I like the Life splinter, in fact the only summoner I have to Max Level is Tyrus, the Beta Life Summoner, so it makes sense for me to focus on leveling up this splinter more than others.
Below, I've done a brief comparative analysis of some of the Untamed and Reward cards I like in the life splinter to figure out which of them give me the most bang for buck at max level (excuse the dodgy spellings!):
I haven't included the mana details, or the speed details, as I'm quite a crude individual - it's all about raw damage, health, shields and number of buffs for me, however I have a rough idea of the speed and mana, and I can factor this in mentally when I do my value calculations.
I haven't included what the buffs are either, but I know what these are, and likewise I can factor these in to my calculations mentally.
I've included above the current cost of cards at the 'optimal cost' level - which tends to be level 5/6/7 depending on the card, when you start to get the buffs typically, and also at max level (a bit more per card if you're going to buy 100 or more rather than say 20 or 40 odd.
A decent deck?
I think the above set of cards gives one a pretty good all round deck - a couple of tanks, a couple of ranged attacks, a sneak and a magic attack, as well as shield in the form of the Truth Seeker.
I've only focused on Untamed and Reward cards as the Betas are much pricier by comparison!
Headline stats
- A decent Life splinter deck made up from just Untamed and Reward cards will cost you about $23 at the time of writing, with all cards up to the optimal level. If you don't have a Life Summoner, you'll have to add on another $20 for an L5 from the Untamed series, which is enough to play most cards at the level below.
- A maxed out deck will cost you a lot more - just over $100, and that's for marginal gains on most of the cards. A max Untamed summoner is going to set you back about another $50.
- One card, I think, is worth maxing out - the Truth Seeker, who doesn't get tank heal until max level, but this is VERY useful!
TruthSpeaker - £11.50 for 3 buffs including tank heal!
I'm starting with the only card I think is worth maxing out (of course you'll need a max summoner too) - So useful that you get defend and tank heal at only 3 mana, even with no damage.
Shield Bearer - $9.60 for an awesome tank
This is on the pricey side, both in terms of dollars and mana, but take him up to level five and you get shield and a lot of shields and health, nice mix of defense.
Lord Darius - $1.89 for 3 damage and resurrect
Now THIS card is the perfect combination with the Shieldbearer. The SB soaks up all the damage, so he must be the first to die, and when he resurrects he comes back to life with all those lovely shields. Perfect for those high mana anti-magic rule sets.
Darius is a great example of a card that's economic at L1, but probably not worth having beyond that?
Evangelist - $4.80 for four damage and inspire
Quite a bargain for that much damage and a NICE buff. Basically the Reward version of the Air Elemental/ Peacebringer.
Herbalist - $4.40 for triage
OK so 1 damage may not even do anything a lot of the time, but 2 mana, and triage at Level 8 - perfect if someone's playing snipe - if you've got any of the Betas, a lot of them tend to have low health (Defender of the Truth for example) so this could be VERY handy.
This is probably the next card I will take to max - it's cheap, and 2 damage at L10 is much more useful.
Werewolf - $1.40 for thorns and dampen
Not the best damage, but add thorns and it's three against some opponents. Also that dampen can be an irritation. The perfect little league tank for the life splinter.
The Assassin - $1.89 for an awesome snipe
At level five he picks up double strike and poison - you really need to play this with an inspire (The Evangelist provides this) and ideally with Dragon too, not life. Play him with the Feral Spirit in the right rule set and they kick ass, appropriately from behind.
Conclusions
The cards above will set you back $23, for a decent Life Splinter monster deck, however, if you want to play ALL of the above cards at the levels I've specified you'll need a maxed summoner, which will be around another $50. If you could live without that, then you can play all of the rest (except the Herbalist at L8) with an L5 summoner, much cheaper at around $20.
So... $43 for a Decent Life deck including a summoner.
I have not done much with Life, but I face it all the time. Just not seen some of those cards as it tends to be the same old ones. I am sure the battles are very different at higher levels.
Some of these new cards are really good!
I'm trying to look at things from an investment perspective too - I'm sure Truth Speaker is undervalued for example, I keep buying them, even though I'm maxed out!
NB - you'll probably find this interesting!
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@darthgexe/splnterlands-meta-snapshot-is-live
When I play now, I face Level 1 decks, one after another. The challenge is gone and I'm getting bored again.
Really?
That's odd, I seem to get very few bot opponents. A few of the same faces, but still quite a mix.
TBH I enjoy the trading up more than the game!
Cool, I also love the Life deck. I think you forgot a card with the ability repair that is very important in this deck.
And yes, betas are expensive, but at least a Divine Healer will be needed because of Tank Heal.
Another one to think about is the Paladin as it has Reflect Magic and will be effective against the Water splint.
Kisses from Mary :)
I do love the armorer, I use him all the time, but I'd just ran out of time!
The Paladin is cool, that's Beta I think - I always use Lord A instead when I can, one of the best cards out there.
Cheers for the comment, great game!