This week's battle challenge is dragon-themed. Now with all the various dragons in the game, how do you choose which one to write about? I'll give you three hints: Robo. Dragon. Knight. It's a Robo-Dragon Knight. How can there be any other answer?
While the name alone may be enough to justify playing this card, it's worth taking a look at the mechanics as well. Robo-Dragon Knight's 11 mana cost sets some high expectations, but it has the stats to match. At level 1, this monster comes in with 3 melee attack, 3 speed, 8 armor, and 9 health. That's right, RDK has a full 17 points of protection for the enemy to get through, all while dealing 3 damage back at them each turn. On top of that, RDK comes with Divine Shield and Void right out of the box. Divine Shield causes this monster to ignore the first damage it would take, and Void means it takes reduced damage from magic attacks (just in case you were worried about it "only" having 9 health).
If you level up the Robo-Dragon Knight, you gain 2 more damage and 1 more health, but also 3 new abilities! At level 4, RDK also has Piercing, Magic-Reflect, and Return Fire! Between Void and Magic-Reflect, RDK laughs at any incoming magic attacks, and all that armor and Return Fire means it's no pin-cushion for ranged attackers either. And Piercing, coupled with RDK's naturally high damage, means that it will rip through most enemy tanks' armor with ease. All in all, Robo-Dragon Knight is an incredible front-line attacker at max level.
Here we have a level 1 Robo-Dragon Knight leading the charge against a Yodin deck under the Earthquake ruleset, which causes monsters without flying to take 2 damage each round. Now Yodin is a fearsome opponent, and our level 1 Robo-Dragon Knight does not yet have the Return Fire ability to retaliate against all those ranged enemies. Does it still have a chance?
Yes it does! Now I'll admit, I've stacked the deck a bit by choosing Brightyn Bloom as our summoner. He gives all of our monsters flying, so they aren't affected by the damage from the Earthquake ruleset. Because of that, even if we can't do enough damage ourselves, we merely need to last long enough for all those enemies without flying to succumb to the powerful forces of plate tectonics. But lasting that long might be difficult, because every enemy monster should be damaging RDK. Even the two enemies with Snipe, which will cause them to target the second position, also have Blast, which will cause splash damage to hit our Robo-Dragon Knight. And yet, in the end, a combination of speedy dodges and Divine Shield enable our hero to survive the battle unscathed but for 4 missing armor. He might need a little touch-up at the local smithy, but he's still nearly good as new.
Robo-Dragon Knight is an incredible tank, especially at higher levels. He can take an amazing amount of damage without stopping, all while demolishing the enemy's front lines. As a Dragon splinter monster, he can be paired with any other splinter to beef them up dramatically. The only real downside is that 11 mana cost, which means he won't be available for lower mana battles. But if you can afford the cost, he's absolutely worth the inclusion. Plus he's a Robo-Dragon Knight, and frankly that alone should be good enough for anyone.
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