Blast is one of those monster skills that I really don't place that much importance in. There are melee monsters that have the skill... but they tend to be weak, and when they attack they are likely to get hurt by Thorns. Meanwhile, the ranged attack monsters with the skill don't do so much damage for the amount of mana that use, and I would usually prefer a monster that can cause some direct focused damage rather than opting for the more diffuse blast.
That said, the Water Splinter has the cheap Pirate Archer which only costs 2 mana, so it is a nice play during the low mana games.... and a similar idea for the Little League games when you have the Fire Splinter being able to field the Fire Demon. For games where there is a monster attack from anywhere battle condition, the Exploding Dwarf can be an interesting inclusion to cause some early game havoc, but don't expect it to last long!
In the Snipe Battle conditions, the ranged Blast monsters do start to come into their own... with the ability to damage a third monster more than making up for the lack of sheer firepower.
Still, when I saw the BLAST condition pop up as this week's feature... I couldn't resist the urge to field a completely (almost...) BLAST enabled team! Just for the shits and giggles... I didn't expect to win!
The Battle
Okay... I was trolling around today, playing battle after battle which would have let me play the Fire Splinter (I have 4 Blast enabled Fire monsters and there is also a Neutral one that I could also field...)... and of course, when you are waiting to have a specific splinter in the battle conditions... IT NEVER SHOWS UP! ... and when it did show up, it was no melee... or no ranged.... Stupid boiling kettles....
Anyway, it FINALLY showed up... without the ranged/melee restrictions... but with the Melee Mayhem and Equaliser battle conditions. Even better... my fragile Melee BLAST monsters would be more tough to kill... and the Melee Mayhem would mean that they wouldn't be left out of the fight!
So, the line up that I settled on... was the Cerberus to hopefully give some extra survivability to the lead tank role with the Self Healing ability, and also having the chance to retaliate doesn't hurt either!
Next up were the melee BLAST monsters, the Gremlin Blaster and the Exploding Dwarf. These guys are usually pretty damn fragile, but with the Equaliser ability they can do a bit more hurt before they go down. I've always wanted to play the Gremlin Blaster, but never really found the reason to... BLAST with the Stun... could be interesting, I do wonder if the Stun applies to everyone who is damaged by the BLAST?
Filling out the rest of the ranks were the rest of my BLAST roster of the Fire Splinter. The Fire Demon is a bit of a staple in my line up for the Fire Splinter if I am limited for mana (at 4 mana it is a cheaper play than some of the 8 mana monsters that I would prefer to play). Then the Pyromancer and the Fire Elemental also see a bit of playtime as well... I think this is the FIRST time that I've played either of these cards, they cost more mana than the Fire Demon and at their current levels they are also weaker.
So, this is my shits and giggles line up! I only wish I had one more BLAST monster to play... then I would have fielded a completely BLAST enabled team.... Alas... maybe next time!
Round 1
That Exploding Dwarf is a seriously hard hitter... at 6 Piercing damage, it is a guaranteed way to chew through armour and health. Now, with no fear of fragility, it is a killer! It is a bit of a pity that the BLAST damage from the ranged monsters don't hurt the Chain Golem at all due to the Shield ability... still, as soon as that Gelatinous Cube goes down that will change! And down it goes pretty fast!
Haha... stupid Unicorn gets a Retaliatory bite from the Cerberus meaning that it has lost it's armour. Soon, we will dine on cooked Unicorn meat.... meanwhile, the Goblin Blaster more than pays for it's cost in mana and then some with a Stunning blow against the Chain Goblin. Thankfully, the Cerberus won't need to see if it can dodge a 5 damage melee blow! Sadly, it doesn't look like that the Stunning blow will transfer with the BLAST damage.
Oh well, the Cerberus wasn't able to dodge the Rusty Android though... do people actually play this card? ... but not before taking a bite out of the metal monster's leg.
Round 2
Again, leading the fight with it's incredibly high speed... the large damage from the Exploding Dwarf pretty much ensures that both the Chain Golem and the Rusty Android will not survive this round!
Sadly, my prediction of both the Chain Golem and Rusty Android falling this round was not quite on point... still, they both missed their attacks on the Exploding Dwarf... a bit of a mixed blessing, as the chance to do some hefty retaliation damage was also on the cards if the Dwarf was hit...
... but I did lose my Goblin Blaster, which now means that my position is looking much more precarious, as I'm starting to run out of melee monsters!
Round 3
First hit with the Exploding Dwarf again... goodbye Rusty Android! You lasted a round longer than you were supposed to. Still, the Shield ability of the Chain Golem is proving to be more troublesome than I would have thought. Unbelievably, the Silvershield Knight misses it's attack on the Exploding Dwarf. This is now the third dodged attack... this never happens for me!
The Unicorn does hit though, and cops an Exploding fist in return... and even better, as the horrible Unicorn aggressor is sitting in the second position the explosion catches three monsters in it's BLAST! Goodbye Chain Golem, I can almost taste the Unicorn steaks already!
Round 4 and onwards
UNICORN STEAK! The speed of the Exploding Dwarf is completely unmatched, and it gets the first attack in on the Unicorn... downing it immediately at the start of the round. The Silvershield Knight takes down the the Exploding Dwarf, but a huge BLAST takes the Knight out of the fight as well!
From here, the three ranged BLAST monsters are able to mob the last enemy Magic user. The Equaliser battle condition ensures that is a completely unequal fight!
Conclusion
HAHAHAAAHAHA... don't ever play this team! It's a joke team meant to showcase as many BLAST monsters at the same time in the same team... but in this case, it just happened to work... because of the battle conditions which made the fragile melee BLAST monsters into vicious hard hitting damage tanks. It is never going to work again... but I might be tempted to try!
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