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Hello everyone! *Pozdrav svima!*
This week I'm going to show you one of my battles featuring Cruel Sethropod - common starter card of Water splinter.
THEME: CRUEL SETHROPOD
Edition: CHAOS LEGION
Rarity: COMMON
Element: WATER
Attack: MELEE
Abilities: *(none)*
# <center>~~ LORE ~~</center>
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https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pero82/AL5quRFDsk8p1h7BdjsXb9nEB3KSJPA7awgx3DKtVPWeVm71H4GMGtgUqjyCmYw.png
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<i>Sailors tell many tales of the dangers of the Cruel Sethropods. Armed with strong pincers and teeth as sharp as spears, they attack anything that gets within range. It is nearly impossible to remove a Cruel Sethropod once it has latched on, and many a sailor has the scars to show where they ventured too close.</i>
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“And I ventured round to yon starboard side, scrubbing the barnacles and what have ye off the hull,” the old sailor said. He had gray hair and a long, grizzly beard and wore tattered leather breeches and a shirt that might have been white once but had faded to a dull color that was somewhere between gray and brown.
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His young nephew, who had arrived in Praetoria from Azmare the night before, yawned. His parents had left him at his uncle's little shack while they went out to get the lay of the town. Now, they at the kitchen table, the old sailor sipping from a mug of ale and his young nephew wishing he was at the beach, swimming in the ocean and chasing girls instead of listening to his uncle's boring stories. He'd told the man as much, which is what prompted the old sailor's latest tale.
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“Cruel Sethropods ain't from around here, ya ken,” the old sailor said with a belch, and his young nephew grimaced in disgust. “They came whence the Chaos Legion came. Invasive little buggers spread fast. Hadn't heard naught but rumors afore.
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Well, I was maybe waist high in the water, scrubbing at them barnacles, when one swam up out of the water and latched onto my chest. Tried to pull me under. Woulda' had me for lunch if I hadn't had my wits about me. I drew my daggers and jammed 'em hilt-deep into its eyes. Still, it stayed on, with them teeth deep in my skin. Staggered into town, I did, and the doc had to cut the damnable thing off with a hacksaw.”
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The young nephew rolled his eyes. “Probably slipped and cut yourself on some rocks,” he said.
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The old sailor stared. Then he stood lifted his shirt. His young nephew gasped and made a retching sound.
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In the middle of the old sailor's chest was a massive, circular scar. The grooves of the Cruel Sethropod's teeth were still visible like the mouth of a volcano, swollen and red in the center.
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The old sailor downed the rest of his ale and punched the boy on the arm. “Ye still up for that swim?”
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# <center>~~ STATS ~~</center>
Everything about this little guy screams tank in Little League ruleset. He costs only 3 mana, at level one has 1 melee attack and 1 speed, 4 health and 3 armor - plenty to survive more then a couple of hits.
He doesn't have any special abilities (except being awesome), and his stats rise bit by bit with his level, so at max level (10) he has 3 melee attack, 2 speed, 6 armor and 7 health - that's one hard nut to crack.
I use him as a main tank in Little League ruleset, but also in low mana cap battles, like the one I'm about to show you.
# <center>~~ BATTLE ~~</center>
The battle was an interesting one, mostly because of the ruleset and the fact my opponent had one of the most overpowered duos in the game stand against me.
What was so special about the ruleset, what is that OP duo I'm talking about and how did the battle go please read below.
If you want you can see the whole battle, play by play 👉 [HERE](https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_816450c3efa99dddd29d7ee62d7eed92&ref=pero82) 👈
## <center>~~ RULESET ~~</center>
Ruleset in this battle was a perfect fit to show off what our little guy can do.
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<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pero82/23u5xsYKH1CLtyiHha6sx3b3kWHLrG1Mc67rT2LYQ6zXzdn14dGHZEjpscKvf1xFMn2ZC.png" alt="BackToBasics.png">
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<center><strong>Back to Basics</strong></center>
Monsters lose all abilities. Back row monsters are safe from enemy's Sneak, Snipe and Opportunity attacks. Select monsters with high speed and choose a summoner that increases damage or defense against Magic or Ranged attacks. Lining up monsters in ascending order of their health is the way to go.
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<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pero82/23u5zbHq8KY88kjEAE4LDfL2k8rkd2tf5EFAmRmX6FcB4WEqJhsVYDE66KAjR74HuXsLp.png" alt="TakingSides.png">
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<center><strong>Taking Sides</strong></center>
Neutral Monsters may not be used in battles, so there are no special tricks for this ruleset, but make a balanced team.
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https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pero82/23wqeLcPBupU1a5KT3GtZS1QULfxWi1BndmYzQqF2aLoQweeLCr1M2JVjHF8GnujYFehE.png
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<center><strong>Mana cap for this match is 20 mana</strong></center>
This is low range of available mana, so we're quite limited on the choice of the cards.
