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One of the most challenging monsters to use in Splinterlands is Coeurl Lurker. This is due to his strategy of evading monster attacks, which relies a lot on things that you cannot control.

While Coeurl Lurker isn't bad, he can be quite tricky to use. However, even with his quirkiness, he's still a reliable monster in a limited monster pool like Shades of Gray rule of combat.

Although this strategy yields high win rates in Shades of Gray battles, I am not fond of it because I don't like that it limits my choices in the game. This makes me conflicted on how I feel about Shades of Gray rule of combat.

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All About Coeurl Lurker...

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💪 Stats | Thaddius Brood

^{𝔓𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.}

Thaddius Brood is a Rare summoner from the Chaos Legion Series.

Level 8 Rare summoners allow the use of:
Level 4 Legendary monsters;
Level 6 Epic monsters;
Level 8 Rare monsters;
Level 10 Common monsters.

Thaddius Brood is good for general matchups. His abilities are strong and can counter difficult matches like against Water or Earth Splinters. On times when his reduced magic damage doesn't hit the mark, you can always count that he isn't useless by having that reduced max health as well that may reduce opponent's restoration amount from their Heal, Tank Heal or Triage abilities.

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💊 Abilities 💊

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-1 Magic. [Stat Modifier] [Negative Status] All opponent monsters has their magic damage reduced by 1, with a minimum of 1. Monsters with 1 magic damage before the effect applies are unaffected.

Since Magic damage is the strongest type of damage in the game, I decided to use Thaddius Brood to counter this.

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-1 Health. [Stat Modifier] [Negative Status] All opponent monsters has their Max Health reduced by 1, with a minimum of 1. Monsters with 1 Max Health before the effect applies are unaffected.

Any reduced health is always good. It makes your life easier since the lower your opponent's life, the easier they fall.

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💊 𝔄𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔟𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔶 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱. 💊

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💪 Stats | Coeurl Lurker

^{𝔓𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.}

Coeurl Lurker is a tricky monster. Since his strategy is evading monster attacks, which, ultimately, relies on RNG or luck. Even if your opponent has 1% chance of hitting you, it doesn't mean he can't. There are games where my opponent has 10% chance of hitting my full speed Coeurl Lurker build and my Coeurl Lurker was hit twice in a row. He isn't weak by any chance, however, he is certainly tricky to use.

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💊 Abilities 💊

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At level 1, Taunt is unlocked. [Defense] [Target Modifier] Opponent's monster will be forced to attack this card, if possible.

Taunt is the best defensive ability in the game. I always like Taunt because it keeps me in control and as long as you get creative, There are a lot of things you can do.

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At level 1, Dodge is unlocked. [Defense] Monsters that attack this card has their maximum hit chance reduced by 25% during that attack.

Dodge is a good complementary ability to Taunt. It gives your monster a chance to evade attacks completely nullifying the damage. However, this is not the end of it. Dodge is very strong with Coeurl Lurker because of his next unlocked ability, Phase.

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At level 2, Phase is unlocked. [Defense] Monsters with Phase ability are allowed to evade opponent's magic damage. The hit and miss chance is calculated normally as if the monster was attacked by melee or range.

Phase allows you to dodge magic damage, which is, on its core, a sure-hit attack. The evasion rate applies not only the speed but also abilities relating to speed such as Dodge, Flying and Blind abilities. Since Coeurl Lurker has Dodge ability, all magic damage also has a maximum hit chance of only 75%.

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At level 4, Thorns is unlocked. [Defense] [Damage] Any opponent's melee monster that attack this monster will take 2 melee damage back.

Now, this is something I don't understand. Thorns ability is good on its own. Don't get me wrong on that but in a monster where the main idea is evading damage, why add something that only activates when he gets hit?

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💊 𝔄𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔟𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔶 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱. 💊

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💡 Battle Highlights 💡

🔻 Click the link below to see the full battle: 🔻
https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_60fd3b468c51453f0f4c056c1f6a37ab

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🎯 Rules of Combat 🎯

^{𝔓𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.}

33 Mana Cap. Total mana cost of all monsters must not exceed 33 mana.

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Five Alive Rules of Combat Tips: Use higher mana cost monsters and summoners to maximize your mana cap.

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Shades of Gray Rules of Combat Tips: Due to your limited options, just use the strongest monsters you can.

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💊 Abilities Used During This Battle 💊

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𝔄𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔟𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔶 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.

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^{Monsters in}

🔴 RED

are my opponent's. Those in 🔵 BLUE are mine.

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Round 2

^{𝔓𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.}

1. Uraeus's Sneak attack killed
   Supply Runner
   .

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Round 3

^{𝔓𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.}

1. Supply Runner's attack killed
   Dumacke Orc
   .

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Round 4

^{𝔓𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.}

1. Supply Runner's attack killed
   Chaos Agent
   .
2. Uraeus's Sneak attack killed
   Venka The Vile
   .

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Round 5

^{𝔓𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.}

1. Uraeus's Sneak attack killed
   Doctor Blight
   .

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🔹 ᒪIᑎEᑌᑭ 🔹

^{𝔓𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔖𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱.}

Thaddius Brood: I already explained about Thaddius Brood. His purpose is to counter any potential magic damage which is the most annoying damage type in the game.

1. Xenith Monk: I chose Xenith Monk as my secondary tank. This might be confusing because while he's on 1st position, his role in my mind is still a secondary tank. This is because he won't take the brunt of the opponent's damage due to my next monster on this lineup.
2. Coeurl Lurker: He is my main tank for this game. Even though he is placed where he cannot attack, there is a purpose for this. His role is to absorb the damage and anything he cannot evade, Spirit Hoarder will then restore using Triage ability.
3. Spirit Hoarder: I'm not sure but I don't remember there's a Neutral monster with Tank Heal ability. However, there's one monster I usually use with Triage ability. He is the key for this battle allowing my team to slowly but safely inflict damage to the opposing team while keeping everyone safe along with Coeurl Lurker's Taunt tability.
4. Uraeus: A good Sneak monster with very low cost. Good all around monster.
5. Supply Runner: I wanted to increase Xenith Monk's health to make him restore 3 health every round instead of 2 so I chose a monster with Strengthen to do that by putting my Xenith Monk's max health to 9. The bonus speed worked out as well since it's part of Coeurl Lurker's strategy.

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🔸 ᗪIᗪ YOᑌᖇ ᔕTᖇᗩTEGY ᗯOᖇKEᗪ? 🔸

Yes. I have the Heal advantage since I have monsters that can restore their health. I also got a lot of luck with Doctor Blight missing quite a lot and not applying the Afflictioned status to Coeurl Lurker on the times that it hit.

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🔹 ᗯᕼᗩT ᗯIᒪᒪ YOᑌ TᖇY ᗪIᖴᖴEᖇEᑎTᒪY ᑎE᙭T TIᗰE? 🔹

None. It's a really hard question when you have very limited monsters to choose from. So, I don't think I would be changing anything since this strategy worked very good in my favor.

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🔸

𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆

Thaddius Brood and Coeurl Lurker in Shades of Gray Rules of Combat

? 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕?

🔸

. Even though with this strategy, I get high win rate, I still don't like it because my choices are very limited and I hate it when games are limiting my choices. Unfortunately, sometimes, you have no choice and just need to do your best with your given hand.

• This post is an entry for Splinterland's Battle Mage Secrets 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.
• Animated Banners and Dividers are edited in Canva Pro.
• Some of the fonts used are from instafonts.io
• Some of the icons used are from game-icons.net

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