@Mernmin (Fellow Board Member of TeamPH) & I decided to purchase Zyriel, the highly anticipated Promo Card that would be the first of its’ kind with a Duel Splinter functionality. What attracted me to this Promo Card was not only the ability to play on either Life & Death Splinters, but also due to the abilities that it boasts when at max level. We have always been supportive of SPL and whatever they release as it generally looks to benefit us all in the long run, but whenever cards are released, I personally look for value through game mechanics instead of the Investment Opportunity.
I had been speaking with @vettev through the Team Possible discord – General Chat, and he had access to the Test Server and he explained Zyriels effectiveness. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and had already though of some decent Meta’s to Try out within the modern rulesets, anticipating the change up in the future. We went for the 25 Copies which cost us 4000 Vouchers and 1 Million DEC. As we both have nodes and staked SPS, we had some of the requirements and thanks to the P2P market and Tribaldex, we were able to pick up what was missing.
We managed to obtain the Guaranteed Gold Foil card along with 24 regulars. We put the Gold Foil up for Sale as we only received one copy and split the rest giving us each a maxed copy and 1 spare for our bronze alt accounts. I proceeded into battle.
The first match where I had been able to use her, I came up against, what I presume is a real player and an effective one at that. I defaulted to my usual Life setup based on the rulesets, as there was no heal, repair and resurrect became apparent and the life leach and rust seemed like a good fit. I always try to play Grandmaster Rathe for the Void Shield and Amplify. The amount of damage that she was able to deal was insane and played a big factor in winning this match, of course paired with a sustainable tank with taunt such as Shield Bearer. I was not able to test our weapons training however the other attributes seem to be a game changer.
On the second match, I utilized Zyriel with Lily Shield Paw, my new found favorite Summoner. Based on the rulesets, she was a perfect match, although my opponent’s choice of taunt monster with Wave Brood could have been devastating to my team should amplify been added. But with the 5 Ranged attack, Life Leach and the Divine Shield, paired with 2 forms of triage, I was able to get rid of his taunt monster quickly without it being able to deal much damage. Again, I was not able to test out weapons training.
There has been a lot of negativity revolving around this card, it is quite expensive compared to previous Promos and some would argue, is it as effective as Doctor Blight or Lux Vega for example? I can also see some truth to this however all cards are situational, and based on the rulesets (That are ever changing) I think that you would be at a disadvantage if you didn’t have this card in your arsenal. In fact, all Promo and rewards cards that they have released have been awesome and have value especially when playing in higher leagues. The best feeling is when you can outplay your opponent with something different and un seen using unexpected cards to your advantage.
I will continue to play, experiment and come up with new metas based on hours of gameplay and will share my knowledge and experiences with the Splinterfam. With the release of new cards, new rulesets, new abilities and potentially game modes, I feel that this game gets more interesting by the minute. With the passing of the Anti Bot proposal, I am left more optimistic as an actual player as to what the future may hold, and remain excited to future battles to come.
This is @mangomayhem signing out, ciao now, I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield!
"We Thrive Together Kapamilya"
Credits to Splinterlands for the use of Images, and to @mebu for designing my personalized dividers (Thank you).