The Key To Survival Mode = Survival !!!
Even though I'm kind of frustrated by the Survival Mode Experience which is more of a grind and a management of cards choosing your spots with minor rewards, I continued to play some today. If anything, you want 100% of your line-up to stay alive so you don't always build a deck toward winning but toward winning with a clean sweep. In this process, there are some cards that have really shined for me and are the cornerstone of my entire Survival Mode Play Style...
It are also mainly the Tanks and keeping them alive which is the Key cards in Survival Mode
Best Low Mana Card!
Whenever there is a Low Mana Battle, my instant first choice always goes out to using the Cursed Windeku and It's one of the cards that I actually have a spare max-level copy of. One of the mistakes with low mana battles is to play as many cards as possible which often will get you crushed when your opponent focuses on 1 really strong card. The Cursed Windeku in this regard is kind of the best of both worlds as it still fits in low mana battles at a 6 Mana cost while at the same time it's super powerful. It also has self Heal with plenty of health to regenerate and it also is very likely to do extra damage with the torns ability. The Slow ability also always helps a bit. On top of all this, there are come Death Splinter cards the synergise well with this.
Weirding Warrior: This one really works well as it give the Torns extra Damage while it likely removes all the armor of the opponents. As a ranged cards it easly can be put in the back.
Shadow Presence: remains a good 1-mana card and works well with the Curved Windeku as it both gives it more health and also +1 Melee attack. With 6 mana it also takes multiple hits to kill.
Undead Priest: This one both slows the opponent down more and reduces the health of all the monsters which likely are smaller with 1.
Ravenhood Warden also remains a must play Low-mana battle card as it has 2 superb abilities giving all your monsters +2 Armor and increasing the Melee attack by +1/
Wailing Wrath: This perfectly can be put in 2nd position with potentially 7 or 8 damage output if the stats are buffed.
Speed Meta!
The best way to make your card and lineup survive is to make sure that your opponent just isn't able to get a hit in. So a combination of High Speed with the Phase ability so Magic attack also can miss. The 2 tanks that for me work best are the Nightmare & The Coeurl Lurker
The Coeurl Lurker most umportantly has the Taunt Ability, so the attack is dictated toward it. With just 4 Speed it isn't the fastest but it also has Dodge and the other cards can support toward making it easier for the opponent to miss. The Nightmare is perfect with a massive 7 speed, good 13 health and also Blast with 3 base melee attack. The blast often helps to win the matches but it also is best to be played with Lily Shieldpaw to dictate the attack toward it. There are many cards in Survival Mode that make these abilities stronger.
There are 2 cards that I always put in 2nd position as options.
Corrupted Pegasus: helps to heal the tank and gives it also 1 extra Health at a cost of 6 mana. Playing Lily this also makes it so that this card kind of is protected from Blast damage
Oshuur Constantia: is another great option for a 2nd card as it has tank heal, reflection shield so it's protected againt blast damage and the ressurect ability giving the tank a 2nd life in case it would need it.
Some of the supporting cards for the Speed meta which synergize well are
Spirit Miner: which both brings the Blind ability and also +1 Speed to all your monsters which makes a massive difference.
Boogeyman: this mainly helps with the slow and the rust ability while the demoralize doesn't do so much as the entire strategy is around the opponent who misses their attacks.
Supply Runner: is a fast monster with 5 Speed which also has the speed and the +1 health ability.
There are also some lower Mana monsters that really help a lot
Undead Priest : both slows down the opponent and it also gives all opponent monsters -1 health
Naga Assassin: for 2 mana also speeds up all your monsters and mainly the tank.
Creeping Ooze: for 1 mana slows down all the opponent monsters.
The Ravenhood Warden also works really well, especially with the Nightmare + Corrupted Pegasus combination, as it makes them more powerful with extra attack and more ability to survive with some armor./
Conclusion!
The best way to play survival mode is to survive which can be done playing the Cursed Windeku in lower mana battles or the Coeurl Lurker / Nightmare as monsters who become impossible to hit by the opponent playing the speed meta. These generally are my go-to strategies in Survival Mode especially against opponents you know you can beat as they generally aren't able to kill a single of your monsters.
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