Welcome guys to the EARTH Beginner's Guide.
In this guide, I will go through cards that will help you to climb out of the Bronze league into the Silver league and possibly beyond. It is easy to find the best cards as those cards are already very expensive. I will try to cover some more affordable cards that could help new players.
Prices went down a bit as all players are preparing for Chaos Legions expansion. We still have some time until new expansion so it is not a bad time to grab some cards at a discount. Just remember, if you are paying with DEC there is a chance that you will pay more than before, as DEC went don't even more than some cards.
For now, Earth is looking slow and tanky. With heals, big-health monsters are just hard to kill as their health is always regenerating. The strategy is to survive longer than your opponent and Earth does have a perfect set of cards to do just that. Unfortunately, even though Earth is so good it means those cards are expensive too. Of course, some cheaper cards are working very well in this meta so let's get started.
Mylor Crowling - Amazing summoner that dominates lower leagues, Hi gives all friendly monsters Thornes ability. At lower levels, this is really great as most of the good monsters have melee attacks. That means that all those monsters will do two damage to themselves by attacking. This is a very strong ability as most of the monsters in lower leagues have one or two attacks. That means that they will do more damage to themselves than to enemy monsters.
Wizard of Eastwood - This card doesn't have the best ability but it is cheap. If you want to level up your summoners on the budget this is a card for you. Last expansions added a lot of armor to the game so this card isn't that useless, especially when playing against Life Splinter.
Scarred Llama Mage - Legendary summoner with amazing abilities like the Last Stand, Cleanse, and +2 health to friendly monsters. This summoner is often used with monsters that have Heal ability such as Kron the Undying, level 3 Flesh Golem, and Hydra. Those combinations are so good because the enemy team can't do more damage than Heal ability from Kron or Flesh Golem. The only downside is the price. Not very friendly and affordable for new players.
Prince Rennyn - One of the best summoners in the game if you ask me. Plus one to ranged damage, speed, and health is amazing. On top of all that he is a legendary summoner so at level one he will enable you to summon max level cards in the Bronze league. Earth Splinter does have some great ranged monsters so this summoner guarantees good damage.
There are some other summoners like Lyanna Natura and Xander Foxwood. I didn't go through them as they won't be available in "modern mode" in the new expansion, "Chaos Legion". Hopefully, we will see another summoner for Earth Splinter in the new expansion.
Flesh Golem - To make things clear, you need level 3 Flesh Golem with Heal ability. This is a cheap tank with amazing health and decent damage. He is mostly paired with Mylor Crawling and most of his damage will come from Thorns ability that Mylor Crowling provides. If you do have too much money, Flesh Golem is amazing in combination with Scarred Llama Mage. Double Heal, Cleanse, and The Last Stand will make Flesh Golem almost impossible to kill.
Unicorn Mustang - Starter card with decent stats. I use him because of his Void ability that reduces Magic damage attacks. In combination with Wood Nymph, he will be a very durable tank. When used with Mylor Crowling, you counter both melee and magic damage - that is the reason why I love this guy so much. Unicorn Mustang is even better on higher levels with Magic Reflect ability.
Minotaur Warlord - Interesting card that I am not using that often, neither I see this card in many games. The stats are really good and the bonus on that is Magic Reflect ability. Perfect card to use against Water Splinter. On the second level, it even gets Return Fire ability which is a defensive weakness of Earth Splinter - if you ask me.
Stone Golem - Amazing tank when you know that opponent will play melee or ranged team. He is very cheap and his Shield ability is great. This ability will cut enemy melee and ranged damage in half which makes him very durable, especially with support monsters like Wood Nymph. Damage or speed is not that great but he is not here to do the damage, he is here to take hits. On higher
levels he gets Stun ability which could be very useful.
Failed Summoner - In lower mana games I will use Failed Summoner as the main tank to soak one or two attacks. I love to play him against Water Magic teams, especially if the opponent uses Enchanted and Ice Pixie. Failed Summoner can be used as a Snipe or Sneak target. For only two mana he will provide great protection to your damage dealers.
Nectar Queen - I love this card and I use Nectar Queen often in the Reverse Speed ruleset. Great attack and health are just too much to resist. At the moment of writing this post, you can buy Nectar Queen for only 1 USD. I am sure that the price will go up in near future.
Kron The Undying - We all know how good this card is and expensive. But I had to include him in this guide. Great health, magic attack and Heal ability are just amazing in combination with Llama. The price is huge but maybe you can afford to rent him for a day or two.
