The list is the same deals as the board, shown as a table. Switch to it from the control at the top right of the board.
Use the board for working through the week. Use the list when you need to change a lot of things at once, or to look at fields the cards do not show.
Columns
The column chooser lets you show what you actually care about and hide what you do not. Your choice is remembered, so the list opens the way you left it.
Click a column heading to sort by it. Click again to reverse it.
Editing in place
Click a cell and edit it there. Owner, stage, value, expected close date and labels can all be changed without opening the record. Changes save as you leave the cell and are recorded in the deal's history exactly as if you had opened it.
This is the fastest way to tidy up after an import, or to reassign a departing colleague's work.
Working on many at once
Tick the boxes down the left, or the box in the header to take everything currently listed, and the bulk actions appear. You can change owner, add or remove a label, or delete, subject to your permissions.
Filtering
The same filters as the board. Combined with columns and sorting, that covers most of what people otherwise go and build a report for: "everything over five thousand pounds closing this quarter that Sam owns" is three clicks here.
If you want that answer regularly rather than once, build it in Insights instead, where it can go on a dashboard.