One screen answers “Who can I play?”
The Roster contains the 120 playable Sable City characters. Choose twelve distinct cards for your crew, or use auto-build to start with a legal lineup. You don't need to open Case Files to unlock that card-game selection.
Here, a character is a set of decisions: how much Haul the flip adds, how much Heat it puts on the shared alarm and which role it contributes toward a Full Crew. Those details belong to the character definition. Every player choosing that character gets the same underlying numbers.
Think of the Roster as the crew board before a heist. You're making a plan. Inspecting a card's condition here won't tell you whether the plan is good; the twelve cards and the risks they create will.
The other answers “Which copies do I own?”
The Stash holds the individual collectibles from your Case Files. Two copies of one character can have different art variants, different grades and different subgrades. They occupy separate places in your collection even though they refer to the same playable character.
| You want to… | Open… | Pay attention to… |
|---|---|---|
| Change the twelve cards for your next Job | Roster | Roles, Haul, Heat and crew legality |
| Inspect your newest pull | Stash | Variant, grade, subgrades and appearance |
| Compare copies of the same character | Stash | The details that differ between copies |
| Choose an owned collectible look for a crew member | Roster | The character's available look choices |
A duplicate isn't another deck slot
Suppose you own three copies of one Face character. That doesn't let you put the same character into your crew three times. Crew selection uses distinct characters, while the Stash preserves the separate copies you've collected.
It also works in the other direction. An empty space in your collectible collection doesn't prevent you from selecting the corresponding character in The Job. The card-game roster and the collectible inventory aren't two different ways of displaying one unlock list.
Digital card games handle this distinction in different ways. In its original explanation of Arena card styles, Wizards separated acquiring a cosmetic style from acquiring the playable card. Don't assume every game's rules transfer across. Smash & Grab gives you the full playable Roster, then lets individual collectible copies develop around it.
Find a copy without losing the rest of the collection
The Stash can sort by grade, tag or date, and filter by role and variant. Start with the question you have. If you've just opened a Case File, date is useful. If you're comparing condition, grade brings the numbers into order. If you're collecting an art treatment, filter the variant first.
A filtered view isn't your entire inventory. If a card seems missing, clear filters and check the account you used before assuming the copy disappeared. The browser and Steam have separate inventories, so changing platforms can also change what you see.
When you select a slab, read its variant and four subgrades together. Sorting by grade is convenient, but it can't choose your favorite portrait. It also doesn't reveal whether two different art variants are being compared.
Where BLACKOUT fits
BLACKOUT uses your collected characters as runners. That gives the Stash a role in choosing a face for the real-time side of the game, while the card-game Roster remains available from the start. A higher grade or a rarer art tier doesn't improve that runner's gameplay stats.
A good first visit is therefore short: use the Roster to choose a legal crew, finish a Job, then inspect what you collect in the Stash. You can enjoy building a strong plan and building a personal collection without confusing which screen is responsible for which.