SHARE YOUR BATTLE Weekly Challenge! CRYPT BEETLE

The Crypt Beetle is a Chaos Legion common card, part of the Death Splinter. It is not one of the most widely used cards from their melee tank line-up but it does have its niche uses which should not be underestimated. Its relatively low mana cost (3) also makes it a good addition to the team when you have that one last spot to fill out and you still have some mana budget left to do so.

Before getting into the stats discussion of the Monster, let's have a sneak peak into its LORE:

Any explorers that delve too deeply into the crypts, mausoleums, and necropolises of the world will find a foe they are unprepared for. Not undead, not liches, and not other monsters that can be found in the deep. Instead, tales are told of the crypt beetles. Enormous insects that are found feeding on the corpses within. Most explorers think they are a mere nuisance and will try to scare them away from whatever tomb they are choosing to rob.

But things don't end well for those explorers. These large beetles will defend themselves and their food aggressively. And any explorer that makes it back out alive will have impressive scars to show from the crypt beetle's bite.

Within the darkness of the necropolis, the large crypt beetle scuttled across the stone floor. It made its way through the lines of tombs, searching for its next meal. Retracing steps it often took in the emptiness and silence of the underground.

The crypt beetle stopped at one tomb, reared back on its hind legs, and shoved the lid off. It fell heavily to the floor with an echoing slam.

A small scream of surprise and horror sounded from across the room. The crypt beetle turned. A human stood there, face aghast, staring at the insect. As the beetle fully faced this intruder, the human turned and ran away in fright.

The crypt beetle returned to its meal.

After the breath of fresh air we got last week with the Time Mage, it seems we're back on track with writing and fantasizing about creepy crawlies.😁 Well at least now everyone knows to avoid entering and pillaging tombs, crypts, and other burial structures across Praetoria. I think that was obvious even before that but still. I don't really like insects of any shape or size so it will not be a hard rule to follow for me.😁

Okay, now that we have a vague idea of who the Crypt Beetle is, let us have a look at its stats and abilities at the key different levels.

It starts with the Shield ability (Reduced damage from Melee and Ranged attacks) from level 1, which is actually the only ability it gets. As far as stats are concerned - it starts with 1 attack, 1 speed, 1 armor and 2 life. Which might seem low but having in mind its ability and the mana cost of 3, it is actually a pretty decent package.
At leve 4 it already has 1A, 2S, 2Sd, 3L. So at the max level for Silver, the stats are looking pretty good for such a low cost tank Monster.
At level 8 the stats are as follows: 2A, 2S, 4Sd, 5L. So this is also a good point to have it at if you are participating in a high enough league.
Finally at level 10 it also gains an additional attack point for a total of 3, again this is at the cost of 3 mana, so that should not be underestimated.

Now that we know what the card does at the different levels of play, let us have a look at the two battles (since they are relatively short) I have chosen to showcase.

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The line-up of the Battle and the Ruleset:

So with the mana budget of 42, I felt I could splurge a bit and try to counter an eventual Earth play, so I went with Djinn Muirat in the tanking spot. Its thing is that magic attacks do not land on its health directly but have to deplete its armor first so it survives a bit more against magic attackers. Armor also helps a lot in when the Earthquake ruleset is present which is currently the case.

The 2nd place in the line-up went to the Pelacor Deceiver. It is a flying tanking unit, so its purpose is to survive as much as possible and being immune to Earthquake surely can help with that.

The 3rd place in the line-up was for Silent Sha-Vi. I use this card in virtually all battles I play with the Death Splinter. It is just too good to pass on when the ruleset allows it to be used at its full potential. In this case it could also survive for 3 rounds before dying to Earthquake, so that would allow it to do its thing - which is disrupt the enemy backline.

The Sand Worm is in 4th spot. It is basically Silent Sha-Vi's bigger, more expensive, more powerful, but also a tad slower brother. When you pair the two there is a highly likelihood of mayhem ensuing in the enemy's line-up.

The fifth position is for Soulstorm. It is a card I constantly rent since I actually enjoy playing it. Especially in Earthquake battles. It is a Flying Monster, has 5 speed and wait for it, has Snare (removes the flying ability from enemy monsters) which is actually huge in these matches. I've won more matches than I can count solely thanks to that.

In the last spot for this line-up comes our spotlight Monster - the Crypt Beetle. I have it here hoping to take a few hits if it has to, and also survive to the Earthquake damage for a couple of rounds due to the armor and shield ability.

It is time for a quick round by round analysis:

I have chosen to go with my Death Splinter Summoner of choice - Thaddius Brood. That's first and foremost due to the fact that he is my most levelled up Death Summoner at level 3😄 but also since his -1 Magic attack - 1 Life debuffs could be helpful. On the other hand I was right in my prediction that my opponent would go with the Earth Splinter line-up - a level 1 Obsidian (+1 Magic attack buff), despite the fact that their Monster choice is rather weird.

After 1 round my Monsters are all still accounted for while my enemy has lost their Taunt monster. Note that at 1/20 of each round the earquake damage has not yet hit the Monster which could be affected by it.

At the start of round 3 the battle is basically over and I am just cleaning up the remainder of the enemy's line-up. It was a fast and decisive victory for me.

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Let us begin with the line-up and the Ruleset:

This time around our beetle is in the prime tanking spot so it will surely jump into action. I decided to go with it as a "main" tank as the mana budget is pretty restrictive at 17 mana. We will see if this decision pays off.

The 2nd place in the line-up was reserved for the one Monster I already mentioned I basically throw in every battle possible, lol - Silent Sha-Vi.

The third spot in the line-up was assigned to the Death Elemental. I put it in 3rd spot as it is right in the middle of my line-up, so it is equally protected from the front and from the back. I expect it to manage to Snipe off an enemy or two since the enemy monsters will also probably be more and of lower mana cost, so potential 1-health targets should be present.

The 4th spot in the line-up is for the Undead Badger. I like to use it in low-mana battles, and despite having just 1 melee attack, it is actually quite fast with its 5 speed.

The fifth position is for the Corpse Fiend. Its sole objective is to take a hit against a Sneak monster.

It is time for a quick round by round analysis:

As we can see both my opponent and I have chosen to go with the Death Splinter for this battle, well, kind of. My opponent is actually using the Dragon Splinter but just for the +1 to Shields ability of their summoner. Their monsters, however, are all from the Death Splinter. I am utilizing my favorite Thaddius dude again.

After 1 round, my opponent has lost 2 Monsters while my line-up is still hanging in there. My 2 Sneak Monsters and the Snipe one have done what is expected of them so far. And the Crypt Beetle has managed to hold the front line.

At the start of round 3my opponent is left with just his Cursed Wendiku against my 4 surviving monsters. It is not over yet as monsters with Thorns are a real pain for low-mana, low-health melee Monsters. However, I do seem to have a decent advantage at this point.

The beginning of Round 4 does seem clutch. However, my Silent Sha-Vi is faster than the Wendiku so it will attack first and take it out (if it does not miss 😁) if it misses then the situation could become dire. Fortunately that was not the case and the match ended successfully for me.

The Crypt Beetle is definitely a Monster from the Death line-up which often gets overlooked but it actually has opportunities to shine. It could be especially useful in low-mana match-ups, as well as battles with the Equalizer and Little League rulesets.😉

GhostlyBG, over and out
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You can check out some other stuff from my recent Splinterlands blogging venture: