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It's been two months since the first Rebellion cards were unleashed and sent into the battle fields. Now, players have gotten used to seeing the cards and many strategies have been formed with them. As time passes by quickly, it has started to feel like these cards have always been a part of the game. But they haven't always been a part of the game. It was just some weeks ago when players could only speculate how these cards would perform on the battle field. It was also just weeks ago when we did not have the awesome abilities like the Armored Strike.
Armor is definitely a valuable resource in the splinterlands game. Some units come with it while others can get it forged on them right on the battle field. It is necessary because it serves to protect the unit who wears it but that is where the limitation comes in. For years, the armor has been used to only protect units. Now, it can do much more.
The Armored Strike ability is the first attempt to make the armor more than a defensive resource. Now, units with armor can deploy their armor to do an extra melee attack which depends on their armor stat. So, a unit with 4X armor and the armored strike ability can do 4X extra damage. This means that if the armor stat increases during the battle, the unit will do more damage. Conversly, as the armor gets chipped away, the extra attack reduces and disappears entirely when the armor is gone.
In my opinion, this is really like an interesting version of double strike. This one however does not perform the same attack as the one the unit comes with. Rather, it performs a melee attack. This brings us to its limitations and how to counter it.
Countering The Armor:
This ability depends on the armor of the unit so if you attack the armor, the ability is gone. Abilities like Rust, Shatter and even the new Corrosive ward attack armor and, in effect, the armored strike.
Countering The Melee ATtack:
Another way to counter this ability is to recall that it is actually a melee attack. This means that it can be countered with certain melee counters. Shield, Thorns and even the regular armor can work in this situation.
There are currently just 5 rebellion units with this ability and 3 of them are legendary units. There are 2 from life, 1 from death, 1 from Earth and 1 neutral.
This was the first unit with the ability that I used. I've also seen someone place him in the second position with a flank in front that granted him the reach ability.
I like the stats on this guy given that he costs just 4 mana. Still, he's not so good because with just 1X melee attack and 1X armor, this is a monster that can easily be countered with shield. On the bright side, he can act as a good tank in low mana battles.
Speaking of Reach, the Wailing Wraith is the death unit with armored strike and she also has reach. This monster basically has 3x reach melee attack for 4 mana. The downside is that her health is really low and if she attacks a unit with thorns in just one round, she's done for. Not particularly my favorite.
And now for the legendaries. The first one is this guy from the Earth splinter. This unit is really just a really weaker version of Quora. The magic and melee combo would have been great if the melee did not depend on the armor. I think he compensates for these weak attacks with high health.
This unit would have been really interesting if he also came with opportunity so that he would be able to use the armored strike from anywhere. Maybe he gets better at level 4 with the last stand ability.
Mantaroth is a unit that looks a lot more intimidating. At a cost of 11 mana, this guy has the shield ability to preserve his armor and true strike at level 2 that ensures that his potential 7X attack does not miss. This is a card that I like and am looking purchase when the price goes down. A lot of people recognize its value which is why the price of the regular foil on peakmonsters right now is $44 currently making him the most expensive Rebellion card on the market. The Gold foil is listed for over $260.
Among all these cards, the legendary Bera Dallin is the one that I have used the most and I use her just in level 1. The first time I saw this card I knew that she would easily become one of my favorites. That 6X armor really makes the armored strike a scary ability. She also has taunt and is clearly a great tank.
I would love to use this card at level 2 where she gets shield. Maybe I won't get to use a level 4 but I can always pair her with Rathe for the void armor buff. For now though, level 1 works really well.
Sometimes to keep this unit alive I have to use about 5 healers. here are two battles where this was the case.
In the battles above, we can see Bera Dallin uses that 6X extra melee attack to cause some real damage. After her armor was gone, she was supported by the three healers I had placed on the team. The battles were won in the end.
The armored strike is really an exciting ability to have. It should be one of those abilities that a summoner can grant his units. I hope we get that kind of summoner in the future.
The thing about the armored strike is that you may use it once in a battle or not at all if there is no way to replenish of strengthen the armor. One way I think this ability would have been made better is if it was not affected by thorns. That way it would be quite efficient and still destructible. I would've preferred it that way. Would you?
I'm glad you made it this far in the post. If you enjoyed my post please drop a comment or just say hi so we can be friends. Also, don't be left behind. Join Splinterlands by clicking this link and claim your piece of this amazing blockchain game. I'll see you on the other side, mage!
