Card Highlights #17: Full Force Kraken | Ecency

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Card Highlights #17: The Kraken

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For every Kraken slain, ten more rise up from the depths. Such is the will of Neptulon
by Lysa Serion, Vashj'ir Hunter Trainer from "World of Warcraft"
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I really like the Kraken to the point that this is the 3rd post I have about it but this time, it's a little bit different. Recently, Splinterlands removed the limit on the levels for the league. This gave me the idea of trying out The Kraken on his highest capability. This is a trial on using The Kraken on max level and it went real good.

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Lore

They say that in the recent shifting of the Planet that has come with the Untamed, great schisms were opened on the floors of the seas. Through these new openings emerged new units from the core beyond, larger than anything even the most traveled Azmaré pirate has ever seen. The Kraken is one such beast, and one that occasionally swims as high as the water’s surface. Sailors who have seen it say that it approaches from beneath like a great storm cloud, somehow darkening everything around it with its massive shadow.

With the swipe of a single tentacle, the Kraken can capsize the mightiest ships as if they were a child’s bath toy. The Kraken is so huge that special Gloridax sorcery was used to ensure that its projected essence in tournament battle was only a small portion of its actual size. If this precaution had not been taken, summoning the Kraken would have crushed every spectator in the arena.

^{For full lore of this card, visit this website:
https://next.splinterlands.com/card-detail/213/regular/3?tab=lore}

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Buy and Rental Costs

While the level 1 is a bit cheaper at around $10.97, I can't say the same for the max level at $147. The max level though is really strong and I believe it can take you to champion with a few other units.

Renting The Kraken at max level is still expensive ranging around 160 DEC per day. At the start of the change, I managed to rent him for 40.856 DEC per day.

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Card Stats

The Kraken is the strongest unit in the game. He's especially stronger against melee units due to her Retaliate.

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Card Effects

^Taunt

All enemy Units target this Unit (if they are able to)

This is a strong ability despite The Kraken not having any defensive ability. The Kraken's high health and armor makes up for the lack of defensive abilities and these stats are further supported by the other units.

^Demoralize

Reduces the Melee attack of all enemy Units

Reducing an enemy's damage is really good especially for one that has lack of defensive ability. Reducing melee unit's attacks are always good since the enemy mostly have at least 1 melee unit.

^Enrage

Has increased Melee attack and Speed when damaged

Enrage is not a needed ability in my opinion since he already has high damage. This is still good when combined with the next ability on the list.

^Retaliate

When hit with a Melee attack, Units with Retaliate have a chance of attacking their attacker

Retaliate works best on The Kraken due to his Taunt and Enrage. Since he has Taunt, any Sneak attacks redirects to him increasing the chance of Retaliate activating.

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Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths
The Kraken's strength is everything. His stats is high, his abilities are good and complementing each other and best of all, he can win games on his own in some circumstances.

Weaknesses
The only weakness I can see is the high mana required to use him and the cost for the rental. Other than those two, there's not a weakness that makes me not to use him.

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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.

The Kraken isn't using any magic damage and the full build doesn't use a lot of magic attacks either. This rule set also decreases the chances of your enemies using magic damage which gives you a chance of using that high armor.

^{Equal Opportunity}

All Units have the Opportunity ability.

The Kraken's Taunt is a good counter for Equal Opportunity. Even though The Kraken has high health, all the attack still gets redirected to him due to Taunt which saves your team.

^{Target Practice}

All Ranged and Magic attack Units have the Snipe ability.

It's the same concept as Equal Opportunity. Taunt helps protect your units supporting The Kraken.

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When Not To Use

^Earthquake

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

Kraken doesn't fly. Even though he has high stats, he'll still get damage every round and against a team that won't, that's a big disadvantage.

^{Tis But Scratches}

All Units have the Cripple ability.

Reducing the max health reduces the effectiveness of Tank Heal. The build still revolves on making the Kraken withstand all the damage so the Tank Heal is a major part of this build.

^{Up Close and Personal}

Only Units with Melee attack may be used in battles.

You can use The Kraken but cannot use other units with Tank Heal. There are also no units as of now that has both melee attacks and Tank Heal. On the other hand, you can use Byzantine Kitty in this rule set to add Heal on The Kraken if you still want to use him.

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Battle Sample

^{https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_7d84546b47c451d2708e68c21fca26b7}

Since the enemies was not able to get pass The Kraken's defense, my team is well protected that I don't even need to use the Born Again rule set to get an advantage.

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Final Thoughts

The Kraken is strong before and it's stronger when it gets to max level. Unlike other units, the rule set does not have a strong effect on this unit but more on his team and should still look out for rules that gives you great disadvantage like Tis but Scratches. Even though they are disadvantages, it doesn't make the game unwinnable.

I'm pretty confident that The Kraken can take you to Champion league or at least Diamond 1, that is, if you can afford renting him and the summoner all throughout. The Kraken can give you a lot of wins and it only gets better as you climb up since the minimum mana also increases as you goes up in league.

The move of Splinterlands to remove the level cap on the units may be seen as negative but in the hands of a master, it's actually a nice idea. It would also get better if players can rent Rebellion Summoners at max level. I didn't do that because it's very expensive but imagine The Kraken having Shield with the other units defending him. Even alone, he'll be quite a formidable force to be reckoned with.

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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: