Watcher Card Tier List in Slay the Spire

Current Watcher tier list is based on various opinions combined. The main source of information comes from cards discussions in Reddit community. Ranks, from D to S, are the average of those made by Baalor and Frost Prime.

You can find Ironclad, Silent, and Defect tier lists in the Slay the Spire game category on the website or at the bottom of this page.

A visual representation of the list if posted on TierMaker.

There are 19 common cards in Watcher's deck: 10 attacks and 9 skills.

Bowling Bash is most effective in fights with multiple enemies, such as Byrds, Sentries, Slavers, Darklings, Reptomancer, Collector, Bronze Automaton, etc. It is a great way to quickly focus down one enemy in these fights. It scales well with any increase in Strength and Wreath of Flame, dealing more damage for each hit. However, it is weak in single-target fights and is better to be avoided with a help of Scry mechanic.

Rank: A-

Consecrate is a card with a relatively low damage output, but it has a welcomed AOE effect. Because of its zero energy cost, it allows you to spare energy to transition from Wrath into Calm once it's done, or to gain some block.

Rank: B

Crush Joints is one of the few Watcher cards that can apply Vulnerable, which is very powerful for the Watcher as it multiplies her attack damage in Wrath or Divinity stances. Crush Joints requires the player to have played a skill as the previous card, which is usually easier (the starting relic, Miracle, provides a free skill to trigger its effect) than the condition of Indignation, another source of Vulnerable.

Crush Joints becomes much better when upgraded, as it extends the duration of Vulnerable from one to two turns. This makes it easier to plan a high-damage turn with Wrath or Divinity. It also pairs well with Simmering Fury, a skill that draws more cards and enters Wrath next turn.

Rank: A

Cut Through Fate is a powerful manipulation tool that allows the player to Scry two or three cards and draw one of them. This gives the player more control over the current and next turns. It also deals decent damage, which is usually sufficient for the early game when combined with Watcher's stance switching.

Because it is a common card, Cut Through Fate can be easily found. It fits into almost any type of Watcher deck.

Rank: S-

Empty Fist deals impressive damage and exits your current stance. It has a high-priority upgrade that boosts the damage by 5 (10 in Wrath).

Empty Fist is a valuable choice that can solve most of the early-game fights and remain relevant later for stance dancing.

Rank: A+

Flurry of Blows is a free card that returns to your hand when you change stances. Its initial 4-6 damage may seem underwhelming, but because it can be played multiple times in one turn, it may become your main source of damage, especially when in Wrath or Divinity stances. It benefits from any relics or cards that reward playing attacks, such as Kunai, Shuriken, Ornamental Fan, Talk to the Hand, Duality, Pen Nib, Ink Bottle, or Nunchaku.

Flurry of Blows can be a dead weight in some situations, such as against Time Eater or the Heart, where playing lots of cards is penalized. It can also be inaccessible if your hand is full or if you have Runic Pyramid, or too many retained cards.

Rank: A-

Flying Sleeves deals 4 (6 when upgraded) damage twice. Because it stays in your hand until you play it, the card is useful for planning a high-damage turn with Wrath or Divinity stances. It scales with Strength boosts from relics like Vajra or Girya or the Fasting card. The Establishment power, which reduces the cost of retained cards, makes this card free in one turn.

Flying Sleeves is a decent pick as a first card reward in Act 1 but is often outclassed by other Watcher damage cards with higher damage output and additional utility.

Rank: C+

Follow-Up is a card that refunds an energy if you've previously played an attack, making it effectively a zero-cost 7 or 11 damage. This is a solid amount of damage, especially in Wrath or Divinity stances. It is a good card to pick up in Act 1, as it helps with the elites and the boss.

Follow-Up's value decreases as the run progresses, as many Watcher builds tend to have more energy than card draw. In Act 3 and 4, Follow-Up may not be as useful as other attack cards that offer more utility, such as Cut Through Fate.

