This post is my opinion and my alone. From the tens of thousands of battles I have played the most used Alphas/Betas for me are the following and my reasons for using them. Hope new players and beginners can learn a thing or two about what I post because my objectives are not just to earn upvotes but also to spread the knowledge of Splinterlands. Thanks!
The following cards in focus are not to be ranked in best to worse but ones that should be looked at commonly used by me. This list is not all encompassing as the game evolves so will the likelihood cards that are being used. Yet over the years I have been playing I have still fallen upon using the following cards when ever I need Alphas or Betas.
Fire Splinter's - Cerberus & Fire Demon
Both Cerberus and Fire Demon only costs 4 manas so often I use them in low mana battles that encompasses Fire splinter. For Cerberus at level 1 it already has self heal and a decent attack and health at 2 and 5 respectively. It can be a great tanker at higher levels as it gains retaliate ability at level 5 and can get up to max health of 9 at level 8. Not often is there a mana 4 monster that has self heal.
Fire Demon although is a range attack monster it gets very useful at level 3 as it adds on the ability blast. In addition it has reasonable speed and health for a 4 mana monster. I often apply Fire Demon near the rear of formation since its range attack and in low mana matches.
Water Splinter - Spineback Turtle & Water Elemental
To be honest it was very difficult to pick two from the water splinter as its one of my favorite sets of cards to use when only alpha or beta cards are allowed. The magic monsters in Medusa and Mischievous Mermaid are runner up recommendations to also look for as some great water cards.
For Water splinter I feel Spineback Turtle as the best tanker card in the series. Frozen Soldier maybe designed to be a tanker but Spineback has thorn at level 4 which just gives it that great feeling of wanting my opponent to always hit the turtle and then anticipating on a reverse attack from the turtle. The monster uses only 4 manas but has both a toughness and decent health at 6. Along with having a melee attack just makes the monster useful enough to be considered in any water splinter formation.
Water Elemental although is a 5 mana card it has self healing at base level and a decent speed and health, both of which at 4. The range attack makes Water Elemental an ideal fit for rear of formation. Often best card to use to neutralize sneak ability cards. In addition at higher level it has the ability of dodge making it even more difficult to kill. While also at higher level it has a decent damage of 4 in range attack.
Earth Splinter - Flesh Golem & Earth Elemental
When I first saw Flesh Golem I immediately looked over the monster, but now I considered it a staple tanker for Earth splinter. Flesh Golem is best used with the self heal which it obtains at level 3. A higher mana usage of 6 it still handles attacks very well with a default of 9 health and reaches 10 at level 3 with self heal. Flesh Golem even has a 2 melee attack to boot. In addition by level 7 it has a second ability void, which basically makes this monster a tanker to not only be able to withstand most melee and range attacks but also that of magic.
Similar to Water's elemental the Earth has Earth Elemental. Earth Elemental uses only 3 mana. A minor drawback is the range and speed is as low as it can be at 1 however things get very interesting at level 4 and above. In fact by level 4 it obtains self heal ability and by then its range and speed are at 2. In similar fashion to Flesh Golem the Earth Elemental is best use at level 4 and above. With self heal it is a good fit to have Earth Elemental at the rear of the formation to neutralize sneak while also be a supplement in attack.
Life Splinter - Silvershield Paladin & Air Elemental
Silvershield Paladin I consider as a great Life splinter tanker. At lead off position it can handle melee and range attacks. Although not great in attack with a measly 1 melee it has decent health and 1 toughness. It certainly gets better as it levels up and for comparison by level 5 it has also magic reflect ability and its toughness increases to 4. Not to mention its health and melee also up to 7 and 2 respectively.
Its another elemental and in Life splinter its Air Elemental. Even though it is 5 mana to play Air Elemental packs a punch with starting level at 2 range and a health of 5. The speed takes the cake at 6 making it likely that Air will be the first or close to first to attack in any battle. When it levels up to 3 or more it has the dodge ability making it reasonable well in countering rear attacks such as dodge. Again Air Elemental like the other elementals fits well in the rear of the formation.
Death Splinter - Haunted Spirit & Twisted Jester
For the Death splinter the Haunted Spirit is easily the best used card. As a tanker by default at level 1 it has self heal and a high health of 7. The monster simply gets better as it moves up in level with introduction of reflect at level 4 and void at level 7. Mean while it has a 2 melee attack at level 1 and can get as high as 4 at level 6 and above. The card fits well at the leading position of any Death formation.
Although alpha/beta series did not include a death elemental, it came in Untamed, it still had a very useful range attack monster that could match the other splinters. This is the Twisted Jester where at 4 mana it already hand snipe ability and a range attack of 2. By level 5 it also included the dodge ability. What makes Twisted Jester so useful is like all the other elementals before that it fits well in the rear of the formation.
Conclusions
If you noticed a pattern here the cards I chose for each splinter that are my favorite either fit in the front of the formation or the rear of the formation. This is often why I use these monsters a lot is because they are very useful either at the front or rear.
Although all these cards are scarce and expensive to own relative to other comparable Splinterlands cards I still bring them up is because players may likely see these cards used from their opponents and should be thinking about counters.
Although this post I had mentioned to talk about my favorite alpha and beta monsters I have not really mentioned beta. Well just know any alpha card also has its beta version so that covers beta monsters. However beta also introduced the neutral splinter so my top picks for beta neutral monster would be Enchanted Pixie. It is a magic attack monster with only a meager 1 health at level 1. However by level 5 it has the ability inspire and health can reach as high as 4 by level 6.
Until next time thanks for reading!!!
If you are interested to learn more about Splinterlands please go through some of my other posts. Order is from newest to oldest posts:
All You Want To Know About Reward Chests
Helpful Links for New and Veteran Players
Splinterlands Good Cards To Own
Splinterlands Rentals from a Lender Perspective
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