══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Card Highlights #15: Sea Wreck

────────────◈◉◈────────────
Would you learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers, comprehend its mystery!
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
────────────◈◉◈────────────

There was an unforgotten unit that I never fought. It was released and looked promising and yet none seemed to use it for whatever reason. So now, I'm here to check why. Is Sea Wreck really that bad or did the players only misunderstood his strengths?

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Lore

Born from the seabed and woven together with rocks and shells, sea wrecks are one of the most powerful golems found in the Splinterlands. They were first seen shortly after the Chaos Legion’s invasion. However, they are extremely rare, as the skill and power required to summon them is great indeed.

Vast and often fused with flotsam and wreckage from the ocean floor, they earn their moniker from the ruined hulls of ships that frequently protrude from their bodies as they lumber onto the beaches. They can single-handedly wipe out a small coastal village, and without sufficient defensive fortifications, even larger towns are at risk.

---

^{For full lore of this card, visit this website:
https://next.splinterlands.com/card-detail/558/regular/8/?tab=lore}

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Buy and Rental Costs

You can buy a level 1 for $17.23. This is a bit fair given that Sea Wreck came from an airdrop and not from the packs. Still, it's better to rent one first since, in my opinion, this card is not for everyone.

---

Sea Wreck went down a lot in rental price since he was released. You can rent one now for only 0.85 DEC and this is because of his glaring weakness. Units now have very decent speed. Before Chaos Legion, you can see 1 speed here and there but now, 2 speed is probably the least and it only goes up from there.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Card Stats

Sea Wreck's stats are actually fairly high. Unfortunately, the mana is also high which makes him very tricky to use.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Card Effects

Bloodlust

Every time it defeats an opponent, it gets +1 to all stats

This is probably his best ability. If an ability that he has kills an enemy, Bloodlust also activates increasing his stats.

---

Return Fire

When hit with a Ranged attack, Units with Return Fire will return reduced damage back to their attacker

This is a good ability when combined with Bloodlust. It also makes him a good front just like how Cursed Windeku is a strong front line.

---

Magic Reflect

When hit with Magic damage, does reduced Magic damage back to the attacker

Same with the Return Fire but for magic attacks.

---

Heal	Restores a portion of the Unit's health each round

If you can use this, it makes this unit a beast. His high health becomes a strong asset and his Bloodlust can only makes him stronger. It's the same as why Quora Towershead is strong when she's in the front.

---

Amplify

Increases Magic Reflect, Return Fire, and Thorns damage to all enemy units by 1

This ability increases he efficiency of Return Fire and Magic Reflect.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

Sea Wreck is a very good tank due to his high health. High health also means all heals he will receive are also high. At the base of 12 health, he gets 4 Heals and Tank Heals each round. Another strength is his hgih damage. Higher damage makes Bloodlust activate easier. This also works for the damaging abilities such as Magic Reflect and Return Fire. If these two abilities kill an enemy, Bloodlust activates giving him more stats.

---

Weaknesses
While this doesn't sound serious, his 1 speed is his weakness. Since his damage is high, it now matters if it misses. It's the same as to why you don't see Grum Flameblade around. Both have high health and damage, perfect as a front, but since they misses a lot, the high damage is worthless.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

When To Use

Counterspell

All units receive the Magic Reflect ability at the start of the battle. Enemy units that attack with magic receive damage back.

Since Sea Wreck does not use magic attacks, he wouldn't be affected by this rule set. Not only that, if the Magic Reflect kills an enemy, his Bloodlust can activate increasing his stats.

---

Reverse Speed

Units with the lowest Speed attack first and have the highest chance of evading attacks.

Since Sea Wreck has low speed, being on Reverse Speed rule set changes his weakness to strength making him attack earlier and miss less.

---

Up to Eleven

All units have the Amplify ability.

Two of his abilities can be improved by Amplify which Up to Eleven gives. The higher the damage of Return Fire and Magic Reflect, the higher the chance Bloodlust can activate as well.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

When Not To Use

Equalizer

The initial Health of all Units is equal to that of the Units on either team with the highest base Health.

It would most likely to benefit your enemy more than you because you will be using 11 mana but they get 12 health regardless of the mana they spend.

---

Earthquake

Non-flying Units take 2 Melee damage at the end of each round.

Unlike the abilities that gives Sea Wreck abilities that may activate Bloodlust, units killed with Earthquake are unrelated to Sea Wreck. This means even if they get killed by Earthquake, Sea Wreck's Bloodlust does not activate making it a waste.

---

Back to Basics

Units lose all abilities.

Even though he has amazing stats, his strength actually is because of Bloodlust and the complementing abilities. Without the said abilities, he's just a huge tank that would probably miss its attack half of the game.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Battle Sample

^{https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_3d8a8f42aebb6c6b02f645cc43f507c3}

Using the high health of Sea Wrech and Crustacean King's Tank Heals, I was able to withstand my enemy's blows. Not only that, since my enemy had two range units, Sea Wreck's Return Fire ability also had a strong effect against my enemies.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Final Thoughts

Sea Wreck is far from perfect. I would even claim that I was only lucky during this battle since I've tried him before this and I had huge disappointments. I never thought about this but speed is very important for a melee unit.

In my other battles, I lost games which I could've won just because Sea Wreck missed a lot. He looks really strong on paper but once his attacks start missing, you wll think twice about using him.

I would say though that on higher levels, he feels amazing. If you're on Diamond or higher, able to use all of his abilities, the Return Fire and Magic Reflect is a really good combination especially if you use a dragon summoner named Lily Shieldpaw. To make it short, Lily makes it that Sea Wreck is the only unit your enemy can attack. That way, you can maximize the use of Return Fire and Magic Reflect.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

If you have suggested combos or questions, feel free to comment it down below.

If you are planning to play and is inspired by my post, please consider using my referral link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=kpgamingch

I do not own any of the photos in this post. All credits goes to:

• Splinterlands
• Peakmonsters
• Canva
• Giphy