Rank: B+

On its own, Just Lucky offers minimal damage, Block, and Scry. However, because it does so many things, it has a huge synergistic potential:

• Recalling Weave from a discard pile;
• Proccing Nirvana for more Block;
• Proccing Golden Eye for more Scry;
• Benefitting from both Strength and Dexterity buffs of Fasting;
• Proccing Ninja relics;
• Generating block after Talk to the Hand.

Rank: A-

Sash Whip is a cost-effective source of damage and Weak if you can meet its condition. As a source of Weak, it competes with Wave of the Hand, which applies the debuff to all enemies multiple times per turn.

Because Watcher's way of preventing incoming damage usually involves killing enemies instead of weakening them, this card finds less use in the game.

Rank: B

Having Crescendo on retain is appreciated as it provides control over when to enter Wrath and allows you to make a powerful Wrath kill when a high-damage draw is available. Crescendo competes with Tantrum, Eruption, Indignation, and Shimmering Fury as a Wrath tool.

Rank: B+

Empty Body allows the Watcher to exit her current stance and gain some block. It's one of the three Empty cards that offer stance control, along with Empty Fist and Empty Mind. Overall, Empty Body is considered the worst of the three by most players, but it finds its use when defensive options are scarce.

Rank: B

Evaluate provides immediate block and adds an Insight into your draw pile. When compared to draw manipulation cards like Sanctity, Third Eye, and Study, it's generally seen as slower and less reliable.

Evaluate is not typically desired in Act 1 due to the Gremlin Nob. It also has anti-synergy with Snecko Eye, Runic Pyramid, and the Choker. However, it can be useful if you go offense-heavy in Act 1 and need any defense you can get in Act 2.

Rank: C

Halt blocks a significant amount of damage for free, getting the most value from the Wrath stance and benefiting from Dexterity twice.

The most commonly used Watcher strategy is to deal damage in Wrath and exit the stance before receiving 2x damage. However, with Halt, it's sometimes possible to stay in Wrath and still block effectively.

Because even free cards cost a card draw, Halt may not fit as neatly into infinite combos as some other cards do.

Rank: B

Pressure Points is a skill that can potentially deal huge damage and defeat bosses by itself. In practice, it's very slow and requires reliable defensive solutions while scaling. It has almost no synergies, other than faster card cycling with Scry and reusing itself with Meditate.

Rank: ???

Prostrate's primary function is to generate Mantra, which contributes to entering the Divinity Stance. It can be an effective entry point for a Divinity-focused deck. By itself, Prostrate alone won't allow you to enter Divinity quickly, so it's recommended to combine it with other Mantra-generating cards, such as Devotion, Worship, Pray, or other copies of Prostrate.

Rank: B-

Protect retains in your hand and provides valuable block when needed. It costs 2 energy, which can be a bit expensive, but this cost can be negated with Establishment.

Rank: B-

Third Eye is a powerful block and draw manipulation card for the Watcher. Allowing you to see your whole hand for the next turn's card draw, it is extremely strong both in the early and late game. Any Scry synergy makes the card even stronger.

Rank: S-

Tranquility is a cheap and reliable way to enter Calm on demand. Its retain effect and cost make the card similar to Crescendo, but most players value exiting Wrath higher than entering it, making Tranquility a matter of life and death.

Rank: B-

There are 35 uncommon cards in Watcher's deck: 12 attacks, 15 skills and 8 powers.

Carve Reality is a strong Watcher uncommon (especially in Act 1), offering substantial damage and flexibility. Its split damage with the retain effect allows you to wait for Wrath/Divinity turns, making it a finishing move in most hallway fights.

Rank: B-

Conclude deals significant damage to all enemies for just one energy, but it has a seriously inconvenient downside. It ends your turn, which can be problematic if you're in Wrath stance. This also makes Conclude compete with other cards that end your turn, such as Meditate and Vault.

Rank: B

Fear No Evil is a highly praised card in Slay the Spire, particularly valued for its one-cost Calm entry, making it a reusable energy generator when combined with Wrath entries. Fear No Evil, as a tool for changing stances, synergizes the best with Mental Fortress and Flurry of Blows. It enables infinite combos with the right setup.

