Loot
Except for the 4* darts, most Sand Empire prizes can be won in monthly Challenge event tier completion rewards each month.
Atlantis Rising is a unique time to get effectively 3x kits/ backpacks - the biggest bottle necks in Empires that players can do something about - and 3x other loot ( -3 energy and +50% loot in normally 6 energy stages ). This really helps smooth out the merciless RNG of loot drops.
SGG even made the decision easier by reducing the length of Atlantis Rising by 24 hours.
Sand Empires Advanced
I have chosen to skip Atlantis Rising, more out of boredom.
For Sand Empires, I will do Advanced, then Normal, then Easy, because any team that can compete Advanced can finish the other two.
Wilbur, Boldtusk & Harpoons are current MVP for my Advanced team.
Android OS
Lost some world energy from the normal damage amount visual glitch / troop visual glitch / no status icon visual glitch / no mana glitch so if you are on an Android device, might want to do Atlantis Rising so SGG has more time to fix Android OS. Just like Android OS beach ball visual update in 2019.
Magic lamps
Magic lamps are 10x better than power shards since magic lamps can trigger normal damage/ matching damage/ tile damage of all heroes on your team. Often with power shards you lack tiles of that color after creating it.