Colourless cards aren’t really something you spend a massive amount of time thinking about in Slay the Spire 2. Yes, they may be, on average, more powerful than your regular card, but you don’t see a huge selection of them all that often, and when you do, there’s a pretty slim chance that it’ll synergise with what you already have.
Colourless cards are generally found through the Merchant’s Shop, through a Relic like Dingy Rug, from Neow or through an event choice. So, if we see one of these, what we really need to be looking for here are colourless cards that fit well into any build no matter the character or playstyle.
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These 10 colourless cards are some of the best on offer, so you know if you encounter one of these, you can slot it quite happily into any deck!
This list doesn’t include cards that come from events, only ones that you can get from random rewards or through the shop.
10
Dark Shackles
Good Luck Shaking Off Those Chains!
Dark Shackles is pretty crazy. On paper, taking off 9 strength from an opponent doesn’t sound super-broken; I mean, it’s a bit better than a normal Defend, right? This is, until you start thinking about multi-hit attacks.
These multi-hit attacks deal way less damage, but more often, so instead of getting hit for a flat 40, you’ll be hit 8, 5 times. Of course, the damage here is the first number, not the multiplier, so if you use Dark Shackles, this gets reduced to 0x5, dealing no damage to you.
You’ve basically just used a 0 energy card to block an entire turn’s worth of damage. Which is insane!
9
Finesse & Flash of Steel
So Fast, They Won’t See it Coming
I had to put these cards together, since they basically do the same thing. But they do it really well!
Finesse and Flash of Steel both cost 0 energy and either deal a small amount of damage or give a bit of block. The damage and block are decent; however, the reason these are great is because of the +1 card draw.
Here, you’re getting free card advantage, allowing you to get a small buff simply for cycling through your deck. There’s literally no downside to adding these cards into a deck, as you’re always going to get a benefit. You get to look for more impactful cards, and it costs nothing to play. It’s a win-win.
8
Master of Strategy
Always 3 Steps Ahead!
And speaking of card advantage, you really can’t go wrong with putting this into a deck! Master of Strategy costs 0 energy to play, and draws you 3 cards, while exhausting once played.
As you get later into the run and your deck of cards starts becoming more unwieldy, card drawing becomes extremely important. You start needing a good amount of energy generation so you can afford to cycle through your cards more efficiently, and do more in fewer turns.
Master of Strategy allows you to ignore your energy generation and simply search for your answer. Yes, it might be a rare card, and you might not see it all that often, but this is such a good card to draw when you’re in a sticky situation.
7
Prowess
Some Things Just Come Naturally
Prowess gives you 1 strength and 1 dexterity when played. Simple, right? Who knew such a no-frills card would be so powerful? Prowess, in terms of stats, is just great, and is one of the few cards that, when upgraded, literally just doubles in power.
The strength is nice here, but what’s really great is that dexterity. Generally, when you get to higher Ascension levels, you need to have more effective blocking measures than attacking, which is why you see the Silent’s Footwork being picked up so much.
Not all classes get access to cards that grant dexterity; only the Silent and the Defect do, so if you can pick this up on a class that wouldn’t normally get dexterity, you can quickly out-scale your opponent.
6
Alchemize
Time to Brew Up Something Spicy!
1 Potion for 1 energy? Don’t mind if I do! 1 Potion for 0 energy? Even better! Alchemise is one of those cards that just provides an insane amount of value and works in basically every single deck.
Using a potion can often save you from taking a huge amount of damage in one of those tricky hallway fights, and in some cases, can be pretty game-breaking with stuff like Entropic Brew or Fairy in a Bottle.
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Now, if you look at the cost of most potions in the shop, they range from 50 to over 100 gold. Imagine that every time you play this, you’re basically getting that much gold. Yes, you might not get to select the potion, but the value is still pretty bonkers, especially if you have a relic that gives you more potion slots! Alchemize is a no-brainer.
5
Hidden Gem
My Precious!
