It’s not strong; It’s not ripped. It rarely sees the light ‘cause it lives in a crypt! It’s the Crypt Beetle.
This week’s “Share Your Battle” feature is the Crypt Beetle. Residing somewhere in the darkest regions of the Chaos-Legion starter deck, this tiny death-splinter critter rarely sees the light of day in bronze-league matches. Perhaps it’s because of its anemic 1-powered melee attack or its nearly-deceased 1-speed. But what the Crypt Beetle lacks in power and speed it makes up for in economy and toughness. Costing just three mana this little bugger has armor and the shield ability. That can make it one tough customer in low-power, non-magical matches.
Looking at the Beetle’s level-progression chart we see this itsy-bitsy insect’s destiny never changes. It never gains any new abilities and most of its growth is in thicker armor and more health beneath it. Simply put, at any stage of its existence, the Crypt Beetle is an ugly bug that’s hard to smush.
Although I don’t see many players using the Crypt Beetle here in the bronze leagues where I am still duking it out, I have been using it for a while. In the early days of the Chaos-Legion starter deck Thadius Brood, Cursed Windeku, Undead Badger was a popular 12-mana team. I began to counter with Contessa L’ament, Cursed Windeku, and Crypt Beetle. With the Beetle being impervious to the sneaky Badger’s 1-powered melee attack my team would win after the thorny Windeku’s wiped each other out.
Getting cast into a 12-mana-cap match, with no magic and the dragon splinterdisallowed, and of course knowing that this week’s share your battle feature was the Crypt Beetle, I thought my old team might be a good choice. Seeing that my opponent had played water in all five of his previous matches did nothing to change my mind. I doubted that he would play water in a 12-mana, no-magic battle so the old death standard team was as likely as anything else.
Although I first used this team to counter a specific team, there is a more general strategy underlying it. The hope is that the thorn-wielding Cursed Windeku will be able to single handedly deal with the opponent’s tank, and then none of the other members of his team will be able to damage the sheided Beetle. It might take while, but the Crypt Beetle has all day if an opponent can’t break through its shield.
In a 12-mana match, the use of Contessa L’ament as summoner is just math. The Windeku and Beetle consume nine mana, leaving only three for the summoner. Contessa L’ament it is!
For my tank, I use the 6-mana cost Cursed Windeku. With its 2-powered melee attack and 2-damage, thorn counterattack, I’m counting on Windi to defeat my opponent’s tank and leave his team devoid of strong attackers.
My only other team member is the Crypt Beetle. At the beginning of the match, it will be playing rear guard, hopefully harmlessly deflecting 1-powered sneak or opportunity attacks. After my tank falls, my team’s tail from the crypt will need to mop up the remnants of my opponent's troops aided by its thick skin to avoid defeat.
Fire led by Tarsa. This could be interesting. Fire has some shielded soldiers of its own, and they hit hard enough to play Raid to my back-line bug. But even so, 12-mana fire teams are uncommon here in the bronze league, so I’m not sure what to expect.
Intriguing team, but it highlights why the Cursed Windeku is such a popular play in 12-mana matches. Those thorns are going to be a prickly problem for fire. By early in round two his tank will fall, largely to thorn damage, and acting third in the round behind the 3-speed, rare tanks, the Spy ends up getting the point, too. At best for fire, the two-speed Scorcher can finally take my tank down, but at a cost of two thirds of its own heath. Acting last in round two, this week’s feature should be face to face with the depleted Radiated Scorcher. That’s two 90% shots to deal the last point of damage. I like my odds.
How did it go? See for yourself here.
Yeah, that hurt, spy guy.
But here’s back at cha.
And sure enough, my thick-skinned scarab stabs the Scorcher to end the second round and secure my victory.
While I didn’t face the sneaky team I expected, the match still demonstrates the strength of this strategy. Yes, the Cursed Windeku does most of the work for sure, but the Crypt Beetle plays a vital role as well. Its armor allowed it to survive the opportunistic Serpentine Spy’s initial assault, keeping it alive to mop up the match after Windi had done all it could do.
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