The first question we should ask ourselves is, “What can Wraith do?” Let’s go back to the amazing chart made by my pal and co-author: Blue-Haired Protagonist.
For the sake of time, I’ll summarize what Wraith can do:
Field Control
- Ongoing and Environment Destruction: Wraith is capable of destroying villain ongoing and environment cards. This comes in handy because villain ongoing and environment cards can range from annoying to lethal.
- Deck Manipulation:Wraith is one of the few heroes in the game that can control the villain’s deck. By doing this, she helps the rest of the team plan ahead for what the villain is going to do.
- Damage Reduction: Wraith can also mitigate the amount of damage that both enemies and the environment can dish out to your team. This often plays a huge role in keeping your team alive.
Bruiser
- Wraith can also wreck enemies like a boss.
Base Power - Stealth: “Reduce the next damage that would be dealt to The Wraith by 2.”
Rating: 3 / 5 - Eh. It’s nice for the times that you need it. It will keep Wraith alive longer, which is good. But it only works for one attack. Plus, Wraith has a lot of cards to use during her power phase, so this may not see much use.
Card Guide: For the remainder of this post I will be evaluating each and every card in Wraith’s deck and will then rate each card on a scale from 1 - 5. Here’s the rating scale and what it means:
- 5 / 5: A must use card. Cards with a 5 / 5 rating are the best cards in the hero's deck. If you're playing as this hero it would be foolish not to use these.
- 4 or 4.5 / 5: These are cards you're most likely going to use a lot. They have a few more drawbacks than a 5 / 5 card, but they’re still pretty good overall.
- 3 or 3.5 / 5: This means one of two things:
- Moderately Useful: The card is decent, but not super good. It’s nice to have but you can go an entire game without using it and you won’t be missing much.
(2) Mixed Bag: The card’s pros and cons are roughly equal. Usage of these cards needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis and considered carefully.
- 2.5 / 5 or below = These cards are not very good. They have major drawbacks and their usefulness is limited at best.
Wraith’s Best Cards
These cards are all rated 5 / 5.
- Impromptu Invention:This is easily the best card in Wraith’s deck for the following reasons:
- It searches out 58 % of her deck: There are 40 cards in Wraith’s deck. 23 of those cards are Equipment cards that be searched out by this card. If you round up that equates to 58 % of Wraith’s deck.
- It provides her with an extra card to draw: This gives Wraith additional options to deal with problems in the future.
- It sets Wraith up faster: “Impromptu Invention” lets Wraith take a card directly from her deck and put it into play. Afterwards, she can play an extra card from her hand. What’s even better is that this card can be stacked with itself resulting in 3 cards getting drawn and any 3 Equipment cards immediately getting put into play directly from her deck. That’s amazing! “Impromptu Invention” is guaranteed to provide Wraith with whatever Equipment card she needs to handle a given situation. The ability to play between 1 - 3 Equipment cards straight from the deck is unparalleled in this game.
- Razor Ordnance: There are 3 Equipment cards in Wraith’s deck that deal damage to enemies. “Razor Ordnance” is the best one of the bunch. It deals one target 3 damage and it is awesome! It’s the most powerful of the three and it will always be useful regardless of who you’re fighting.
- Micro Targeting Computer: Remember that “Razor Ordnance” card we just talked about? How would you like to add an extra 2 damage to that card? Well, that’s the beauty of “Micro Targeting Computer.” Any card of Wraith’s that deals projectile damage gets an immediate + 2 buff. This card is what lets all of Wraith’s damage-dealing equipment tear enemies to shreds.
“Razor Ordinance” now deals 5 damage per turn. “Stun Bolt” and “Throwing Knives” now deal 3 damage. This card will always be useful in Wraith’s deck and it should be played as soon as Wraith has a damage dealing Equipment card out.
- Utility Belt: Utility Belt gives Wraith the ability to use two powers per turn which optimizes what she can do. Would you like to deal a bunch of damage? Go right ahead! Would you like to deal damage and manipulate the villain’s deck? You can do that too! Utility Belt provides Wraith with options for days. Two powers in one turn is the gift that keeps on giving.
- Grappling Hook: Remember “Blinding Speed” from the Tachyon article? Well “Grappling Hook” does the exact same thing. The difference here is that “Grappling Hook” lets Wraith draw a card instead of being beneficial in the trash. Destroying villain Ongoings or Environment cards will always be useful.
- Throat Jab: Wraith deals damage to one target and then prevents said target from dealing damage for one turn. Damage prevention is one of those effects that will always be awesome because there will always be villains (or environment targets, since this card can also be used against them) that will deal damage to the player. Being able to prevent damage can often be the difference between victory and defeat.
The “Pretty Good” Cards
These cards are all rated either 4.5 / 5 or a 4 / 5.