Centauri Mage - Earth splinter is really tanky and the only real weakness is ranged damage. That is why I like to include Centauri Mage on the second spot as an off-tank for Snipe attacks. She will return a portion of the damage to the attacker. It will not be enough to kill the attacker(in most cases) but it weakens him. Every additional damage that we can get is welcome. High health means that Centauri Mage can return quite a few attacks.
Oaken Behemoth - Perfect monster for the off-tank role. Great attack, good health, and Reach and Void Shield abilities. Oaken Behemoth is one of the few monsters with magic and melee attack that means he will attack two times. Great card for those higher mana matches.
Goblin Thief - This is the first card that I leveled up to level three. I like his damage and Sneak attack. If you pair him up with another Sneak monster, that pair can do some serious damage. He is also great when you get that small monsters ruleset.
Spirit of the Forest - Amazing legendary card that really shines on higher levels. Not really recommended for the Bronze league. So don't waste your DEC there. On higher levels this card is a beast, it gets Tank Heal and Protect ability. Protect is especially good as Earth monsters already have a big health pool and when you add some armor to that they are really tough to kill.
Mitica Headhunter - One of the best damage dealers in Earth splinter. Four damage on level one is just insane, but wait it gets even better. Damage goes all the way up to six and Piercing ability ensures that damage will not be stopped by armor. A real beast, though expensive. Try to get one if you can.
Mushroom Seer - I like this card because of the Silence ability. I often play Seer in combination with Unicorn Mustang or Failed Summoner. This card can counter Water splinter very hard - or any other magic team.
Beatrix Ironhand - I rarely set up Earth team without this card. Close Range ability enables me to play this card on the second spot without fear that it will not be able to attack. You can play level two card in the Bronze that deals three damage which is very good for six mana monster. Worth picking up if you ask me.
Furious Chicken - I will just say the same thing I said in the previous guide. Chicken is really useful to serve as a tank that will soak attack on your first line, a body that will soak Sneak or Opportunity attacks. A lot of times you can lose a game because of one attack. It is a good practice to include Furious Chicken in your empty spot.
Creeping Ooze - Speed can often make a difference between victory and defeat. That is why I use Creeping Ooze whenever I can. If you are attacking first, there is a big chance that you will knock out some enemy monsters from the game even before they have a chance to attack. Slow ability is great, but sometimes I use this card as one of my tanks that will soak that few first attacks from the opponent. When you add few tanks (Failed Summoner, Chicken, Ooze) in the first places of your team it takes few attacks until the enemy reaches your more important monsters.
Wood Nymph - Amazing support card and that is all thanks to Tank Heal ability. You want to protect this card as your opponent will have a hard time killing your tank while heal is active, especially if your tank is Flesh Golem. If playing in bronze tries to level Wood Nymph to level three. That way she will survive more hits from Snipe monsters. Most of the time Snipe monsters have two attacks on lower levels, so one extra health will give your Wood Nymph and your tank another turn to live.
Summary
I really enjoy playing Earth splinter, especially in the Bronze league. I believe it is one of the most powerful splinters in the current meta. Though I don't have a lot of funds I mostly play with Mylor Crowling. The most annoying teams to face for me are Llama + Kron combo and Yodin Zaku. Llama + Kron can be beaten if you have enough mana, and most of the time I try to outspeed Yodin by playing Pyre. I am always trying to play Earth by using its strengths, big tanks, and heals. It is working for now.
Other related posts
Ultimate Water Splinter Beginner Guide
Ultimate Water Splinter Beginner Guide - PART II
Thank you for reading and your support. If you like this content please leave me a comment. I am planning to cover other splinters to so it is good to know if this content is of use to you.
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Great Variety! I like that you give a wide range of cost, strategies, and options, this makes it a great guide for Budget and non-budget players!
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Thanks mate. I am trying to cover everything that is good in a certain splinter. Of course, I can't cover all the cards. I can think of few more just like that, like Child of the Forest.
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STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Excellent description of my favourite Splinter!
One day I will convince my husband to donate a kidney so WE can buy a Scarred Llama Mage 😁
With the new rewards set there are now some options to counter Llama + Kron combo. It might not be that strong anymore.
I would love to see a post describing some those options for silver level players. I’m just too slow to figure these out myself!
Thanks for sharing! - @lenonmc21
Excellent guide to the earth splinter, one of my favorites.
Thanks for the upvote and the comment. Glad you like it :)