This is my submission to the Splinterlands Weekly Battle Challenge. This time it is featuring the Dragon Summoner "Delwyn Dragonscale".
About the card
Delwyn Dragonscale was one of the first promo cards of the game. If I remember correctly there was a promotion with Tron tokens going on way before Justin Sum bought into Steem. It was some time before I joined Splinterlands, so I wasn't in time to participate (but bought the cards from the market later). When Alric Stormbringer was released it caused quite an uproar because @yabapmatt supposedly said somewhere that Delwyn would be the only summoner to give a magic buff. Investors were quite upset when this didn't hold true anymore (some of them still are) and are calling for an improvement of the card by lowering it to four mana. However that would put it on one level with Daria Dragonscale the latter being an Epic and Delwyn being a Common, so this claim seems a bit off to me.
Card Use-Cases
The high mana cost of the card are a big limitation to its usability but since high mana matches became more common, I started using it more often.
The +1 Magic buff is strong and mighty but it gets difficult when dealing with magic reflect. For this reason the new summoner Owster Rotwell is a killer for Delwyn. Consider twice before using him when Death is active in the match! Also be careful in Armor Up matches. Magic seems the obvious choice but this makes many players use Magic Reflect monsters.
A great ruleset for Delwyn is the Monsters Lose all Abilities ruleset as this takes away their magic reflect ability. Put Peaceful Giant as tank in your lineup and fill the remaining slots with magic monsters to watch your opponent go down.
This week's match
Click on the video ^ to play or view the original match on Splinterlands
This week I chose to play Delwyn in a Knock-Out ruleset. The idea was to use a monster with Stun that would last long as tank, so that the magic attackers from the back row would rain down havoc on the stunned enemies, knocking them out. I chose the following line up:
Chain Golem: The Chain Golem has the Void and Shield ability, decent HP and Armor, so I expected it to last long. Also it has the Stun I need to utilize the knock-out ruleset.
Elemental Phoenix: A great magic monster with Magic Reflect to counter my opponent's magic should they choose a similar line up. It also has Blast to make even more of the Magic buff Delwyn provides.
Flame Imp: The Flame Imp is a decent monster for a cheap mana cost of 3. In addition to a good magic attack it comes with Swift making my entire team faster and allowing me to strike first.
Black Dragon: The Black Dragon comes with Slow making the entire enemy team slower again giving me a speed boost. With Strengthen it also supplies my team with additional HP and Life Leech heals it, so it recovers while killing the opponent.
Goblin Shaman: You see, I really wanted to strike first, giving my opponent no chance to hit me. So, in addition to the Flame Imp's Swiftness and the Black Dragon's Slow, Goblin Shaman comes with another Slow. As a bonus it comes with Weaken, so my opponent's monsters' max HP is decreased, making killing them faster.
Imp Bowman: Not Magic, but I only had 2 mana left and with two damage for 2 mana the Bowman is a great choice for these cases. Because he's Ranged, he goes last, so that he can attack for as long as possible.
Conclusion
Ok, so my initial strategy didn't work out at all. The Chain Golem died way too fast and didn't even Stun my opponent's tank once.
But what saved me was my Speed strategy. I disassembled the enemy's team before they had a chance to do me any damage. Always good to have an ace up your sleeve as backup strategy!
Want to join the fight?
Create an account at the Splinterlands today and fight me in next week's battle challenge!