 Meta Read for the Age of Vitality
Every hero in the game can be extremely competitive in any game in isolation. Seraph can win a tournament if the
dice and cards go her way, but she's sitting at around a 35% win rate this age, making her one of the worst performing heroes right now.
Generally the highest ranked heroes are those that are competitive reliably against a wide range of heroes. That
said, there are some heroes who are otherwise average but do extremely well against meta heroes, which bumps them up.
Black Panther, for example, is extremely good into Raveness. That means he may be valuable to bring to a
Bring 3 Ban 1 tournament where Raveness is a likely opponent.
My rankings weigh how each hero has actually performed this age alongside how high their ceiling is in the hands
of a strong pilot. Some heroes look average in typical hands but climb a long way when they're played well, and
Shadow Thief is the clearest example.
Tier List
 Standouts
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
Spider-Man is all about flexibility and huge damage output. He has multiple ways to gain Combo, and against
opponents whose defense you don't mind triggering, each Combo is a second Offensive Roll Phase in the same turn. When
the opponent has a defense you'd rather avoid, he can pivot to chaining his straights. Each one inflicts Webbed, so
after the first, every straight he lands back to back is undefendable. On defense, Counterpunch is alright, and
saving your dice mods for when the opponent swings big lets Spider-Sense prevent half of that hit.
Black Widow
Black Widow is an engine that generates crazy value and damage output. Every Ability Upgrade she puts into play
makes her stronger, and once her upgrades are out, an upgraded Widows Gauntlets can fairly reliably hit for around 13
damage. Some games the deck order is unlucky and Red Room Training II shows up later than she'd like, but those feel
like the exception, since she can usually manufacture it with Covert Ops within her first few turns. She takes some time to
ramp up, but once she's going, it's hard to compete with the value.
Forgemaster
Forgemaster is the strongest hero from the Vanguard release, with an extremely simple game plan that's generally
easy to execute. Spamming A Good Haul helps get his Armor out, and once it's out, opponents had better have a way to
deal undefendable damage or they're going to struggle. I'm not sure his card counting potential is solved yet, but in
theory a skilled pilot could Mine, track the cards they put on the bottom of the deck, and use that information to know
when to skip a Mine or spend CP to draw a card that wins them the game.
Gambit
Gambit has been solved. Spamming Sleight of Hand literally every turn seems to be by far the most efficient way to
play him, and he can hit it somewhat reliably. When he executes on it, almost no other hero can match his damage
output. That mix of a simple plan and huge value has given him the highest win rate of any hero in the Age of
Vitality, and he was second only to Black Widow in the Age of Innovation before it.
Pyromancer
Pyromancer is a glass cannon. She outputs very high damage, and while Molten Armor doesn't prevent anything, it has
the potential to deal 5 damage back. She has a few more ways to get there than Gambit does. If the opponent has a
strong defense, she can opt to explode her Fire Mastery with Combustion for undefendable damage, and otherwise
Pyroblast and her straights can put out a ton of defendable damage. A lot of her Ability Upgrades are very strong,
and which ones she draws will often determine which line to chase.
Alchemist
Alchemist is very flexible, with an easy interface that her Potion re-rolls make even easier. She can push hard for
damage, turtle up, or land somewhere in between depending on what the game requires of her. Because of this, she
doesn't really have any terrible matchups.
Raveness
Raveness is one of the most adaptable heroes in the game. Once Nevermore is on the opponent, every one of their
Upkeeps becomes a menu she picks from with her Feathers, whether that's extra pecks of undefendable damage, stealing
CP, forcing a discard, or a Hex that shuts off their 6s. That lets her tailor her plan to whoever she's facing,
choking out heroes that lean on 6s, starving economy heroes, or simply racing with her straights. Fowl Friend lets her
dodge the opponent's defense while she builds her hand, and if she draws its upgrade early, the game can get out of
reach fast.
Honorable Mentions
Druid
Druid is a value-generating machine that's also extremely adaptable to whoever they're playing. They can use Cat
Form to dish out big damage, Druid Form to keep their health up, or Bear Form for a guaranteed 4-point swing on
defense. I think they're extremely good, but their lack of accessible undefendable damage means they struggle against
meta heroes with strong defenses.
Shadow Thief
Shadow Thief is one of my favorite heroes. He's a late game monster who can very easily catch newer players off
guard when they take 40 damage in two turns, and he's extremely punishing if he gets Carducopia II out in the first
few rounds, since it lets him somewhat reliably force a random discard every turn. Enter the Shadows! is also one of
the best cards in the game right now, especially with Buh, Bye! banned from organized play. That said, a skilled
opponent knows they need to rush him down before he reaches the late game, and his organized play numbers don't
reflect the sentiment some folks have that he's S++++. I find that's true against lower skilled pilots, but into a skilled player I
think he's only very good, not broken without a bit of luck. | 
