This week's battle challenge involves the Dragon Splinter! The Dragon Splinters are unique because they allow you to use dragon monsters alongside one other splinter. For this week, I'll be focusing on one of my favorite summoners, Daria Dragonscale!
Daria Dragonscale Highlights
Daria Dragonscale is an Epic Dragon summoner that gives a +1 Melee buff to all friendly monsters. That doesn't seem like a lot considering Tarsa gives +1 Health as well as +1 Melee damage. However, what makes Daria useful is that she can be combined with other splinters to unlock powerful lineups that otherwise would not even be considered.
Since Daria Dragonscale is an older reward cards that is no longer in print, she can be quite expensive compared to the current Chaos Legion summoners. Currently, you're looking to pay $21/BCX regular foil and $699/BCX for gold!
She is an Epic card though so you don't need as many to get her leveled up. For example, a Level 4 Kelya will take 25 cards and at $4/BCX, that's $100. For Daria, you only need 6 cards in order to summon the same level monsters which equals $126. Not a whole lot more and she can be used in combination with any splinter!
So when do I use Daria Dragonscale?
- Pretty much any time where you get a ruleset that is advantageous to Melee such as :
- Melee Mayhem
- Super Sneak
- Up Close & Personal
- Unprotected
- Djinn Chwala is a great tank that can be played with Daria since it has the Thorns ability (tanks are usually Melee so this helps give your frontline an extra boost)
This Week's Featured Battle
In this featured battle, I went for an all Melee assault using Daria Dragonscale while my opponent opted for a Ranged setup with General Sloan. Arrows vs Swords, who will win?
Battle Ruleset
| Reverse Speed | Monsters with the lowest Speed attack first and have the highest chance of evading attacks | |
|---|---|---|
| Melee Mayhem | Melee attack Monsters can attack from any position | |
| 52 Mana | This is considered a high mana battle | |
| Active Splinters | Water, Earth, Life, and Dragon splinters are available |
Strategy Highlights
- Reverse Speed
- Since speed is reversed, you want to prioritize 1 speed monsters (and don't play anything with the slow ability!)
- Kelya is usually avoided in this ruleset since she buffs all friendly monsters with +1 speed
- Generally, most players at this level go with Obsidian because a lot of the Magic monsters are incredibly slow
- Tarsa can also be favorable because some of the tanks are very slow (Grum/Living Lava)
- Life with General Sloan is another choice since a few of the Ranged attackers are 1/2 speed
- Try to avoid playing any monsters with Enrage. Enrage will cause them to gain speed making them easier targets
- Melee Mayhem
- Melee monsters can attack from any position! This is a huge advantage for Melee monsters since they can be buffed with Tarsa, Daria, and the Inspire ability
- Double strike or monsters with 2 attack abilities are preferred
- Blast and Retaliate are great abilities to have
- Be careful that you don't rely too heavily on your summoner to make your weak monsters better since the Demoralize and Shield combination can really water down your lineup
When faced with reverse speed, my instinct is almost always to go with Obsidian. There are so many 1 speed Magic monsters that have a low mana cost. However, with Melee Mayhem and the very high mana limit, Tarsa would be my first choice.
Since she isn't available, the next best thing is Daria Dragonscale. She can give the +1 Melee buff but I can choose any of the other available splinters to pair with. As I mentioned earlier, Earth is a good pick because of the Reverse Speed ruleset. There are some very strong Melee cards in the Earth deck that are overshadowed by Magic but this is the perfect opportunity to unleash them.
Additionally, being a high mana battle, the Dragon splinter is a great choice since a lot of the monsters are strong with high mana costs.
The Lineup
| Position | Card Image | Card Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summoner | Daria Dragonscale | Dragon Summoner who buffs all friendly monsters with +1 Melee attack | |
| Pos 1 (tank) | Djinn Chwala | This is a strong Dragon monster to use as a tank because of the Thorns ability. Since most tanks are going to be Melee monsters, the Thorns ability will help us take down their tank even quicker | |
| Pos 2 (secondary tank) | Pelacor Mercenary | He's a strong, slow monster with the flying ability which makes him the perfect secondary tank | |
| Pos 3 (attacker/support) | Disintegrator | The Disintegrator is a must have in these types of rulesets. Not only is he slow, but he also has Demoralize which will help weaken your enemy if they choose to use Melee | |
| Pos 4 (attacker) | Sand Worm | Heavy hitting melee monster that is slow and only gets stronger with Daria. It naturally has Sneak which isn't necessary but I though I might be able to take out my opponent's backline in case they didn't protect a critical piece of their lineup | |
| Pos 5 (attacker) | Grund | Although not exactly slow, Grund is a major contributor in this lineup due to the Double Strike ability. This allows it to hit twice from the backline and the 3 damage becomes 4! | |
| Pos 6 (attacker/support) | War Chaang | Great pick to protect the backline because of the high health and Retaliate ability. It also has Ranged as well as Melee attacks so it too, can attack twice from the backline under these rulesets |
Let's Battle!
- My opponent went with General Sloan which isn't a bad choice if they were expecting me to Demoralize their Melee attacks. Sloan can be great with some of the slower Ranged attackers allowing them to pack a heavier punch
- They went with the Shieldbearer as a tank who has Taunt. This directed my Sandworm away from their backline for a brief moment.
- I like the use of the Chain Golem here since it has the Shield ability. This will help a bit with survivability but really should've been paired with Demoralize.
- Although their monsters had a lot of power, I was about to attack 2 more times due to the Double Strike and Range/Melee combo of War Chaang.
- They didn't Demoralize me at all so Daria was out in full strength
Did it work?
Absolutely! I was able to dish out so much more damage than my opponent.
I analyzed the battle with Splintertools and as I suspected, I had a 100% chance to win this battle.
With Daria and Melee Mayhem, the amount of damage dealt was just too much. I probably should've put the Mycelic Infantry since it's slow and has the Shield ability. However, I was slightly worried about it's lower health and the potential for Magic to take it out quickly.
Final Thoughts
The Dragon splinter is a great way to catch your opponents off guard and play unique lineups. It allows you to play different combinations than the starter cards allow for.
I highly recommend that you explore the Dragon splinter and find at least one summoner to use. It really opens up the game and the potential lineups that you can play.
Thanks for reading! I hoped you enjoyed it!
Referral link : https://splinterlands.com?ref=at.bui89
If you decide to use my referral link, I'll happily send you a few cards to help you get started!