Rank: A

Reach Heaven hits relatively weakly initially but compensates for this by shuffling a free high-damage attack into a draw pile.

This kind of delayed payoff is better suited for slower decks that can set up a big Wrath or Divinity turn. The burst damage the card provides is excellent against specific encounters, such as Slime or Champ boss fights.

Rank: B-

Sands of Time deals massive damage on its own, reducing its high cost over time while staying in hand. That fits the typical Watcher build: setting up your Wrath/Divinity turn for a enormous damage. Strong synergies:

• Pen Nib: Timing the attack for 2x damage (4x in Wrath or even 6x in Divinity);
• Bottled Flame: Retaining the card from a start of every fight;
• Snecko Eye: Reduced initial cost, from 0 to 3 instead of 4;
• Establishment: Making the card free after a very short time;
• Meditate: Playing the card for reduced cost over and over again.

Rank: A

Signature Move is a high-damage attack that works on somewhat difficult terms. Without any setup, in a deck filled with attacks, the card may often become a dead draw.

One way to make Signature Move effective is to remove strikes and opt for non-attack damage sources like Pressure Points or Alpha, Beta, Omega. The slower approach involves playing Deva Form and accumulating surplus energy to use all your attacks.

Conclude has anti-synergy with Signature Move because it ends your turn as an attack card.

Rank: C-

Talk to the Hand gives block every time you attack the debuffed enemy. It works well with the Watcher's attack spam and stance-switching energy gain. Great synergies:

• Multi-hit attacks: Flying Sleeves, Tantrum, Ragnarok for more block per hit;
• Wave of the Hand: Weakens enemies practically for the entire fight;
• Flurry of Blows or Weave: Reusing these small attacks as a defensive strategy.

Talk to the Hand is a favorite card for many players; it makes the game easier and is fun to play. It has some limitations, though:

• Enemies with artifacts will prevent the debuff;
• It's not very effective against multiple enemies;
• Some bosses remove the debuff after their transformation.

Rank: S

Tantrum does a lot of things for one energy: multi attacks, enters Wrath, and shuffles itself into the draw pile. Being able to enter Wrath several times per cycle while dealing sufficient damage makes Tantrum the best source of Wrath in many Watcher builds.

Rank: A+

Wallop is versatile: it is an attack and block at the same time. What makes it exceptionally strong are damage modifiers such as Wrath, Divinity, Vulnerable, Pen Nib, or Strength.

A couple of drawbacks this card has are its lesser effectiveness if the Watcher is weakened and when the enemy has block to prevent incoming damage.

Rank: A-

Weave returns to the hand when a player uses Scry from Foresight, Cut Through Fate, and Third Eye. It can be done multiple times per turn for free, which works well with cards and relics that benefit from attack spam, such as Talk to the Hand, Duality, and the Ninja Relics.

Weave is similar to Flurry of Blows, which returns to the hand when the player changes stances. One of the advantages of Weave is that when discarding it with Scry, it immediately returns to your hand.

Rank: A

Wheel Kick provides excellent damage output and unconditional draw of two cards. It is expensive, and you do have to find the energy to pay for it and the extra cards you draw (preferably). The best-case use is when entering Divinity and having plenty of energy to use.

Wheel Kick is known for its amazing Snecko interaction; first, you have a decent chance to get it for a discounted price, and the extra cards drawn can also be cheap or free.

Rank: A-

Windmill Strike gradually increases in damage over time and costs two energy. It is often seen as most effective in slow, defensive decks with Divinity build-up.

Windmill Strike is generally outclassed by other retaining cards, particularly Sands of Time.

Rank: C+

Collect puts a Miracle+ into your hand at the beginning of your next turns. Basically, it's a delayed energy gain: Collect spends energy immediately to gain twice that amount gradually over the next few turns. Because of its slow nature, Collect is often considered one of the least favorable energy-generating Watcher cards. It can still be useful with Chemical X for free energy or with Dead Branch as a source of exhausting Miracles.

Rank: D

Deceive Reality provides immediate block and retains more block with Safety. In most situations, these two cards provide more block than Protect for the same cost. On the other hand, it has anti-synergy with Snecko Eye or the Choker.

