Although I haven't explicitly added any cards to my deck this season—neither through direct purchases nor via draws—I started in the Bronze League in Wild Mode and have now reached Tier 1 of the Silver League. In the process of unlocking each tier, I inevitably accumulated some cards—including a couple of Rare ones at one point. Thanks to this, I finally have a set of cards ready to be upgraded from Level 2 to Level 3. I say "2+1" because I initially only spotted two cards in my deck and took screenshots of those; however, while writing this post, I noticed that the "Grey" element wasn't selected in the filter options. As soon as I clicked that, I discovered a third card eligible for the Level 3 upgrade. While only one of these is a Rare card and the other two are Common, anyone familiar with the game would agree that Common cards can often be far superior to Rare ones. If we look past rarity and evaluate cards based on their stats and performance, we realize that Common cards can frequently outperform even Legendary ones—provided you know how to utilize them effectively.
The first of the cards I upgraded today is the Death element melee attack card, Thornmaw Berserker. At Level 1, this card boasted 2 melee attack power, 4 speed, 2 armor, and 7 health points—an impressive package for a Common card. Upon reaching Level 2, it gained a new ability called "Final Rest," which—once per battle—blocks enemy abilities like Rebirth, Resurgence, and Resurrect. This is a cool ability; I started using the card frequently after this, and its performance improved significantly. For Level 3, one might hope for an ability like Charge, Opportunity, or Sneak, which would allow it to be placed anywhere in the lineup—addressing the card's only apparent weakness. However, given its Common rarity, that wasn't to be; instead, it gained just 1 point of armor, leaving the placement challenge unchanged. Still, you can comfortably position it at the very front as an "Aether Tank" or behind a tank with the "Flank" ability, and I believe it won't disappoint you in most battles.
So, here is the legendary rare card. I’m not sure what kind of use this card could actually have; while there might be a specific battle scenario where it shines, the chances of it pulling off something truly spectacular based on its abilities seem negligible to me. The biggest reason for this is its abysmal health and lack of armor—meaning a single minor attack from the enemy knocks it out of the game. At Level 1, it didn't even have the 'Opportunity' ability; at least now it can target specific enemies, whereas at Level 1, it seemed 100% useless. And now, at Level 3—where it desperately needed a boost in health points or armor—it has received +1 Speed instead. That said, it’s not a bad upgrade; with higher speed, it might just manage to land at least one attack on the enemy before going down.
And last but not least, there is the Grey element's melee card: Ironwing Juggernaut. Previously, I preferred using the Halfling Refugee instead; their abilities are quite similar, but the Halfling Refugee costs only 1 mana, allowing for the summoning of optimal cards even in low-mana battles. However, the 'Charge' ability that Ironwing Juggernaut gains at Level 3 instantly makes it superior to the Halfling Refugee. The Halfling Refugee lacks the ability to perform from anywhere in the lineup, which severely limits its utility; in contrast, Ironwing Juggernaut's Level 3 'Charge' ability enables it to attack from any position in the lineup. This is a significant advantage that allows for better strategic planning. Although its mana cost remains high—a factor to consider in low-mana battles—I would now prefer to summon Ironwing Juggernaut over the Halfling Refugee whenever the mana cap is moderate to high.
Note:
English is not my first language. So sometimes I use 'Google Translate'. Please don't think that anything I have written in this blog has been copied from somewhere or is AI-generated.
Paragraph Dividers and all the photos are from #Splinterlands.
All the other content images and words are mine unless otherwise stated.
Have a Happy and Blessed day!
