Hey everyone and welcome back to another Splinterlands Share Your Battle Challenge. I always love doing the challenges because it forces me to try different cards and different strategies so that I don't fall into a habit of playin the same monsters over and over. With that being said, this week's challenge asks us to fight a match with Cerberus. Cerberus is a Fire Splinter monster with good health, a strong attack, and comes with the "Heal" ability that allows him to regenerate a bit of his health each round, so let's see if he has what it takes to lead us to victory.
The Lineup
For this match, we were given a Mana cap of 26 Mana with no modifications to the standard ruleset. Since Cerberus belongs to the Fire Splinter, I was able to use the Fire Splinter which meant that my favorite monster in the game, Living Lava, took the first position. Living lava is an absolute powerhouse and great first position brawler as he has a strong attack, good armor, and the "Shield" ability that reduces the damage he takes from enemy melee attacks.
If Living Lava is my favorite first position monster, then Fineas Rage is my favorite second position monster. Fineas Rage has really quick speed that almost always allows him to attack the opponent first. On top of that, he has good health, a strong attack, and the "Reach" ability which allows him to attack from second position as well as keeping up the fight if he moves into the first spot.
In third position I placed Furious Chicken. Furious Chicken is a great buffer monster, and I thought that including him in the lineup would give Goblin Chariot more time to whittle down the opponent's team before Cerberus reached the front lines.
In fourth spot, I placed Cerberus. My strategy for the match was to allow Cerberus to hang out in the back of the formation until the end of the match. I knew if I placed him in first spot right away, the enemy would have too many monsters attacking him at once and he would take more damage per round than he could heal. By the end of the match, however, I knew he would have fewer monsters attacking him and would be able to regenerate more damage than he took each round.
In last position, I placed Goblin Chariot. Goblin Chariot is one of my favorite ranged monsters because it has a good attack and good health. In contrast to Mantoid with the "Snipe" ability, I like that Goblin Chariot focuses its attacks on the opponent's monster that its in first position.
The Match
Normally, it isn't a wise choice to play a melee monster at the rear of your formation because it sits there most of the battle without being able to attack. That being said, I knew that Cerberus simply wouldn't be able to withstand the attacks from the opponent if I put him right on the front lines at the start of the battle. Although my strategy wasn't the most efficient, I thought it was the best way to include Cerberus in the match without putting myself at too much of a disadvantage.
At the end of the day, the strategy worked, and allowing him to move into first position at the end of the match meant that he was able to heal all the damage he took each round and the opponent simply couldn't deal enough damage to take him out of the fight.
Analysis of Cerberus
As with all the Splinterlands monsters, Cerberus has its strengths and weaknesses. That being said, I think its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses and it is a great card. For a relatively low Mana cost, Cerberus has a good attack, good health, and the "Heal" ability. The only potential drawback I see with him is that he doesn't have any special abilities, like "Reach or Opportunity" that would allow him to fight unless he is in first position.
Although he performed well in this match, I think he would be best suited as a first position monster in lower Mana cap matches where the opponent wouldn't have as many monsters to attack him.
Summary
Overall, I think Cerberus is a great monster if used properly. The key is putting him in the fight at a time where he can heal damage quicker than the opponent can deal damage. As always, its great to be able to take part in the challenges and try out new monsters and strategies.
If you haven't played Splinterlands, consider giving it a try. It is free to get started, and the game offers a variety of ways to earn crypto and NFTs from playing. Feel free to watch my battle replay here to get a feel for how the game works.
Thanks for reading! All images belong to Splinterlands