I was fortunate to be able to buy Heloise The Hollow #91 from the recent @splinterlands Auction. I took a risk waiting so long to get her, and she's quickly become one of my favorite cards. Heloise is, of course, extremely powerful, but she's also VERY fun to use. I'll add that she's also DIFFICULT to use properly, so I'm still experimenting. In this post, I'll showcase TEN battles which show some awesome synergies with the beautiful and terrifying Heloise The Hollow, with a particular demonstration of the Heloise/Drath pairing, as well as several others.
1. Heloise + Drath w/ Taunt/Redemption
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_e498e048f434b222b93f68027c4e7364
This battle showcases Heloise in a mid-mana battle (30) paired with Drath, using the Taunt/Redemption tactic on Heloise. "But she already has Taunt," you might say! Yup, but think about the number of redemptions! I opted for that instead of True Strike despite the Naga Assassin knowing that if all the redemptions triggered it would take most of the enemy team down. This is also a battle that showcases the awesome pairing of Heloise with Queen Mycelia, who removes some armor from the opponent while adding armor to Heloise.
2. Redemption vs Lux
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_37046465bee81ce1ed0ab11fc7af1af6
The redemption on Heloise works exceptionally well against Lux, where the first one removes that pesky +1 Armor. It's also particularly strong here as it piles on with poison. This battle also of course showcases Sanctus Vicar of course, who always plays a terrific role during Noxious Fumes and is accessible with Drath despite sharing no overlapping splinters with Heloise.
One other note from this battle (and the previous one, and others below) is that Halfling Refugee is not an ideal pairing with Heloise, as he already has Weary (which means one less revive).
3. Enrage ruleset vs Tofu
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_eaadefe6dc192bf635b08addf805de4a
In this battle we have Enrage, which means when Heloise counters she'll be even more fierce. It also means the opponents are likely to be faster, so Drath's True Strike works perfectly here.
Another callout is that Heloise's counter ignores Taunt, which means the Slipspawn, despite its pesky Taunt+Forcefield, doesn't get in the way of Heloise's wrath.
4. Heloise in front
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_65b4b321e8dd9a98fc8566a6557ba8f7
Here's another great pairing with Drath, this time against Tofu and sticking Heloise in the front. Despite being in position #1, Heloise can still counter any opponent who defeats her.
The opponent also brings a Heloise, so this battle's crazy out of the gate. I bring redemption to increase the damage to their overall team, and hope my Flying from Drath will give me an edge in the Earthquake ruleset.
And lo and behold, the finish is just epic, with the two Heloises finishing each other off and it coming down to an unbelievable staredown between two Acid Shooters who can no longer shoot...
5. Suidae Shaman for the win??
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_704d1e2e38a603d66702ec282cd07641
In this battle I stuck Heloise and Rik around Fiz expecting a Tofu lineup, but was met with Quix, with several dodge-heavy units. I brought Drath again so I put True Strike on both Heloise and Rik. But the true MVP? Suidae Shaman (who I had brought for the rust), dealing a massive blow to Rage at the end.
6. Bye bye Olivia
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_1629558e9351f718bab6db72e72c3f76
Olivia can be a real pain for Heloise, and one of the big reasons for that is her Armor, as well as when she gets Triage/Scavenger with Tofu. In this battle I bring Queen Mycelia's Rust to remove that armor, and we get to see Heloise take out both Olivia and Doctor Blight. Very satisfying.
7. Paired with Cryptic
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_737ecec9ef083f2dc6ecd41d59c227c1
In this battle I bring Heloise along with Cryptic, which is a bit of a tougher pairing. The idea though was that she'd draw enemy fire while Fellblade and Slade could do their work. Mantaroth, the bear, and Harklaw were all merely there as support :)
8. Another Drath, vs Cryptic
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_d604d5d4aed538cc82c0feb71abf6d17
What I love about pairing Heloise with Drath is several things... There's versatility (e.g. use True Strike vs Cryptic or redemption vs squishier/slower teams) and there's the ability to bring highly synergistic cards like Queen Mycelia, Fyatt, and Bale.
In this battle I give Heloise True Strike against the opponent's Cryptic/Slade combo, and she doesn't disappoint. Bale gets his own True Strike and is a great addition to the team, particularly as his low health means he's one of the last units to get Weary, meaning he can keep cooking late.
9. 23 mana vs Tofu? No problem!
Battle link: https://next.splinterlands.com/battle/sl_8f4d44d7166d61835490731cdb702815
Drath+Heloise is 16 mana, which leaves only 7 mana. But no problem! Those fiends give souls Heloise can siphon, and the other support cards buff up and protect Heloise while removing the opponents' armor. Heloise in the front forces all the damage to herself, the redemption tactic ensures Divine Shields go away, and the opposing Tofu doesn't stand a chance.
10. Paired with Tofu
Battle link: https://next.splinterlands.com/battle/sl_97feb4f05b07c189c667a8f9f531e5f8
I haven't showcased them much, but there are plenty of great pairings with Tofu as well of course.
In this battle a few interesting things to note are bringing Iza, whose scavenge builds up to make her a nice last ditch tank if needed due to the many Heloise revives.
Another big thing worthy of note is the awesome synergy with Divine Shield on Heloise, as she gets that back every time she revives. Of course Scavenger's another great synergy with her self-revives. Despite the enemy bringing a very viable Venka/Fiz/Ambush combo, my Heloise takes the day.
Bonus! More AI-generated images of Heloise
All images created with Midjourney AI