Hi everyone! It's time for the a weekly battle challenge, and the challenge for this week is Dhampir Stalker.
About the Monster
Dhampir Stalker
Dhampir Stalker is a rare card which does great damage at level 1 with 3 Ranged attack and has the True Strike ability. It gets the Deathblow ability from level 5 and up to 5 Ranged attack at level 8. I’m using the level 2 version of the card which has a faster speed.
Ruleset
Melee Mayhem: Melee attack Monsters can attack from any position
Only the Fire, Death and Dragon Splinter can be used
Mana Cap: 52
Format: Modern
Cards & Line Up
Summoner
vs
Summoner: Thaddius Brood - This reduces the health of the opponents deck and also reduces any magic attack damage.
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| Position | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harklaw | It has has 9 Health, 3 Shield and the Shield ability against melee attacks. With the Weak Magic ruleset, it makes it one of the best tanks to use. |
| 2 | Cursed Windeku | It has 2 Melee attack, 10 Health and the Thorns ability, which makes it great as the secondary tank. It can also attack with the Melee Mayhem ruleset. |
| 3 | Disintegrator | I used it for the Demoralize ability, so that the Opponent's attack will be reduced by 1. A plus that it can attack with the Melee Mayhem ruleset. |
| 4 | Night Ghoul | A nice Riftwatcher card with high Melee attack of 4, 10 Health and 4 Shields, with the Taunt ability. It is great to use in this combination of ruleset. |
| 5 | Dhampir Stalker | It does 3 Ranged damage and has the True Strike ability. It doesn't miss! |
| 6 | Ever-Hungry Skull | It has very low Health of 1, but very high Shield of 8. It's placed here to take damage if the opponent uses a backline attack strategy instead. |
Strategy
The Weak Magic ruleset here meant that Monsters with Magic attacks do not have any advantage in this battle, and the Melee Mayhem ruleset meant that Melee Monsters are more likely to be used in the battle. Also, the available Splinters for use (Fire, Death and Dragons) have fairly strong Melee cards. Typically, I would have opted for the Fire Splinter with the Living Lava as the tank. However, I thought that Thaddius Brood might be slightly better in case the opponent uses any Magic attacks, and it'll reduce damage from such attacks.
My strategy was to use a mostly Melee cards and to concentrate my attacks on the opponent's first position. The Disintegrator is used to reduce the opponent's Melee damage so that Harklaw can last longer as the main tank. The Night Ghoul is also used to absorb most the initial damage while at the same time dishing out lots. And I used Dhampir Stalker for it's 3 Ranged attack as it doesn't miss and in case the opponent uses the Disintegrator as well.
I was glad that the strategy worked out well. On hindsight though, I think the Dragon Splinter (with Quix the Devious) might have been a little better, with my Djinn Chwala replacing Cursed Windeku. I would probably have kept the rest of the deck the same.
Thoughts on the card
I think that Dhampir Stalker is a wonderful card to have, due to it's True Strike ability. However, as it is a ranged card, there's a need to ensure that the frontline is well protected so that it can live to its true potential.