As Splinterlands is seeing a tidal wave of of attention I wanted to reach out and provide a little guidance on how to look at the monsters you drop into battle. Having heard some newer folk say they were feeling like they didnt know where to start I thought that would be a goodd place to pick thing up.
Position One: Tank.
The most standard Splinterlands battle line would be a Tank followedd by whatever you want. You'll want a few reliable tanks in each Splinter depending on mana prices and other unique abilities. Here are some of my favorite Tanks in the Earth Splinter we can use to compare and contrast.
Biceratops is a great example of the kind of small pragmatic tank that you'll find yourself playing early in your Splinterlands career.This is one of the cards that really illustrates how much extra ddamage thorns can do.
PRO: Useful is low cost battles and the <4 mana rule set.
CON: No survival skills
Flesh Golem very well be my favorite tank in all of Splinterlands. Two survival skills and very decent stats at common level sets the bar high. After using Flesh Golem you'll soon start noticing tanks with multiple survival skills make up some of the best in the game.
PRO: Does everything you want from a tank.
CON: Mana cost is a little high for a tank with zero armor.
Stone Golem feels like Flesh Golems slightly more specialized younger brother. Healing really makes Flesh Golem shine and Armor give Stone Golem his signature feel. Getting him up to a higher level and unlocking Stun really kicks him to the next level as, all of a sudden, your tank is negating enemies attacks entirely. Plus, armor!
PRO: Armor and Stun are prime abilities.
CON: Low overall damage ability.
All hail the Queen! If you are looking for bang for your buck it can be hard to top the Queen Bee. In higher mana cap games the Queens huge 4 damage attack and extra attacks from retaliate can turn the tide. Flying is also a decent defensive ability.
So yeah, thats what all the buzz is about!
PRO: Massive damage and a decent evasive ability at very low cost per BCX.
CON: High mana cost.
Failed Summoner is a successful tank for it's price. It can be hard to feel like you are getting anything for 2 mana and there are very few cards you can call a tank with a straight face for anything under 4 mana. Failed Summoner pulls that off with it's very high health pool and dual defensiv abilities in Magic Resist and Demoralize. Small efficient cards like this are hard to oversell and this is on the top shelf of low cost cards.
PRO: Damn near free and 2 defensive abilities. Pairs amazing with support.
CON: Not really THAT big and it has no offense.
The Importance of Support
In my opinion the thing that makes the Tanks in Earth shine are the back-up they are able to get from some of the best support cards available. Here are a few of my favorite andd how I like to use them!
Wood Nymph, like Flesh Golem, just feel perfect. In the same way that tanks with multiple defensive abilities supports with multiple supportive abilities are very powerful. Tank Heal and Strengthen are very possibly the two best support abilities and, for that reason, Nymph is a powerhouse.
PRO: Amazing support abilities.
CON: Low overall health.
Wanna know whats even better than healing the Monsters in front of you? Healing those monsters AND the monster behind you. At 2 mana Khmer falls into that group I mentioned earlier of low cost creature who full holes in nearly any line-up.
PRO: Two mana, two heals.
CON: I honestly see no cons here. A goldfoil Khmer Princess is a nearly perfect card.
I include Earth Elemental here to illustrate that sometime a monster can be a support powerhouse. Even though Earthy doesn't interact with the other monsters on his team he's able to keep them safe by being one of the prime back-stop monsters ever. Wanna make sure you dont get torn apart by a variety of unique attack strategies? Protect your backline!
PRO: Good damage and great health. No one does what he does better for anywhere around the price.
CON: No direct support interaction with the rest of your team.
How does it all come together? Ideally, something like this! Let's hop over to the Water Splinter and so how dominant a defensive strategy can be!
https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=39ee07ca0930cb34f9136697cc0b014d8283b983
I hope this has been helpful!
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I hope this is helpful and I was able to help you learn something today!
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