute card to get Shapeshiters like Gramel and Skinwalker going. It might be S tier if there are more Avian magic users it can pair with in the future. It's also a terrific magic-only card in general with the high magic damage, void, and magic reflect.
- Wailsworn Specter is interesting because on the one hand you want it to die (for its Bloodline Tribute) but on the other hand the Invigorate is something you want to preserve. It's also more expensive and slower than Voss, so a notch below, but still A tier due to the various strong utilities it can bring to a lineup.
- Saltwraith Pirate is clearly the Marksrat's cousin. Less versatile though, because of his Melee damage and the fact he's a Rodentian. Gramel benefits, but not tremendously. The True Strike / Relentless Strike combo is good, and 4 mana neutral is great too. Probably borderline A/B.
- Tandi Janda has a strange disconnected kit in my opinion. Maybe I'm just not seeing it.
- Joraki Venshiro feels mediocre for 8 mana; great damage but 3 speed will be a big limiter.
- Kazira Vaelstrike feels like it's missing an ability, as that Last Word won't negate Final Rest on any of its own abilities, so it's just if you give it...Poison Burst? Seems very niche, and 10 mana is really expensive.
LEGENDARY
- Sira is my top Legendary card in the set. All 4 abilities are useful and synergize well. Camouflage keeps it alive, Shield Ward keeps what's in front of it alive, Deflection Shroud is terrific against reflection and blast, and Resurrect for FOUR MANA?? Awesome card.
- Nessa is a close second, with a wild kit that boasts, in particular, the awesome Pinpoint skill which will be great with Halo Wisp, Nephket, Phlegmor. The Execute is great too, particularly paired with Relentless Strike.
- Sten Slatehelm may be a close third... He costs TWO MANA, and that Armored Strike means he'll hit for FIVE DAMAGE with his armor. More importantly, he'll strike twice, so if you can get him to do that, the Reckless will hit twice which can be great for Painforge cards. Bit harder to use than some of the others here, but a stellar card.
- Azhar Ibn Sulaim, in addition to having one of the coolest art in the set, is also one of the FASTEST cards in the ENTIRE GAME (tied with Krash and Continuum Seer). His Phase and Taunt make him incredible for speed lineups, though he'll need to contend with True Strike from Drath and the addition of Pinpoint, which could put him down a Tier over time. The Shield Ward is weird given he's a Taunter.
- Kervik is my next A tier card due to being only the SECOND melee card in the game with Tank Heal (after Corrupted Pegasus). It also has amazing value at 5 damage for 4 mana, and the Expose is terrific as well, but it'll need either Pinpoint or Reverse Speed rulesets to be an offensive weapon. Frankly though I'd give it close to an A tier just for the 4 mana melee tank heal.
- Kaori Matsune is a terrific card for magic-only matches, and the fact that it's Neutral and just 5 mana makes it an A tier. I'm just not sure about the Snipe being useful, the relatively low speed, and whether it'll get any value from the Immunity. As a Drakoshan it'll benefit from Songale (also Magic) which is nice too.
- Halo Wisp is pretty amazing for 4 mana, with that 7 Armor + Armored Strike combo and Sneak. The 1 speed however means it'll rely on either Reverse Speed / Aim True rulesets of Pinpoint (from Magmaforged or Nessa).
- Sakaveth rounds at the A tier due to the Invigorate, which will go great with HTH, with the new Gravebrand Warlock, and with Halfling Alchemist (one of the best cards in the game). Good damage and health too.
- Nullwrought's Bloodline Tribute is nice except it's another Melee unit. Its damage to mana ratio is quite good though, and Demoralize makes it an especially good card for melee-only. Quite squishy though and rather slow.
- Skrag The Gnaw is a pretty good tank with the Poison Burst / Self-Revive combo and good Armor/Health, but I think it's likely not going to be the best choice in most cases.
- Chuma Marandu, which as others have pointed out is basically Skrag's pose-bro, has a mish-mash of melee-specific abilities that will make it useful there, particularly under Bella, but other than that it's unlikely to be frequently used.
- Nyasha Mbalika feels expensive for 3 ranged damage. The Opportunity/Stun combo is cool, especially for that speed, but the other two abilities don't really complement that.
That's it for now. As I said I'll revisit these tiers in about 3-4 weeks. Let me know if you have any thoughts, comments, or disagreements.