It was a foggy winter night on the farthest lands of Splinterlands wherein the hills and mountains are towering over each other. Hills on that part of the land were as huge as any normal mountain hence they were called, Giant Hills.
The old lady Obsidian was traversing the unfamiliar grounds of the hills in search for her way back home. She thought that she could venture to the hills to find some new herbs to add to her repertoire of medicines and other concoctions. But due to the fog and the night falling upon her, she lost her way and couldn't make out any direction around her.
The hair on the back of her neck stood out from the chills the night gave off and from the rustling sound, she could hear from afar. Aside from that, a soft thud on the ground can be heard but something weird can be heard from it. It seemed that the thud was far away and it was successively and continuously coming near. She immediately hid behind a huge tree to hide her presence.
The sound pretty much sounded like footsteps, enormous footsteps that stopped at once. She closed her eyes and prepared several spells to protect herself.
As she opened her eyes, she was facing a big face in front of her. It was a giant facing her.
"Are you lost baby girl?" the giant asked in a low but humungous voice.
"Don't hurt me. I am warning you, I don't taste good." the Obsidian said in a panic with her staff pointed at the giant.
"Oh no. I will not hurt you. Me, I help you. You lost?" somehow, someway, the giant's speech became different. She was suspicious but she was satisfied that he had good intentions when he picked her up and brought the Obsidian to the bottom of the Giant Hills and sent her on her way home.
And that's how a beautiful friendship started. She named her the Gentle Giant and he became the guide of the Hills.
And that concludes my little introduction about the Splinterlands Share Your Battle Theme for the week, the Hill Giant.
The Hill Giant is part of the Chaos Legion Edition and is under the Earth Splinter. The challenge is to use the Hill Giant in the lineup and here's the lineup which I decided to go with.
For the summoner, I used the Obsidian to get some extra Magic buff on my team.
For the tank, I went with Venari Knifer.
At first, I thought that I should use the Hill Giant as the tank because it looked like it could defend itself and the team from a lot of damage. Believe me, I tried. And it didn't pan out the way I wanted it to be. I use the Venari Knifer to complete a duo tank defense with the Hill Giant which I placed at the back to protect the monsters from behind.
The second line is an attacker which was the Khmer Princess.
To maximize the additional buff of the obsidian, my main attackers must possess magic-type attacks. My attackers could do their job unhindered because they are protected on both ends thanks to the Hill Giant which serves as a lookout from sneak attacks.
Another magic attacker follows suit.
I chose to bring the Venari Spellsmith for the same reason as I chose the Khmer Princess, to take advantage of the additional buff of the Obsidian.
The next monster is the Psychic Goblin.
I chose to bring this one for two reasons, it has a magic-type attack that benefits from the Obsidian's buff and for its healing ability. It sits safely in the second to the last position as it is begin protected by the Hill Giant from behind. Any monster that would launch a sneak attack has to attack the Hill Giant first, a feat that would be difficult to accomplish since the Hill giant has a decent HP.
And at the last position, the Hill Giant guards the ensemble.
With that lineup, I pressed the battle button and let my luck roll with the system's dice of matchmaking.
I was faced with a water Splinter team.
Our lineups were revealed on the table and in essence, we had the same strategy. Some tanks, attackers, and a bit of healing support. We both had the perfect lineup for the battle. But who will prevail in this bout?
And if you wonder if I succeeded with this lineup on this particular match, you can view the replay by clicking on this link: Battle Link
But if you are in a hurry, you can just watch the video recording of the battle here:
If I would have to do it again with the same parameters as this battle, I think that I would do the same thing and wouldn't change a thing. The reason is, heading into this battle, I tried to play the Hill Giant as the front tank and the enemies just kept hitting me mercilessly until no one on my team stands alive.
Hmmm, I think that the Hill Giant could be beneficial if you are really trying to build an Earth team with really limited mana because it only costs 3 mana points. But personally, I think that I would rather pass on this monster, I would prefer my tank to have some kind of damage-reducing ability or at least a counterattack skill.
