My Favorite Splinters
As the end of the season approaches, do does my first week on this game. Completing my daily quests challenged me to try to use different strategies and splinters, with results sometimes much less satisfying than expected.
As a beginner, thus far the two Splinters that gave me a better win rate have been Fire and Earth. Also, at current market prices, these seemed to be the two elements that can offer very good cards for relatively cheap prices.
I did also like the versatility of these two splinters; however I have been discovering the importance of having available some solid Neutral monsters.
Without further ado, here is my top 4 cards based on my experience with Splinterlands so far. Let me know in the comments what you think!
1 - Mylor Crowling
Let me start with a Summoner. This guy is not part of the starter cards, but you can rent the Regular version in the market for about 30 DEC. If you are just starting, that can be quite steep, so you might want to consider purchasing it because I think it has potential for the long-term game.
The reason I like playing him so much is his Thorns ability: basically, every time any of your monsters is attacked with a Melee attack, the attacker gets damage back. Against opponents that are Melee-heavy that is quite powerful, I have won battles where the enemy monsters basically kept killing themselves over and over. I do like the fact that his ability triggers 100% of the times, it makes it very reliable.
His Mana cost of 3 makes him also viable in pretty much every situation, so this is a card I plan on using quite a lot moving forward.
2 - Unicorn Mustang
Awesome tank, and it comes with the starter deck. I have found that having a tank with decent speed can easily make the difference between a win and a loss, and the fact that this guy also has 3 ATK it’s a great bonus.
I try to use him when I expect the opponent to have a slower tank with limited HP, so that I can be reasonably sure to take him out within round 1 or round 2 at the latest.
He has the ability to reduce damage from Magic attacks, so make sure you scout your opponent in advance and unleash this guy on enemies that are Magic-heavy.
The only downside is his Mana cost: I pretty much use him only in battles with at least 23 Mana cap, so I would make sure you have a good alternative, such as Stone Golem (5 Mana).
3 - Goblin Mech
Oh, I do enjoy playing this bad boy! Whenever I get those battles with higher mana caps (28+), Goblin Mech is my tank of choice. Purchasing him from the market only set me back $2.50 (approximately 430 DEC), but considering my win rate with him I can say it’s been paying off quite nicely.
Even at Lvl1, his ATK is massive and when used with Malric Inferno as Summoner you can benefit from the +1 ATK point.
He starts with the Piercing ability, and at Lvl6 you can unlock Stun, which is awesome (has a chance to cause the target to skip its next turn), however it will take time and resources to get him to that point.
4 - Screeching Vulture
Do not underestimate this bird. Yeh, his HP is low, but he starts at Lvl1 with two abilities: Opportunity is very valuable because allows him to do damage in any position, and Flying is a nice added bonus.
The two greatest things about him are the fact that he targets enemy monsters with low health and the fact that it absorbs health from every dying card. However, the latter unlocks only at Lvl6 (Scavenger ability), so I will need to wait to see how that works out in battle.
With a Mana cost of 3, Screeching Vulture is viable for most situations.
5 - Cerberus
Last but not least, this cranky multi-headed dog has become one of my most used cards every time a get to use a Fire deck.
His value is really in the fact that he is a cheap mana option for a tank, and it has Heal ability that allows him to withstand attacks by staying in the first position. When I cannot use higher mana tanks, this guy is my choice. Couple him with Malric Inferno, and even at Lvl1 you get 3 ATK.
He is also fairly cheap to level up: it will take you 21 cards to get him to Lvl5, when he unlocks the Retaliate ability (when hit with a Melee attack, has a chance of returning the attack).
Last Words
Starting this game has not been easy. There are plenty of cards to chose from and the whole in-game economy is complex. I did enjoy watching battles and testing different splinters and strategies, as well as scouting the shop for some good deals on cards.
I would say that the most valuable lesson I learned is to be patient and not rush to progress: unless you have a lot of resources to invest in the game ($$$$$$$$), natural progression will require time.
That's all for today, THANK YOU if you got to read this far!!!
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