Hi, fellow mages!
In today's article, I will talk about Kain Hace, a new legendary monster for Death Splinter. As you already know Kain Hace is an airdrop card for the Riftwatchers expansion. I bought 70 RW packs and didn't get a single Kain Hace but I don't have regrets and you will see why below.
So let's get started!
Long ago, Kain Hace was considered the most powerful warlock in all of the Belurocian Empire. It was rumored that he had forged a dark pact with a greater archfiend to gain his immense power. Others believed it was Yzaos himself, God of Death and the Lower Planes, through whom Kain channeled his magic.
Yet in spite of his awesome power, Kain sought neither conquest nor control. Instead, he used his magic to serve the Belurocian Empire and its people. He was the hero of the Onyx Wars, decimating the Silver Shield’s armies outside the gates of Beluroc. When drought and famine threatened the empire, he called upon the shadows and the darkness to blanket the land in thunderheads; torrential rains fell and crops rose high in their fields once more. He tamed the eruptions of Bren Ha, keeping the volcano dormant. He stood against the eldritch monstrosities of the Dark Oblivion. He feared nothing… well, almost nothing.
Kain Hace was afraid to die.
He told himself it wasn’t death itself that he feared. He had lived a full and meaningful life with few regrets. Instead, he feared what would become of his fellow compatriots without his presence and protection.
But if that were true, he wouldn’t have done what he did.
The years passed. The lines on Kain’s face deepened. His jet-black hair became streaked with gray. His joints ached in the morning, and his hands developed an almost imperceptible tremor. Sometimes he woke in the night from some nightmare he couldn’t remember, breathing hard and knowing that someday one of those breaths would be his last.
If he were to join the Dark Eternals as a revenant, his dark pact would be broken and his unmatched powers lost, perhaps forever. Who would stand between the empire and his enemies then?
So he spent more time in the libraries of Beluroc, studying ancient and dusty tomes, searching for a spell, a song, a ritual, a prayer, anything that would unlock the secret to immortality. When he couldn’t find what he was looking for in Beluroc, he searched Utopin, scoured the Desert of Dugazi, and delved into the Pit of Roch-Sah. It was there he discovered the ancient rites that allowed him to extend his life by centuries.
But it wasn’t enough, so his search continued. As the years marched inevitably onward, his jet-black hair was no longer streaked by gray but entirely a silvery white. The ache in his joints became constant, and his gnarled hands shook visibly.
When word reached Kain that the Silver Shield had sailed once more across the Primordic Sea and was marching on Beluroc, he was in the port city of Galzur. Instead of returning to protect the capital, the once Hero of the Onyx Wars boarded a ship and cast off in search of immortality.
Centuries passed. Where his journeys took him during all those years between then and now, no one truly knows. He arrived in Praetoria not long after the Chaos Legion’s conquest of the Splinterlands. His hair was no longer white, his hands no longer shook, and his joints were arthritic no more.
Kain Hace had unlocked the secret of immortality, trading his aches and pains for the rotting and soulless body of a lich, kept alive by the souls of others. Now, he seeks to take up the mantle he cast off so long ago: champion of the Belurocian Empire.
Kain Hace is an interesting card, a real glass cannon. Maybe it is exactly what Death Splinter needed and maybe not, we will see that with time.
What do I like about Kain Hace?
We need to be honest. The damage on this guy is crazy. 5 damage on the max level is just insane and when you add Blast ability to that it is even better. It means that Kain will do 8 damage per turn - most of the time. That is something Death splinter really needed as that splinter is a bit short on the great damage dealers. The downside is that 5 damage could be blocked by Forcefield. In that case, he can do only 4 damage per turn. That is not so great for 8 mana cost. And yes, here we are, at mana cost. I know that 5 damage is a lot but 8 mana cost monster means that you can include him only in higher mana battles.
I know that now we have those higher mana battles but those do not appear that often so you can't consistently use Kain just because he costs a lot of mana. Does it make sense to spend 220 USD for a card that you can't use that often?
Not for me as Kain Hace is very situational. Low health and speed are the real problems. Kain is vulnerable to Opportunity and Snipe abilities. You can even protect from Snipe by placing another target for snipers, like Queen of Crows but Opportunity is another story and those monsters will pick out Kain Hace right away. It is very likely that he won't even have a chance to attack.
If you think that the Redemption ability provides you at least something that can do some damage to the enemy team if he dies then you are mistaken. Why? Because you are playing Kain in the high mana matches. One health is nothing when we are talking about 10+ mana monsters so Redemption is not really worth it.
I do like Reflection Shield and it is pretty obvious why. Without that ability, he would be a very easy target for Magic Reflect or Blast abilities. Without Reflection Shield it would kill itself most of the time and that is not how legendary monsters work.
I find Kain Hace a very situational card, therefore I think that there are way better cards in the Death Splinter to invest in before Kain. I would say that Kain is a luxury that can help you win some battles but you won't be using it that often.
I see using him in high-mana matches, in Reverse speed ruleset, and when every monster has Snipe ability. He could be also good against melee-oriented teams where he could bypass armor. The biggest turnoff for me is 8 mana cost. If he costs 6 mana and maybe without Redemption and maybe minus 1 magic damage he would be way more wanted - at least that would be the case for me.
19.50 USD per BCX is not a small amount of money, even if you want to buy only one card. My plan is to wait and maybe get a few BCX once the price goes down. Even then I would prefer new legendary summoners before Kain Hence. But that is my situation with funds in Splinterlands. If you are missing some Chaos Legion cards I would definitely suggest filling those holes before investing in Kain since CL cards are really cheap at this time.
What do you think about Kain? How many have you got from the airdrop? Are you buying him or selling him? Let me know in the comments!
It is the perfect time to buy some cards and rebuild your deck. Packs are not selling as fast as expected so prices are stable. I expect them to go down even more once we sell more packs. But there is always a possibility of new players joining and buying tons of cards, so be careful. If you are not playing #splinterlands yet, now is the perfect opportunity to join while you can get all those amazing cards at special prices. Come and join Splinterlands Discord and find out more.
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If you are new here, #splinterlands is the amazing #NFT trading card game with the #play2earn model. That means you can have a lot of fun AND you can earn money (DEC - Dark Energy Crystals) at the same time. If you don't have an account yet consider registering with my link. If you sign up with my referral link, please DM me and I will send you 100 DEC that will help you start with the game(of course if I see you on my referral list).
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Have fun and see you on the battlefield.
