A few days ago, I did a Tier list of the Chaos Legion soulbound reward cards, which, I admit, was basically just a practice round for this tier list: Rebellion soulbound rewards cards. Now I'll be upfront here: I don't have all of these maxed out (give me 1 more season!) but I do have some of the key ones up there, and have spent time thinking about different combinations of each card at max level. However there will likely be some changes with extensive usage of these cards, so I'll probably revisit this sometime in the next couple of months.
If you compare this to my previous tier list of the CL rewards cards you'll likely notice two things that jump out: (1) there's an extra tier up there (S+), and (2) there are fewer cards at the top. I do think this is a fairly balanced set (maybe with the exception of one card...) where most of the cards are useful in some, but not all, circumstances.
Here are what the tiers mean for me:
I had to create an additional tier for her, because Olivia of the Brook is several steps above the rest here. In fact, she may be several steps above nearly every card in the game thanks to an ability she's alone to have in the game: Mimic, which replicates enemy abilities. She's beatable, but it needs to be done quickly. In fact, Drath's Taunt may be the only reliable counter to Olivia once she gets to max level. At max she gets reflection shield, which makes her unbelievable in Tofu mirror matches. She pairs exceedingly well with Iziar and revivers. She's exceptional in rulesets that last a long time, such as equalizer, and in mana caps that are high, where it's likely your opponent's lineup will bring a ton of abilities. Her biggest weakness is low mana matches, so at least there's that... In any case, barring any changes, Olivia will be in many summoners' nightmares (and dreams) for years to come.
If you follow me on Twitter (#ShamelessPlug) you'll find plenty of examples of battles where she goes off. Here's a bonkers example from the other day: https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_9706000a5b0d8a4cd3eab0b7b1cb47c4
In the S tier I've put 3 cards.
The first is Arachne Weaver, another card with a unique ability (so far): Corrupted Healing. This ability heals all other units for up to 70% of damage each turn if they've taken damage, at the cost of 1 max HP. Under the right circumstances, that's an unbelievable ability. I do think it's a little difficult to use, making it potentially niche, but its potential puts it up there with the best in my opinion.
Next I have Nimbledook Explorer. Now I'll admit that I haven't yet used the Explorer a ton, BUT I think this guy will really start to shine at max level (where he gets self-heal) and with EMP, where he can get Cleanse/Protect to go along with his already armor-stacked hit. He is susceptible to Tofu though. In the right rulesets (such as Melee Mayhem) he can dish out a ton of damage from the backline, as well as grant protection to the rest of the team. For 2 mana, that's worth an S tier ranking in my book.
The last S tier card for me is Commander Slade, who's a dominant force in no-magic battles. His kit is highly synergistic with Water, including with Cryptic as well as Possibilus. He's also a great anti-Tofu card given his reflection shield, and that alone brought him from A to S tier.
The A tier has a lot more cards, so I'll go faster!
First we have Halfling Refugee, who's a terrific meat shield, a Back To Basics expert, and highly resilient with heal despite the Weary.
Next, Dark Arborist packs a ton of punch for 4 mana. Magic Reflect + Void makes it a magic heavy battle specialist, but the demoralize gives it a little more flexibility to boot. Also, 8 HP!
Chaos Adjustant's scattershot/poison combo is terrific, particularly as an anti-Tofu measure.
Continuum Seer at max level is one of the fastest cards in the game, and the only one that has that speed AND phase. And 3 magic damage for 4 mana? Wow.
Next, Surly Drunk comes in at A tier for me with the 2 damage and Opportunity. It also synergizes well with some Fire summoners like Jacek.
Broken Earth Thug is a great Opportunity play with 3 damage for 3 mana. The cripple also adds a lot of value to whittle down an enemy.
Next, we have Gallicus who's a ranged-only or no-magic matchup expert. Sneaky good for 4 mana.
Dragon Egg Forager is excellent with 5 damage and Opportunity for 5 mana, and also synergizes really well with multiple Fire summoners, particularly Jacek. Scavenger is an awesome bonus.
Mar Toren Trader is amazing, and may even be S Tier for certain matchups. 3 mana gives you headwinds and self-heal.
Next, Death Ranger comes in with 7 (seven!) armor and void armor, plus close range and Scavenger. All this for 4 mana makes this an awesome tank no matter the matchup.
Finally in the A tier I put Thunderhoof Nomad, who for 3 mana gives you Reflection Shield, Strengthen, and most importantly Triage at max level. In Tofu matchups this is an amazing card to beef up and protect the back line, and it's a great card to put in 2nd position if you expect cards like Goblin Tower or Mantaroth. It also will work well in Magic-heavy matches, resisting Magic Reflect and healing the back line.
Next, we have the B Tier cards.
