Best Card in the Game?

         (DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion; I would love to hear your take on this if you don't agree)

          Dwarves, druids, monsters, mages, spells, traps! Everyone who plays Cards and Castles knows the diversity of the game, knows how no two decks are the same. Inside these diverse decks, people tend to quickly develop a "favorite card" that they like to play. I have played this game for four years now, and I have gone through my fair share of "favorite cards". In every era of the game, there has always been a card that has stood out to me as the very best. In this current era of Cards and Castles, however, the game is much more balanced and fun. Now almost every single card in the game can be classified as "good" in the right situation. But in order to be at the top of ranked play, one must find the best combinations and cards in the game to propel them to victory. So how does one determine the "best" card in the game?
          Well, whichever is the most versatile would be the best. Since versatility is the main factor being taken into account, spell cards should immediately be ruled out. Why? Because most spells -- well, most good spells -- are classified into their own faction, therefore limiting the situations it could be used in. For instance, the trap card called "Might of the Minotaur" is an extremely good card that gives unit +3/3 before it gets struck by an enemy, taking the opponent by surprise and potentially ruining the rest of their turn. Though it is really good and one can almost never go wrong adding this into their deck, the card is only in the Viking faction. This limits the amount of combinations a player can do with the card by already putting it into a pre-existing faction.
          So if spells are taken out, this means the best card in the game must be a unit. Now, the faction limitation comes into play again. There are many powerful cards throughout the game, but flexibility in a card is what is being sought. This will rule out all units put into a faction. That means no Ragnar the Storm King, no Vileroth the Devourer, no Craxus God of the Arena... This leaves us with a small set of units to choose from which would be able to strengthen any deck, any archetype. The neutral units.

         Though the card spectrum has now been narrowed down to a select few, the new question is, besides versatility, what unit has the best stats and abilities in relation to gold cost? One neutral unit that may stand out immediately from the rest is Mordok the Dark Rider. He has an amazing ability, which summons a random undead unit every single time he deals damage to an enemy. The random unit summoned can be anything from a zombie to Rakanoth the World Breaker himself. He has a good scare factor when he is played, but his stats do not fully justify his gold cost. Though the ability is good, he is worth 8 gold and only has 4 attack and 5 health. Compared to other units his cost, such as King Kaiju and Craxus, one could get a better deal adding in a different card instead of Mordok. Another card one might look to would be Northlands Ranger. This card is a 7 gold monstrosity with 7 attack and 8 health. This card is very versatile due to its board clearing capability with its high attack, and its potential to be the leading unit in a push against the other castle due to its high health. While this card is also very good, it does not have any special abilities. The lack of an ability can really hurt the user in late game if the match comes down to the wire and any small factor can turn the tide of who will win and lose. So if Mordok or the Northlands Ranger is not the best card in the game, what is?
         The answer comes in the form of a mid to late game card. Worth 6 gold, with 6 attack and 7 health, and an ability to make units run away in terror, the Tyrannosaur is easily the best card in the game as of right now. Its neutral standing lets one use this card in any variety of decks. Its attack and health lets the user play offense and defense with this, depending on the situation of the game. The cost is cheap for the stats, so a player can get this out fairly early and turn the tide of a match to their favor. And the ability... the ability is what makes this card so great. The "fear aura" is what it is called. What that means is that every single turn, any unit -- friendly or not -- adjacent to the Tyrannosaur runs away in terror. It works almost like knock back, except that units running away pass through units that may have blocked their movement path before. This can obviously help in defense; if a buffed unit is close to a player's castle, play the Tyrannosaur and have it run away, which lets them stall for an extra turn or two. If someone wants to push an attack, play the tyrannosaur and let the fear aura push your units forward towards the enemy castle. The only drawback to this unit is that it has a legendary rarity, which may make it hard to acquire for some players. But in this game, it does not take too long to amount the resources needed to buy a legendary card for free, so that obstacle is not too hard to overcome. Overall, this card is so versatile and dangerous that it should be classified as the best card in the game at this moment.

         Cards and Castles has gone through many phases throughout the years of me playing, and this current era of the game is by far the most balanced and most fun. Every card has a good place in the game and can be used effectively in the right situation. There are many cards in the game of Cards and Castles that can be classified as "good" or even "great", but only one can be categorized as the best. The best card in the game has to be the Tyrannosaur as of right now. I have seen other versions in the past of this card and other competing cards, and it just strengthens my view that there is no beating the Tyrannosaur. It's versatile due to its standing in the neutral faction. It is only worth 6 gold, so one could play it mid game or even play the Tyrannosaur with another card as well in late game situations. The stats of the card are outstanding for the cost, easily letting it soak up damage in defense and deal it as well in offense. The fear aura ability is hands down one of the best abilities in the game due to how it can be used as an aggressive offensive push or as a defensive stall. No opponent will look at the Tyrannosaur and easily find a way to counter it. So use this card; craft it, put two to three copies of it in each of your decks. This card effectively helps any archetype ever made so far. The Tyrannosaur is by far the best card in the game and will stay that way for a long time to come.