Today, as part of the Splinterlands Social Media Challenge, I wanted to talk once again about the newly released Rebellion Reward Cards. The point of this post is to do an in-depth analysis of every card to judge how good or bad they really are. The idea is to create a series of posts focusing on each rarity in particular. It will be a four-part series where I’ll be diving into each rarity of the new cards—starting with Legendary cards!
Introduction:
My hope is that by analyzing and grouping the cards by rarity, players will be able to make better choices when building their collections or buying from the Glint Shop.
The cards will be analyzed for top-level play, as that’s where I usually hang out. I understand that this analysis might be lacking for Bronze or Silver play, but I’ll do my best to include that aspect as well.
I still don't have the cards at max level but I'm very close on a few and I feel now I can better judge them. I might change this analysis once I max them out and I've been playing with them for a while, but we are still a few months away from that point.
So, without any further delay, let’s dive right in:
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Legendary Rebellion Reward Cards: Disappointing or Just Misunderstood?
The first statement is going to be a bold one, but it's something many top players are already feeling: Legendary cards in the Rebellion reward set have been... underwhelming, to say the least. 🤔 In the current meta of the Modern League, they don’t seem to stand out as much as we might have hoped. Whether it's due to their abilities, stats, or overall utility, they often struggle to match the power of other existing Legendary cards from previous sets, or even other rarity cards in any set.
In previous posts, I already stated that Epic cards seem to be the best in this newly released soulbound reward set. But why? Shouldn't Legendaries be the best cards? They are definitely the most expensive to collect and usually harder to get. So why are they not good enough?
To put it simply: First of all, there isn’t a single Legendary soulbound reward card that stands out on its own. None of the cards is a "must-have" or makes a huge difference in the meta.
There are a total of 12 cards, and none of them is an "amazing" card—at least not at the level of what Kulu or Iziar were. There isn’t a single card that makes players say, "Oh man, I’ve got to get a copy of that guy!" To me, that's not the best design. At least there should always be that one great card that players seek after. There must be a reason for players to want to buy Legendary draws from the shop.
Since there are only 12 cards, let's look at them one by one. I will also rate the cards on a 1-10 scale:
Endless Gibbon: Rating: 1/10
Unlike those other cards, this guy can attack from the second position, but let’s face it—that's not something we look for in 1-mana cards. We need meat shields for 1 mana, fillers, or buffer/debuffer options. Two melee damage from Reach is quite useless.
It feels like this card (and every other 1 mana card for this set) is missing a level 4 ability in the form or a buff or debuff to your team.
Lastly, let’s not forget that many rulesets prevent us from using Legendary cards, so the card being Legendary is actually more of a disadvantage than a benefit.
Grifzi: Rating: 1/10
Surly Drunk: Rating: 2/10
Once again we are presented with another 1-mana card, very similar to the previous ones, with literally the same stats but a different ability (Opportunity instead of Reach or Sneak)—this time for the Fire Splinter.
This card is marginally better than the previous ones, as Opportunity is much better than Reach. Also, the Fire Splinter doesn’t have that many good 1-mana units, but this card still competes with Chaos Agent or Halfling Refugee so it gets a better score but not by much.
Once again, a very weak card for a very low cost. You will eventually use it, but it’s not a game changer.
Frigid Wolf: Rating: 2/10
Another 1-mana melee card with poor stats that can attack from anywhere, but doesn’t offer much more. Once again, this card falls short compared to every other 1-mana card. Most of the time, it won’t even work as a filler because there will be better options available.
Blackmoor Jinx: Rating: 3/10
Another 1-mana card, very similar to the previous ones. The main difference is that this card is ranged and not melee. That’s actually an important difference because there aren’t many 1-mana ranged cards for the Earth Splinter.
This card works better as a filler than the previous ones, so it gets higher points.
Still, this card is nothing amazing, and if you can use Chaos Agent, it’s probably a better option in most cases.
Chaos Battle Mage: Rating: 3/10
The Battle Mage is another regular card. For 8 mana, you get 3 damage, 4 speed, 1 armor, and 8 life. Honestly, this is a horrible combination. Three damage for an 8-mana card is super low. The card having Piercing makes it even worse. Why would you want Piercing on a card that deals very little damage? It’s a useless ability for him.
Since the stats are bad, the only interesting part of this card is the combination of the 3 abilities: Resurrect, Divine Shield, and Redemption. Redemption is usually not very good in high-mana matches, but I guess it will be useful in some situations where you know the enemy will attack your backline, and you need a sort of ranged meat shield.
That’s basically what this card is—something to put in the backline to take damage while your team does what it's supposed to do. Once again, we find ourselves with a card that isn’t very good, but in certain situations (very few, honestly), it might work out.
Emberguard: Rating: 4/10
Emberguard offers decent stats and abilities for its cost. Since it has very low speed, it’s useful in reverse speed rulesets and even in normal rulesets, as you can use it with Jacek to buff it to decent levels.
