Hello everyone! I'm entering the Splinterlands Social Media Challenge with a series of reviews for soulbound reward cards. First, I'll talk about soulbound cards in general and what I think they are doing to the game. After that, I'll proceed to this post's card: Pembrook Nymph.
I am very happy with most things that came with these soulbound cards. We're not seeing them being dumped on the market, we're filtering out huge bot farms that only want to extract value and sell everything as fast as possible and we're creating a sense of progress for players of every league.
I also love being able to get multiple copies of the same card from a single chest and using potions on these chests. Opening a single Venari Heathsmith from a Diamond or Champion chest used to be very sad. Now, when I open common cards, I usually get several copies. I was never going to be able to use all the potions I was getting. I'm still getting more than I'm using, but, at least, they're being useful!!
It is cool that no one can just go and buy max copies of everything right away. We all have to slowly accumulate them by playing and getting lucky.
There are a few downsides, though. Players who join in now, or after a break from the game, are at a disadvantage, until these cards are out of print and can be traded. It's good for the game if it makes players not want to take a break but life happens and there are always new players. Some of these cards can be very good and life can be hard for those players until they get them. Venari Marksrat is a very good example. It's a very good card and new players, will be at a disadvantage, when playing those who have it. All you need is one copy, but, until you get it, it's not great.
Another thing that is not an exclusive problem of soulbound cards but it is worse in them is not being able to use lower level versions of cards we own/rent. This is something that should have been implemented a long time ago. Since there are many different rule sets, a higher level card is not always the best. This is most relevant in Reverse Speed but can also happen in other ones. If I have a high level Sand Worm, I should be able to play it at level 1 when I want (Reverse Speed in this case). Or maybe melee monsters are not allowed but Furious Chicken doesn't have attack on the lower levels. Why can't I use it at level 1 or 2? Maybe it's even next to a Weapon's Training monster, so I want it without attack anyway. It's possible to go around these by owning or renting the lower level cards and getting the higher level card out of your account for a bit. But that takes time and it's a pain to do it while the timer goes down. For soulbound cards, there is no way to work around it. Venari Marksrat is a very good example, again. If you combined it before understanding the martyr ability, you're stuck with a worse card. If you open a GF one, you're screwed and you're gonna have to play a level 2.
I also think the team needs to be more careful in designing cards. It's not good for the game when people don't want to combine cards, for gameplay reasons. Martyr cards have been the biggest offenders in these because, unlike Sand Worm, which you only want the lower level in one rule set, a level 1 Venari Marksrat is almost always better than a higher level version. Martyr cards should have the same health for all levels. Vruz is fine because when it gets martyr, it already has 3 health, which is its max.
A proposal has recently been passed to make soulbound cards need to be manifested (pay twice the DEC burn cost) to be able to be used on land. This is setting a very bad precedent and it probably means unlocking these cards in the future will also cost the same or even more. I don't like where this is going. I was very much against this and I think it's a huge mistake. Soulbound cards are not actually free. All players had to buy or rent cards to get wins and earn those.
Let's talk about Pembrook Nymph now. I have the Gold Foil version at level 6. The regular one is still at 5. Unless I get lucky with GFs, I think this will be taking longer than the others to max out. These summoners are not easy to use in the higher leagues because, until players have them at the same level as their other summoners, they can't use their monster cards to the fullest. On top of that, it's very unlikely to have the Gladius cards at a high level, making them less effective in higher leagues than in the lower ones.
This one is not my favorite of the soulbound summoners. +1 life is pretty weak. In addition, Kelya is very strong. It's hard to justify playing this over Kelya. There are good Water Gladius cards but nothing close to Quora's level. It's not even a great option in Reverse Speed because Gladius cards lose some of their power in that rule set. And, for the same 6 mana, there's Possibilus the Wise. Not everyone has those legendary summoners, so I'd be happy playing this for Kelya in the no armor rule set, as long as the 2 extra mana don't matter too much.
I found a bronze tournament battle where a player used Pembrook Nymph:
This worked out pretty well for the bottom player. Xenith Monk, in the back, healing most of the damage it takes, Disintegrator reducing the attack, Merdaali Guardian healing the front monster, and Alva the Crusher as the tank, with shield. No armor rule set, so it's a good reason to play this over Kelya. Taking out the Serpentine Spy on the first turn was very important. Not missing those attacks was necessary, otherwise, the Monk would die in round 2. The Monk was taking healing the 2 damage it was taking per attack, until Firecaller died and gave the martyr buff. Eventually, the Monk and the Guardian died but it was enough time for Alva to get a kill. It was Alva and Disintegrator vs. Fineas Rage and they would have to miss a lot of attacks to lose this fight.
What do you all think about Pembrook Nymph? What level do you have it? Have you tried using it in games? Let me know in the comments! Thank you for reading!!