Rank: A

Empty Mind provides card draw and allows you to exit your current stance. This can be useful for cycling your deck, gaining energy from Calm, or escaping Wrath. It also works well for infinite combo setup.

Rank: A

Foreign Influence generates three random attacks of any color, including colorless. You can choose one of them to add to your hand. The upgraded version makes the card cost zero.

Watcher cards typically don't provide much upfront damage. Being able to add other classes' attack damage while in Wrath is almost always a net positive. And you can skip the card if the choice doesn't look appealing and may clog your infinite deck.

Rank: C+

Indignation enters Wrath or applies valuable AoE Vulnerable, depending on the current stance. Entering Wrath without an attack could be useful for timing Pen Nib.

Due to the more challenging conditions for inflicting Vulnerable and better Wrath options, the card may quite often become a dead draw.

Rank: B+

Inner Peace either enters Calm or draws 3-4 cards, depending on the current stance. This kind of flexibility and low energy cost for Calm entry make it a perfect candidate for efficient energy manipulation and infinite combo setup.

Rank: A

Meditate is Watcher's best deck manipulation tool. It enters Calm, retains 1-2 cards from a discard pile at the cost of ending your turn.

Meditate is a flexible way to set up your future turns with the cards you need, such as Wrath cards alongside the strongest attacks, or Lesson Learned for a finishing move. It's a reliable way to exit Wrath and a good entry point for a Divinity-focused deck. Synergizes with Establishment for reduced cost of cards it retains. The only anti-synergies it has is with other turn-ending cards Conclude and Vault.

Rank: S-

Perseverance may seem like a fun card with an interesting concept, but it’s not commonly chosen by experienced players. The reasons are:

• Initial stats are low, similar to those of Defend;
• Block generation is slow - just 2-3 per turn;
• It is outclassed by other block cards of the Watcher.

Rank: D+

Pray is a Mantra card that also puts an Insight into the draw pile. Attaining Divinity by Pray alone is slow and expensive. It becomes a reasonable choice when you have other sources of Mantra from cards or Damaru relic.

Rank: C-

Sanctity provides both block and card draw on easy-to-meet conditions.

Rank: B

Simmering Fury enters Wrath and draws two cards at the start of the next turn.

Having additional draw and full energy to play attacks in Wrath is rewarding, and risky at the same time: having a bad turn without exits potentially ends a run immediately, so this card injects a lot of uncertainty into the play.

Simmering Fury can't be used for stance switching multiple times in a turn, which is a common strategy for Watcher.

Rank: B+

Swivel is an interesting skill that gives some block and makes your next attack free. It is best used with expensive attacks, such as Wheel Kick, Wallop, and Ragnarok. Swivel can stack with itself and last multiple turns.

Swivel is particularly effective when used with relics like Snecko Eye, ensuring you can play an attack from your hand regardless of the energy cost rolled by Snecko Eye.

Rank: C

Wave of the Hand applies Weak to all enemies whenever the player gains block, which can happen multiple times per turn. While it may be a bit clunky to use with limited energy in Act 1, it becomes incredibly powerful as the game progresses, especially when combined with sources of multi-blocking such as Talk to the Hand, Mental Fortress, Nirvana, or relics like Orichalcum, Threaded Needle, and Cloak Clasp.

Usually, Wave of the Hand does not need to be played more than once per battle, as it can keep the enemies Weak for the entire fight.

Rank: A

Worship grants the Watcher five Mantra, which is more than any other Mantra source. It upgrades to retain, so you can pull the trigger when the strongest attacks are in hand. Worship is great with Snecko Eye because of the lower average cost and a wider choice of cards in hand to spend energy on.

Rank: C

Wreath of Flame gives extra damage to the next attack, which can be multiplied by stance, vulnerability, or multi-hit attacks like Tantrum or Ragnarok. The card's effect lasts until it is used and does not expire at the end of the turn. It can also stack with itself if played multiple times.