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https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pero82/23u5VJd8B2GfbC6Nbiy2FsS5oLoqGRyEME19br323KBH5DgVcPBZZiQ8sTfWvZbmo46Ab.png
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<center><strong>Available splinters</strong></center>
For this match we had Water, Earth and Dragon splinter available. MY opponent chose Earth splinter and I chose Water splinter.
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## <center>~~ STRATEGY REVIEW ~~</center>
Strategy was pretty simple, since the active ruleset was ***Back to Basics*** I planned to use a strong tank and secondary tank, and load the rest of the team with ranged or magic attack, putting the strongest attack in the back so they live the longest and do more damage that way. But since mana cap is only 20 mana, I have to approach team making like it was Little League ruleset, which means no mana-expensive cards, 2-5 mana max.
These were my options considering available splinters:
- **Water** - We could use Kelya Frendul summoner to give the team 1 extra armor and speed, giving my team an edge with extra survivability, or use Alric Stormbringer and load my team with magic attack monsters and try to nuke the opponent down.
- **Earth** - We could try similar tactic as with Alric, using Obsidian, load the team with magic attack and hope for the best, or use Mylor Crowling - maybe our opponent would be so foolish and load up with melee attack and kill himself on our thorns.
- **Dragon** - This could be an interesting approach if I had some of that crazy good Dragon summoners, like Selenia Sky (+1 ranged) paired with Water splinter and their ranged attack monsters, or Archmage Arius and Quix the Devious on whom I don't have to spend words explaining the effect they have in battle outcome. Sadly my Dragon deck is miserable so I didn't go that way.
What I chose in the end was Water splinter and Kelya Frendul, because that felt like the safest bet. I had a mix of survivability and damage, which proved to be the winning combination.
My opponent on the other had went with Eath splinter and tried the Llama+Kron (cheese) strat, but obviusly forgot about the fact that with ***Back to Basics*** ruleset Kron won't be able to heal himself, thus making that combo not so overpowered like in normal conditions.
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https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pero82/AKursPTu2fcnYvwZUmB28YwBZsR5TRV59bvoqYAe7nwKNJ1RRX1gNTGuLGiar7X.png
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https://images.hive.blog/0x400/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pero82/23x131SVEb9TgupnkJ6VGgsUzcUva5MpgaBTAqz23xfE5cxwiFrW3PGjAbCUPS2bQFYUU.png
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## <center>~~ LINE-UP ~~</center>
You can see the line-up from both teams in battle screenshot right after this section. I will go through my line-up and explain why was each card picked and put in that spot.
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<td><center><strong>SUMMONER</strong></center></td>
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<img src="https://images.hive.blog/180x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/chaos/Kelya%20Frendul_lv3.png" alt="Summoner">
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<center><i><b>KELYA FRENDUL</b></i></center>
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Water splinter summoner that gives your whole team +1 armor and +1 speed. Since we're playing with only 20 mana the monsters I can chose will be pretty weak, so every addition to their armor and speed is welcome.<br>
Kelya is widely used, even in higher leagues, so I recommend everyone to get him asap.
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<td><center><strong>1st POSITION ("TANK")</strong></center></td>
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<img src="https://images.hive.blog/180x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/chaos/Cruel%20Sethropod_lv4.png" alt="Tank">
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<center><i><b>CRUEL SETHROPOD</b></i></center>
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This little lobster is the star of this battle. He bravely took enemy hits and survived two whole rounds - would be more if the opponent didn't have that much magic attack. But that's the risk I took, hoping he will use more ranged then magic attack.<br>
Nevertheless, he played his role as intended and gave time to backline monsters to do their thing.
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<td><center><strong>2nd POSITION</strong></center></td>
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<img src="https://images.hive.blog/180x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/chaos/Angelic%20Mandarin_lv3.png" alt="2ndPosition">
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<center><b><i>ANGELIC MANDARIN</i></b></center>
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This rare Water splinter card is commonly used in <b><i>Little League</i></b> due to his stats. He has 1 ranged attack but lots of health (for the mana cost), so I usually use him as a secondary tank. He does some damage while primary tank is alive and when he gets to tank spot he can take a few hits.
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At level 4 this little guy get <b><i>Triage</i></b> ability making him extremely useful in a team.
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<td><center><strong>3rd POSITION</strong></center></td>
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<img src="https://images.hive.blog/180x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/untamed/Ice%20Pixie_lv3.png" alt="3rdPosition">
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<center><i><b>ICE PIXIE</b></i></center>
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Another rare Water splinter card, usually used as kind of a spot-filler, but she's a lot more then that. Even though she costs only 2 mana, she has a lot to offer - she has magic damage, decent speed, acquires armor at level 3 and has <b><i>Flying</i></b> ability that comes in handy in many situations.
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In normal battles I usually put her in the last spot, so she can dodge eventual sneak attacks, but in this battle I put her in third position because she has armor which is additional level of protection.