Also, let’s note that this is a unit with Reflection Shield, which is arguably the best ability in the game, so it might be useful in some situations.
However, the problem with this card is that it doesn’t offer much more than that. Three damage for a 7-mana card is quite low in terms of damage per turn/mana cost to be a decent DPS, and the low speed makes it hard to fit into most teams.
Once again, we have a filler card that will be usable in some rulesets—very few—but not a game changer.
Death Ranger: Rating: 5/10
Similar to Gallicus, Death Ranger is a 4-mana card that has quite interesting stats for its cost: 7 armor, 4 life, Void Armor, and Scavenger is a good combination. This card will actually work well in Little League rulesets, only ranged rulesets, or maybe even in non-melee rulesets.
It’s not a game-breaking card, but since it has a relatively low cost and decent stats, it’s a card that will find uses in certain situations.
Syrenth: Rating: 5/10
Syrenth is a Dragon card that offers quite an interesting set of abilities for 9 mana. The 9-mana cost is actually quite high, but the card will find some uses in ranged-only rulesets or in any ruleset without magic and with too much mana available.
Two speed is quite low, but at least the card has Dodge. This will make the enemy miss some attacks, which can be the difference between winning or losing.
Lately, the @splinterlands team has been releasing more and more restrictive rulesets that will make cards like Syrenth used more frequently, not because the card is great, but because players won’t have any other options due to the restrictive rulesets. This card can be used in most rulesets since it has armor, more than 3 damage, and high life.
Anyway, it’s a good card to have in your arsenal, but once again, not a game-breaking card.
Sergeant Grauzral: Rating: 5/10
This is quite an interesting card. The combination of Opportunity and Blast can be effective in certain situations, but this card was rated this high mainly because of Immunity. Immunity is not a common ability and is always useful in Poison rulesets.
The card's stats are mediocre at best. With 6 life and no armor, the card is very squishy. Four speed is okay but not great, and 3 damage is on the low end for 6-mana cards.
Overall, the only utility for this card is in Poison rulesets, but at least it’s something that makes this card somewhat useful.
Warborn Chieftain: Rating: 5/10
Warborn Chieftain has 5 abilities, which is actually very good. The abilities are also quite solid, all things considered. Phase is always useful to have, as are Shield, Demoralize, and Stun. The card has decent tank stats that will make it useful in some situations.
The drawbacks for this card its it stats. The card has no armor and a relatively low life pool with a mediocre speed. The attack stat is fine but not great either. If you compare this card with others with similar mana cost like Pelacor Mercenary, it falls short big time. Pelacor Mercenary offers 3 more life and more speed, along with similar tank abilities (instead of Shield, it has Heal, and instead of Phase, it has Flying, for example). This card does offer more abilities in general but the abilities that is offering are not gamebreaker abilities.
Even Mycelic Infantry would be a better option than this guy. The lack of armor is a significant drawback and makes the card almost unusable. That being said, the card will find some use where melee attacks can come from anywhere or in no-magic rulesets. It will have a tough time against Tofu, but let's face it, most melee cards have the same issue.
This guy will find some uses when the rulesets are so restrictive that this will be a viable option. Or maybe in weird combinations like Equalizer, No armor, No magic Rulesets.
Gallicus: Rating: 6/10
Gallicus is probably the best legendary card in the Soulbound Reward Set. The card is not particularly strong on its own; the stats are not amazing. With 2 damage, it struggles to do anything meaningful attack wise, and its 1 speed means the card won't even get to attack if it becomes the focus due to Taunt. Additionally, 5 life is quite low.
What makes this card somewhat useful is its potential in specific rulesets like Reverse Speed, Little League, Only Range, or some combinations of those. Headwinds enhances the card's utility in only range rulesets; if you can stack a few Headwinds, you can force the enemy team to hit for just 1 or 0, making this card harder to eliminate.
In conclusion, 4-mana cards that are somewhat useful will often find a place in Little League matches, which is a plus.
Conclusion
The legendary cards in the Rebellion reward set have largely fallen short of expectations, with an average score of 3.5/10 across the board. Many of these cards, particularly those at the 1 and 2 ratings, fail to offer significant advantages in the current meta, often overshadowed by lower rarity cards that provide better utility or synergy.
While a few cards, such as Gallicus, show some potential under specific conditions, the overall design lacks standout options that players feel compelled to pursue. The absence of must-have legendary cards diminishes the excitement and value of collecting them, leaving players questioning the reasoning behind their high rarity and cost.
Ultimately, for legendary cards to regain their status as coveted assets in the game, they need to present unique abilities or superior stats that justify their rarity and provide meaningful contributions to various strategies. Until then, it seems that epic and lower rarity cards will continue to dominate the scene in the Rebellion Reward set.
How are you finding the new legendary reward cards? Leave your comments below!
Also if you want to check out my latest post you can by clicking the images:
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