Edited in Canva Pro.
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Apparently, I had a lot of games with rule of combat, "Going the Distance." This rule of combat only allows monsters with range damage type (The one with the arrow) to be used in the said battle.
It's not a problem most of the time when I have Death Splinters available due to Queen of Crow's Headwind effect which decreases the opponent's range damage by 1. Combine this with Contessa L'ament for another range damage reduction and I have a decent strategy for that battle.
The main problem comes from when the Death Splinters are not available for that battle. So, I decided to search some cards and buy a few cards that I think would help me.
Buy vs Rent
While renting is less expensive and most of the time, better, my main concern about the rentals is that it can be cancelled by the person who rents it anytime. If I rented a card for 180 days and the owner cancelled it after 3 days, it will be cancelled at day 3 or 4. This is a big problem because the rule of combat changes every battle. This takes mental stress to check each day what cards you rented have been cancelled and what stayed.
There is a rental feature for Season Rental where you can rent the card for the whole season and it cannot be cancelled. My problem with this is the rental are higher than normal which feels like I'm allowing myself to be scammed by paying for higher DEC per day rental when there's a lower one available.
In any case, both of the options feels like a hassle so I think these cards are worth purchasing instead. The cards I bought may be sold in the future but the most important is that I can use them anytime I need.
The Cards
These are not the only cards I need during the battles but I think these cards helps me the most. I pick them on other situations as well so I think prioritizing the purchase of these cards are a good decision.
The cards in topic today are Mantoid, Gargoya Devil and Xenith Archer.
Photo edited using Canva Pro.
Neutral Splinters
These three cards are what we call Neutral cards. They can be used with any Splinters along with the Splinter-based cards. If Earth is available, I can use neutral with them. If Life is available, I can use the neutrals as well. The only time they are not available for usage is during the rule of combat, "Taking Sides."
Screenshot from Splinterlands using my account.
While allowed at other rules of combat, other rules than Taking Sides may prohibit them as well. Mantoid and Xenith Archer are not available during Odd Ones Out which only allows monsters with odd mana cost (1, 3, 5, 7, 9...) while Gargoya Devil is not allowed in Even Stevens that only allows monsters with even mana cost (2, 4, 6, 8...)
Screenshot from Splinterlands using my account.
About Mantoid
https://next.splinterlands.com/card-detail/192/regular/4/?tab=lore
I purchased Mantoid for $3.36 for a level 4. I was thinking of what level should I put him in and while a level 5 is appealing, having 400 sps in Gold league would earn me almost nothing because of the new SPS penalty... I mean, changes.
Screenshot from Splinterlands using my account.
Screenshot from Splinterlands using my account.
There's a big difference between a level 3 and a level 4 Mantoid and that's the extra damage. Normally, 1 damage is nothing serious however, there's a hidden power spikes in the damage. When your damage becomes 3, 5, 7, 9, etc., your reduced damage to Shield ability and/or other defensive abilities also increases. This is a double edged sword since you also get more damage from damage-returning abilities such as Return Fire ability but most of the time, it's the advantage we think.
If Mantoid is at level 3 and he attacked Mycelic Infantry, an Earth monster with Shield ability, since Mantoid has 2 damage, the ending damage becomes 1 (halved by Shield). If Mantoid is at level 4 with 3 damage, the ending damage becomes 2 (halved by Shield, rounded up is 2). In addition to this, Blast damage from Explosive Weaponry rule of combat also increases from 1 to 2.
That's why monsters with 3 damage is very strong at lower league.
About Gargoya Devil
https://next.splinterlands.com/card-detail/350/regular/3?tab=lore
Gargoya Devil is rather cheap at all levels. The main reason is probably due to his low health for a 7 mana cost card. I don't see others using this card except for Going the Distance rule of combat for his Close Range ability. Close Range ability allows a ranged unit to attack while on first position which is very strong when all your monsters that you can use are ranged monsters only.
I bought one level 3, one level 2 and one level 1. These three would give me a total of 20 cards and costs me like $0.50 total. I did this because I have Gargoya Devil currently at level 2 and that would give it a total of 20 cards which is enough to upgrade it to a level 4.
Screenshot from Splinterlands using my account.
Screenshot from Splinterlands using my account.
As mentioned, his stats are very awful. At 7 mana cost, you got a 3 health monster with 1 armor. You can't even put him in the front to abuse his Close Range ability. Compare this with Queen of Crows's 11 health at 9 mana cost, this card is trash.
However, Queen of Crows can only be used in Death Splinters so when it's not available, this is the only card you can trust to combine with other Splinters.
I decided to buy Gargoya Devil at level 4 for his Deathblow ability that allows him to do double damage at opponents when it's the last monster on their side. This directly counters Last Stand ability which is also another strong ability in this rule of combat.
About Xenith Archer
https://next.splinterlands.com/card-detail/427/regular/7?tab=lore
For the last monster, I was conflicted to choose between Supply Runner and Xenith Archer. I chose this card since I already have a level 2 Xenith Archer so I only need to add less card to level it up. Also, Supply Runner's next power spike is at level 5 when it unlocks the Swift ability. Otherwise, there's no really big, game changing, game ending difference between a level 1 Supply Runner and a level 4 Supply Runner so I decided that Xenith Archer's a better choice due to his lower mana cost.
Since Supply Runner has no ability and costs 6 mana when you use him, Xenith Archer's 2 mana cost is much appreciated. I can use Xenith Archer as a filler and that 2 mana cost doesn't really matter when you already have your core on position.
I already got a level 2 Xenith Archer which is equivalent to 5 cards. To level it up to 3, I need 9 more to fulfill the 14 card condition. Rather than buying 9 level 1s, I decided that it's much cheaper to get two level 2s instead which totals to 10 cards to level it up.
Screenshot from Splinterlands using my account.
Screenshot from Splinterlands using my account.
A level 3 Xenith Archer does not really give me any benefit than a level 2 except for that extra speed. Since he's only a filler most of the time, it doesn't really matter if he has 1 speed or 2 speed. This might be good when combined with General Sloan but I prefer Lorna Shine so it's not really a big deal for me.
A good thing is that having Xenith Archer from level 2 to level 3 removes the low level penalty when using him in Bronze and Silver league.
Here are the three cards that I bought and hopefully these will help me solve the Going the Distance problem.
Screenshot from Peakmonsters using my account. Click here to see the full history.
Now, I need to monitor my games to see if I am struggling in other matches and hopefully, I can fix them up as well in the future before increasing my SPS.
I want to increase my SPS for the rewards but I think it's a bit nonsense to have increased rewards if you don't win your games first.
- This post is an entry for Splinterlands Social Media Contest.
- Other sources that I do not own are cited under their respective photos. Photos and drawings without cited sources are mine and made for this post.
- I do not own the video nor the photos above the timestamps. All of those are credited to the creator who is mentioned throughout this article.
- Animated Banners and Dividers are edited in Canva Pro.
- Some of the fonts used are from instafonts.io
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