The Jack that got your back: Flying Squid

It is the Jack that got your back.

The Flying Squid is a common starter card so almost every player is familiar with it. For only 7 mana you get a fast reacher with good melee attack and high health. Combined with a good tank it survives most won battles because

being a melee attacker snipers will ignore it
in second position it has back cover from sneakers
its high health makes opportunists ignore it

Due to its high health it is also a great choice for secondary tank if your first tank is taken out. The best summoner for the Flying Squid is without a doubt Kelya Frendul. With additional speed and armor it either dodges most opposing melee tanks or can take an additional hit. Its natural high health gives it sustainability against magic attacks. Having a tank healer in your lineup can be of big health, recovering a third means at least 3 health brought back every round.

There are also some battle rhymes that made me smurk a little:

This squid doesn't quit _{^{(survives most battles)}}
The reacher with a bleacher _{^{(blind ability at level 6)}}
This Jack has got your back _{^{(mostly played in 2nd position)}}

_{Feel free to add your own in the comments 😉}

Gimme some facts

Without further delay, let us have a look at its stats:

For a novice battle the 8 health with 2 melee attack can be a deciding factor in any battle.

At bronze league the level up to 3 gives an additional melee attack.

Silver league levels provide speed and health and at gold it can blind your opponent which makes hitting this high speed monster very difficult for melee and ranged attackers.

For diamond levels the backfire ability provides additional benefits: for every miss of your opponents attackers it lets them take two damage.

But there is more to this creature than just the numbers. Being a reacher it can not be taunted. So if your opponent uses a taunt to distract from their tank your Flying Squid will ignore that and still reach for the tank in first position.

Sadly this does not apply in rulesets where it is let lose from third position or further down the line e.g. melee mayhem or similar. On the plus side it can still reach the tank from second position during fog of war ruleset.

Let's fight

Ruleset

We are facing a wild silver league battle. In equal health without ranged attackers we will face melee and magic. Due to my opponents history I suspect them to play the death splinter with sneakers while protecting against magic.

Strategy

We will rely on melee attacks since magic will be countered. We need to protect against sneakers which will come as melee attackers themselves.

If we use magic monsters they should bring more to the battlefield than just their attack since that will most likely be diminished to 1 or even 0 if the opponent is heavy on void ability.

With high health due to the ruleset we will not worry that much about magic attacks ourselves.

The 48 mana to spend make us almost free in our choice and we do not need to take that much advantage of raising low health monsters to higher health.

Battle line and tactics

Card	Position	Tactics
	Summoner	High speed and additional armor provide protection against melee attacks while giving us a first strike opportunity and endurance.
	1st: Tank	The standard tank for water splinter in such situations. Its high health and armor provide a lot of endurance. It can take a magic hit or two. If it gets hit by magic before its turn the rage ability will most likely raise it to the top of the speed stack and also increase its attack value.
	2nd: Reacher	The star of today's show. It will assist the tank. While being ignored by opportunists, snipers and sneakers (as long as there's a backline) it can deal its damage fast and direct without being taunted. In worst case it can take tank position without causing a headache.
	3rd: High health opportunist	Deeplurker is the logical addition to our 1st and 2nd monster. By making use of him in equal health ruleset we concentrate our damage onto the opposing tank at high speed, hopefully taking it out before its turn.
	4th: Magic support	River Hellondale will inspire our three melee attackers for one additional attack point and resurrect (hopefully) our tank if it gets taken out. Resurrected monsters come back with only one health but full armor and we have an armor heavy team.
	5th: Mgic support	Even though Venari Wavesmith's magic attacks will most like be countered, the additional armor the protect ability provides will be useful against opposing melee attackers, which we are likely to see in a death team relying on sneakers.
	6th: Magic support	Doctor Blight is protected by its camouflage ability but his magic will most likely be countered by the opposing death team. Luckily he is not here to deal damage but rather to poison the opposing tank, an ability that can bypass armor and even divine shield.

The Battle

As suspected our opponent chose death splinter.

The tank with void ability is no surprise either, as well as the sneaker in their team. Their flying taunt will distract our magic support units which are weakened by the opposing summoner in their damage capability.

The opposing magic attacks are spread out between our tank and support units while we have concentrated attacks once the taunt is eliminated that should give us the edge we need to win this.

If you want to see how it turns out, I suggest the following link:

Watch the complete battle on Splinterlands.com

Final thoughts

The Flying Squid fulfilled its purpose. Unimpressed by the opposing taunt it dealt its damage and in the end defended first position until victory was achieved. With two kills (no less than a third of the opposing team) it was a vital part in this battle's success.

Make sure you can call one your own, with Chaos League being the latest card set and the Flying Squid being a common card it is most likely to be drawn in one of your next packs and currently affordable on the market.

Never underestimate the value of a well placed common card in your battle lines

_{All images based on pictures provided by splinterlands.com}