Hi Splinterlanders! I hope this post finds you well!
Here is my entry for: SHARE YOUR BATTLE Weekly Challenge!
SPIRIT HOARDER
The Spirit Hoarder is one of the most important neutral cards in my deck for several reasons, which makes him a frequent inclusion in my line-up. First of all, he has the triage ability for healing the back-line, meaning fixing damage done to monsters placed in the second position onward. This is significant for buffering against sneak attack, bolstering a last position taunt strategy or propping up a weak back-up tank. Whichever way you go, he has vital role to play to increase your chances of victory. Secondly, he is the most cost-effective provider of triage, as all other monsters with this ability are mostly either legendaries or require leveling up. The next best thing is the Mermaid healer, who is otherwise pretty useless at level 1.
Apart from the triage ability at level 1, the Spirit Hoarder brings a lot more to the table. Here are the stats:
Although the Spirit Hoarder has only 1 magic attack and 1 speed, he does well when teamed with Alric and becomes super fast when working with the reverse speed ruleset. At level 2 he receives dispel and at level 3 he gets blind. At a 3 mana cost, this little devil wreaks plenty of havoc at low expense.
Another reason, why he ranks so high in my hero chart, is that few other neutral monsters offer a healing type at all. The Tortisian Chief has tank heal at level 4, the Gelatinous Cube, the Xenith Monk, Hydra and Cornealus all have heal at different levels, but the Spirit Hoarder is able to heal any of the mid and back-line placements, making him immensely valuable.
I like fielding the Spirit Hoarder when my front-line has monstrous capacities yet I want to preserve the back-line at all cost. The battle I have chosen for this week’s Share Your Battle Challenge serves to do just that. The rulesets are return fire, explosive weaponry and equalizer. The mana cap is 45 and I found these rulesets ideal for the Spirit Hoarder. Return fire discourages the use of archers, blast can technically go anywhere, so the Spirit Hoarder can do some work there, and equalizer will give him plenty of health.
THADDIUS BROOD is one of my favourite summoners and I have him at level 6. He is a very good counter against magic. Taking away 1 magic from the enemy can make all the difference. As the rulesets don't make the use of rangers attractive, leaving melee and magic, I decided for a defensive summoner. He also takes 1 health, which makes low mana monsters easier to kill.
My front-line tank, as he is so often, is the COEURL LURKER. He usually has pole position for his taunt ability, speed and high melee attack capabilities. As he is a neutral monster, he is available to fight more often than not. In this particular battle he is vital to control stray blast and provide max health for the equalizer ruleset. Dodge also gives him additional chances to be missed.
VENATOR KINJO is another priceless neutral monster for his reflection shield ability against blast. Hand in hand with taunt in front of him, blast cannot get past him to harm the backline, unless the enemy has scattershot. At 2 mana, he leaves plenty of mana for other team members and is a standard inclusion in second position behing a taunt monster for the explosive weaponry ruleset.
In third position comes DJINN MUIRAT. I have chosen this monster for this position as a back-up tank, should the Coeurl Lurker go early. Void armour gives him plenty of shield against melee/magic attack and 2 magic are safe and damaging in the return fire ruleset. He is a bit slow but a solid midfielder and therefore not that easy for the enemy to get rid of.
And here is our star, the SPIRIT HOARDER. I usually place him in this position, so that he can heal in front and behind. He is well guarded in this spot and not prone to sneak or snipe in this constellation without taunt protection. He has a good track record as number 4 so his positioning is automatic. 1 magic is not game changing, but his triage ability is.
Next comes KAIN HACE, a newbie in my death deck and perfect for equalizer. He only has 2 health, which is quite problematic under normal circumstances. The equalizer ruleset gives him plenty of health to do his carnage work. I don't use him in the taunt/reflection shield strategy against blast, but could have done so here. He doesn't seem a good pick for position 2 so he is in the back-line.
Finally, there is the OCTOPIDER, a strategic must due to his demoralize ability. As the rulesets discourage the use of rangers, I wanted to make sure that I nerf the enemy's magic (Thaddius) and melee with this gruesome looking customer. I knew that Coeurl would not last forever and the Octopider would become a target. It was also clear that he would take return fire hits, so he definitely needed protection. This is the main reason for the Spirit Hoarder being in the line-up. As you will see, this strategy came through without a glitch.
Ready for a good fight, I was quite confident that this strategy would work out. The Venator, Hoarder and Hace all having 10 health would not be easy to counter. With such a powerful mid-field, the only possible weakness would be at the front, but Djinn Muirat was there for such a scenario. This is what the line-up looks like on the board:
As expected, my opponent fielded a magic team with a tough melee candidate up-front. Thaddius took Obsidian's magic buff and the Octopider weakened the Flesh Golem's melee attack, necessarily so, because he is not easy to kill with his heal ability. My opponent also fielded Venator Kinjo, so Flesh Golem had to be toast as quickly as possible to expose the rest of the enemy team to blast. This is exactly what went down and Flesh Golem met his doom before the end of the first round. Unfortunately, the Coeurl Lurker also didn't survive the first round and at this stage it was all open.
The second round took a heavy toll on both sides to the point that I thought that I might lose the fight. It was then that I realized that I hadn't considered that blast would double return fire. My hope for a happy end hinged on Djinn Muirat.
The third round was close, Djinn Muirat got buried but return fire seriously injured Uloth Dhampir, which basically decided the outcome. Our boy Spirit Hoarded survived the fight and did his job with flying colours: 4 triages.
Did my strategy work?
Yes, it did. The Spirit Hoarder was there primarily to heal the Octopider, which he did marvelously. As I miscalculated the effect of return fire from blast, the Octopider took more hits than usual, but the Spirit Hoarder was there at the end of every round to bring him back to good health. It also worked out very well with Djinn Muirat as back-up tank, although he didn't survive. Being an equalizer ruleset helped the tail-end to stay afloat for long enough to get that winning edge.
What will I try differently next time?
Well, perhaps I didn't really need the Octopider to nerf enemy melee but I wanted to make sure my opponent's fire power was weakened as much as possible. Another solid magic player could have taken his place. Next time I have return fire and explosive weaponry in one go, I will know to rethink taking a chance with an archer. Other than that, I will continue looking for ways to bring in the Spirit Hoarder, as triage can do wonders. I am looking for opportunities to field 2 triages in a water war... let you know how I go!
Do I like the Spirit Hoarder?
I definitely do. Triage is hard to come by and for a neutral monster to have it at level 1 makes him very much desired. At 3 mana I can often slot him, as long as I can protect him. A neutral monster with triage at 3 mana, that's the Spirit Hoarder!
