Hello Splinterlands summoners and welcome to my blog! Shapeshift is one of my favorite new abilities in the era of Conclave Arcana cards since bloodlines have been introduced. What it does for a unit that has the ability is it gets treated as all bloodlines and therefore benefits from the Bloodline Dominion buff the archon provides like Kaylia Silverleafs Execute granted to all elven bloodline. A unit like Arcane Skinwalker who has the Shapeshift ability will be treated as an elf and will get the ability from the archon. Being granted the Bloodline Dominion buff and being able to be summoned by any archon is the primary benefit of having the Shapeshift ability. Recently, I discovered another benefit of Shapeshift.
Synergy with Bloodline Tribute Ability
The Bloodline Tribute ability adds one to all stats of allied units when a unit that has it gets defeated in battle. It's also a new ability in the Conclave Arcana set and similar to Martyr ability but it only applies to similar bloodlines. For example, when Swiftbeard Stout who is a dwarf gets defeated, all dwarves in the line up will get their stats raised by one.
The ability benefits a specific bloodline only. However, since the Shapeshift ability grants a unit that has it to be treated as all bloodlines, then it also benefits from the Bloodline Tribute ability! Since I found this out, it opens up new strategies that I can apply in battles. Let's see a sample battle.
Sample Battle
In this battle, the key cards to show the ability combo are Wailworn Spectre who has the Bloodline Tribute ability that benefits Undead and a level two Arcane Skinwalker who gains the Shapeshift ability starting at that level.
We both used a Water magic team that has gained popularity recently. The enemy and I both had almost the same line up with a few differences but we both have the Wailworn Spectre/Arcane Skinwalker combo. I was unaware of this combo so I was surprised when it took effect while I was watching the battle. Since he positioned his Wailworn Spectre in front, it was the first unit to be destroyed and added the buffs to Mindless Thrall who was an Undead then to my surprise it also buffed Arcane Skinwalker. Later, my Wailworn Spectre was eliminated as well and granted the Bloodline Tribute buffs to my two units.
Units with Shapeshift Ability
There are only four units in existence that has the Shapeshift ability: Calamity, Arcane Skinwalker, Bren Palesworn and Gramel the Hunger.
Calamity
Calamity is a legendary dragon card. He gets the ability at just level one along with his impressive stats. The only thing holding back this unit is its Electrified debilitation that punishes its allies. Otherwise this would have been a super unit.
Arcane Skinwalker
Arcane Skinwalker a rare, neutral unit and is the lowest rarity to possess this ability. It gains the ability starting at level two. It gains more abilities and almost at par stats wise with Calamity and none of his debilitations.
Bren Palesworn
Bren Palesworn is a legendary neutral unit. He gains the ability starting from level one. He's a good offensive unit overall and having the Shapeshift ability gives him more offensive (with Kaylia Silverleaf) or defensive (with Bella Ratajowlski) options.
Gramel the Hunger
Gramel the Hunger is also a legendary, neutral unit. It's also the first unit to have three attacks. It is a unit with many offensive abilities and pairing it with Kaylia Silverleaf gives it one more offensive capability. Likewise, if he gets buffed with Bloodline Tribute then all his stats will increase.
Final Thoughts
The Shapeshift ability is one of the most versatile abilities in Splinterlands. It grants the unit that has it to benefit from all bloodlines and be used in any team combinations. It benefits from the archon's Bloodline Dominion ability and bloodline focused buffs such as Bloodline Tribute. In Splinterlands, strategy and ability determines the battle and having this ability in our deck increases our winning chances.
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This post has been shared on Reddit by @logen9f through the HivePosh initiative.
Two great new abilities with tons of synergy. Final Word is becoming more and more important!
That's right. It's another ability with great strategic value to counter abilities that trigger on defeat 😀