SHARE YOUR BATTLE Weekly Challenge! KULU SWIMHUNTER

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The Kulu Swimhunter is a Monster which is a part of the Chaos Legion Water Splinter line-up. It is a ranged attack Monster (it can attack from all spots except the tank one unless the ruleset allows it). It can be paired with decent success with Water Splinter summoners such as Kelya and Bortus. Kelya works especially well with the additional speed and armor she provides.

Now before getting into the stats discussion of the Monster, let's have a sneak peek into its lore:

Kulu Swimhunters are members of a race of squid-like creatures that hunt in packs. They use their multiple tentacles to wield all manner of projectiles, to include spears, coral, and even fish. They are very aggressive and are known to traverse oceans, lakes, and rivers, killing for sport and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. They do not value gold or glory and will ally themselves with whoever promises the greatest opportunity to hunt and kill.

The young boy leaned on the ship's gunwale, staring dreamily into the deep green of the water. His father was a simple fisherman, but the boy fantasized about one day being a naval officer... or perhaps a pirate. Anything but a simple fisherman.

Movement in the water below caught his eye, and he leaned over the gunwale, squinting into the depths. A dark shape rose toward the surface. It was emerald green, with two shining orbs set into its surface. As it drew closer, he realized the orbs were eyes. Tentacles waved in the water around it. A squid, the boy thought. He smiled and watched the creature's ascent with interest.

Suddenly, a tentacle shot out of water and threw something at the boy. A dead fish struck him hard in the temple. He winced and staggered, but before he could recover, the tentacle wrapped around his neck and yanked him over the side of the boat. The boy landed in the water with a splash and was quickly dragged down into the depths of the ocean.

Oh boy, I've always gotten the "Big Bad Kraken - Stay Away" vibe when looking at the Swimhunter but I did not expect it to be that vile of a creature. It not only wants to kill and eat you but it also throws dead smelly fish at you while trying to achieve its goal. That's taking things to a whole new level... 😝

Okay, now that we have a pretty good idea of what the Kulu Swimhunter is, let us have a look at its stats and abilities at the key different levels.

The Monster's main ability is that it has no additional abilities 😁, however, it has some pretty decent stats even at level one for the 4 mana it costs. Its 2 ranged attack, 1 speed and 4 health are decent for 4 mana.
Another good point to have it leveled to is level 4 (max level for Silver league) where it gets upgraded to 3 speed and 6 health.
At level 6 (Gold league area) it gains an additional ranged attack point, however loses 1 health. It is a good trade-off as the attack point is a lot more valuable.
At level 9 it actually get pretty beefy with 7 health, while retaining the 3 attack and 5 speed it already has.
Finally at level 10 it ends up with 4 ranged attack, 5 speed, while trading 1 health point, in favor of the +1 attack. 4 ranged attack is huge for the 4 mana the Monster costs, so it is a pretty good common unit.

Now that we have gotten acquainted with the stats of the Monster and its abilities, let us have a look at the two battles (due to the fact that they are relatively short) I have chosen to showcase.

<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>BATTLE 1<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>

Let us begin with the line-up:

Given the mana allocation, and the 2 rulesets - Explosive Weaponry and Opportunity, I decided to opt for Kelya as my Summoner. She is equipped to deal with both of them simultaneously with the +1 Armor and +1 Speed she provides. +1 Armor can literally be the difference between the life or death of a Monster, which would ultimately lead to the positive or negative outcome of the battle. +1 Speed is also as important if not sometimes more important - especially in mirror matches.

The first spot of the line-up is reserved for one of my favorite cards from the Water Splinter - the Serpent of Eld. I like it so much that I rent a level 3 version of it even though it is a part of the basic set and you can play the level 1 version for free.😃 It is a fabulous tank against melee and ranged attackers (not magic), with its Dodge ability. And dodging when you have Explosive Weaponry in play is how you win these matches.

The second spot is reserved for the Flying Squid - a reach monster - and if you read last week's challenge then you know what an important role reach monsters play in the off-tank spot. 3 attack and 9 health at level 4, what else could one wish for? 😉

The third spot this time around is for another personal favorite of mine. Djinn Oshannus - hands down the best legendary from the current reward cards pool. 😎 He is so good at dodging magic projectiles and also taking reduced damaged from the ones that hit him, that I often opt for him as a main tank when I suspect the enemy is about to play the "magic card" on me. In this instance I put him there to soak any splash damage which lands near the first two spots.