- Throwing Knives: The next damage dealing Equipment card in Wraith’s deck are her “Throwing Knives”. Being able to deal 1 damage may not look like much on its own, but when you combine “Throwing Knives” with “Micro Targeting Computer,” and damage buffs from other heroes like Legacy, these things rip enemies to shreds. The only reason why it’s being rated a 4.5 / 5 is because this card might not be the optimal choice if you’re fighting a single target villain like “Iron Legacy” or “Progeny.” That being said, there are a lot of situations where this card destroys enemies, which makes it worthy of the overall rating of: 4.5 / 5.
- Stun Bolt: The final damage-dealing Equipment card in Wraith’s deck is her “Stun Bolt.” The interesting part about this card is that it doesn’t need to deal damage in order to be useful. The main function of “Stun Bolt” is to weaken enemies by reducing their damage by 1. Unlike the other damage-dealing equipment in Wraith’s deck, “Stun Bolt” isn’t limited. You can totally play two Stun Bolts in the same turn, resulting in an enemy dealing 2 less damage per attack (or two different enemies dealing 1 less damage).
When it comes to villains, there are two types that deal damage: The first kind deal damage less frequently and hit really hard. The second type dish out “death by 1,000 cuts.” Their damage is more frequent, but will often be by smaller amounts. Stun Bolt is designed to shut down the latter type of villain.
Rating: 4.5 / 5
- Infrared Eyepiece: This card is what lets Wraith manipulate the villain’s deck. The main advantage of cards like “Infrared Eyepiece” is that they let you avoid powerful villain cards that could otherwise screw you over. It also helps the rest of your team prepare for what the villain will do during their turn. Wraith also gets to draw a free card after using this power.
There are a couple of drawbacks though. The first that comes to mind is that some villains play multiple cards, which means that manipulating their deck won’t be as useful. There’s also an opportunity cost involved since you using this power means that you won’t be doing as much damage. Depending on the villain, and the situation, sometimes more damage is the better play to make
.
Rating: 4 / 5
- Smoke Bombs: Another way in which Wraith reduces villain damage is with “Smoke Bombs.” This card is good at protecting the most vulnerable members of your team. It’s more effective when the heroes with the highest HP on your team have their armor cards in play. It’s most effective when damage prevention cards like Legacy’s “Heroic Interception” or Void Wave Dr. Medico’s “Immunization” are out.
There are a couple of caveats: It’s worthless against villains that deal irreducible damage, like “Iron Legacy” on Advanced and Ultimate mode or “Plague Rat” in a Vengeance 5 fight on Advance mode. It also gets a little weird when cards like Captain Cosmic’s Constructs or Unity’s bots enter the picture, as those targets will have the lowest HP. This means that Smoke Bombs will be protecting them instead of your teammates.
Rating: 4 / 5
- Mega Computer: “Mega Computer” is a card that doesn’t seem like much, but can make a large difference in the long run. Environments in general have cards that will deal damage to the player so this card will definitely get a lot of mileage. What’s even better about “Mega Computer” is that it is not limited. There are three “Mega Computer” cards in Wraith’s deck, so it’s possible to have three of these out at a time. That becomes a - 3 damage reduction against the environment. - 3 is enough to protect your team against most damage-dealing environments.
Rating: 4 / 5
Moderately Useful Cards
These cards are rated either a 3.5 / 5 or a 3 / 5.
- Trust Fund: “Trust Fund” is a great way to speed through Wraith’s deck. Having extra cards is another way that Wraith prepares for whatever the villain or environment are willing to dish out. The reason why it’s so far down this list is that Wraith would rather be playing Equipment cards, and given how good those Equipment cards are, this feels like it’s there in case Wraith doesn’t have anything better to do.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
- Suture Self: This is the ultimate “I Have Nothing Better To Play In My Hand” card. 3 HP is a decent heal, but as far as I’m aware, no Wraith player actively likes using this card. Considering how many other cards Wraith would rather play, this card does feel like a sub-optimal play. Still, there’s nothing objectively wrong about regaining 3 HP, though.
Rating: 3 / 5
“Limited Usefulness”
Cards in this section are rated a 2.5 / 5 or worse. This means that at best they’re situationally useful, as opposed to consistently useful. All of the cards in this section have major drawbacks.
- Inventory Barrage: This card is good for one thing: Delivering the killing blow. Outside of that one situation, it isn’t very useful. Getting rid of all your equipment is too high a price and you can finish villains off in other ways that don’t require sacrificing valuable equipment cards. It’s also a terrible card to play if another hero or environment lets you play the top card of your deck. Generally speaking, I avoid this card like the plague.
Rating: 0.5 / 5
- Combat Stance: This card gets my vote for “Worst Card In Wraith’s Deck.” The biggest problem is that if Wraith deals herself damage this card kicks in….and forces her to deal herself more damage. Yeah, no thanks. Another problem with this card is that it deals melee damage, so she can’t take advantage of the + 2 bonus from “Micro Targeting Computer.” It’s also likely that the retaliatory damage that she deals will be less than the damage that she took. Like “Inventory Barrage,” I avoid this card like the plague.
Rating: 0 / 5
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