Soulbound Reward Cards: Earth

Summoner:

Lobb Lowland

-1 Speed: Excellent, widely usable debuff that is helpful in all settings except 'Reverse Speed'. Better than Pembrook Nymph even if not as ubiquitously attractive, although not quite as good as Helios Matriach
Conscript is the common ability of all 6 of the new summoners, allowing the use of one additional Gladiator card in any given situation; I'm unimpressed with it from testing, in general.
Summoners stats are all standard, so there's little to say in that regard.
Best Use: Anything except 'Reverse Speed' ruleset.
Worst use: 'Reverse Speed' ruleset.
"Conscript" may potentially be worthwhile even in these situations.

Common:

Fungus Flinger

3 Mana, 1-2 Ranged Damage, 1-4 Speed, 2-4 HP

Martyr: On death, provides allied monsters to either side with +1 to all stats (any damage, speed, armor, HP); works great with resurrect
Blind (Level 5): Applies all opposing creatures with the "Blind" debuff at the beginning of combat, giving them an additional 15% chance to miss; Subject to "Cleanse", and does not apply to magic attacks unless the target has "Phase".
Snare (Level 9): 100% chance to hit vs. monsters with "Flying" ability; potentially great in 'Earthquake' ruleset, where the additional 2 damage at the end of each turn will automatically trigger "Martyr" at the end of turn 2 and Fungus Flinger will potentially strip two monsters on the other team of "Flying" and causing them to take extra damage.
Sweet Spot: I would try to max out a regular foil version and keep a Gold foil version at level 5.
Best Use: 'Equal Opportunity', 'Earthquake', 'Fire and Regret', 'Noxious Fumes', 'Target Practice' rulesets will all ensure "Martyr" triggers quickly; of these, 'Noxious Fumes' provides the least additional bonus.

Terraceous Grunt

6 Mana, 1-4 Melee Damage, 2-3 Speed, 10-12 HP

Void: Takes half damage (rounded down, except from 1) from all magic damage.
Return Fire: When hit by a ranged attack, Terraceous Grunt will deal half the damage (rounded up) back to that monster. Cannot miss, hits armor, reduced to 1 damage by "Shield" ability.
Best Use: 'Armored Up', 'Counterspell', and 'Up to Eleven' rulesets all work well with the "Void" and "Return Fire" abilities.
Worst Use: 'Briar Patch' with no melee damage mitigation, "Thorns" will make swift work of Terraceous Grunt

Rare:

Madcap Magus

4 Mana, 1-2 Magic Damage, 1 Speed, 1-4 HP

Scattershot: In any position other than 1, Madcap Magus will randomly target any monster on the opposing team; Immune to "Taunt"; In position 1, will target opposing position 1.
Life Leech: Increases current and maximum HP by half of any damage dealt, rounding up.
Affliction (Level 6): 50% chance on hit to apply "Affliction" debuff to target; Subject to "Cleanse"; blocks "Heal", "Tank Heal", and "Triage"; has no effect on "Repair" and "Resurrect".
Dispel (Level 8): On hit, removes all buffs from targeted monster. Can affect monsters with "Immunity".
Best Use: 'Reverse Speed' ruleset; heavy "Triage" teams; heavy buff teams; when "Taunt" is expected.

Epic:

Thane Newsong

4 Mana, No Attack, 2(3) Speed, 7-9(10) HP

Inspire: Adds +1 to all allied monsters' Melee attack stats
Strengthen (Level 3): Adds +1 maximum and current HP to all allied monsters
Swiftness (Level 5): Adds +1 Speed to all allied monsters
Headwinds (Level 6): Reduces all enemy Ranged attack stats by 1 (minimum 1)
Best Use: Good anywhere, but especially potent in 'Void Magic'; positioned next to Ava the Undaunted for bonus ranged damage.
Worst Use: 'Reverse Speed' ruleset.

Legendary:

Ava the Undaunted

8 Mana, 3-4 Ranged Damage, 2 Speed, 2 Armor, 4-6 HP

Weapons Training: Adds 1/2 ranged damage (rounded up) to any adjacent monsters that have no attack stat.
Shatter (Level 2): Any hit will destroy all armor on any opponent creature, after damage is dealt.
Knockout (Level 3): Deals double damage to a target affected by "Stun".
Oppress (Level 4): Deals double damage to any monster with no attack (even if it has gained an attack stat by being adjacent to a monster with "Weapons Training" ability).
Best Use: Positioned between Failed Summoner and Thane Newsong; with "Stun" ability on allies; any time you expect your opponent to play "Oppress" targets such as Baakjira, Lord Arianthus, *Almo Cambrio+, or Pelacor Conjurer.
Worst Use: 'Fire and Regret' ruleset.

Terraceous Hulk

11 Mana, 4-6 Melee Damage, 1 Speed, 6-7 Armor, 9-11 HP

Taunt: Forces all enemy monsters to target Terraceous Hulk, unless they have "Scattershot" ability.
Void Armor: Magic Damage must hit armor before HP
Demoralize (Level 3): Reduces all enemy Melee attack stats by 1 (minimum 1)
Best Use: Position 1 tank, especially in 'Broken Arrows' ruleset where Terraceous Hulk's damage mitigation can't be circumvented.

Conclusion:

Earth has potentially the coolest of the attackless Epics in Thane Newsong, and the only "Scattershot" monster I've ever really cared for in Madcap Magus. Check out my live stream to see why I dislike "Scattershot" so much. Ava the Undaunted is going to pair extremely well with Fernheart teams that already have many excellent tools, and Earth continues to have some of the best monsters for 'Reverse Speed' ruleset.

Links:

FIRE: https://www.splintertalk.io/@onthemountain/soulbound-rewards-review-fire
WATER: https://www.splintertalk.io/@onthemountain/step-up-your-game-soulbound-rewards-water
LIFE: https://www.splintertalk.io/@onthemountain/step-up-your-game-soulbound-rewards-water-3fdlcp
DEATH: https://www.splintertalk.io/@onthemountain/step-up-your-game-soulbound-rewards-death
DRAGON & NEUTRAL: https://www.splintertalk.io/@onthemountain/step-up-your-game-soulbound-rewards-dragon-and-neutral

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