Being draw order reliant makes Wreath of Flame very clunky. It can be hard to play it before the desired attack or to enter the right stance. The card can be more useful with Runic Pyramid, which lets the player retain it for the right moment.

Rank: C-

Battle Hymn provides a consistent source of damage that can be played at the right time. It can be helpful against early game enemies like Lagavulin and Slime Boss, who are vulnerable to burst damage.

Battle Hymn becomes less effective in the later game, as it can clog your hand with Smites (especially with Snecko Eye) that are not enough to deal with stronger enemies or build up your defensive/offensive scaling. It also does nothing on the turn you play it, which can be problematic in fights that require immediate output.

Rank: C+

Fasting greatly enhances your damage and block output by providing both Strength and Dexterity. However, two energy to play it and one energy per turn as a debuff is a steep price to pay, so you need to find a solution for this drawback. This could be achieved by having mostly low-energy consumption cards or benefiting from discounted prices on retained cards after playing Establishment. Deva Form could be a way to overcome the energy deficit. Additionally, Artifact or Orange Pellets can negate the detrimental debuff from the start.

Rank: B

Foresight improves your deck consistency by letting you discard cards that are not useful for your current situation. With an additional copy of Foresight or the Golden Eye relic, you literally have a Gambling Chip every turn. It also activates Scry synergies, such as Nirvana, Golden Eye, or Weave.

Rank: A

Like Water is a Power that provides conditional defense: it gives 5-7 block if you end your turn in Calm stance. It's quite slow and fits better into Divinity decks that don't rely on Wrath to generate block from Mental Fortress.

Rank: C

Mental Fortress provides block every time you change stances, which can be a reliable block solution in the late game with a consistent draw of Calm and Wrath cards (Empty and Divinity cards also work). As a source of block, it competes with Talk to the Hand, but has no trouble dealing with enemy Artifacts.

Rank: A+

Nirvana provides a little block every time you Scry. The set of cards and relics that support Scrying isn't very extensive: Cut Through Fate, Third Eye, Foresight, Just Lucky, and the Golden Eye relic.

Nirvana is dependent on having many Scry sources, which are not very common or desirable for the Watcher. In many builds, it's outclassed by other block sources, such as Talk to the Hand or Mental Fortress.

Rank: C+

Rushdown provides card draw whenever you enter Wrath stance, which is invaluable: you want more attacks or Wrath exits.

The card is probably the easiest enabler for infinite combos with cards that switch between Calm and Wrath. Usually, two copies of Rushdown are all you need since you can't hold more than 10 cards in your hand.

The card benefits from an upgrade that reduces its cost to zero, making it easier to play in aggressive decks or with low energy.

Rank: A+

Study offers a slow and expensive method for controlling your card draw. The Insights it generates could be valuable for cycling cards like Tantrum or enabling infinite combos when you need two key cards in hand simultaneously. The high cost can be justified in long boss fights.

Since most fights require a faster approach and Insight has many anti-synergies (Snecko Eye being one of them), Study is a highly situational choice in Watcher decks.

Rank: D+

There are 17 rare cards in Watcher's deck: 3 attacks, 10 skills and 4 powers.

Brilliance deals more damage the more Mantra you have gained. The base damage is slightly above the curve for Watcher attacks, making the card good in the early game.

Later in the game, if you have few Mantra cards, it’s not worth picking. And if you have a Mantra deck, it’s usually unnecessary because Divinity is just too good, and any damage card is already enough to win.

It competes with other Watcher cards that are more versatile; most players find damage sources like Wallop and Wheelkick more desirable.

Rank: B

Lesson Learned upgrades random cards for free by killing enemies.

Lesson Learned can be hard to use, as it requires timing and patience to land the killing blow. It can also conflict with other cards that have the same "fatal" condition, such as Hand of Greed or Ritual Dagger. It is also less useful if the deck already has many upgrades or if the player has Apotheosis in a bottle, which upgrades all cards at once.

The card can be more effective with relics that offer alternative uses for campfires, such as Girya, Peace Pipe, or Shovel. It works exceptionally well with Fusion Hammer, which provides energy but prevents smithing at campfires.

