Splinterlands has released the first dual-element card into the game and it's a Promo card that anyone can buy. You can read more about the sale of the card in this post and or the lore for this card. It's a pricey card though and everyone should think it through before buying it.
Zyriel
Zyriel is 7 mana Life Death splinter so it can be used with either splinter type (life or death). It starts off with weapons training and life leech and later learns divine shield and rust as it is leveled up.
This means it can be quite useful and putting it next to monsters without any attack can make them a valid attacker. If the match lasts long enough, then the health of the card will also go up so I think the combination of that with a taunt monster can work out quite well.
Purchase
There are over 19 days left for the sale of this card and it should end at the end of the month. So there is plenty of time for anyone to get involved and the sale has been going slowly so far. There are over 10,000 copies left so I don't think it will sell out.
The cost of the card is 80k DEC and this amount can be discounted by 250 DEC for each VOUCHER used. Given the current price of VOUCHER and DEC, it is cheaper to spend a VOUCHER over 250 DEC. The price of 250 DEC is over 0.5 HIVE while the price of a VOUCHER is only 0.25 HIVE.
I spent around 110 Hive to buy the DEC and missing VOUCHERS so the total cost of this was around $43 at the time of my purchase.
I only ended up with a common foil copy and it's too bad that I did not get the gold foil. I can't control that so I have to make do with what I did get.
How it performs in battle?
This is my first battle with Zyriel. I decided to go with Zyriel in the 3rd position to give Riftwing ranged attack and there is a taunt monster on my side so that my Zyriel does not die early. The ruleset is lost magic so magic monsters can't be used so both of our summoners just reduce the enemies health by 1.
I ended up winning this match and using the taunt monster was a good decision. It let my cards attack and even Riftwing sealed a few attacks before it was moved up to the front. With the life leech, my Zyriel had 11 health at the end and that would allow it to be a backup tank if it needed to.
Conclusion
Zyriel can be a powerful card but it's also quite expensive. So was it worth the money for it? From a financial standpoint, I am mixed about it. It does increase my options and it makes some of those no attack monsters like Riftwing or Pelacor Conjurer able to attack. So it definitely has its uses. I am content with my purchase though because it does open up more options for me in my ranked battles.
Did you buy a Zyriel?
Feel free to leave a comment if you read my post. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer.