Knowing how to read a card's value is one of the core skills in deckbuilding. Flesh and Blood is a mathematical game, and cards follow fairly strict patterns in how much damage you get for what you pay. Once you know those patterns, evaluating a card becomes arithmetic instead of guesswork.
The baseline
The measuring stick is the set of vanilla attacks, meaning attacks with no text box at all. They exist mostly as a reference point, and together they form a ladder:
| Cost | Power | Defense |
| 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 2 | 6 | 3 |
| 3 | 7 | 3 |
Read it like this: a plain attack starts at 4 damage for free, and each additional resource buys exactly 1 additional damage. Defense stays at 3 the whole way up.
Note that these are the red printings. Most cards also exist in yellow and blue versions that trade power for pitch value, so the same card name can sit at different points on the ladder depending on which copy you're holding.
What "on rate" means
That ladder is the definition of on rate. To judge any attack in the game, find the baseline at the same cost and compare. A card with the same numbers plus an ability is above rate. A card with weaker numbers has to make up the difference through its text.
Hitting the baseline exactly isn't enough for Classic Constructed. You only have 60 slots, and there are enough cards that beat rate that a plain card rarely makes the cut. Most format staples sit exactly on the ladder and add something free on top: a restriction on how the opponent can defend, a bonus when a condition is met, or a punishing effect when the attack connects. Same numbers, free upside.
One caveat worth keeping in mind: cost-to-damage is the easiest number to compare, not the full picture. Every card in your hand can also block for its defense value or be pitched for resources. A card with modest attack numbers can still earn its slot on those two jobs alone.
Power plays
Once you have a baseline, the point of card evaluation is to spot the outliers: the cards and combinations that sit well above rate. Some are individual cards that simply do too much for their cost. Others are two or three cards that look ordinary alone and become lopsided together. The way to confirm you've found one is to do the arithmetic rather than trust the impression.
The trick is converting a card's text into points. A card is worth roughly 3, since that's what it blocks for and roughly what it converts into on offense. So any effect that strips a card from your opponent's hand or arsenal is worth about 3 points to you. Add that to the card's printed numbers and you see its real rate. An attack that already beats the baseline on damage and also removes a card can end up several points above rate, which is the difference between a good card and a format staple.
Two caveats before you get excited about a number.
A bonus is only worth its points on turns when you can actually meet its condition. Cards that need an empty hand, a stocked graveyard or a specific board state are worth less than their ceiling, and how much less depends on how often you can set them up.
And a combination is only a power play if you can assemble it reliably. Three cards that produce an enormous turn together are worth very little if you draw them together twice a game. Consistency is a real deckbuilding cost, and it gets paid in slots.
Source: https://fabtcg.com/articles/masterclass-deckbuilding/
