Golem, in Jewish folklore, an image endowed with life. The term is used in the Bible (Psalms 139:16) and in Talmudic literature to refer to an embryonic or incomplete substance. It assumed its present connotation in the Middle Ages, when many legends arose of wise men who could bring effigies to life by means of a charm or of a combination of letters forming a sacred word or one of the names of God. The letters, written on paper, were placed in the golem’s mouth or affixed to its head. The letters’ removal deanimated the golem. In early golem tales the golem was usually a perfect servant, his only fault being a too literal or mechanical fulfillment of his master’s orders. In the 16th century the golem acquired the character of protector of the Jews in time of persecution but also had a frightening aspect. The most famous tale involves the golem created by the 16th-century rabbi Judah Löw ben Bezulel of Prague. It was the basis for Gustav Meyrink’s novel Der Golem (1915) and for a classic of German silent films (1920), which provided many details on the movement and behaviour of man-made monsters that were later adopted in the popular American horror films on the Frankenstein theme. - Britannica Encyclopedia
The card we will be discussing today is Living Lava.
Not all lava is alive; most of the time, it responds to gravity as expected. But the stuff that comes from the very core of the Molten Mountains... There's just something special about it.
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.
Given that Living Lava is currently free to play, the rental price is at the lowest. The most efficient way is to rent a level 2 when in Bronze for 3.00 DEC per day and level 4 when you're in Silver for 9.70 DEC per day. Otherwise, it's best to play the free to play one until you get a suitable summoner for the rentals.
Below is the buy cost of the card at the time of this writing.
The cheapest one is less than $6. Purchasing one while the cost is low is really good for future investments. The free to play cards would change eventually and you'll probably have a bad time adjusting without Living Lava for Fire element as it's the best tank for fire currently.
Living Lava's stats are okay but the most important is the effect. The health and armor gives you a total of 8 health which is good enough if you combine it with the best ability in the game. The damage is also a good addition as it provides decent damage when dealing with the opposite tank. The faster you kill an opponent tank, the faster you get to it's back line who is technically dealing the most damage for them. Eliminating them as fast as possible will earn you the highest chance of winning every game.
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Card Effect ||
Shield is the best ability for a tank. It halves damage for both range and melee types which is two thirds of the type in this game. Abilities such as shield and void for tanks is the absolute best as it provides the maximum protection for them making your tanks lasts until the end of the game.
Rust || Reduces the Armor of all enemy Monsters by 2.
Rust is a good debuff especially if you're using snipers. Normally, your opponent would use Protect ability to provide 2 armor for everyone else. Rust negates this which in turns making the back line susceptible for your Snipe and Sneak abilities. This is especially useful right now since you can use a decent number of Sneak and Opportunist melee in Neutral and Fire elements. Incorporate Tarsa's +1 mele and +1 health to this and you have an amazing lineup capable of eliminating the back line perfectly.
Thorns || When hit with a Melee attack, does 2 damage back to the attacker.
Thorns is a good bonus for those all melee team. Having thorns provides damage especially for tanks. The best tanks have melee damage type which makes them susceptible for Thorns damage. A really good ability to top a Shield user.
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Strengths Weaknesses ||
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Positioning ||
The best position for this card is in the 1st position. Living Lava is a tank through and through. Tanks are positioned in the first to tank all the damage for your team.
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In this low mana fight, I have an extra mana, so I were able to include Goblin Fireballer in the battle.
ROUND 1:
By end of Round 1, Living Lava provide decent damage to Cursed Windeku lowering his health to half. I used Goblin Fireballer as bonus since there's extra mana and that 1 extra damage is good since my opponent doesn't have any Shield abilities.
ROUND 2:
By end of Round 2, Cursed Windeku dies leaving Life Sapper alone to battle. His 1 magic damage is actually good as it passes through armor but since my Living Lava still has 3 health, it should be anough as long as my monsters do not miss.
ROUND 3:
By end of Round 3, Life Sapper's 1 armor from Drake of Arnak goes out. The problem is that if Living Lava dies, ranged units cannot attack from first position so if Living Lava dies and Goblin Fireballer goes to front, Goblin Fireballer will be unable to attack and I will lose the game.
ROUND 4:
Game ended by Round 4 with the death of Life Sapper and my Living Lava goes to a crucial 1 health.
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Compatibility ||
* The best combo with this card for me is with Demoralize cards. Demoralize provides a debuff of -1 damage to enemies. If enemies goes to 1 damage, Shield ability cancels the damage. A really strong combo for this card if you have the money to rent or purchase Demoralize cards.
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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 Living Lava is a really good card, if not the best, for fire element. It is the best tank of the element and you should always use it whenever you have the mana to. The shield ability it provides is really good along with decent health and a good damage to add. I would even say that using Living Lava as your main tank with Fire element is a must as it pumps the best ability to protect your team.
