Earl has more natural talent then SVB, it is not even close in that aspect. He is the better overall player "when" he can keep his head in check. Earl's top speed is higher then SVB's top speed, Earl's top speed is higher then anyone out there in fact.
BUT, and this is a huge but. Earl has absolutely no mental toughness, very little ability to grind, he is unable to draw deep and pull himself back into a match.
Truth is I don't think SVB himself has a huge mental game or amazing grinding ability, but compared to Earl SVB is a rock. Compared to Alex though? SVB gives up some in the mental toughness and grinding aspects of the game, the "heart" portion of the game when compared to Alex. It is why Alex is so able to compete with SVB despite a serious disadvantage in the break. SVB pretty much said the same thing on the commentary on the Raj/Oscar match, he learned alot from playing Alex in how he approached the game and commented on times he himself has had problems with negative feelings hurting his performance at times.
Mental toughness? The ability to keep your focus and your cool under tough circumstances? This is how I would mark things for alot of the top pros. This is NOT a ranking of skill, it is a ranking of how mentally tough the player is, I think alot of the people lower on the list have ALOT more skill and natural talent then some of the people who are higher up.
Ralph: A+
Wu: A+
Efren: A
Orcullo: A
Bustamante: A
Thorsten: A
Alex A-
Yang A-
Mika: B+
Appleton: B+
Archer: B+
SVB: B
Deuel: B
Dechaine: C
Morris: C
Hatch: C
Putnam: D
Earl: F
Guys like Ralph, Wu, Dennis, Efren, Busta, Thorsten, those guys are rocks under the pressure, they are able to perform when the pressure is on and when things go bad they do NOT let their emotions get the better of them and give themselves the best chance of anyone to get back into a match because of it. Mika, Appleton, Archer, SVB, those guys are all super skilled and they have some strong mental game at times, but they have been known to occasionally lose their composure and it has at times really dropped their game down at crucial moments when they needed it most. Morris, Hatch, these guys have alot of skill, but their mental games are erratic and it costs them. Sometimes they shoot like world champs, other times they cannot get out. Their inconsistent ability to play their top game due to emotions has cost both of these guys alot of success. Earl? He has so much freaking skill that he sometimes actually wins despite his complete lack of mental game. If you took Earl's skills and natural talent and put them into a head as cool as Ralph you would have a pool playing monster that would never lose a tournament.