A new week, a new Share Your Battle Challenge. This time we will get to revisit the Death Splinter and its denizens. I really enjoy playing the Death Splinter even though a lot of people would say that it is not that great at least as far as its Chaos Legion version goes. However, I do think playing Death is pretty fun even if you are someone like me who has only Thaddius at their disposal. But enough about the Splinter, let's talk about our protagonist this week - the Dhampir Stalker. It is one of the Death Splinter Monsters which I play quite frequently. It can totally make a difference with its good amount of ranged damage and True Strike ability.
Now before we get into the stats discussion of the Stalker, let's have a sneak peek into its LORE.
It seems that the Dhampir Stalkers are half-vampires, great at tracking and lethal with their bows. Surely a Monster anyone would like to avoid being tracked by.🤓
Alright, we've got some idea of what an Dhampir Stalker is, after glancing at its lore. Let us have a look at its stats and abilities at different key levels now.
- The Dhampir Stalker is a Rare Monster. At level 1 it has 3 Ranged Attack, 2 Speed, 0 Armor and 5 Health but most importantly it starts off with the True Strike ability (The Monster's attacks cannot miss). This is its signature ability and it is what makes this Monster totally worth its mana cost of 7.
- At level 4 (max for Silver) it gains an additional point in Ranged Attack for a total of 4.
- At level 5 (entry for Gold) it gains its second ability - Deathblow (the Monster does 2x damage if their target is the only Monster left on the enemy team). Deathblow is pretty niche but it can sometimes be very helpful --> looking at you Lama-Kron.
- Finally, maxed out at level 8 it has 5 attack, 4 speed, and 7 health, which is pretty good as far as damage goes.
Now that we know what the card does (or doesn't do) at the different levels of play, let us have a look at the battle I have chosen to showcase.
<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>BATTLE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>
- The line-up of the Battle and the Ruleset:
The ruleset for this battle is Spreading Fury (All Monsters have the Enrage ability). The mana budget is 44 which is higher than average but definitely does not allow for the player to choose whatever they want so some planning has to go into line-up. Death is the only available Splinter so Death it is then.
The main tank for this battle will be my favorite Death tank - the Cursed Windeku. It has a perfect stat balance for the 6 mana it costs, pair that with the Thorns ability it has right from the start and the Heal ability it gains at level 5, and you have a truly potent tanking Monster, especially when facing low-mana, low-health melee opponents.
Following immediately after the Cursed Windeku is the Arachne Thug. It is a Monster I have been using more and more frequently every since it got introduced into the game with the Rift Watchers mini-set. I have it at level 5 for the Trample ability (if the Monster kills an enemy, a second attack is triggered) which could be very useful combined with its first ability - Reach (allows the Monster to attack from the 2nd spot behind the main tank).
The 3rd place in the line-up goes to another Rift Watcher newcomer I have been using quite frequently ever since it came into exitance - the Queen of Crows. I currently have it leveled to level 4 so I enjoy its Headwinds ability (Reduces the Ranged Attack of all enemy Monsters) but my aim is to get it to level 5 where it also gains the Slow ability. It can also attack from the tank spot tanks to its Close Range ability.
The 4th spot is for the star of this week's challenge, namely the Dhampir Stalker. I think this spot in the line-up suits it fine and should be free to inflict maximum damage which is what is always expected of it.
5th in the line-up is Lira The Dark. It is a great legendary as far as I am concerned and I include it often in my Death Splinter line-ups as long as the mana cap allows it. Opportunity and Swiftness are two abilities you should never leave home without.
Last but definitely not least is the Silven Sha-Vi. It is definitely a must-include Monster in every Death line-up unless the ruleset does not allow the Sneak ability to work. I have it in the last spot to protect my ranged-attack heavy back-line from potential sneaky enemy Monsters.
It is time for a quick round by round analysis:
- The Summoner I am going with for the battle (as I have already mentioned) is Thaddius. It is a Gold 1 level battle. My opponent has decided to also go with a level 6 Thaddius but their line-up is slight different than mine. I have a good feeling about this battle as Thaddius nerfs all their Magic attackers and the Queen of Crows all their Ranged attackers.
- After 1 round of exchanging blows the two main tanks are still alive. My Lira saw the Opportunity to eliminate the enemy Venari Bonesmith with a single lethal blow which did solve that potential issue very quickly.
- Round 3 begins with the obvious fact that I have gained huge momentum in Round 2, so the battle is more or less over at this point.
- At the end of Round 3 the only Monster from the enemy team left to be eliminated is their Magi Necrosi which has been "hiding" in the shadows up until the moment it became the only remaining target on the battlefield.
The Dhampir Stalker is a great Ranged Attacker for the Death Splinter. It can make a difference in a battle with its 0 variance in terms of missing attacks and significant damage output. The Dhampir Stalker is currently valued at $0.091 per BCX, which is actually a very good price for such a potent Rare Monster. I would definitely include it in my must-buy list if I did not have it maxed out for Gold League already.
Over and Out,
Referral