Hello! I've made tons of posts about Splinterlands in the past weeks, but I have never done an analysis of the airdrops that have happened or been revealed. We are now at 6.5milion packs sold, which means that we will have a total of 5 airdrop cards by the end of the week (I do not count Dr Blight in this!). Hopefully the next one will happen soon - and of course we're all waiting impatiently both to see and get the newest legendary summoners!
If we exclude Dr Blight, as he was much more elusive than the other 5, that leaves us with Baakjira and Uriel as airdrops that already made their way to the game, as well as three that are yet to be added - Iza, Lira and Grum. In my opinion, the power level on these cards varies greatly. It is important, however, to evaluate them not based on sheer stats, but also the environment they are being added into: their splinters, as well as the upcoming modern format.
Uriel was - alongside Baakjira - one of the airdrops revealed earliest and those that we can already play with. In the case of Uriel, however, it is more "we can already hold in our collection", as there are many problems making his viability.. well, nearly non-existent. Now that we got it out of the way that I consider him weak.. let's have a look at why that is the case.
First of all, he suffers from the overestimation of Recharge. The ability is can be powerful in the right circumstances, but in games like Splinterlands, you'd rather have a card that's good no matter what the situation is. Uriel has no ability that synergizes offensively with Recharge and thus will often end up charge his 9 or 12 damage attack only to be stopped by a single point of Armor - or kill a 3 health unit.
His heal is quite useful and sort of helps recahrge in the sense that he is more likely to live until he can fire off the powerful attack.. Except it's currently bugged and only heals every other turn. Flying and Redempion are both respectable additions, but they simply do not make up for the awkwardness of Recharge.
There is surely merit to using him, as Life in CL-only is missing a high mana tank.. but already in modern, you can simply jam a Shieldbearer. Perhaps with an offensive summoner that gives him Piercing or Trample, he could become a threat.. but as it is, the card is only decent in melee and no armor rulesets.
The better of the two early legendaries and potentially one of the best airdrops we've seen so far, Baakjira is an extremely powerful tank for the cost of just 6 mana. In fact, up until we saw Grum, we all thought this will be the most powerful by far.
The health of Baakjira is 16 at max level, but even in Silver that number is at 12. We can't forget that the real number is actually one higher, as Baakjira has the Strengthen ability as early as level 2. Even with just Void, Slow and Strengthen it is a force to be reckoned with: it can tank a lot of magic damage, it gives your units more time to get attacks in with the Slow, and the Strengthen can stall some of those pesky Sneak or Opportunity attackers.
Now, the icing on the cake is the Heal at level 3 and an additional 3 points of health at max. It is an unpenetrable wall at 17 health, healing for 5 every turn and on top of that reducing incoming magic damage by half. It lifts Water teams even higher than they were before and - depending on the legendary summoners - Water might end up being the star of Chaos Legion.
Iza was revealed as a part of the pre-general sale hype together with Lira, but she generated just slightly less of a hype than her Death counterpart. We will likely be airdropped this card befor the end of the week.. But how many of us will want to play with her is the real question!
Her level 1 is extremely uninviting, as despite good abilities, it is still only 1 ranged attack. That kind of Sneak damage ain't killing anybody, although a point can be made for it being a great way to take off small armor, such as the one that Kelya Frendul gives - with 4 speed, she can make way for a Goblin Thief, or a Sand Worm to swoop in on the kill.
That said, most of her power spikes are at Silver and later caps. The 2nd point of attack can seem like a small improvement, but there will often be smaller units at the back that can be taken out with 2 damage. On top of that, it builds up on the previous narrative - now she can be a soft counter to a Protect ability.
Aside from the Sneak damage, Iza also has Scavenge, meaning that she can be a decent addition in Noxious Fumes and Earthquake rulesets, as well as work as a secondary anti-Sneak monster if that's what you are expecting your opponent to play. Finally, at Gold and above, the Stun ability can ensure that your opponent's backliner is unable to act, which combined with her high speed can lead to completely preventing a chunk of their damage from ever hitting your tank.
Lira is the airdrop I am personally the most excited about, as I absolutely love the combo of Opportunity and Snare.
In Silver League, Lira has 3 attack, as well as 6 speed, combined with Opportunity and Snare. This means that it is nearly impossible for her to miss her target - only if they've got dodge. This also makes her a great addition to a team in an Earthquake ruleset. Opportunity in general is a great ability, as evidenced by Deeplurker being one of the strongest commons in the set - especially with such high speed.
This card is also great as an anti-Sneak monster, as her 6 speed (or 7 from level 3 on, due to Swiftness) makes her difficult to pin down by some of the slower Sneak monster. In general, it is a lot of stats for a ranged opportunity card at 7 mana.
The latest airdrop revealed is.. well, it was a crazy reveal. Grum Fireblade is the one and only card that has the Bloodlust ability - so far restricted only to Gladius cards. What does this mean for his strength? Well, he might just be the strongest monster out of the 5!
Let's start with the weakness - high mana can make it difficult to fit Grum in teams, while the low speed means that he will often attack as the last unit on the team.
That said, that weakness can still be turned around in a Reverse Speed ruleset. Not the worst weakness to have, while everything else around Grum is incredibly powerful. Bloodlust is the obvious ability to put spotlight on - getting extra stats for every kill actually synergizes with the slower speed, as he can finish off weaker opponents.
On top of all this, we need to remember he's actually a tank. He has 15 effective health at level 1, and 15 at max level. With Void and Void Armor.. Yeah, what else can I say, it is an incredible card that will be a must-include in high mana battles for anyone who wants to win games with Fire in modern - and it is finally a strong contender for Magnor!
