Splinterlands Share Your Battle Challenge - Minotaur Warrior

In this week's Splinterlands Share Your Battle Challenge, we have been tasked to fight a match using Minotaur Warrior. Minotaur Warrior is a Life Splinter monster that only costs four Mana to play but has good speed, a bit of armor, and the "Reach" ability that allows it to attack from both first AND second position. Will those advantages be enough to help us win the match? Find out below.

The Lineup

This match was played with a 21 point Mana cap with no modifications to the standard ruleset, so I started my lineup by placing Unicorn Mustang in first position. Unicorn Mustang is one of my favorite monsters in the Game as it has very high health, a strong attack and quick speed. On top of that, it has the "Void" ability that reduces the amount of damage that it takes from enemy magic attacks.

In second spot, it was only natural to put this week's featured monster Minotaur Warrior. Minotaur Warrior costs four Mana to play and although it has a weak attack that only deals one damage, it does have a bit of armor which prevents the enemy's first round blow from directly damaging his health. On top of that, the "Reach" ability allows it to attack from second position while also being able to fight from the first spot as a traditional melee monster would do.

In third spot, I placed Furious Chicken. Furious Chicken might not be the "best" monster in the game, but in my opinion, it is one of the most useful. It costs zero Mana to play and can serve as a nice buffer monster between the melee monsters at the front of my formation and the ranged and magic monsters at the rear of the formation.

In fourth spot, I played Wood Nymph. Wood Nymph is a great monster because it has a magic attack of its own, but it ALSO has the "Tank Heal" ability which allows it to restore a portion of the first position monster's health each round. In general, I prefer to place Wood Nymph as far to the rear of the formation as possible to allow it to use that healing ability before it moves into the first position.

Rounding out the lineup is Khmer Princess. Khmer Princess is a great two Mana cap monster that has decent health and adds just a little bit more magic power to my team. Although she doesn't have high health or speed, she can attack from any position and I hoped that putting her at the rear of the formation would keep her safe from the enemy.

The Battle
Going into the match, I was confident in my team. Unicorn Mustang is one of my favorite first position monsters, and I felt that he had a strong team supporting him. When I saw the opponent's lineup, I was a bit worried as I knew that Sea Monster had a healing ability, so I was hoping that my monsters could take him out of the fight as soon as possible. Thankfully, the combined efforts of Unicorn Mustang and Minotaur Warrior as well as the magic monsters from the rear of my formation quickly over loaded Sea Monster and he was out of the fight. With their strongest monster out of the match, my opponent's team quickly crumbled and we were able to seize the victory without loosing a single monster.

Analysis of Minotaur Warrior
Minotaur Warrior isn't a monster that I use a lot in my matches. It isn't a bad monster, but I am always nervous about playing a Melee monster that only has an attack value of 1. If I go up against a monster with the "Shield" ability such as Living Lava or Frozen Soldier, I know that my monster with a low attack value will simply be worthless. Unfortunately, BOTH "Reach" capable monsters of the Earth Splinter have a weak attack, so I will normally play Centauri Mage instead.

That being said, there are some matches where I know I won't have to face a monster with the "Shield" ability, so in those cases, a "Reach" monster can be a good second position choice. Personally, I feel that Orc Sergeant and Minotaur Warrior are both equally good. Orc Sergeannt has more health, but Minotaur Warrior has a bit of armor and is quicker to attack, so they're roughly equal in my view. If I was playing a match without armor, I'd certainly pick Orc Sergeant, and I was playing in a really low Mana cap match, I'd take Minotaur Warrior.

Summary
As always, its great to take part in these challenges and try out different strategies. If you're interested in Splinterlands, you can get started playing for free, or you can check out my replay here.

As always thanks for reading! All images belong to Splinterlands