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<td><center><strong>4th POSITION</strong></center></td>
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<td><div class="pull-right">
<img src="https://images.hive.blog/180x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/chaos/Igor%20Darkspear_lv1.png" alt="4thPosition">
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<center><i><b>IGOR DARKSPEAR</b></i></center>
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Great epic Water splinter card. Very cheap, mana wise (only 2 mana), but has ranged attack with decent speed and health. Usually used is low mana battles or <b><i>Little League</i></b> ruleset.
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I put him in fourth position so in front of my highest damage dealers, so if it comes to that he can take a few hits for them.
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<td><center><strong>5th POSITION</strong></center></td>
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<img alt="5thPosition" src="https://images.hive.blog/180x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/reward/Pirate%20Archer_lv3.png">
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<center><i><b>PIRATE ARCHER</b></i></center>
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For a card with <b><i>Blast</i></b> ability this awesome pirate is among best in low mana range. Costs only 2 mana, so he can be used everywhere. He's very good in clearing enemy armor or <b><i>Divine Shield</i></b> with his <b><i>Blast</i></b> ability.
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I put it in fifth position so he's well protected and can do enough damage to enemy team.
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<td><center><strong>6th POSITION</strong></center></td>
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<td><div class="pull-right">
<img alt="6thPosition" src="https://images.hive.blog/180x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/chaos/Kulu%20Swimhunter_lv4.png">
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<center><i><b>KULU SWIMHUNTER</b></i></center>
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<div class="text-justify">
When I think of ranged attack in Water splinter, this common card is among first on my mind. 4 mana (not too expensive), 2 ranged attack (not too shabby), 2 speed and 4 health, could be better, but it could be worse.
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I put it in the last position since it will be doing the most damage so I want it to be alive as long as possible.
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## <center>~~ COURSE OF BATTLE ~~</center>
The battle wasn't that long, lasted for 7 rounds, and it was a one way street from the beginning.
### Round 1
In the first round my guys managed to kill his first monster and almost kill the second one. If it wasn't for that +2 health buff from their summoner they would kill both of them and seriously damage the third one.
My tank, the star of this battle, received only one hit from Kron.
### Round 2
In the second round we managed to kill next two monsters leaving only Kron alive, while he took out my poor little lobster giving Angelic Mandarin a chance to prove himself as a tank.
Now Kron activated <b><i>Last Stand</i></b> ability, but that didn't help him.
### Round 3 to 6
In third round and fourth round he proved himself to be worthy of a title 'secondary tank' tanking for 2 whole rounds, while the rest of the team took out Kron's health bit by bit. He was helpless without his Heal ability and it was just a matter of time when he will join his teammates in eternal hunting grounds.
### Round 7
Finally managed to down Kron in seventh round, not a minute too soon.
You can see the whole battle in this small gif:
## <center>~~ RESULT ~~</center>
This battle was a clear indicator how you can't win on just having OP cards - team composition is everything - six well placed cards beat OP legendaries almost every time.
I must mention how I welcome new reward system and how it brought increased DEC rewards. 🤑
# CONCLUSION
*Did your strategy work?*
- Yes, my strategy worked out perfectly. Having two tanks with damage dealers behind them, sorted in ascending order by their health/damage proved to be the winning combination.
*What will you try differently next time?*
- I wish is had more ranged monsters with at least +2 ranged attack, it would make battle faster and more secure.
*Do you like the (monster)? Why or why not?*
- I like Cruel Sehtropod a lot. Its a card I frequently go to when facing ***Little League*** or ***Back to Basics*** ruleset. He gets the job done.
I would like to mention from top of my head a few cards in other splinters that can be used the same way as Cruel Sehtropod:
- Crypt Beetle (Death splinter) - 3 mana card, has lower stats but has ***Shield*** ability - very useful for tanking.
- Blinding Reflector (Life splinter) - also 3 mana card, same stats but acquires ***Magic Reflect*** at level 5 and ***Blind*** at level 10, both very very powerful abilities for a tank.
- Antoid Platoon (Fire splinter) - 4 mana card, a bit lower stats but has ***Shield*** ability at level 1 and ***Scavenger*** at level 6.
- Biceratops (Earth splinter) - 4 mana card, only 1 armor at level one, but acquires ***Thorns*** ability at level 6 - very deadly when on tank.
Link to the battle itself can be found 👉 [HERE](https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_816450c3efa99dddd29d7ee62d7eed92&ref=pero82) 👈
If you still haven't tried Splinterlands try it out 👉 [HERE](https://splinterlands.com?ref=pero82) 👈
*Thank you for your time, and please vote if you like this post.* 👍
<center>[](https://splinterlands.com?ref=pero82)</center>
#### Credits
Special thanks to:
[@carrieallen](https://peakd.com/@carrieallen) for [ultimate markdown tutorial](https://peakd.com/tutorial/@carrieallen/ultimate-markdown-tutorial).
[@rqr4](https://ecency.com/@rqr4) for [text dividers](https://ecency.com/hive-13323/@rqr4/fan-art-text-dividers-chaos-legion-splinterlands-theme--free-to-use-to-decorate-your-posts-) used in this post.
[@splinterlands](https://peakd.com/@splinterlands) for images used in this post and for making this great game.
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