Hey there fellow Splinterlands warrior and welcome to my entry for the SHARE YOUR BATTLE CHALLENGE. This week, our challenge is so tough that we have to summon the power of the mighty dragons to help us. These beasts sure are scary but are they mighty as they look? Let's find out...
THE DESERT DRAGON
Dragons have always been known to be monstrous and unpredictable creatures that have been given the very much unfair advantage of flight. The Desert Dragon is different though because this monster cannot fly due to its torn and damaged wings. However, this lack of flight does not make the Desert Dragon any less scary. This creature is know to be quick on its feet coming at its prey with a deadly charge that often leaves the prey too stunned to move. Once the desert dragon sets its sights on a prey, it charges at it at an unimaginable speed trampling everything in its sight. And most times, this creature gets its prey.
Here are the stats of this monster's card;
The Desert Dragon is a legendary monster that starts at level 1 with a melee damage of 4, speed of 2, toughness of 3, health of 6 and the trample ability. This monster maintains its speed and toughness as it levels up but its other stats change. It gains an extra health at level 3 and extra damages at levels 2 and 4. As for the abilities, this monster gains the Piercing, Retaliate and Giant Killer abilities at levels 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
For this challenge, I will use the Desert Dragon at level 2.
The Combat Rules and My Strategy
| COMBAT RULES | |
|---|---|
| MODIFICATIONS | Weak Magic |
| ACTIVE SPLINTERS | Fire, Life, Dragon |
Strategy
A lot of armor is expected in the Weak Magic ruleset. I have to figure out a way to get through the enemy's armors quickly while maintaining those of my monsters.
| SUMMONER | |
|---|---|
| NAME | QUIX THE DEVIOUS |
| SPLINTER | DRAGON |
| EDITION | CHAOS LEGION |
| RARITY | RARE |
| LEVEL | 2 |
| MANA COST | 4 |
| BUFFS | -1 RANGE ATTACK, -1 SPEED |
It would have made more sense to use Drake of Arnak as a summoner because of the Weak Magic ruleset but because I did not have that summoner I had to use Quix. Even if there are no range monster to debuff, Quix will reduce the speed of every monster on the opposing side. Speed is always very crucial so yes Quix is very useful.
| MONSTER 1 | |
|---|---|
| NAME | DESERT DRAGON |
| SPLINTER | DRAGON |
| EDITION | CHAOS LEGION |
| RARITY | LEGENDARY |
| LEVEL | 2 |
| MANA COST | 7 |
| ATTACK | 5X MELEE ATTACK |
| SPEED | 2X |
| HEALTH | 6X |
| TOUGHNESS | 3X |
| ABILITIES | Trample, Piercing |
The Weak Magic ruleset makes a good opportunity to use the Desert Dragon because I expect to see some armor. Not only does this monster have some toughness to protect it from all attacks, it also has the piercing ability that will do damage pass the target's armor. We'll see if this beast is up for the challenge.
| MONSTER 2 | |
|---|---|
| NAME | SUNKAI HARVESTER |
| SPLINTER | LIFE |
| EDITION | CHAOS LEGION |
| RARITY | COMMON |
| LEVEL | 5 |
| MANA COST | 4 |
| ATTACK | 2X MELEE ATTACK |
| SPEED | 3X |
| HEALTH | 4X |
| TOUGHNESS | 2X |
| ABILITIES | REACH |
In the second position is the Sunkai Harvester. I really like this monster because he is a low mana monster with Reach. Also, his shield will ensure he takes a hit or two if he gets to the frontline.
| MONSTER 3 | |
|---|---|
| NAME | URAEUS |
| SPLINTER | NEUTRAL |
| EDITION | REWARD |
| RARITY | EPIC |
| LEVEL | 3 |
| MANA COST | 3 |
| ATTACK | 2X MELEE ATTACK |
| SPEED | 3X |
| HEALTH | 3X |
| TOUGHNESS | 1X |
| ABILITIES | SNEAK |
I had to choose between Uraeus and Stitch Leech and I chose Uraeus because of the higher speed and 1 armor. This monster should be fairly quick to take out any backlines with its sneak ability.
