I will definitely improve the EMP indicator. I have seen people confused by it before and it needs to be remedied.
Right now the cards are not random but based on the enemy fought. For instance, the energy crusaders give energy cards, and end bots give self destruct and so on. I think I need to make this more clear in the game. I want to give the player the feeling that whatever cool thing they see the enemy use, they can use it themselves if they beat the enemy. I feel like this element is not communicated well in the game.
I agree with your approach of card progression!