Welcome to the most detailed guide on Splinterlands in Hive. Today we will be looking at the most complex focus there is and find out if it is still relevant in Modern Ranked. Drumrolls...Welcome to DRAGON FOCUS!

Let me start with who I am. A Splinterlands Champion Player who loves all focuses, I also happen to be the "Hand" of the Oneup-Cartel which provides CARTEL a dividend coin, and an avid Crypto Project dabbler...NFTs or Defi does not matter. I only have 20k Power in cards ownership and play only with rentals ... that monologue is over. So now to the good stuff.

Don't feel bad if splinterlands is too hard...It is not meant to be an easy game...plus let's be honest this game is becoming more and more unfriendly to new players....BUT FEAR NOT!!! I am here to show you that you can still make a decent profit by just renting and playing.

You can find my earlier WILD guides for FIRE and DEATH Below:

@spiritsurge/path-to-champion-series-rental-and-strategytactics-guide-fire-focus

@spiritsurge/path-to-champion-a-splinterlands-series-rental-and-strategytactics-guide-death-focus--season-summary-champion

So let's start with what Dragon Focus is...

Dragon focus in Wild was the most destructive, tank-able formation. It was king of long mana matches and due to it being able to run other focuses, it was extremely strong in mid and low mana matches. The dragon focus can run so many different formations that 90% of the splinterlands players are confused about what works and what does not.

HOWEVER, in modern ranked our dear dragon focus has lost a lot of its tools that made it unbeatable in long mana matches. Is it still relevant in Modern? Frick Yes!! Because other focuses have also lost lots of their tools, there are fewer formations you need to worry about. (Example: Death Weaken/Redemption strategy)

But not only that dragon is super strong because of some formations that can only be run because of the most HATED and LOVED Numba 1 Feline summoner. But do take care, all strategies that are being run in modern so far are counterable. There is no sure-fire way to victory.

So let's begin with

Summoners

Kretch Tallevor - What is even the use of this 3 mana summoner? it is superseded by Camila and in no circumstances do you get this. Not until Camila is rotated out of the system.

Camila Sungazer - Praise the sun...Get this Pole Dancing Waifu...she is extremely useable

Drake of Arnak - 4 mana summoner with 1 armor rust...pointless to get, to be honest. Since you are going to be running rust in most of your formations.

Quix the Devious - 4 mana Summoner who is a must to get...a lot of your formations will become speed battles more often than not.

Brighton Bloom- 4 mana which gives "winged" to your minions. Only get her for earthquake lineups if you can afford it. The winged while nice is easily neutralized by net.

Byzantine Kitty - The most annoying summoner there is...gives +2 speed, True strike and tank heal... which means you can run blind and your opponent cannot. How punishing is that.

Deciding which focus to select with Dragon

This is by far the most difficult decision you will have to take at the start of your match, and in the majority of the matches might be the main reason why you lost. To understand which focus to select, you need to pin down the strategies possible.

To simplify this I will only look at the main strategies that will get you wins against most lineups.

Strategy 1 (Opportunity + Scavenge + Protect + Inspire + Blind) [Low/Mid Mana]

This is the most disgusting lineup Dragon can produce with variations. Imagine 2 monsters with opportunity AND scavenge racking up health points...it becomes downright depressing to your opponent because he is unable to clear the board because of blind, and you can't miss. You don't really need blind but it can really tune your win rate. This time I will also share match replays so you can identify how the matches really went.

https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_c7a4e24dc6f51d7fe274cfc647cb9273&ref=spiritsurge

This is a low mana match with a death variant. Just look at the health racking up, and the one of the ways to counter this is to use big monsters...which I will come to later.

https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_fc1b34ade0981080e19e50247b9464a7&ref=spiritsurge

Here you can see a mid mana match with a light focus variant...Even though my vigilator is useless due to the ranged debuff...the monsters with opportunity just clean up. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THIS COMBO.

Wow!! Spiritsurge this sounds fantastic...so which focus should I choose.

Let's go into details and then decide:
The opportunity provided within the focuses decides which focus you go for. And this decision will also be influenced by how much mana you have. Decisions like can I throw a "blind" in or maybe squeeze in a "protect" will make all the difference in the world playing at a high level.

a) Opportunity

i) Dragon + Neutal

You will have access to these opportunity monsters 90% of the time and all 3 of them are great.

Dragon Jumper - 7 mana with 5 speed too many utility...he is a must in your mid/high mana matches. His stun counters all healing big monsters.

Battering Ram - Finally this 2 mana monster with shatter gets the spot light....his shatter coupled with his high speed will destroy the armor especially on a taunt monster. Get it

Parasitic Growth - 4 mana with 3 speed and scavenge....he is the key monster in this strategy and you need to get it.

ii) Fire

These monsters should only be used if you are looking to end the game fast...but personally these are not that good for this strategy.

iii) Water

This is an awesome combination, as the speed is higher and I highly recommend getting both the opportunity monsters to run this strat. Deciding between jumper or lurker should always prioritize the jumper.

iv) Nature

NO...

v) Life

Extremely powerful!! Get both...whether small mana or mid mana this will perform awesomely.

vi) Death

My Personal Favorite!! Because death has so many scavenge monsters this is a perfect fit for this strategy. DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS FOCUS.

Strategy 2 (Protect + Protect + Protect + Double Strike + Double Strike) [Mid/High Mana]

https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_a4a059dd86dad916f44cf657db2234d3&ref=spiritsurge

What in tarnation is this? This people is the most twisted and sickest combo that you can produce in this game. Ranged or melee your opponent is going to cry. The only counter is magic, which to be honest not many people play.

When you play this...DO NOT SKIP THE MATCH...you will enjoy the trashing your opponent will get.

So let's go into details