Rank: S-

Ragnarok is a high-cost rare attack that deals multiple hits of damage.

Ragnarok works well with cards and relics that benefit from multiple hits, such as Talk to the Hand, Akabeko, and Wreath of Flame. It scales excellently with Strength.

Rank: B-

Alpha-Beta-Omega is a chain of cards that deals 50 damage to all enemies every turn. It is hard to play and requires a lot of investment and setup. It does not scale with stances and usually needs another damage source for fast hallway encounters.

Alpha demonstrates better results in defensive decks that focus on surviving until Omega is played. It noticeably benefits from Scry and Draw cards to find Omega faster and discard unwanted cards. Upgrading Alpha to Innate is highly encouraged.

Omniscience is a card that pairs with Omega the best. Paying a 3 cost card twice for reduced cost is the most desirable outcome in Alpha-Beta-Omega builds.

Rank: B

Blasphemy is a very powerful but very dangerous card. It allows the player to enter Divinity, for a huge boost of damage and energy, but also kills him at the start of the next turn by dealing 99,999 damage. This card can be used to end fights quickly, but requires careful calculation and planning. It can be upgraded to retain, which makes it easier to use at the right moment.

Some effects can prevent or revive the player from death, but not all of them. List of interactions that don’t work:

• Artifacts don’t prevent the Death debuff;
• Orange Pellets also don’t remove it;
• Vault doesn’t stop the turn counter;
• Intangible on the current turn doesn’t help.

Working interactions:

• Ending the fight by killing every enemy;
• Intangible on the next turn stops the damage;
• Buffer works the best, preventing the threat completely;
• Fairy in a Bottle or Lizard Tail revive the player.

Rank: A

Conjure Blade is an X-cost card that creates a powerful attack card called Expunger, which hits once per energy invested. The attack that has been invested in, is capable of defeating any enemy in one shot. It can be useful against bosses, but not as effective in fast hallway fights. It is slow, requiring a lot of energy and setup to use effectively.

Conjure Blade works best with immediate energy gain, such as Deus Ex Machina, Holy Water, or Divinity. It does not work well with Deva Form, which takes too long to build up energy.

Rank: D+

Deus Ex Machina gives two or three energy in the form of Miracles at the cost of one draw. This extra energy in a retained form is flexible: great for putting Deva Form or other powers in play, or just for playing all the attacks in Wrath after you draw them with Scrawl.

Rank: B-

Judgment is an interesting card with a specific purpose - to instantly finish enemies below a certain HP threshold. It is particularly useful in the early game when most enemies have lower health from the start. It’s great against Byrds and the Spheric Guardian.

Fun facts: Judgment ignores any armor an enemy has or Intangible from Nemesis. It also bypasses the Heart’s damage cap.

Rank: C

Omniscience allows you to target a card in your draw pile and play it twice, and while it has a high cost, it can be incredibly effective when used. It's notably strong when used in multiple copies because one Omniscience can target another, effectively doubling the impact of the chosen cards.

Omniscience exhausts the card it plays, which can be a drawback if the card is needed later, or an advantage if you want to remove the card to set up an Infinite combo.

There are numerous excellent targets for duplication: strong powers like Foresight, Mental Fortress, or Devotion, exhausting cards such as Talk to the Hand, Worship for instant divinity, or expensive cards like Wish, Deva Form, or Ragnarok.

Rank: S-

The Watcher has limited means of direct card draw: most of them are conditional or costly. Scrawl addresses this gap by drawing a significant number of cards for a very cheap price. This card benefits from upgrade the most, becoming a free draw to utilize the unspent energy. It obviously pairs very well with sources of energy generation.

So Scrawl is pretty fantastic.

Rank: S+

Spirit Shield's effectiveness scales with the number of cards in your hand. It can be very effective for the Watcher, who has many ways to retain cards. It pairs remarkably well with Battle Hymn and is good with Deus Ex Machina.

Relics that synergize with Spirit Shield:

• Snecko Eye: Decreased cost on average, with 2 more cards drawn.
• Runic Pyramid: A reliable way to have a full hand.
• Pure Water or Holy Water: 1-3 retained Miracles from the start.

