Drawn with pencil then with gel and felt tip markers and pens. If you aren't player Splinterlands yet click here

The Cave Slugs Got 'im

The Mangy Manticore Inn was rather empty that day the way it always was. A few tourists were listening to Lyrim ,A drunkard who told tall tales or sung or dance, anything that got him coin or drink on occasion. Today one of his audience of onlookers at the pub was a man in lavish garb who was scowling with a skeptical look on his face while Lyrim entertained the small gathering with a grandiose tale of giant slugs among the mushrooms of the pass.

"The slugs of the pass this the slugs of the pass that. If these slugs are as deadly as you say, why do people cross through that pass regularly. You hic ol' dullard." he said drunkenly interrupting Lyrim, who was midst enthralling the rest of the small group.

"Quite simple, they don't stop or slow down. Slugs are slow by nature, but you stop to take a peek at somein or smell the roses" Lyrim grabbed one hand over his other as if it was devoured. "You'll be gone before you know it. Now who wants to hear about Dark Ha'ON and the Crystal Jaguar?"

"Eyyy, how would you know anythin' bout' that?" One of them scoffed. "I'm still getting the next round for that last one" he continued to say as he gestured for another round. At this the skeptical one in elegant garb walked away from the booth by the window at the tavern and to the bar where the bartender was wiping the empty bar.

"Pick your poison?" asked the bartender as he cleaned a glass and ordered the bottles, attempting to appear busy in the obviously empty bar.
"Your most expensive liquor" asked the finely dressed individual.
"Right away, what's your name friend?" asked the bartender as he grabbed a bottle of Gold Foil Ale from the highest shelf within his reach and poured it into a glass for the mysterious person.
"Garrent, the great hic greatest adventurer you'll ever know" he said beaming full of himself. "The greatest adventurer of all time." Garrent was rotund, far from athletic by a wide margin, and appeared to have never been apart from the lap of luxury.
"Aye, sir" Said the bartender politely as Garrent continued to blather on incoherently about his wealth and stature nodding all the while.
"I'll pass that pass without issue at all, silly drunk" Garrent announced to no one as he stumbled out of the bar hardly able to stand.

Garrent started to sober up a little and kept walking towards the pass. Not stumbling so much, but still filled the liquor's fiery courage. The rich, plump nobleman kept walking upward. Until a week ago Garrent had never left his courtyard, but his educational advisor told him he should travel to "broaden his perspective". Garrent didn't need to travel somewhere else to know that he in fact was the greatest... or so he thought.

After leaving the Mangy Manticore Garrent began walking to the pass. It was not very far as the Mangy Manticore was meant to be a last stop for those wanting to rest before crossing the pass, most didn't want to tarry. The pines and foresty that had accompanied Garrent in his drunken quest until this point gave way to cave walls ,mushrooms, and lightly glowing fungus lighting the pathway. He could hear dripping and wet slithering, but in the corner of his eye something gathered far more of his interest. The glint of gold. Garrent jiggled and jogged to where he saw the glint and toppled over. An overturn chest of gold pieces. He had not thought as to why no one had taken it, Garrent merely thought that this was his. His first plunder as an adventurer, a conqueror. Garrent began filling his pockets, then after his pockets his hat, then when he went to take his boots to fill them with coin to match his face drained of all color. From the knee down there was nothing, mere stumps. And a large cave slug maw agape, preparing to take another slow chunk from Garrent. Then Garrent noticed them just like the old man said. "Some as big as bears or bigger even" he remembered those words seeing larger slower slugs approach from deeper cave channels and tunnels. And the smaller ones that were much closer. Garrent began to crawl, but it wasn't fast enough. How long had he spent getting the gold? 10 minutes? That's all it took. Terror took him and he screaming in horrifying desperation. Knowing he was staring death in the face, a slow death that no one would remember.

A faint scream could be heard from the tavern. Lyrim took a moment from his story "Ya hear that? Methinks the Cave Slugs got 'nother one" Lyrim said cupping his ear.
"Gahhhh, who'd be daft enough to stop? You're just winding me up" said one of his drunken audience. Who would stop indeed?

Card First Impressions

Having 1 speed 4 health and 2 melee. A 5 cost with opportunity, Cave Slug isn't the fastet opportunity creature by far. Having much higher utility at higher levels when it acquires scavenge, but even at lower levels in the right ruleset or situation Cave Slug is a deadly selection. WARNING! A notorious miss speed (reverse speed ruleset aside) against any high speed or flying small unit this creature may not be able to land a single hit. Rolling the dice, but still a powerful smack to the backline when it hits.

Strategy and Placement

Even though a bit pricey, Cave Slug is tankier than many opportunity alternatives: like serpentine soldier, seaweed, or parasitic growth. So for this particular blast ruleset it suits my needs just fine. For my battle here I used it in 3rd position. Using crystal werewolf for a debuff and as a tanky 2nd position blast absorber, Paladin as a good frontliner (in most rulesets), and Cave Slug to potentially cause a massive blast to the backline gutting the enemy's damage. Plus he's a beefy creature to put towards the front if worst comes to worst. Truthspeaker providing armor to the whole team (never a bad idea in the blast ruleset).

Lucky enough for me Cave Slugs lands a blow to the enemy sprite. Taking down BOTH of the buffed damage dealers for the enemy high magic damage output lineup. Soon afterwards the rest of the backline falls. The narwhale snipping the truthspeaker. Not focusing any of the damage on the beefier frontline targets.

Eventually Torhilo the Frozen is standing by himself, and stacked against numerous foes. Falls. Unable to take down paladin and unable to focus my backline, the entire enemy backline gets gobbled up by Cave Slugs. A decisive victory.

Conclusion and Talking Tidbits

In most cases I would recommend putting cave slug far enough to the back for him to get some hits in before coming forward. He can completely change the battlefield, but it's so slowly you'll need to help give him enough time to get there.
For this reason Cave Slugs don't always get that many successful hits off against many agile lineups and can lead to a huge lost in damage potential for the juicey 5 mana. On the other hand, being a super tanky murderer of small units gobbling them up one by one to feed scavenge. This isn't bad either, however in either case Cave Slugs needs a lot of time to operate.

Cave Slug Delegation Giveaway

Soon after the payout of this post one person who likes AND comments on this post will receive a cave slug for 15 days to assist you in devouring your foes. That person is @koipond Congragulations and good luck in your battles!

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