Balance - Damage up -> best DPS
Arrow - Skill/Spell Speed -> sometimes ok DPS
Spear - Critical chance -> good DPS, but only for specific jobs
Spire - TP Regen -> Allows more AoEs from physical job -> DPS
Ewer - MP Regen -> Allows more spells to be cast -> DPS, sometimes heal but you'll be told everything can be healed with oGCDs anyways so just DPS
Bole - Damage Reduction -> Not DPS -> Throw it away because its not DPS.

Congratulations, 5 out of 6 of the old card system was literally varying methods of doing more DPS, but 1 of them is the best and everything else is just mediocre except in very specifc, niche circumstances that someone somewhere anecdotally had at some point before ShB and therefore validates the entire craptastic RNG garbage that characterised pre ShB AST.

Wanna know what my experience with cards was pre ShB? Spire. Ewer. Spire. Spire. Spire. Ewer. Bole. Spear. Spire. Ewer. Ewer. BALANCE!!!!! Spire. Spire. Spire.
I abandoned the job entirely after my 20th dungeon run and never drawing Balance, Spear or Arrow during a boss fight.

The new cards are significantly better than the old ones. Everything I draw is useful, every time. Manipulating RNG to give me all 3 Seals in as few Draws as possible for a best Divination so I can spend the rest of my Draws on Lords/Ladies is far more entertaining to me than Drawing a TP regenerator for the 6th time.

Divination feeling on the weak side and Nocturnal Sect being not worth using if I can help it are things that feedback and balance passes can fix. But overall I very much enjoy new AST.