Spirit Shield doesn't break the game by scaling with Dexterity for each card; Dexterity buffs only apply once.

Rank: B

Vault gives you an extra turn for a reasonable price. In a starting deck, its initial cost consumes all the energy, which is still useful to escape a bad situation. With additional energy and reduced Vault's cost, you can confidently spend excess energy to set up your powers or deal some damage.

What makes Vault exceptionally strong are buffs from advancing your turn number. Some examples:

• Deva Form: extra energy;
• Devotion: extra Mantra;
• Battle Hymn: extra Smite;
• Establishment: -1 cost on retained cards;
• Sand of Time: -1 cost for the card;
• Windmill Strike: extra damage for the card;
• Perseverance: more block for the card;
• Cultist Potion: +1 Strength;
• Extra draw turn to get you closer to your strongest card;
• Extra draw turn to get more retained cards from a draw pile;
• Bypassing Velvet Choker's limit;
• Time Eater: Skipping the forced turn end as the 12th card.

In summary, one extra turn synergies with a wide range of effects. Vault is as an excellent addition to most Watcher decks.

Rank: S+

Wish grants one of three: strength, armor, or gold. Strength can result in tremendous amounts of damage for Watcher, solving final boss fights. Wish can be your damage solution for Time Eater or for Heart if you need to scale up and can be used to gain money along the way. This makes Wish a flexible card that can adapt to different situations and needs.

The biggest drawback of Wish is its cost. It is a very expensive card and often hard to play safely without taking too much damage. Wish is amazing with Snecko Eye, which reduces its cost in 75% of cases and makes it easier to play. Wish can also be great with Omniscience, when you play it twice for the price of one. Strange Spoon, combined with previous synergies, may bring even more use from Wish.

Rank: A-

Deva Form increases your energy every turn. The card is good for long fights, but for hallway fights, it is too slow, expensive, and sometimes unnecessary for the Watcher who has other energy sources and ways to scale.

Deva Form is compared to other form cards like Demon Form, Wraith Form, and Echo Form, and is generally considered the most niche of them.

Deva Form works much better in a Snecko Eye deck. First, its price is significantly lower on average. Second, excessive energy finds its use in 2 extra cards drawn.

Rank: C+

Devotion is slow, but the most reliable way to achieve Divinity. It transitions from underwhelming to superb with an upgrade. Any other source of mantra combined with an upgraded Devotion becomes highly effective.

Playing Divinity twice using Omniscience is a Divinity every two turns which is insane, especially with Wallop and Wheel Kick to utilize extra energy for block and draw.

Rank: B-

Establishment makes any retained cards cheaper for the entire battle. Protect, Smite, Safety, Windmill Strike, or Sands of Time become free after just one or two turns.

Establishment works even better with Meditate, making basically any card free or very cheap. With the right setup, it's a slow but solid infinite enabler.

Establishment does not work with Runic Pyramid but functions perfectly with Silent's Well-Laid Plans or Defect's Equilibrium if you get them with Prismatic Shard.

Rank: A-

Master Reality upgrades any card created during combat. Several Watcher cards create cards, and Master Reality makes them significantly stronger. The issue with this setup is its slowness due to its multi-step process: first, you have to draw and play Master Reality, then draw and play a card that creates a card, and finally draw and play the created card. There is no easy way to control this order, as even an upgraded Master Reality isn't innate.

Master Reality works best with Dead Branch and Nilry's Codex – the cards generated by them will also be upgraded.

Rank: D+

The Watcher Tier List on TierMaker:
https://tiermaker.com/list/video-games/watcher---slay-the-spire-tier-list-462015/3463578

Ironclad Tier List:
https://single-player.org/post/85-ironclad-card-tier-list-in-slay-the-spire

Silent Tier List:
https://single-player.org/post/86-silent-card-tier-list-in-slay-the-spire

Defect Tier List:
https://single-player.org/post/88-defect-card-tier-list-in-slay-the-spire