Another week, another battle challenge. As with last week, I don't main the splinter in question, and I don't own the card for the challenge. Unlike last week, I really like the challenge card. Spineback turtle is such a good tank for the cost. Before CL release, when Water was such an easy meta with Alric + magic + tank turtle, I used it all the time.
But we much change with the times. So today, I'll be highlighting a different card that can fill the role once filled by spineback turtle: Cruel Sethropod.
The Card
Cruel Sethropod is a 3 mana card, so it comes in cheaper than spineback turtle. You do give up a bit of health but you get some nice armor (good against non-magic teams and during the weak magic ruleset). You also lose thorns at higher levels.
Although it's health isn't as high, which is part of what made Spineback Turtle so good for its mana cost, Sethropod is pretty beefy for just 3 mana and can often slow down the opponent just long enough.
The Battle
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_c6fafbc2ba1143f29301c0499b39a7f9&ref=badrag
Below is a link to a battle with Cruel Sethropod. I expected my opponent to go magic, hence my choice of Bortus instead of Kelya. But Sethropod does better against melee/ranged than magic, and Kelya doesn't help it as much (4 vs 5 armor is not a huge difference). So it actually fared really well in this fight. Even with the opponent's choice hurting my main DPS units, it still isn't enough to quickly chew through my dudes.
I added in a healer to try and keep the Sethropod (and harpooner if it came to it) topped up on health and surviving an extra turn or two, which worked pretty well. I put the harpooner in front of the healer because even though it wouldn't be able to attack, it would be another light damage sponge while the axemaster did some work.
That said, I did luck out that my opponent, in anticipating some sneak, spent 4 mana on a damage sponge in the back. My axemaster was able to take its time finishing it off. If instead they'd added anything that does damage (e.g. 4-mana reach card), I'd have lost. But my opponent did a good counter-pick against ranged. The fact that I won despite a great counterpick is a testament to the Sethropod holding off the opponent long enough for my weakened range cards to do their jobs.
Conclusions
If Water was a main splinter of mine, Cruel Sethropod would absolutely be one of my top-used cards. It's not flashy, but it does its job well and for just 3 mana.
Thanks for sharing! - @ashikstd
