Hey guys, it's Jakkal, and, while I am not entirely back to creating content, I will be periodically creating stuff again at a smaller scale to help those who are still here:
Recently, my Guild, @clanft-bank gained some new members who have joined for SPS Brawls, and we went up to Tier 2, where we are earning more, but facing more challenge: Many of our players needed to adapt to brawls and needed some strategies. In order to capitalize on this, the Clan and I will be writing a joint series of Strategies focused around Gladiator Cards, and Brawl Strategies for newer, smaller players in each league who are looking to play a bit more competitively.
We will start with Earth, and move through each Splinter in Novice League before switching to Bronze League.
Many of Earth's Gladiators are very powerful low mana monsters, providing significant power in low mana especially, which is why Earth tends to be a very strong pick for low mana. Earth also happens to have one of the few Gladiator cards I would rate S Tier, making it the easiest one to start with, as this makes the strategies here very cut and dry: Novice = Use your highest tier card, except in situations where you don't own it, or can't.
This strategy guide will be for Novice players specifically, and assume all 1 BCX, I am NOT rating these cards for their additional abilities or levels, purely as is.
Betrol Gobson | C Tier - Niche, but can snowball in certain rulesets
Low Mana | Opportunity Attacker
Bertrol is a cheap card, and that is where he shines: He is low mana, and can be thrown into most teams as a general card - His main issue is that he is only marginally better than Venari Scout, and his 1 Melee can completely shut him down against chunkier cards. He is almost exclusively used in Low Mana, and unfortunately, does not synergize well with any of Earth's Summoners - To add to this, he is facing a meta that usually employs Queen Mycelia, which makes him a difficult card to slot in reliably, and he should primarily be used only when you think he will be most useful.
He is best in Unprotected ruleset, where Mycelia and others cannot stack Armor to nullify his potency. If he gets a kill, he snowballs fast and can become quite powerful, but as is, in the current meta he is very niche at 1 BCX.
Best Summoner: Wizard of Eastwood
Avoid Using: Against Queen Mycelia, Mylor, or Thorns Ruleset
Katrelba Gobson | A Tier - Extremely Potent Double Sneak Attacker
Mid-High Mana | Sneak Attacker | Very Squishy
Katrelba, one of Bertrol's family, is a different story from Betrol - She is very powerful, and strong enough to stand on her own in brawls, with a very potent attack, and double strike allowing her to ramp up very quickly. She suffers from the same issues, as a melee attacker, as Bertrol, but has some unique points in that here Attack will bypass Mycelia's Armor on the second hit, and she has 2 Speed, making her particularly useful in Reverse Speed. While she has no synergy with the Earth Summoners commonly used, frankly: She doesn't need one.
She is best in Unprotected ruleset, where Mycelia and others cannot stack Armor to nullify her potency. She is also excellent in Reverse Speed
I do NOT recommend putting her in the back of your party - You should treat her like Goblin Psychic, and place her 3rd to last or 2nd to last to avoid being killed quickly by a strong sneak attacker (Like Shavi or Tenyii)
Best Summoner: Wizard of Eastwood
Avoid Using: Against Mylor or Thorns Ruleset
Cutter Brieze | B Tier - 1 Mana, Fast Attacker
Ultra Low Mana | High Speed
Cutter Brieze is an excellent card for Earth, as it is a potent 1 Mana ranged attacker with high speed, and can capitalize on the Armor of Queen Mycelia. He makes Earth's low mana in Brawls very potent, especially in Alpha/Beta brawls where he shines best.
He is best in Unprotected ruleset, where he can bypass armor.
Best Summoner: Prince Rennyn in A/B Brawls or Fernheart in Modern Brawls
Avoid Using: Against Ilthain, Return Fire and in High-Mid Mana Battles
Palidon Rakk | D Tier - High Health Melee Tank
Mid - High Mana | Low Speed | High Health
Palidon Rakk is probably my least used of the Earth Gladiators, but that isn't to say he isn't strong, he is a very powerful front tank, and in the right rulesets, he can be healed constantly and be a menace up front.
His biggest issue is that Unicorn Mustang, and even Hill Giant, are just flatout better choices most of the time, especially if you have the other Gladiators to choose from
He is best in Melee Attack from Anywhere or Reverse Speed rulesets, as well as, and especially the No Sneak ruleset, where he can be healed and snowball up front with Goblin Psychic (or Wood Nymph)
Best Summoner: None Really, he's just a front tank
Avoid Using: Against Mylor or Thorns Ruleset
Quora Towershead | S Tier - Literally use this card if you have the mana for it
Double Attack| High Health | Healing | Magic Attacker
This is arguably one of the best 1 BCX Cards in the game. That is not an overstatement. Use her if you have her, pray you pull her if you don't: She makes Earth Gladius matches lethal and very difficult to handle without an absolutely stacked deck. As a Novice player, who likely doesn't have a huge deck, this is the #1 Edge you can have in Earth matchups for Brawls.
She is best in Melee Attack from Anywhere and Opportunity rulesets.
Do NOT use her in No Healing, especially low mana, she is not an end-all be-all card in this ruleset.
Best Summoner: Obsidian for Modern and more Offense, Lyanna for A/B and additional healing.
Avoid Using: In No Healing Ruleset
Jini Quise | A Tier - Queen Mycelia 2.0
Double Attack| High Health | Healing | Magic Attacker
Unfortunately, despite being a Legendary, Quora steals the thunder here, but that's not to say Jini isn't good: She is a direct upgrade in everyway from Queen Mycelia, and is an excellent 1 BCX Card to use. She works exactly the same as Mycelia, and works best with Obsidian, because of her 1 additional speed, she is slightly more useful in normal speed matchups, and slightly worse than Queen in Reverse Speed.
She is best in Little League and Weak Magic rulesets.
Do NOT use her in Unprotected, this is also true for Queen Mycelia.
Best Summoner: Obsidian
Avoid Using: In Unprotected Ruleset
Now that you have an idea of the Gladiators for Earth, and know which ones you own and how you wanna use them, here's a guide on some basic comps for different summoners in LOW MANA NOVICE for Earth: @clanft-bank/brawling-guide-low-mana-novice-earth-strategies-for-clanft-brawling
𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟 𝕌𝕡 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕊𝕡𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕨!
Wanna join in on the Brawling? Play with me on Splinterlands! Not only that, you can JOIN MY GUILD:
We are currently looking for GF Bronze and GF Silver Brawlers!
if you use my link, here: https://splinterlands.com?ref=jakkal
I'll send you 500 DEC when you sign up and get a spellbook, (as long as you show up as referred) which should help you get started via renting! Also, feel free to message me, I can answer any questions, give tips, etc.
You ALSO get entered into every giveaway that I do, and sometimes I'll do special Referral only giveaways and delegations, which will be starting back up again soon as well!