Introduction
Hello fellow Summoners,
This week's Battle Share Contest by @splinterlands is about the furious Giant Squid! The link is here:
https://steempeak.com/splinterlands/@splinterlands/share-your-battle-weekly-challenge-win-upvotes-giant-squid
The theme is the Giant Squid, a Water Monster. Belonging to the water splinter, it can only be used by a water summoner but it is suited for it. I mean, what kind of squid is a fire, death, earth, etc. type? Even so, water is mainly focused on magic so it doesn't exactly fit in with all the other water types.😰
Experiences With The Squid
I have to say, the squid was a good card to use in medium mana battles when I started about due to its 2 ranged attack and 1 armor which can be used to block a sneak or snipe attack. Even so, as I acquire more cards, it becomes rather useless because of a high mana costs yet only a mediocre attack and pretty low health.
Card Level
On my delegated account which I usually play on, I have a level 4 giant squid which isn't too bad, it is just that I don't use it much. On my account, I have a gold foil Giant Squid which isn't much of a difference from the normal squid but each level difference does give it a small buff. At level 4, the squid gains the blind ability which can be very useful in giving a higher chance of dodging to your monsters. At max level, it gains weaken, making it kind of the goblin shaman or undead priest of the seas.
Ruleset
For this battle, I got the knockout ruleset. This ruleset is uaually ignored since not many monsters have the stun ability. Sorry to say but I am also not a great fan of this ruleset and treat it as a standard game. The battle was 20 mana which is pretty low. All the summoners are allowed except fire and death which is perfectly fine with me because death usually means a lot of debuffs coming my way.
Battle
Since my opponent also ignored this ruleset and didn't put any stun monster in, I think we can remove that rule as a topic of this battle.
You can see this battle here: https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=2d3d6b0eeff1336ac7b1883b2bc5fef86c341ed7
Summoner + Monster Choices
Summoner
Daria : I chose this card because:
Even though it was a medium-low mana battle, I still chose Daria to be the summoner because I can use higher level cards. After all, she is my highest level summoner. I'll have to lower the cost of my monsters though.
Monsters
Lord Ariathus
This monster is going to be my primary solid tank. He will be able to fend off attacks from all the monsters and his shield and void makes him last a long time. The thorns and magic reflect will take out any healers or reach monsters hiding out in the back.
Manticore
Very good solid tank, and really self-explanatory in this position. It will hide behind my Lord A and give the opponent's monsters some heavy bashing. Good health and good damage, the guy is an all-rounder.
Crustacean King
This healer will keep my Lord A's health up. Definitely a must have in all water armies.
Giant Squid
It is the monster of the week! The squid will put blindness on all of the monsters giving them a 15% more chance to miss! Plus, the extra damage can help.
Fire Spitter
A nice low mana yet high damage card. Will make my damage output even higher! Its flying can also help me survive longer if any sneak attacks come through.
Furious Chicken
Put him attack the back to absorb 1 opportunity or sneak attack. Always a precaution :)
Did It Work?
I am going against a Tyrus, the most annoying summoner ever. Yes there is Drake who also gives one shield but I face Tyrus more so I deem him more annoying. His stupid +1 shield is just SO ANNOYING!!!
Turn 1
Nothing too interesting happened at the end of the first round. My back line took some damage but that is all. My Lord A evaded an attack because of the blind. Go Giant Squid!
Turn 2
My healer is almost dead and my Lord A took a beating but I'm getting good damage out of his unicorn!
Turn 3
Took out the unicorn but my opponent also took out my healer. I am not sure how much longer Lord A will last. Maybe my manticore will have to tank soon against that peacekeeper.
Turn 4
Lord A is going down but I am moving through the monsters at a good rate. I might win this one!
Turn 5
My squid's blindness made my Lord A survive 1 more turn and that allowed him to kill the healer! Thanks squid!
Turn 6 + 7
I destroyed the last of his monsters and that gives me a victory! His monsters missed a lot of times even when they shouldn't have missed and that is all thanks to the squid! Blindness is really good and can be really important in battles!
End Result
Screenshot_5.png
Very nice play and choice of cards on the side of the opponent. The silversheild archers took out the healer and his unicorn lasted a good time. If it weren't for the squid's blind, I might have lost. Well played!
Looking Back
Looking back at the battle, would I have changed anything? I probably would have changed the positioning of the squid and the healer so the silvershield archers would first have to punch through the much heavier squid in order to reach the crustacean king. That would ensure a longer healing period for my Lord A. Other than that, I feel it was a pretty good match.
End
I have some ending questions for my readers. Do you use the Giant Squid? Why do you like to use it? What is the best level for it if you balance both the cost of getting it and the stats?
Thank you for reading my post and BATTLE ON!
