Hi Splinterfans!

Holy cow! It has been a crazy busy last couple months in the world of Splinterlands. Wouldn't you agree? There have been so many exciting updates and new partnerships that I have trouble keeping them straight sometimes. Our list of friends is always growing, and the first DYGYCON event is right around the corner (11/28).

...and Splinterlands is just getting started.

It's time for a quick strategy guide on a Ruleset that pretty much everyone (and their mom) dreads...

Earthquake

Let's face it. The Earthquake Ruleset is one of the most complicated to master in the entire game. It has many layers of strategy built right in, and if you don't pay attention to each and every one of them, your opponents will steamroll right over you and dance on the flattened corpses of your team.

First, the Obvious

In the Earthquake Ruleset, even if you have never played a single Splinterlands battle, you can safely assume that Flying monsters will have some kind of special bonus.

While the earth is quaking in a Splinterlands battle, all monsters on the ground are subject to 2 Melee damage at the beginning of each turn. You know, from the earthquake. Ability bonuses still apply, so Monsters with Shield are only hit with 1 damage and monsters with an active Divine Shield will take no damage.

The one clear technique you can draw from face value in this Ruleset is to favor monsters with the Flying ability. This is great beginner advice, but you'll start to realize quite quickly that there are a lot more non-flying monsters than flying ones. That's when you'll start to explore some of the following nuances to the Ruleset.

It's Always a Race

In this downer earthquake scenario, both teams are dying. That cannot be helped. The monsters that aren't already dying from the earthquake are literally killing each other. So the trick is to make sure your enemy's team dies before yours does.

You may be thinking, "You just defined winning a battle, Chris." You're correct, that is what it means to win a battle. But extra attention should be placed on this race in an Earthquake battle. If you think beyond simply using only Flying monsters, then it is crucial to use monsters built to outlast.

There are many good ways to make sure your monsters outlast your enemy's, whether or not they have Flying. One of my favorites is Shield, which drastically reduces the damage a monster takes from Melee and Range attacks. Plus, monsters with Shield usually have higher Health, which is always a good idea in the Earthquake Ruleset.

High Health

I almost always reach for high Health monsters in an Earthquake situation before Flying ones. First, my Flying collection is not impressive enough in any of the Splinters to reliably win in this Ruleset, With high Health and solid Healing, you can stand up to powerful Magic attacks and usually survive until the end.

One notable exception to high Health in the Earthquake Ruleset are the Flying monsters themselves. The Albatross for example is almost always a perfect fit, tucked away into the back of an Earthquake team where it can perform several rounds of Tank Healing. Another reason that Flying monsters don't need the same high Health is that they have a greater chance of being missed by Range and Melee attacks, which usually buys you some precious time.

Defensive Action

In the Earthquake Ruleset you'll really want to maximize your damage per time. This means that you want to do as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible and as often as possible. This is how you win in Earthquake. That means Thorns, Retaliate, Magic Reflect, Enrage, and anything else that increases either the damage or frequency of your attacks.

Make sure that every time they manage to land a blow against your team that it also damages their own. If you're lucky enough to battle with Yodin Zaku, try giving Blast to some monsters with Retaliate and watch how quickly the enemy team perishes.

Cancel the Damage

There aren't many cards with the personal Healing ability, but they always fit in nicely in an Earthquake battle. The Water Elemental for example is able to sit comfortably in the back doing as much as 4-5 Range damage per hit. On top of that, it heals itself of Earthquake damage each and every round.

I like to use Healing, Tank Heal and Resurrect almost excessively in the Earthquake Ruleset. It's difficult to predict where the damage against you will be concentrated.

Some Cards I Like in Earthquake

Don't read too much into them. They're just cards I like. This doesn't mean that I've included every card that's good in this Ruleset. If you think my choices suck, then please give me some suggestions in the comments so I don't have to keep sucking. I may be able to give strategy advice, but I'm pretty sure I still lose at least half of my Earthquake battles.

Albatross

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I like this giant bird. Simple and Flying. The only problem is that you need it at level 6 or it's completely 100% useless. Consider going Gold Foil and you'll get there quicker.

Serpent of the Flame

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The Serpent of the Flame always means business. No matter how the battle goes down, the Serpent will die so quickly that the Earthquake damage will barely affect him. Hopefully before he dies he manages to Poison a couple monsters on the enemy team. I always say Poison is a highly undervalued ability.

Stonesplitter Orc

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This is another mayhem tank. With Enrage and Retaliate, you can be fairly confident that he'll go down in a blaze of glory before the Earthquake damages him too severely. The Naga Warrior in blue is a very similar card to the Stonesplitter Orc.

Brighton Bloom

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The easiest choice for dealing with the Earthquake Ruleset is using the newest Dragon Summoner, Brighton Bloom. He has the unique Summoner ability of making the entire team Flying. We're talking flying Kraken, flying War Chaang, Flying anything. Give Brighton a try.

Defender of Truth

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The Defender of Truth is awesome in pretty much every Ruleset. Here's why he's awesome in Earthquake. The Protect ability usually grants a couple more hits to every Monster on your team. Plus if you're able to Resurrect cleverly enough with the Angel of Light, Darius or Chanseus the Great, you can get Protect to come back with crucial timing in the battle.

Dark Enchantress

The Dark Enchantress has everything you need in an Earthquake battle. She's Flying so you need not worry about her dying too quickly. She has stun, so you can count on her slowing down the enemy's attack power, and she has a solid Magic attack that will of course cut through the enemy's defenses.