Hello there.

Welcome to part 3 of my Rebellion Starter Monsters review. I have gone over the starter Fire and Water monsters, so this time I will now go through the Earth starter monsters. I will be looking at the cards on whether they have good value at Bronze levels to help newer players get started.

I will try to look at their use individually, what summoners they can be good with, and what common teams they fit in. I'll also give an overall review at the end. Because of the Rebellion Airdrop Conflicts, a lot of the Rebellion common and rare cards have started to go down in price. This is because they are not the best cards to use for the Conflicts. I hope my posts can help newer players identify which cards to buy/rent eventually.

Let's get to it.

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Common

The first monster is Lurking Puffer. It has Corrosive Ward, and gets +1 Speed and HP at level 3. For 2 mana, this card has insane stats. It is very cheap and has good HP. It is one of the important cards in the popular Obsidian + Moxian Rebel teams. This makes low mana Earth very powerful because of how long it is able to tank. The Corrosive ward is also a good counter against the support meta teams where they also repair the armor. Overall, I think Lurking Puffer is a must own card, even at just level 1.

The next monster is Blackmoor Trickster. It has a Close Range ability, and it gets +2 HP at level 3. For a 3 cost monster, it has above average stats at level 3. It actually reminds me a bit of Angelic Mandarin in Bronze, but has Close Range to boot. Because of this, I think it is a viable card to use during Range only rulesets. Overall, I think is only nice to have. It has its niche where it is good, but not powerful. It also doesn't work especially well with the regular Modern summoners. It doesn't get anything from Obsidian, and Fernheart is redundant. Immortalis is just ok with it.

The next monster is Endless Ape. It has the Scavenger ability, and it gets +1 Armor and HP at level 3. I think this card has slightly below average stats. Apart from the armor, it has similar stats to the Terracious Grunt which is only 6 mana. I think this card is usable in Earthquake and/or Noxious Fumes rulesets. Having high HP and Scavenger makes it very difficult to kill early, and can be an option in stalling tactics. There can be some strategies where it is partnered with the Goblin Psychic in Resurrect ruleset to try and have a very high HP monster that is difficult to kill because of the sustain. But overall, I think this card is just nice to have. It has some rulesets where it can be good, but Earth has a lot of stronger monsters available over this card.

The next monster is Ujurak Mystic. It has the Lookout ability, and it gets +1 Speed and HP at level 3. Just because of the Lookout alone, I think this card is a must have. In Bronze, there are only 4 monsters with the Lookout ability. 1 Common [Earth], 1 Rare [Life], 1 Epic [Earth], and 1 Legendary [Death]. From a starter card perspective, this is only 1 of 2 available to newer players. Being Magic, it works well with Obsidian. The Lookout will be very useful in Equal Opportunity, Target Practice, and Super Sneak rulesets.

Rare

The first Rare monster is Gobson Sniper. It has Snipe and Cripple, and gets +1 Speed at level 2. I was honestly underestimating this card when I first saw it. Don't get me wrong, the stats are actually pretty good. But I don't use Fernheart, and it doesn't work well with Obsidian, and is just ok with Possibilus. But once I realized that outside of Dallan, this is the only Cripple monster in Modern Bronze, it immediately became a must have. The reason for that is because of the prevalent meta in Bronze. There are a lot of Taunt+Support teams, so the Cripple can help fight against them. Lily+Support team is another popular strategy, and this helps deal with them as well. This can be helpful in the Equalizer ruleset, but it isn't as effective because of the Snipe.

The next monster is Blackmoor Nymph. It has the Immunity ability, and it gets +1 Speed at level 2. Just from the Immunity ability, I think this card is a must have. It is the only starter card that has Immunity, and might be the cheapest one to get. The other Bronze Modern monsters with Immunity are Forgotten One, Inevitable, Redwyrm Dragon, and Grimbardun Smith. Additionally, Blackmoor is the only monster in Bronze Modern with Immunity that is usable in Little League. This makes it very potent with Obsidian and adding two Martyr monsters beside it. This is a very strong card even at level 1.

The next monster is Swell Spore Beast. It has the True Strike ability, and gets +1 armor at level 2. The 8 mana feels a bit much, and it is really slow. But it makes up for it with the 3 damage, and True Strike. It is good with Fernheart, and can deal a lot of damage from the backline. It is also very nice during the Reverse Speed ruleset. But even with all that, I think it is not a must have, but really good to have. It has its niche, and is good at it, but it is not overpowered. If it was cheaper, then it would have been a must have.

The last card is Lioceros. It has Thorns, and gets +1 Attack AND Armor on level 2. Honestly, I got a bit confused on why this card was given to Earth. They already have Venari Knifer which is very similar. Lioceros costs +1, is slower, but has Armor. One of the good things with this, is that Earth has the capability of using a Thorns monster in the first and last position during only Melee rulesets. This is just a good tank, and can work with most teams and summoners. Overall, I think this card is just nice to have. This is even more true if you have a Venari Knifer.

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That is it for my Rebellion starter monsters review - Earth. I plan on doing it for all elements, and Life will be my next topic. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, and if you have suggestions for improvement.

And as always, these are Not Financial Advice, and Do Your Own Research.

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Documenting my Splinterlands Knowledge - Rebellion Starter Monsters - Earth

Common

Rare