Alright, time for another #Splinterlands card spotlight!
Today I found a card that is honestly kinda funny.
When I first looked at it, I was like, wait, that's a Legendary card?
Because this thing costs only 1 mana.
The card I'm talking about today is, Surly Drunk.
Surly Drunk is a Legendary Fire unit, and its max level is Level 4.
And it only has ONE ability:
Opportunity –> Targets the enemy unit with the least health.
That's it.
One mana.
One ability.
But sometimes that's all you need.
Let's take a closer look.
First Impressions
So let's start with the stats at max level:
Melee Attack: 2
Health: 3
Speed: 3
Armor: 0
Mana: 1
The first thing that jumps out is obviously the mana cost.
1 MANA.
That's basically nothing.
You can almost put this guy into a lineup just because you have one extra mana left.
And that's actually where I think Surly Drunk becomes interesting.
It's not supposed to be your main tank.
It's not supposed to carry the whole battle.
It's a cheap little attacker that can potentially pick off weak enemy units.
Ability: Opportunity
Opportunity: Targets the enemy unit with the least health.
Surly Drunk's only ability is Opportunity.
And honestly, this makes perfect sense for a card like this.
Opportunity allows it to target the enemy unit with the least health.
So instead of hitting the enemy tank in first position, Surly Drunk can attack a weaker unit somewhere else on the battlefield.
This can be really useful.
Sometimes the enemy has a support unit sitting in the back with only a few health.
If you can remove that unit early, you can make the rest of the battle much easier.
And because Surly Drunk only costs 1 mana, you're not spending much to get that extra pressure.
The Crazy Part: 1 Mana
I honestly think this is the biggest reason to talk about this card.
One mana.
That's ridiculously cheap.
There are battles where you have maybe 1 mana left after building most of your team.
Normally you might just leave that mana unused.
But with Surly Drunk?
You can throw it into the lineup.
And now you have another attacker.
It's not going to completely change your team by itself.
But if it gets even one useful attack in, you've already gotten some value from that single mana.
That's what makes these ultra-low-mana cards interesting.
2 Melee Damage Isn't Bad
At max level, Surly Drunk has 2 melee attack.
For a normal expensive card, that wouldn't be anything special.
But we're talking about a 1 mana card.
So suddenly 2 damage looks pretty decent.
Especially when the attack isn't necessarily going into the enemy tank.
Opportunity lets it look for the weakest-health target.
So you might have a situation where Surly Drunk attacks a unit with only 1 or 2 health and finishes it off.
That can be a very useful trade.
Where I Would Use It
For me, Surly Drunk makes the most sense in low-mana battles.
Especially when the mana cap is so low that every single point matters.
If I have 1 mana left after building my main team, this is exactly the type of card I'd consider.
I would also look at the enemy lineup.
If they have several low-health units, Opportunity becomes even more interesting.
Because Surly Drunk doesn't need to break through a huge tank first.
It can go straight after the weakest target.
CONCLUSION
So after looking at Surly Drunk, I think this is one of those cards where the mana cost is what makes it interesting.
If this card cost 4 or 5 mana, I'd probably look at the stats and say, "Yeah, not for me."
But it doesn't.
It costs ONE MANA.
And for that one mana, you get a 2 attack unit with 3 speed and Opportunity.
That's not bad at all.
It's not a tank.
It's not going to destroy an entire team.
And it's definitely not going to win every battle.
But it doesn't have to.
Sometimes you just need that one extra card.
That one extra attack.
That one low-health enemy that needs to be finished.
And that's where Surly Drunk can come in.
Plus, let's be honest.
Putting a drunk Saurian into your lineup just because you have 1 mana left is kinda funny.