Hello there.

Welcome to part 6 of my Rebellion Starter Monsters review. I have gone over the starter cards for all the elements, so this time I will now go through the Neutral starter monsters. I will be looking at the cards on whether they have good value at Bronze levels to help newer players get started. I will try to look at their use individually, what summoners they can be good with, and what common teams they fit in. I'll also give an overall review at the end. Because of the recent Ranked changes, players aren't limited to Bronze level cards in Bronze league. I will continue with what I have done before, since Bronze level cards are still cheaper to rent for newer players.

With these posts, I like to include my thoughts on the current game news. It has been a week since the Ranked rework has been applied, and it has been a wild ride. In the first few days I faced a lot of Champion Wild players, and max decks. It seemed a lot of Wild players were moving to Modern. Apart from these max level decks, I also faced a lot of Silver and Gold level decks. Checking discord, it appears a lot of players are renting higher level cards to move up, and players that didn't have been pushed down to Bronze.

I reached 900+ rating at one point, and I can see that my SPS earnings were lower now, compared to before the change. I expected this because the pools have been combined. This really encourages players to move up. That being the case, a lot of people were saying that for those who rented high level cards, they might be losing money if they can't get to Diamond or Champ. For me, I'll still wait and see how things develop.

Common

The first monster is Grimbardun Fighter. It has the Shield ability, and gets +1 HP and Corrosive Ward at level 3. Having another Shield Neutral monster available is really nice. Dumacke Orc is difficult to use because of its 1 HP. This card getting Corrosive Ward is a good ability as well. There are teams with Armored Strike, and this helps deal with those as well. This is really good in Melee only rulesets, or those that let Melee monsters attack from the backline. It can be a Sneak or front tank. Tarsa is a good partner, but it can be an easy slot in to different teams. I think it is a must have, especially at level 3. Not only will it be important in Rebellion tournaments, having another Shield option is always good.

The next monster is Nimbledook Ranger. It has Snipe and Double Strike abilities, and it gets +2 HP at level 3. For a 7 cost monster, it has pretty low damage. I only usually see this card with Prophet Rosa with the increase in Range damage. Sloan can be an option, but Pelacor Arbalest is usually better because of the higher damage. For Rebellion tournament players, I think all Neutrals are a must have, but as an individual card, I think it is just nice to have. It has a high cost, and deals little damage.

The next monster is Ulundin Overseer. It has the Flank ability, and it gets +1 Armor and HP at level 3. I think this card is a must have even at level 1. There are a lot of different options available to it. It can work with fragile cards like Jared Scar, or it can enable Double Strike monsters like Coastal Sentry to attack at the second position while staying safe. Then there is the no melee ruleset where it can be the tank. Having no attack, it can work with different Weapons Training monsters, and even get 2 attack types. Having natural 12 HP means it gets healed for 4. This card opens up a lot of strategies.

The next monster is Chaos Lackey. It has the Dispel ability, and it gets +1 Speed and HP at level 3. It is nice to have another option for a Dispel monster. Venari Spellsmith is still better because it has magic attack, and usually don't miss. So the Chaos Lackey is only useful in the scenarios where Venari Spellsmith is not available. If one is not playing in Rebellion tournaments, I think this card is a pass. It can be good in no magic ruleset with the expectation of the opponent using Martyr/Bloodlust monsters, but it is too niche. There are better monsters for 4 mana.

Rare

The first Rare monster is Moxian Rebel. It has the Weapons Training ability, and gets +1 HP at level 2. Just having the Weapons Training ability makes this monster a must have even at level 1. Being 4 mana makes it even more important. Not only can it work in Little League, but it is easy to use it in low mana battles. This is one of the meta cards for low mana Obsidian teams. It having armor even makes it survive a lot more than it should. It is an easy slot in to a lot of teams, and it works with a lot of different teams.

The next monster is Mad Ogre Anarchist. It has the Opportunity ability, and it gets +1 HP at level 2. It is a bit high cost, but it has good stats. The 2 attack and Opportunity makes backline melee teams viable for a lot of elements. It will be great with Tarsa, but it can still work with Thaddius as well. I think each element already has a good amount of backline access, so this is just a nice to have card. If it cost 5 mana, even without armor, I think it would be more playable. But at 6, there might be other stronger options available.

The next monster is the Drybone Bowdog. It has the Scattershot and Ambush abilities, and gets +1 HP at level 2. I think this card has one of the lowest stats I've seen. 1 damage, 2 speed and HP for 4 mana is pretty bad. The Ambush is ok, but the Scattershot makes it pretty bad in rulesets outside of Explosive Weaponry. It can be ok with Prophet Rosa, but the low HP is what really hurts it a lot. It is an easy kill with all the backline teams, and it easily dies to Ilthain. I think it is a pass because of these reasons.

That is it for my Rebellion starter monsters review - Neutral. I'll probably discuss new meta strategies for the updated Ranked. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, and if you have suggestions for improvement.

And as always, these are Not Financial Advice, and Do Your Own Research.

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