Hidden Gem was one of the first colourless cards that I saw in Slay the Spire 2, and when I played it, it kind of blew my mind a little bit.
Replay is such a powerful mechanic, especially when it lands on one of those game-breaking cards. And the thing is, Hidden Gem can give a random card Replay 2 or 3! It doesn’t really matter whether a single card is powerful, because with Replay, everything becomes good.
Now, if that random roll lands on a powerful 2/3 cost card, the value from tripling or quadrupling is insane. Yes, the card might not do anything when it’s played, but in the long term, this will more than pay off!
4
Shockwave
Cut Them Down to Size!
Shockwave is another one of those cards that is just crazy value for the amount that it costs. Both keywords that this card grants do so much as you get further into the run.
Vulnerable gives you tons more destructive power to the cards you already have, while Weak gets so much more powerful the higher numbers that the enemy deals. And the fact that you can get a stack of 3 or 5 of each of these is nuts for 2 energy.
With this, you’re combining the powerful effects of multiple cards and mixing them into one, which is always broken. What’s more, this is insane against those horrible multi-enemy fights. You get the benefit of de-buffing everything, with the added bonus of having a smaller deck, because this card does so much heavy lifting.
3
Equilibrium
Balanced, As All Things Should Be
Equilibrium is one of those subtly powerful cards that you might not think much about too often. At first glance, it seems pretty expensive, and it doesn’t have a huge immediate impact on the game, but what this card is really buying you is safety and time.
Equilibrium costs 2 energy, giving you 13 block and the ability to hold your hand for another turn. Retain is a really strong mechanic. There are so many times where you may have a few combo pieces in your deck, but you don’t draw them together, forcing you to have a dead turn.
Equilibrium not only allows you to have basically 10 cards in your hand, opening up chances for crazy turns, but also gives you a huge amount of block, meaning you don’t get punished for basically skipping a turn. This card is great at every stage of the run.
2
Secret Technique
Some Call this Cheating… I Call it Strategy!
Come on, this one barely needs explaining, right? Skills are arguably more important than attacks. They might not always directly kill the opponent, but they allow you to buy time and stay alive while you search for the right tools.
Secret Technique costs 0 energy and allows you to search for any skill in your deck and add it straight to your hand. Yeh. If there was an insane skill earlier on this list, like Equilibrium or Dark Shackles, for example, this just allows you to search your deck for it and use it immediately.
The greatest thing about this is flexibility. You get to search for the exact card for that moment and immediately tackle the problem that lies ahead. Need more card draw, more block, more energy, an extra potion? The choice is yours.
There are no downsides to this, as it costs nothing to play and allows you to play even more riskily! Plus, as your deck gets bigger, this card gets even stronger.
1
Fasten
Batten Down the Hatches!
Maybe I’m a little biased. I got this at the beginning of an A10 run recently, and it did so much work that I was stunned.
Fasten grants every single Defend card in your deck an extra 4/6 block. Yep, every Defend is basically twice as good as it was before. And the thing is, this used to give a flat 5 block, and was nerfed… and it’s still super good! That speaks to how insane this card is.
As you progress into those high ascension runs, playing super-aggressively no longer works. The enemies hit too high and too often for you to just throw big attacks out every turn. So you need to start thinking defensively.
Fasten only costs 1 energy, and it’s a Power, so it works for the whole combat. If you simply play this card and then use maybe 3 or 4 Defends across the combat, you’re gaining maybe 20 block from a single card.
Now, where this card really shines is against those boss battles that last a ridiculously long time. Every single Defend played builds incremental value, and when paired with relics like Vambrace, Pael’s Legion, or with a bit of Dexterity, you start becoming unkillable. This card is a must-pick and is honestly one of my favourites of all time.
And did I mention, this card isn’t even rare! It’s uncommon! Don’t sleep on Fasten, folks!
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Systems
Released
March 5, 2026
ESRB
e
Multiplayer
Online Co-Op