| MONSTER 4 | |
|---|---|
| NAME | TIME MAGE |
| SPLINTER | LIFE |
| EDITION | CHAOS LEGION |
| RARITY | RARE |
| LEVEL | 4 |
| MANA COST | 4 |
| ATTACK | 2X MAGIC ATTACK |
| SPEED | 5X |
| HEALTH | 3X |
| TOUGHNESS | 0 |
| ABILITIES | SLOW |
Time Mage is one of my favorite Chaos Legion monsters for life and in this battle she will make a lot of difference. Quix will reduce the speed of all the enemy monsters and Time Mage take their speed down a notch thanks to her slow ability. This monster also has a pretty high speed of 5 so I expect quick attacks from her.
| MONSTER 5 | |
|---|---|
| NAME | CELESTIAL HARPY |
| SPLINTER | LIFE |
| EDITION | CHAOS LEGION |
| RARITY | RARE |
| LEVEL | 4 |
| MANA COST | 2 |
| ATTACK | 2X MAGIC ATTACK |
| SPEED | 3X |
| HEALTH | 3X |
| TOUGHNESS | 0 |
| ABILITIES | FLYING |
In low mana battles I always look for a way to fit Celestial Harpy in the squad. Thanks to her opportunity ability, this monster will take out any monster with the lowest health. The flying ability together with the enemy's reduced speed can really make Celestial Harpy a tough target to hit.
| MONSTER 6 | |
|---|---|
| NAME | LONE BOATMAN |
| SPLINTER | LIFE |
| EDITION | UNTAMED |
| RARITY | COMMON |
| LEVEL | 5 |
| MANA COST | 5 |
| ATTACK | 2X |
| SPEED | 3X |
| HEALTH | 3X |
| TOUGHNESS | 2X |
| ABILITIES | SNIPE, REPAIR |
The Weak magic ruleset means there has to be a lot of shield and what better way to maintain the shield of the tank than with repair. Fortunately for me, Lone Boatman fits right into the spot for this mission.
The Battle
| My Splinter | Enemy's Splinter |
|---|---|
Round 1:
- Starting with their buffs and debuffs, Quix reduces the speed of the enemy's monsters while the enemy uses Tarsa to increase his monsters' health and melee damage.
- Time Mage slows the enemy's monsters some more before launching the first attack at Grum Flameblade, x2 damage, 3 toughness remaining.
- Lone Boatman snipes at Magi of chaos and Uraeus follows up with a sneak attack, x4 damage, 2 health remaining.
- Celestial lands a fatal blow on Serpentine Spy, x2 damage, 0 health remaining.
- Sunkai Harvester strikes Grum Flameblade before Desert Dragon charges with a follow up piercing attack, x7 damage, 7 health remaining.
- Magi of Chaos and Grum Flameblade launch attacks at Desert Dragon, x3 damage, 0 health remaining.
- Tenyii Striker hits Lone Boatman from the back, x2 damage, 0 toughness remaining.
Round 2:
- Time Mage starts again with a 2x attack on Grum Flamblade, 5 health remaining.
- Lone Boatman restores 2 of Desert Dragon's shield and then throws his blades at Magi of Chaos, x2 damage, 0 health remaining.
- Uraeus launches a sneak attack at Tenyii striker, x2 damage, 5 health remaining.
- Celestial Harpy and Sunkai Harvester strike Grum Flameblade leaving him with just one health.
- Desert Dragon takes out Grum Flameblade before fatally trampling over Tenyii Striker. DEFEATED!
Victory!
Tarsa was definitely not as powerful as she thought in this battle. Summoning such weak monsters, they could not even damage the health of the monsters on the Dragon side. In the end, a flawless victory was secured.
Check out the battle by clicking the link below👇
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE BATTLE
Did My Strategy Work?
Oh yes it did. First of all, reducing the speed of all the enemy monsters was very important. Serpentine Spy did not get the chance to attack and in the second round no enemy monsters got the chance to attack.
It was also a good option to use Desert Dragon as a tank and Lone Boatman to sustain his shield. Desert Dragon's Piercing made it easier to defeat Grum Flameblade and hit trample did not give Tenyii Striker the chance to attack a second time.
In total, the enemy was able to throw just three attacks compared to seven from the dragon team. So yes, the strategy worked fine.
Do I like Dragons?
I have to be honest and say, not really. I wouldn't say I dislike Dragons but I don't use them a lot to really like them. Yes I know that they're really cool because they can be used with any element but I just have not done so many combos with them. I really prefer to stick with other splinters. Maybe I would start to really use dragons in the future.
And That's All For Today!
- All images used in this post are from the Splinterlands game.
- All GIFs used are screen recordings from the Spinterlands game edited on GIPHY.
- All dividers were made by me with Canva.
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