Coralforged is one of the rewards for the Water element in Conclave Arcana. As a Common monster, many players might think he is simple. But when you look at his stats, he is actually very solid for 8 mana. With 4 melee damage, 4 armor, 9 health, and 4 speed, he looks strong especially if you factor in his abilities.
Water element is usually known for speed and magic damage. Coralforged is different because he is a strong melee frontline tank. He brings strong defense and utility to the team. With Flank, Fury, Dodge, and Shield, he is a defining tank but allows you to combo him with another tank due to Flank. Because he is Common, he is easier to level compared to legendary tanks. This makes him more accessible for many players. Even at mid levels, his kit already feels useful.
Image from Splinterlands
Flank gives the 2nd position monster the Reach ability. This is very strong in melee teams. Normally, only the 1st monster can attack with melee. With Flank, you can run two melee damage dealers at the front. This increases total team damage and number of your tanks without changing formation too much. It works very well in any modifier and is a good overall ability if you have multiple tanks you can use.
Image from Splinterlands
Fury deals double damage against monsters with Taunt. This is situational but very powerful. Many strong tanks use Taunt to protect their team. Coralforged can punish that strategy by doing twice the damage to them. If the enemy relies fully on one Taunt tank and it's in the front like Bera Dallin, Fury can kill it faster. It becomes even better when combined with abilities that increases his damage like Inspire.
Image from Splinterlands
Dodge increases evasion by 25%. Since Coralforged has 4 speed, this gives him decent chance to avoid attacks. Against slower attackers, he can dodge often. You can make this ability more effective by adding abilities that stack with Dodge. Abilities like Blind and Flying are two of those. Of course, abilities that manipulate Speed like Swiftness, Slow, Enrage or Last Stand can also help with it.
Image from Splinterlands
Shield reduces melee and ranged damage by half. This is very important for a frontline tank. Most teams rely heavily on melee damage for their tanks and some strategies uses range damage as well. With Shield, Coralforged can last much longer in battle. Shield makes him reliable in many different matchups since it halves the damage done by a lot of attacks.
When using Coralforged, I usually take advantage of the Flank ability. Before, I don't do this and ignore it but you would realize the big difference of having one tank and two tanks in your frontline. The damage of the units climbed up in Conclave Arcana so having only 1 tank is very dangerous and can easily make you lose. Even if my second tank is weak like Ironwing Juggernaut, he can still function as a tank for the team. I also have 2 Elemental Bloodline and 1 Canisan Bloodline for Loving the Moo's Bloodline Dominion Poison ability. Overall, as a first view, I think this lineup is well balanced and with those advantage, I was able to win this match easy.
Coralforged is a strong Water tank with balanced stats. Flank allows a second melee unit to attack, increasing team damage and structure. Fury punishes Taunt tanks in the front with double damage. Dodge and Shield make him durable against units that does melee and range attacks. He works really good in any battles and allowing the addition of another tank can be a game changer. Loving the Moo gives him more power as well making each attack poisonous. With proper build, Coralforged can be a really strong flexible tank for Water Element if you need one.
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