Just wondering, there is a way to consistenly beat an Earth based tank? Like a flaw in the strategy or something?

Because just by seeing Earth cards i could say the symbol is pretty hard to kill so why not do an Earth Mill deck and just exhaust your opponent?

What Symbols you think have the pieces to counter Criminal Past, Battle Prowess, Mysterious Stance, Assasination Arts, Amy's Assistance, Holding Ground, etc.

Discuss xD

I beat two Earth decks in the top 8 on my way to win the SoCal Regionals event last weekend with my Order deck.

The trick is constant pressure and denial of the correct resources.

Archimedes said:

There is a lot that Earth is missing... Earth doesn't have a good answer to control hack... and it doesn't have a great answer to comittal (Torn Hero is only good if you have momentum). i.e. Order (especially Guy - anti-momentum) runs over Earth.

Earth's recent sucess is misleading . Yes it is a good symbol, but it's sucess is in tournaments a) without Akuma, and b) without much spinta usage.

Most of Earth's characters are also of lower 6/5 handsize, higher ones are easier to kill early. Anti-draw cards, MAC - TOS, are always good choices.

Earth also relies on a lot of enhances... Turn them off, or play with enhance negation and lots of it (see death) and the response negation to back it up and you won't have much problems.

Anti-life gain is quite rampant after set 12... There are life gain punishment cards among other ways to stop the standard gain life mechanics.

Heel Snipe among other cards are great at getting rid of nasty Earth characters.

Finally, the most important thing against Earth is to a) run a lot of attacks, and b) enough draw/handsize to build+hold them up to attack a lot in one turn. Poking isn't that useful against Earth, outbuild it, shut down it's draw, and then unleash all of your attacks when it is weakest... Or strike hard fast. If you deck can't OTK you will never beat an Earth deck... Oddly enough, the best answer to Bishamon is to run attacks and some 2/1 checks, forcing him to suffer your deck's luck at inopportune times is very important.

If anything, there isn't an invincible symbol going into this year's worlds competition, especially in comparison to prior years and the majority of this season (where we saw evil, order, and chun-li<air> dominate).

imo - Earth is very much overrated. Yes, a deck that isn't built properly, doesn't stop damage redux/healing, and doesn't have enough oomph, will lose easily to it. But yes, a well built Death or Order deck run by an equally precise player will probably run it over or give it a lot of ties...

Finally, practice against it. It isn't hard to build an Earth defense deck, most of it is just a bunch of foundations + Tag Along...

- dut

Dut hits the nail on the head.

If I were going to post a post that explains how to deal with Earth, it'd be exactly what Dut posted. Much props Dut.

PROTIP FOR BATTLING BATTLE PROWESS: Don't be afraid to cycle then go for the OTK.

Earth isn't too bad to deal with if you have a staging area full of commitals...for those of us that dislike Spinta and Order in general its quite troublesome.

I managed to beat an Earth stall-ish deck by simply destroying everythin I saw with Shadow Blades and getting lucky with my Cursed Bloods to stop his build...but I still had a heck of a time cutting down the high health of Earth characters.

If Criminal Past + Battle Prowess + Amy's was all out against me, the game would have gone no where..probably with me eventually losing. Earth is definitely the best symbol to stall with, hands down.

Archimedes said:

Thank you Arch, needless to say I second your protip ^^ I daresay you have some experience with this - hehe.

- dut

It should be noted that Starter Deck Sakura looping Begin Anew over and over again is hilarious against Earth decks.

Well I've played against all sorts of aggro/control and other BS. And playing Earth I have yet to have my vitality reduced to 0 except against Chubbs in one round at ECC. I've told so many ppl "if In can't kill you we will draw" and thats been the standard with the exception of Shane's Bishimon deck. Trust me Earth isn't Hype..

Immortal-JyNxX said:

With every Earth deck i've built since standard ( I now play the symbol religiously and nothing else, nothing.) the ONLY thing in the game that has dropped me to below 20 is Sardine's beach special as a one shot kill.

And i've only been milled once, by flying power bomb

Believe me Earth is Top tier, but not unbeatable at all.

Bloodrunstrue said:

I got killed by 2 20dmg 20spd Darkness Blade's lmao! Chubbs was out for Blood!

Immortal-JyNxX said:

We will see, I'm taking bets, my stance - Earth will not win worlds. Action anyone?

- dut

I think good will win worlds. I want Void/fire to win worlds, as that is what I am playing, but I think Good will win, air also has a chance.

Dut hit it on the head.

Spinta, CChax and E Negation shuts it down.

ALso Distractlible and Tae Kwon Do Zephyr can go a long way in helping against the damage reduction

Archimedes said:

She passes it how?

Homme Chapeau said:

Turn one foudnations

Turn 2 Begin anew using said foundations, play more foundations

Turn 3 Begin anew using said foundations, play more foundations

Turn 4 Begin anew using said foundations, play more foundations

Loop untill you get an opening.

I've got to admit, that is both hilarious and disgusting. Looping is the cheapest and most boring part of this game, but I have to admit that gave me a chuckle.

Earth is a great and versitile symbol, but it does have holes. No E negation is Earth's biggest weakness, as is committal. Yes, CC hack is also a weakness in Earth... until you run into Astaroth (his R is overlooked, I think....). I tested my Astaroth deck against an Akuma, and it had no problems against it. Personally, I think Death stands the best shot at beating Earth due its massive negation, with Order close behind. However, utilizing Ka Technique/No Forgiveness can get around some of the answers other symbols have. Earth is a beaslty symbol in the proper hands, but it is not unstoppable.

dutpotd said:

I think something very fast aggro like Zi Mei off of fire or a Raphy/Hilde Good Deck. Death control is very strong too with both a solid foundation base and attack base. i think it is very open but I hope Aggro will win (this is coming from a control player).

Protoaddict said:

It doesn't even have to go like that. That's just a hilarious prospect.

Sakura can just Begin Anew anytime she needs to reset the field. Too many Battle Prowess/Amy's to deal with? AWAY THEY GO. Oh, they Tag Along Sakura? Hide behind Lesser of Many Evils or just do it again next turn.

Archimedes said:

so what happens when they drop a red lotus or something else to negate it? your whole plan is ruined right?

Da_ghetto_gamer said:

Instead of making an incredibly sarcastic comment which you could get all defensive and stick-up-bum'ish about I'm going to say this.

Please show me an Earth deck that is consistently running Red Lotus of the Sun.

Then please realize that Lesser of Many Evils, which I pointed out in my above post, is also an answer to Red Lotus (or anything else that would "negate" it)

Your post=fail. Did you think that Lotus had the Earth symbol or were you just so excited that you got to take a shot at me that you forgot which thread we were in?

1 red lotus for them = 1 less damage redux or life gain card. you attack in that case.

Er...Blinding Rage...?

Just askin'.

that might mill them really bad XD

I think Blinding Rage could only tutor for 1 of the foundations that was destroyed by Infiltrating, because they're all destroyed at the same time (Blinding Rage gets 1 chance to trigger after your choice of foundations explodes, but then its no longer in play)

@Arch: Well, you gotta have a game plan for every matchup, right? Not just Earth.