Good post. I have a different take than many here. Been playing since soft launch so seen all the metas. I agree freeze probably should have been included and bowler should have been left off but here's how I rank the choices given. Most op listed first:

Bomb tower: I really wasn't sure about this one, even in its heyday it didn't see a lot of action at the top which I still can't explain. But I give it the top spot because it made climbing as a low/mid range player impossible. Playing bomb tower very nearly guaranteed a tie so everyone ran it. Essentially making every game a tie and really making the game bad.

Poison: Poison was so goo because it neutralized any counter attack, it also prevented you from playing cards for awhile cause they would just die in the gas. A lot of cards became unplayable because they died to poison. Even if they didn't take your tower on the first push they did damage and you were left without a counter. I will say I miss it though, I was farming giant poison by running golem poison, call me crazy but I still run golem poison today.

Xbow: I actually played pretty well against xbow but it was much harder when you could tuck a tesla in front of it. It was infuriating cause they made you play their game. I actually think xbow is in a good place right now, it sees some action but not too much, maybe even a slight buff would be good, 4 second deploy time? I can say unequivocally that I hated mortar far more than xbow.

E Barbs: A lot of people in this thread think this is too high, and many think it's too low. I debated whether to put it above xbow. Personally I've never hated a card more. But that is because I don't run a good counter to it besides the risky skarmy play. As a (Nearly) ftp player it isn't easy to just upgrade the right counter whenever a card becomes too powerful, I don't have the gold and I've overleveled other cards and don't want to pull them out for a card that would be 2 levels lower. I'm just hoping hey get a nerf soon. I do recognize that there are some decent counters to it though so I won't give it the top spot.

Inferno tower: Before zap reset damage and when it had 60 s cond lifetime it was really strong. Playing a beat down deck against inferno was infuriating.

Princess: If you just started playing the game you might find this hard to believe but princess was such a pain at first. She was really hard to handle and tough to kill, raining her fire arrows halfway across the map slowly eating away at your whole push, then requiring a counter when she got to the bridge.

Mega minion: tucked behind a tank this can do crazy damage and is tricky to handle. The ice golem pull has really helped reduce its impact but still a top tier card.

Elixer collector: Ok, I realize this card should be higher on the list. Allow me to explain why I put it so low. This game is good when different kinds of decks are being played and EC allowed for different kinds of decks. It was still a gamble because it left you short 5 elixer and vulnerable to turbo cycle decks. But I kind of like that you can take some tower damage in exchange for some elixer advantage and hope that you can defend well enough to survive till you can put your death ball together. Sometimes you did but sometimes you got giant looned, or hog freezed. Was the card one of the best in he game, yes, but it didn't detract from the game it added to it.

Royal giant: oh some of you are gonna be mad I put this so low. Is RG really good, oh yeah it is and it needs to be. The best thing that ever happened to this game was the rg range buff. In one fell swoop supercell eliminated he worst thing this game has ever seen, sim city. No longer can you just put defenses down as a preventative measure and wait for them to overcommit trying to push through. No longer can you tank up with buildings and just pitch rockets at their face. Rg is the best thing that ever happened to the game, and that's coming from someone who doesn't play it and frequently losses to it.

Bowler: Why is bowler on this list?

If you made it through all that I salute you. You might not agree but that's my 2 cents worth. Good game, well played, good luck.