Greetings, Splinterlands warriors,
If there’s one card that I initially thought was strange, it has to be Ratbound Corsair.
Seriously. The description alone is… unique. A pirate, a rat, and then it turns into a sea creature. I thought, “This is going to be one of those niche cards that rarely gets used.”
Turns out, I was wrong again.
The first time I saw it, I didn’t pay much attention to its abilities. I just noticed that it was a ranged unit.
Close Range That Changes the Game
Ratbound Corsair is a Water unit, Rare rarity, Tideborn race, with 9 Mana.
Its first ability is Close Range.
For me, this is what makes the card different.
Normally, we place ranged units in the back. The reason is simple: we don’t want them to become targets for melee attacks too quickly.
But Ratbound Corsair has the ability to keep using its ranged attack even when it is in the first position.
It can still attack while serving as the tank.
And in my opinion, this gives the card some pretty interesting flexibility.
Then Comes Blast
If Close Range makes Corsair flexible, then Blast makes it even more interesting.
At Level 4, Ratbound Corsair gains Blast, which deals an additional 50% damage to the unit next to the primary target.
This is where I started to see a pretty unique combination.
Imagine the opponent lining up several units close together.
One Corsair attack hits the primary target.
Then the additional damage also hits the unit next to it.
One attack, and the pressure spreads.
That’s what makes me feel Ratbound Corsair has the potential to turn the tide of a match under the right circumstances.
Of course, that doesn’t mean using Corsair automatically turns the game around every time. It’s not that simple.
But when the rule set, mana, and the opponent’s lineup support it, the combination of Close Range and Blast can be extremely annoying to deal with.
Conclusion.
Close Range + Blast is the combination that makes it different from an ordinary ranged unit.
Its weaknesses still have to be taken into account: low health and a relatively high Mana cost of 9.
But for high-mana matches, I see it as a fairly effective offensive card.
For players who frequently use the Water Splinter, I think Ratbound Corsair is an interesting Rare unit to add to the collection, especially if you enjoy experimenting with positioning and attacks that can spread across multiple targets.
In the end, not every card has to be a card we use in every match.
What matters is knowing when a card has the opportunity to shine.
And Ratbound Corsair, for me, is one of those cards that only starts to look interesting when we give it a chance to swim a little farther.
After all, if there’s already a pirate, a sea serpent, and a rat in the same story, how could we not be curious to see how they end up fighting in the arena?
Talk about Splinterlands,
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