Earth/Nature Takes Over: A Tribute to Matt Clarke
Earth Takes Over!
Here is the fact, I used to love Earth Splinter back in the day. The first legendary summoner I bought was Prince Rennyn, back in 2019, and then sliced through all of Silver, Gold and Diamond leagues in one go back then :) However, that was a while back, and just for nostalgia, I kept a screenshot of those prices. I am so glad I did, so that we can compare today :).
But, that is not the purpose of this post. The trigger for this post as an interview of Matt Clarke done by Bobaphet. I am putting the link below.
The cool think about this post was how casually they discussed the Earth Splinter. For seasoned players it is not that technical, but for noobs there are a lot of learn there in this interview. The part that I enjoyed the post, that it opened my eye about a particular monster in the Earth Splinter. The Reaward Card SPIRIT DRUID GROG. Honestly @mattclarke I have never used this before. This is saying a lot, because, I thought I have used anything and everything under the sun (at least things that are useful). So thank you for opening my eyes again. See I bought a max, and used it immediately.
Using the Grog!
As Matt discussed in the interview. Earth is all about staying power. The longer one prevails higher the chance of an Earth Win. Now, I must say, that my early days of playing earth is long gone. My Prince Rennyn is delegated, so are almost all my beta cards. I also don't have a Max Epona (which is a shame, my max Epona is delegated). But after this Earth revival in my head, I opened first a 200 Dice packs that I have saved for a while and got one Epona. Then I open another 60 Dice packs, and not another. I had 1 spare, so with 3 BCX, now I have a L2 Epona that I can play.
So playing I did! This is a mid-mana battle above with Target Practice (Snipe) and Explosive Weaponery (Blast) rule. Lately in lower to mid Mana battles I like to play Magic Reflect with Amplify. Queen Mycelia, the new Chaos Legendary card, is wonderful for this game play. Max at L4 it is a four mana card with Protect, Amplify, Triage and Rust. It has only 1 magic attack, but with Obsidian, the new Earth Magic boost summoner, the Queen gets 2 Magic attack. Ideally for snipe and blast rule, your second monster, here the failed summoner, will get hit. I like to keep 2 magic reflect card on either side of number 2 position. Here it was impossible. So I had to resort to only 2 magic reflect cards. I like to use the Xenith Monk a lot. He got magic reflect and self heal with void. Ideal low mana tank melee for position 1. I wanted to play Spirit Druid Grog, that was the main point of this post, so the trick is to play him and keep him alive for a few turns. Only then he becomes deadly. I was expecting magic from the opponent, so kind of put a gamble and pul the Queen at the back at position 6 and Gorg at position 5. That is basically the safest position I could find for the Gorg (he has no health, right!). I am basically out of mana at this point with 2 positions left.
I don't have a max Epona as I said, so that is a L1 Epona above (now I have a L2). But that is 1 harden for Gorg and another one is from Failed Summoner. Last one is the Fungus Feind to slow things down and accupy a spot!
So, the guess went wrong, as it was a melee attack from the opponent with no magic what's so ever. Life is less than ideal for this line up because of the massive sneak possibility that comes with life. But thankfully my opponent was expecting range attack from me and had the Shieldbearer up front with only one sneak. So my Queen survived long enough and with a Resurrect from Gorg survived some more. That was enough to get Gorg's life leech to 13 health towards the end. And it was easy win.
Magic Killer: The NEW Earth!!
I hate Valnamor. I do not like water splinter in general. I used to play Zaku a lot (I don't any more) and Zaku is very weak to Magic. If there is a single magic card I hate the most is Ruler of the Seas. I have lost so many battles against it. Well, not any more. In the current meta in high leagues, I am going to argue that Ruler of the Seas is not much of an useful card anymore! That is saying a lot. Let me explain!
Please take a look at the battle above. Mind you Ruler of the Seas, is a formidable card. 4 Magic, Blast, Swiftness and Silence; there are few (no, zero) magic cards like him. But now, I can put three magic reflect cards at the first 3 spot and kill it with amplify, thanks to the Queen, with his first hit! Watch the battle above. It is 'Game Over' after that first blast and reflect :)
