Let's score cards using a score card

I've always had a certain amount of trepidation when it comes to ranking cards in terms of power or effectiveness. Often, a card's power is relative to the type of deck it fills and the character of meta that emerges. Because of this, it's often difficult to assign a meaningful rating in the abstract as a card could perform well in one type of list and poorly in another.

However, I would still like to utilize some type of rating system. For one, it's a nice way to drive a discussion about a card. And two, it's more entertaining to read. It enables agreement/ disagreement and encourages participation from the reader.

Therefore, I'm going to try to remedy some of my problems with rating systems by clearly identifying what my ratings communicate. To do this, I'm going to approach this by rating the likelihood that a card will see play. Because I teach an appellate writing class, I'm most comfortable with a A - F scale. Here are my ratings:

A: These cards can be justified in any Command deck with any list. These cards offer a high degree of flexibility and utility. Examples: Take Initiative, Element of Surprise, Planning.

B: Cards with this rating completely define an archetype or list. These cards are generally limited to a specific figure or trait, but carry a power level that often outweighs any limitation on their use. Examples: Son of Skywalker, Call the Vanguard, Comm Disruption.

C: These cards are often useful, but are chosen to provide a specific type of utility that is only valuable in certain situations or are limited by trait/figure restrictions. Furthermore, they are often chose at the expense of other cards that may provide equal value. Examples: Blitz, Tough Luck, Run for Cover.

D: At this rating, these cards are only run for their novelty, but are costed in line with their utility. These cards generally don't offer any ability to alter the game state in a significant way. Examples: Explosive Weaponry, On A Mission, Force Lightning.

F: These cards won't see play because they are too expensive for what they do or they just don't do anything useful at all. Examples: Counter Attack, Hide in Plain Sight, Expose Weakness.

Keep in mind that these ratings are to be read in context of where I currently see the meta - over time these cards may get better or worse. Moreover, I could just be extremely wrong in judging some of the cards. It's a subjective exercise and most of my judgments are biased by my own playgroup.