Right after Djinn Oshannus I have placed this week's protagonist (even though... after reading its lore, I should call it an antagonist) - the Kulu Swimhunter. It is in this spot cause it is one of the safest spots where you can place a ranged unit. In the meantime I do not want it farther behind because I have a bit more dps there if somehow the enemy manages to get through my 3 beefy "bois" at the front. It does sport 6 health at level 4 as previously discussed, so it can definitely take a bit of a beating.

The fifth position is for another card I put a lot of faith in, namely the Axemaster. I really like this card and more or less include it in my line-up every time I choose to play the Water Splinter (if the mana threshold allows it). It a really, really good damage dealer with its Double Strike. When you pair double strike with Explosive Weaponry, you get so many fireworks, you might actually think it's New Year. 😝

I have placed the Nerissa Tridawn in the last spot since she has a very large health pool for a caster. Her task is to protect the Axemaster and the Kulu Swarmer from sneaky enemies and obliterate the enemy tanks in the meantime with the 3 magic damage she inflicts. A truly powerful caster she is.

And now for a quick round by round analysis:

As we can see my opponent has chosen to use his Level 1 Kelya, this is good since it's more or less a mirror match but his monsters are just significantly weaker than mine across the board, even though they (let's be real here they are an "it" as in "bot" 🤣) have opted for a full melee line-up because Opportunity enables them to do so.

In the mid point of the first round, I have managed to take down my opponent's Serpent of Eld, while mine is still alive a pretty violently kicking.. 😃

At the start of the second round it is obviously that Nerissa and my Axemaster have taken a bit of a beating but they are still alive and the Axemaster will surely manage to attack twice before he dies due to his superior speed.

Midway through the 2nd round, my line-up is still alive and kicking in its full glory while my enemy is down to 2 Monsters.

Round 3 is just a matter of finishing off my enemy's last Monster stainding. A flawless victory for my sea-dwelling fighters.

<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>BATTLE 2<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>

Let us begin with the line-up again but this time I will not repeat myself but just point out why I have put the Monsters in the spots they are in:

I've opted for Kelya again as she is currently my go-to Summoner for Water anyway, and even though +1 Armor does not help for the Noxious Fumes ruleset, it is still as good as ever against direct hits from melee and ranged (not magic) opponents.

As you can see this time I've got my man Djinn Oshannus in the first spot. This is due to the fact that in addition to Noxious Fumes, Sneak is also in play as far as the rulesets are concerned. This is why I do not expect much front-facing pressure, and if there is any it is more likely to be Magic/Ranged.

Nerissa follows in the steps of Oshannus and for this reason I have her in the off-tank spot. Again I expect the enemy to come from behind (quite literally).🤣

Our protagonist/antagonist is sitting pretty in the 3rd spot - untouchable is what they call him..😎

Mr. Axemaster is comfy as well in the 4th spot. He can focus solely on what he is best at - throwing a bunch of axes at the enemies ever turn... 😎

We have a new "face" in the 5th position this time around. Our friend here - the Cruel Sethropod is just filling in the remaining 3 mana as per the ruleset constraint. It is a decent little league tank at level 4 though, so I expect it to do its job decently, namely to stall the enemy sneak action if they happen to break through the Serpent of Eld. It also has sneak, so it will do some damage as well, regardless of the fact that it is in the 5th spot.

Last but surely not least is the Serpent of Eld. I expect from it what I always do - namely to cause the enemy team to miss a bunch of times while I devastate their front and back lines. It also has Sneak this battle so 4 damage coming from it is nothing to scuff at.

And now for a quick round by round analysis:

As we can see my opponent has chosen to use his Level 1 Kelya, he/she/it is most likely a bot yet again but it's not like we can choose our enemies so we have to work with what the game throws at us. Their setup is a bit more varied this time around. They have a healer and also a dispeller, so it is obvious they are trying to counter the Noxious Fumes.

After 1 round, both line-ups have not suffered any losses yet but it is obvious that my magic attackers have done a bit more work due to the fact that their attacks ignore armor.

After the Noxious Fumes have passed and a few punches have been exchanged, the enemy has lost their healer and they are just about to lose their main tank. There are a few more Monsters on both team who will not survive the next round of Noxious Fumes.

The beginning of Round 3 reveals the extent of my team's dominance. However, it is not over yet.

Almost at the end of the 3rd round it definitely seems that I am about to win the match.

Nerissa has the pleasure of landing the killing blow on the Deeplurker.

And so, thanks to its fairly large health pool for a common ranged Monster, the Kulu Swimhunter managed to survive both battles and do its fair share of damage. It is definitely a very accessible and useful archer to have in your Monster pool. It will never be a Monster to build your team around a.k.a. MVP, but it can definitely help your team achieve victory.

GhostlyBG, over and out
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