This week's featured summon is a creature I more usually use as a low mana tank in Little League matches. In this case though, I found a spot for its hard carapace in a higher mana battle.
The Battle
In this Sneak battle both my opponent and I chose the 'thorns at each end' option. Beyond that our strategies differed. They chose to try to avoid the thorns by using range/magic for their back line DPS whereas I stayed with higher damage and higher health melee monsters. The beetle fit in to fill a low mana slot where its Shield would allow it to sustain the thorn damage for a couple of rounds and help break down the enemy armour.
My DPS has made a significant impact on my opponent's back line Djinn Chwala. My Windeku and Sha-vi should finish it off next round leaving the Crypt Beetle to attack Spirit Hoarder where it will take no thorn damage.
As it happened, the Bone Golem moved ahead of Crypt Beetle so the Spirit Hoarder survived another round, but it wasn't enough.
Both front line tanks were finished off and the Beetle moved to the front where it took no damage from a Soul Strangler hit. Sadly, it won't last to Magi Necrosi, but having survived to this point it saves the Sha-vi for another round. My remaining DPS will be just enough to eliminate the Riftwing and finally bring down the Magi.
Conclusion
Although the Crypt Beetle has low health, the Shield and low mana cost make it a useful addition in some circumstances
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