The Foundation card set looks really interesting now that we have the Frontier format. And through my initial interactions with this game mode, I see more clearly the significance of the cards now that they are on an even playing field with others.
One element that I've really overlooked was Earth. The Foundation archon for Earth is Aurelia which like other cards from the set, only reaches silver level. She gives +1 to health which is pretty on flavor with the theme of Earth which is nurturing allies and healing. And upon playing Frontier, I am sometimes forced to play with Earth and I then learned its strenghts through experience.
Dread Tafarian is a beast of a tank. It's probably one of the best defensive unit in the Foundation set. Having heal and high health makes it a strong wall against incoming enemy attacks. I've won most of my matches using this in the front slot and I sometimes even use it for Modern battles.
Next to Dread Tafarian, I don't think there is a better Earth card to assign in the second slot at Mad Gearhead mainly because of the reach ability. Aside from dealing supplementary melee damage, it can also act as a secondary tank due to its high health.
As for the main damage dealer, there is Kicking Roc that deals 3 range damage to enemies. Having this large amount of damage is significant when in the Frontier mode because most cards only deal 1 or 2 damage points. The overall health is also good although the mana cost is very high, in my opinion.
Another range damage dealer is Wilhelmdale Deputy. It'a almost identical to Kicking Roc in terms of stats but Deputy has an advantage due to it's Snare ability. This would be able to weaken flying units which are typically harder to hit especially when there is a wide speed difference.
Finally, there is Vicious Quilliun in the final slot. It has high enough health that can withstand a few sneak attacks. Vicious Quilliun also has the Opportunity ability which may potentially kill enemy units early on. It also has a decent mana cost which means I can still use it at low mana battles.
This next battle that I'm going to share is from the bronze league of the Frontier mode. It has Equal Opportunity and Counterspell rule sets. You can check the battle link here.
My enemy went ahead with a speed first strategy. When I first saw this lineup, I initially thought I would lose the game due to the difference in speed.
My Vicous QUilliun was the first to go down. Because every unit has Opportunity, they all homed in on it and took it quickly.
I then also actually watched in shock as my other cards were killed off one by one. By the time Round 4 came to pass, my tank, Dread Tafarian became the lone unit I am relying on.
There were a few close calls where Dread Tafarian was one hit away from losing. Luckily, the heal ability did its job and kept on sustaining my tank's health. The flow of the match reversed, and I then ended up winning the game. And the entire match took 13 rounds to conclude.
Aurelia and the entire Earth element of the Foundation set has a strong set of cards that rely on having high defensive abilities. Every day I am discovering something new while playing Splinterlands and I'm looking forward to my next battles.
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Special thanks to Saydie for providing free dividers. You can check them out here:
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