The card we will be discussing today is Soul Strangler.
Before the chaos gate opened, the towered city of Darkholde was peaceful and quiet. Situated in the cold, Blackworth mountain range, it was presided over by a long-standing noble family and governed by Baron Kutziq Neculai. If the citizens knew the truth about their governor, then maybe they wouldn’t have been so loyal, but the Baron’s tastes were sated with great restraint and he truly did care for them, taking only what he must and never more than he had to. For Kutziq was a vampire, a race as ancient as the stones they’d used to build the city. A man who loved his people in many ways, including their unique flavour.
The soul strangler is a creature of nobility, of good stock and incredible wealth. They live in lavish opulence, wearing the finest attire and moving in the most sophisticated of circles, often engaging with the high born from other cities and enjoying intimate gatherings that last for days.
However, when this vampire chooses to hunt, they take on whole new guise, almost shifting their form to become more accomplished for the chase. Pointed ears extend refining their hearing and their eyes change colour affording the ability to see in the dark – their preferred time to hunt. Long fangs grow from their mouth and vicious talons sprout from their fingers. But what you can’t see in either form is the power they hold within their mind, an ability to attack at a spiritual level when they eventually find their adversary, squeezing the very life from them; a ranged attack that if not avoided, will have devastating consequences.
We would rate this card based on:
Cost to buy/rent this card. How affordable and accessible is the card.
Card Stats. How balanced the card is based on its role.
Card Effect. How useful is its effect based on the role of the card.
Strengths and Weaknesses. If the card can counter other cards and/or be countered easily by others or not.
Positioning. Adaptability of where the card can be placed.
Compatibility. How useful it is on its current element.
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Rental/Buy Cost ||
Below is the rental of the card at the time of this writing.
Soul Strangler is free to play. He's part of the Chaos Legion that is allowed to be played without buying him. If you have low level summoners and are only using low level monsters, I suggest not renting it because it's nonsense. Either way, if you rent or not rent but will be playing a level 1 of this card, they both have the same effects and same stats.
Below is the buy cost of the card at the time of this writing.
With $1.20, you can get a level 2 of this card buy purchasing 5 level 1 costs $0.20. Same reasoning as renting,if you're going to use only level 1, then purchasing is not a good investment. But it's always good to have at least one in your arsenal in case the free cards rotate just like what happened upon launch of Chaos Legion Edition.
Soul Strangler's stats is on the low side but the most important is the low mana. This allows you to play a 2 damage monster even on low mana or special rule sets like Little League. It's the most important stats in a monster. The less mana your monster has, the more monsters or more powerful monsters you can put in the field.
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Card Effect ||
Poison is an interesting ability. Some players says it's the best because it provides damage that cannot be negated. The problem with Poison Ability is it doesn't stack meaning once it applies, that's it. The good thing is even if your monster dies, once the poison is applied, it's there. To me, it's not really as effective but others find it differently so it's up to you for what you think the ability is worth.
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Strengths Weaknesses ||
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Positioning ||
I normally put Soul Strangler in the middle, same as how you protect supports. The low health makes him very fragile and can die from 1 to 2 attacks. However, the longer you protect Soul Stranger, the higher the damage he would produce. I used Cursed Windeku as the main tank due to his high health. Silent Sha-Vi goes second to serve as a fall back tank in case Windeku dies, followed by Soul Strangler and Mantoid for damage output.
ROUND 1:
By end of Round 1, Cursed Windeku, Mantoid and Living Lava both takes high damage. Silent Sha-vi kills Ant Miners with sneak as we proceed to the next round.
ROUND 2:
By end of Round 2, Mantoid dies from Tenyii Striker's sneak. Both main tanks die and Silent Sha-Vi and Radiant Brute goes to front line.
ROUND 3:
By end of Round 3, Radiant Brute dies without inflicting damage due to misses. It's a 2v1 against Tenyii Striker which would take a total of 4 damage next turn if my monsters do not miss.
ROUND 4:
Game ended on Round 4 with me being the victor. Soul Strangler's 2 damage play a major part in slowly making advantages throughout the game.
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Compatibility ||
Soul Strangler is compatible with any combos. I consider him a filler card as you can put him whenever you have extra mana left. He does big damage as long as you can protect him.
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Lastly...
Before doing the final verdict, here is the sample of a battle using this card.
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Final Thoughts
With all the evidences that we gathered, we could say that Soul Strangler is a real efficient card. 3 mana on a 2 damage card is huge. Even with low health, you can counter that with proper positioning. If you know how to properly position cards, this card will make wonders throughout your games. Avoid putting him in rule sets that does damage to your back line like Earthquake, Noxious Fumes, or Explosive Weaponry. These would just kill your Soul Strangler and you will weep as you lose the battle for having a downed card in the first turn.
