Every average player in Splinterlands especially in Bronze and Silver League knows Myclor Crowling and his head scratching thorn ability. This summoner is so popular these days and he is in the meta in this league that its price rose this past months when buying/renting. So, is there a possibility we could win against Mylor and his earth troops with our starter decks? Probably not but if were lucky, we can but a very low chance of winning especially starter decks dont have much power to deal with him. Another question is do we need to spend much dec or credit in order to rent powerful summoner or monsters? Is it worth it?
In this article, I'll guide you how to prepare your self and your deck for high probability of winning when facing opponents who are likely to use Mylor Crowling.
His ability which gives his all friendly monsters the Thorn ability that when hit by a melee attack will surely damage the attacker -2 points. Mylor gives all his friendly monster on his team the thorns ability.. that's right. Every, single, monster. Even that 0 mana cost Furious Chicken with no attack can definitely use his ability. With this, our strategy is how will we overcome this meta skill.
The best option would be simply dont use a monster with melee attacks, and use magic and ranged attack monsters.
Downside of magic team is mostly opponents that uses Mylor knows that their weakness is Magic which they rely on their best fitted tank to counter that, Unicorn Mustang. This tank ability is Void which reduces Magic attack damage. So if your magic attack monster has only 1 damage, this monster will deal 0 damage against tank with void ability.
The most common lineup for Mylor Crowling Team are Tanks: Unicorn Mustang (Void Ability), Support: Wood Nymph (Tank Heal Ability) and Mushroom Seer (Silence Ability).
With the help of Wood Nymph that can heal the tank per round depending of the amount of damage they received and Mushroom Seer that reduces the magic attack of all enemy monsters is almost invincible to beat. This team counters melee and magic attack, and win probably most of the time with the right positioning and addition of monsters depends on the mana cost that round.
So, the best team would likely to counter Mylor's team is ranged attack team with a tank that has no attack so it wont triggered the thorn ability of Mylor.
The Best Tanks that has no attack are Gelantinous Cube, Lord Arianthus, Onyx Sentinel, Almo Cambio, and Peaceful Giant. Some honorable mentions are Failed Summoner and Kelp Initiate, which are actually very useful secondary tanks.
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In addition with this, make sure your tank chosen sustain also the damage of the opposing team. Use a monser that has a tank heal ability or some armor buffs. Adding a healer like Divine Healer for your secondary tank is also a great move. So if your primary tank is taken down, divine healer will provide additional time for your backlines to do their task. One counter also is you will add monster that has an affliction ability which has a chance to negate the healing of enemy team especially if Mylor team has a Wood Nymph on it. Make sure also your team has the snipe, sneak, or opportunity ability on your team to take out the backlines. There are many decent ranged monsters that has this ability and can take on the backline monsters. One thing to remember is that ranged attacked monsters cant attack in the first position. So if your front line is dead, you will have a higher chance to be defeated. So make sure you have a tank that cant sustain the fights while your backline monsters kill all their enemy backlines especially their healer.
With this strat stated above, mostly this monsters I mentioned is not included in the starter deck. So you need to rent some of these to get a higher chance in beating Mylor. Reminder also that spend your DEC or Credits wisely, make sure that your DEC spent is lower than your DEC gain to obtain profit and make sure also not to spend too much on renting coz you will end up a loss on DEC if you dont managed to play well in higher ranks.
Honorable Mention and Card to keep in your collection is Owster Rotwell. He gives your monsters the Magic Reflect Ability which is just as brutal as the Thorns ability!
Final thoughts, play and try the game so you can experience the game because experience is the best teacher. You will learn gradually about positioning of monster and selection of additional monster aside from the monster shown above. You will also know or discover your own meta deck to counter Mylor or any other summoners. So, play splinterlands and do get experience and feel the thrill of this addictive game.
Official Website: https://splinterlands.com/