Black:
Pestering Haunt - C-. The Haunt typically gets played on turn 1 or 2 along with a Hero when you would have discarded 4 cards at the end of the turn. In other niche builds, he might have additional usage, but in general a 1/1 that can’t patrol isn’t worth a card, even if “free.” About as useful as Spark - unless your opponent is using Wisps or Mirrors, the Haunt will die the first time it attacks.
Skeleton Javelineer - C+. A basic 1/1 for 1. That isn’t as good as a 2/2 for 2, but being a Skeleton means that he plays an important role in the Skeleton Army deck. In addition, he can poke something for 1, and stay alive, so he often functions as more like 2 1/1 skeletons on offense.
Poisonblade Rogue - D. A typical 2/1 for 2 is basically unplayable, but the Rouge is good at breaking up defensive lines, so it has use in some gameplans, in some situations. It’s also the only 2-cost unit in the starter.
Thieving Imp - A. One of the best Turn 1 plays going first, and incredibly solid to re-play as long as the 2/2 body is substantial. It’s not just the card advantage of paying 1 gold more than an Older Brother to get +1 card, shrinking the opponent’s hand early on slows down their tech, and repeated applications makes every dead draw hurt even more. Plus, the discard is random, which can severely disrupt the opponent’s gameplan.
Jandra, the Negator - F. The 3/3 body is not enough to justify the 3 cost. 3 attack gets stifled by any Squad Leader hero, and black lacks the tools to break through that. Trying to defend with her is risking a blowout from Arrest or other single target control effects. Then, when she survives, you are painted into a corner as an opposing Tech 1 or removal spell could wipe your whole board (other than Thieving Imp and any other Demons you might have). Note: There is some debate about this grade - see comments below. I’m sticking with my assessment for now, but please link to games (PBF or YouTube) that show Jandra performing well, and we can discuss.
Graveyard - B+. Like all locations, this takes a turn before it can tap, but you can immediately benefit from the deck thinning of not having your Tech 0 chuds going to the discard pile when they die. Combined with Thieving Imp, this is an engine of destruction, and even re-playing Haunts and Javelineers is worth the initial investment (compare to Bloodburn). Being able to re-buy your Tech I and Tech II options is just icing.
Skeletal Archery - D+. Are you playing an army of skeletons? Do you need a little bit of anti-air to kill a Nullcraft or Gargoyle? Then play Skeletal Archery and be happy. Otherwise, this is an easy worker. This is not a reliable means of killing larger fliers, as the skeletons are too vulnerable and expensive if you aren’t making them your focus. Even if they are your focus, Archery isn’t always needed.
Deteriorate - A. 0 cost, kills everything small, patrolling or not, except for the three 1/1 starter deck guys with specific anti-targeting abilities in blue, white, and purple. Significantly, this finishes off larger attackers who left themselves with 1 hp, and does it through any size of patrol zone. Or, it lets your attackers survive (especially useful against defenders like Ironbark Treant who have a small amount of attack, but lots of hp/armor where you would have to send multiple attackers into it).
Summon Skeletons - D. Expensive, requires a hero, not really playable on the first two turns because of that. If you aren’t assembling a legion of skeletons, this can leverage your patrol zone to block some attacks at the cost of gold, but it won’t ever thin your deck, and remains low impact throughout the game. A key part of hitting 5 skeletons for Skeletal Lord, but often just a worker.
Sacrifice the Weak - A. With Garth, this effectively costs 3 and no sacrifice, sometimes you won’t have a unit, and this is just a 2 cost hard removal spell. Scales into the lategame if you have some stealth / direct damage to remove the smaller units. Combos well with Deteriorate to clear an early board.
Overall: A-. Black gives you multiple top end cards, and two cheap warm bodies, along with a skeleton theme that can either be embraced or sidelined. The primary weakness is enemy Heroes, as nothing in the starter matches up well against an opposing 2/3 non-unit.
Blue
Building Inspector - C+. A 1/1 for 1 who often costs your opponent 1 gold and gives you a body to use Manufactured Truth on. Solid, but not mandatory.
Spectral Aven - A-. One of only two starter deck Fliers, this one really packs a punch. Although often killed off by targeted buffs, if not dealt with the Aven will win any game. And even if dealt with, it forces out an early hero, and still trades 1-for-1 (possibly at a gold loss unless it was patrolling the Lookout slot).
Bluecoat Musketeer - D. This guy doesn’t defend well, having only 1 ATK. And he doesn’t have evasion of any kind to be able to target his Long Range. Going first, or with an awkward draw, he can provide consistent pressure, but usually he ends up as an early Worker. Against Black, however, he is a better choice than Spectral Aven for the “get a little bit of value every turn” slot.
Traffic Director - C-. He’s a 1/1 for 1 that blocks and can’t be removed by most spells or abilities. He’s also good at getting a little bit of damage on buildings to power up Earthquake or Air Hammer, but usually he’s just being played to chump block.
Porkhand Magistrate - C+. 3 cost is high, but 2/3 is good stats for defending or attacking early on. Later in the game, the Magistrate can answer anything that doesn’t have Untargetable or Haste, including many Tier III units. This guy is solid, and if your draw lines up correctly, it’s usually worth it to get him into play.
Reputable Newsman - A-. A building that can patrol, the Newsman is great value early and late, and helps answer whatever you most fear, as long as it’s a spell. He’s really bad at applying pressure, or halting enemy pressure, though. For that reason, he will usually float around in your deck until the midgame, when he can come out and prevent a key spell or protect a key hero.
Jail - B-. Expensive, doesn’t affect the current board, and can often be played around. It does slow down any sort of value unit strategy, where your opponent is just trying to play a bunch of 3-4 cost efficient bodies. Against a spell and hero strat, it does little to nothing. Against a fast tech strat, they will have to play an extra guy to rescue their tech target. Better when you are the aggressor, but taking a turn off to Jail up usually makes you no longer the aggressor.
Lawful Search - D+. Useful information, a little bit of cycling control, and confirmation for your Community Service. This is the archetypal “D” - something that you always mean to use, but then gets workered because everything else in hand is better. Bumped up because it can at least cycle in the late game.
Arrest - A. Another answer to some tier III units, and lots of annoying early game defense. Disabling any squad leader for only 2 gold will often result in the rest of their board dying, and no attacks back next turn, as their big unit will remain disabled. Useful any turn of any game - even if you aren’t attacking, it can cause opponents to play scared and not patrol when they otherwise might.
Manufactured Truth - C+. A generic combat trick. It only costs 1, so you can usually work it in, but the effect is often either trading 2 for 1 (albeit, your spell + weak unit for their Tech I unit) or copies an Aven (even newly played) to effectively give a unit tap: deal 2 damage to something.
Overall: B. The blue starter is very slow, and while it tries to slow the opponent down as well, you aren’t favored in a Tech 0 battle against any other starter. The strength is that your cards generally remain relevant throughout the game, you just have to escape the early game without being at a crippling disadvantage.