There are some Monsters in the game which do not seem special at all at first sight and one of these Monsters is the good ol' Hill Giant, part of the Earth Splinter. However, after further inspection it does turn out that the Hill Giant could actually be a very useful card due to its low mana cost and fairly large health pool for that cost. It is especially useful in low-mana battles, as well as Little League and Back to Basics rulesets.
Now before we get into the stats discussion of the Hill Giant, let's have a sneak peek into its LORE
So, as the art of the Monster actually suggests, it really is a somewhat peaceful giant who is, however, ready to act whenever pressed against the wall. I always enjoy blogging about positive characters in the game rather than the usual creeps.
Alright, we've got some idea of what an Hill Giant is, after glancing at its lore. Let us have a look at its stats and abilities at different key levels now.
This time our Common Monster has additional ability unlike a lot of its fellows of similar quality who often lack any abilities at all. It starts off without any ability though but with a pretty decent health pool of 6.
At level 3, it already has an additional point in attack and 1 more health.
At level 5 which is the max level for Siler league, it has 2 attack, 2 speed and 8 health which are good stats for a 3-mana melee Monster.
At level 6 it gains its only additional ability - Stun. Yeah, stunning the enemy is something you would expect from a tree-wielding giant, so I like how they have honored the monster's lore by adding it.
Finally, maxed out at level 10 it has 3 attack, 3 speed, and 9 health. Not too shabby at all.
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.
The rulesets combined with the low mana budget of 17 are really restrictive this time around so I have to come up with a good battle plan in order to win this. Reverse Speed favors low speed Monsters but on the other hand Noxious Fumes is devastating to the low-health denizens of Praetoria. My plan under these circumstances is to go for low-health, low-speed Monsters at the front (so that they can take the initial hits from the enemy before they die to Noxious Fumes) and then leave those with greater chance of survival for longer at the back. This is why I have placed the Fungus Fiend in the first spot.
Following immediately after the Fungus Fiend is the Mycelic Morphoid. The justification is the same plus the fact that the Morphoid has Thorns, so it can potentially do 2 damage to an enemy melee attacker which would definitely be helpful.
The 3rd place in the line-up goes to the our protagonist - the Hill Giant. It is in the 3rd spot to hold the line following Round 1 with its 8 health. It should buy enough time for the Noxious Fumes to do more damage to the enemy's line-up.
The 4th spot is for Queen Mycelia. Generally you cannot go wrong with including this Monster in your line-up unless the ruleset is one which removes all armor. I have it precisely for armor provision. It also has 4 health so it will survive at 2 rounds which should be enough. It is also a magic attacker so she benefits from Obsidians +1 to magic attack buff.
5th in the line-up is the Spirit Hoarder. Its again a low-cost, 1-speed Monster with a magic attack buffed by Obsidian. This is not the main reason for its inclusion though. It has Triage, so it can throw a heal on the backline since every heal will negate the Noxious Fumes damage on a Monster for the turn, which could potentially turn the tide of battle in my favor.
Last but definitely not least is a new kid on the Praetorian block - Venator Kinjo. At level 2 it has Immunity and Camouflage which is exactly what the doctor ordered for this battle. This mean that no matter what Venator Kinjo will be the last Monster standing for my team. This furthers my strategy of trying to outlast the enemies instead of taking them out directly.
It is time for a quick round by round analysis:
The Summoner I am going with for the battle (as you might have already guessed) is Obsidian as I do not have any other level 4 Summoner you will likely see me play her in every Earth Splinter battle under the sun (at least for now). That's fine though cause I like her a lot. My enemy (who also happens to be a guildie of mine) is rocking a level 2 Kretch Tallevor. It is not enough to support max level Monsters for Silver so I am definitely at an advantage due to this fact. I should also mention that this battle is from a currently ongoing Moder Silver League tourney.
After 1 round, it seems that this battle will be a lot easier than expected. It would have been different if my enemy's Uriel was at level 2 where it gains toe ability to heal itself. My opponent probably included it precisely for this reason but he forgot the summoner he was using was not sufficient to support a level 2 legendary Monster. Any way I did not lose anything before the Noxious Fumes pass which is about to commence while my opponent lost his Soul Fiend
Midway through Round 2 I have lost my cannon fodder Monsters to Noxious Fumes but our friend the Hill Giant is standing strong. Uriel is 1 magic attack away from dying at this point.
At the end of the Round all that is left is for my Hill Giant to land the killing blow on the enemy's Spirit Horder which it does with meticulous precision. A dominant victory.
The Hill Giant is a great low-budget, low-mana Monster for the Earth Splinter. It can also do pretty well in the tank position if needed. It is specifically great for that from level 6 onward due to the additional ability it gains as we discussed earlier. The Hill Giant currently valued at $0.039 per BCX, so there is literally no reason not to pick up as many copies as you need to get it leveled up to the appropriate level of the league you compete in.