Shock Trooper headlines the B class. It's an incredible B2B card, but risky when it isn't B2B because that Debilitation is ROUGH (1 damage to all your cards at the end of each turn). I like to put it in first position where it'll get a shot off and hopefully die after taking a few hits. Especially good in magic-only where it'll also reflect a few shots.
Next, Night Reaper shows up and could easily be A or even S tier with the Last Stand at max. Wingbreak is a very interesting ability that can disrupt enemy lineups as well.
Kha'Zi Conjurer is another great B2B card. It's dangerous to play otherwise as it needs to be in the back line usually due to being Ranged. But that damage for 2 mana is super tempting.
The Meriput Slinger is great for Speed control, and synergizes well with many Speed Death cards.
Warborn Chieftain, to be honest, barely made it into B class for me. It has 5 abilities, but a bit of an odd kit that makes it difficult to choose in many rulesets. It's quite versatile.
I put Sergeant Grauzral in B class because Opportunity+Blast is terrific, and it synergizes nicely with Cryptic, particularly as a counter to the Cryptic/Oshannus meta.
Drybone Megaladon (shouldn't it be Megalodon?) is terrific in melee-only of course, and flanked by Mana Warden can be an absolute menace (thanks @bjangles for that tip!).
I have Ujurak Elder in B class because it's quite a kit for 3 mana. Strengthen and Swiftness boost the whole team, which is great. I also kind of like it as a semi-tank in low mana battles due to its Divine Shield.
Giant Alpine Skink is a solid B class card that works in both no-magic and magic rulesets. 5 speed is terrific. The stun at the end feels a bit random though and not particularly additive.
Halaran Huntress is B class to me largely because of the damage to mana ratio (4 for 4) combined with charge. Very hard to use in the Tofu meta however.
Lastly Syrenth is great in ranged-only battles, providing similar utility to the Wave Brood in Water.
Let's look a C tier next.
Razorhound is kind of mediocre for 5 mana. Not a ton of punch, and the Void feels random for a card that'll mostly be in the backline.
Thanalorian Blade seems terrific on paper, with Opportunity/Execute/Trample looking like a great combo. The trouble is that it'll often be up against Tofu, and for 6 mana there are many other way better options.
Frigid Wolf just doesn't synergize very well with Life in my opinion, and doesn't feel like a go-to in most cases despite the 1 mana.
I have Chaos Evoker in C tier mainly due to the 7 mana cost. I will say however that it pairs very nicely with Lorkus, who moves it up to 3 magic damage. Combine it with Fyatt to get 2 Ambush hits of 3 magic damage each and you can give yourself a big head start in a battle.
Next, I put Drybone Hobgoblin. Immunity seems very odd on it, but quite good stats. I haven't used it a ton, and on second look it might end up getting promoted to B class.
Grifzi feels quite week, though in Wild it'll have plenty of Sneak pals in Death to synergize with.
Next, Quilliun Legionary is in C class because I feel it's just really hard for it to trigger its bloodlust. It might find a use in anti-Tofu matchups somehow though. Maybe with Drath at the helm to give it an attack boost.
Skyspire Leopard feels like asking for a lot of mana for its kit. Bit weird as it kind of expects to be a tank as well. Better choices out there.
Blackmoor Wild Elf is mediocre as well for 5 mana. Camouflage feels highly unnecessary. Cripple could be nice in magic only Rathe vs Rathe rulesets where there's a stalemate, but besides that I can't think of too many good use cases.
Lastly we have Chaos Battle Mage, who has S tier art but is a C tier card :( 8 mana is a lot to ask for 3 Ranged damage. Also 3 Ranged damage feels underwhelming for a Piercing monster (Jared Scar is somewhere laughing hysterically). Another one that could potentially work with Drath. The self-revive and redemption is cool but for 8 mana I'm not sure where that'll play.
Lastly we have the D/F Tier cards.
Starting up, Endless Gibon endlessly disappoints with its Reach. Tons of better options.
Janni Rebel, as I remember @bulldog1205 saying, is objectively inferior to the Silverblade Fighter in every single way - mana cost, abilities, stats...
Tokatag Conscript (the card I revealed), is a very expensive Conscript. Don't pay this much for this kit guys.
Next, Luceheim Demon in my opinion is just weird for 7 mana. Snipe at 1 speed is not very interesting. Cleanse and Triage are great though, so I may be undervaluing those.
Blackmoor Jinx likes to endlessly hang out with Gibons.
Emberguard is slow and has an odd and disheveled kit for 7 mana.
Lastly Ujurak Brave is another card that feels strange, given its kit requires it to sit up front, where it'll generally be promptly destroyed, rendering the Silence kind of useless.
As I said above, this is my first take at a tier list for these cards, and I'll have to revisit it in a month or two when I've had more time to play with all of these at max level. In the meantime though I would love to get feedback from you in the comments!
PS: Thank you to @bjangles from @thepeoplesguild for previewing my list and giving me some very useful feedback!
AI Image generated with help of Grok
