This week's Battle Challenge character is the Coral Wraith!
"Also known as Warlocks of the Ocean, Coral Wraiths are the dark and frightening sorcerers of the deep. Stories say that they were once air breathers who grew tired of life on land. Through a magical alliance with the Mer Dark, they gave up their lives above the water forever." - Splinterlands lore
The Stats
The Strategy
The Coral Wraith, which I acquired via renting, has been a staple of my Bronze/Silver water team. New players frequently lack strong counters to magic attacks, so loading up on as many magic characters as possible under Alric Stormbringer has won me a lot of battles. I possess water/magic cards with a decent range of mana values, allowing me to be flexible with this strategy in both low and high mana values. The Coral Wraith, with 2 magic damage at level 1 and only a cost of 4, is one of the most mana efficient cards in my lineup.
This strategy is not without vulnerabilities though. Several of these cards, including Coral Wraith, are slow glass cannons. They are vulnerable to being picked off by faster cards with sneak, opportunity, or snipe. Blast attacks could potentially knock out multiple cards with a single attack. A tank with the reflect ability could also be absolutely devastating. Luckily we don't see much of that at all in Bronze, and only occasionally in Silver. I suspect this strategy won't have the same level of effectiveness as I progress through the game.
The Battle
Battle Details
- Mana Cap: 26
- Ruleset: Healed Out, Close Range
- Factions: Any
The Kelp Initiate and Albatross form a cheap shield up front that can absorb a few attacks while allowing me to spend more mana on attackers. They won't survive for long, but with a combined 11 magic attack in the 4 slots behind them, they don't need to.
After their defeat, Phantom of the Abyss is often able to act as a high evasion tank to extend the battle. His combination of 6 speed, flying, and dodge leaves some melee and ranged characters literally unable to hit him. Unfortunately luck was not on my side, and he didn't dodge a single attack during the battle, but his 7 health allowed him to hold up long enough for the rest of the attackers to swiftly eat through my opponents roster.
This strategy worked to perfection during this battle. Half of my opponents damage was located in the tank, and even with 14 health The Kraken can't hold up to this type of magical barrage. He was down before his second turn. My opponent also didn't deploy any characters with abilities such as blast, sneak, opportunity, or reflect that could have quickly wiped me out.
Final Thoughts
I'm a big fan of Coral Wraith at my stage in the game. 4 mana for 2 magic attack at level 1 is an efficient use of resources. While my overall water strategy will likely need to be overhauled as I progress, I suspect that Coral Wraith will continue to be useful. There aren't a lot of magical attacks with sneak, and the rust ability could add to its versatility. As of now I am only renting this card, but I've used it frequently, and am happy enough that I will certainly consider making it a purchase.