Hello! Another week, another weekly challenge - business as usual! New rewards system and all the cashing in from it makes me feel more excited to play Splinterlands once again - and the new reward cards actually add a fair bit of diversity to the set, with including a level 1 Stun card, as well as a completely new ability. This post will not be about that, however, as we are here for a battle challenge with a simple 1-cost added in Chaos Legion.
Gargoya Scrapper is a niche card, but also being just 1-mana means you can often fit it into a low mana battle without much of a purpose - perhaps simply just to make use of its Void ability for the potential of stalling an extra attack. Personally, I have a level 3 Scrapper - I find that to be the biggest power spike for the card and see no reason to level it up further for now - especially that my Life summoners wouldn't be able to use a level 5 Gargoya anyway, due to being just level 3.
The Battle
This was a regular ranked battle in Silver, which now is a bit more festered with people playing fully maxed rented decks - due to how easy the daily focus makes it to just rent the right cards for the right splinter. The ruleset was one that favoured the use of Gargoya Scrapper as a bit more than just cannon fodder, so I took the opportunity!
It wasn't that difficult to decide on inclusion of the Scrapper. I had very little mana left after the main choices, so it was fairly simple to make the choice.
You can find the battle HERE
Here's a screenshot for whoever doesn't feel like watching the whole thing!
My Team
The choice for this battle was fairly broad, but as always, there were 3 main limitations that were as follows:
- Ruleset: The Broken Arrows ruleset really made it tricky with the available splinters. Magic definitely became one of the most likely choices.
- Splinters: With Fire and Death out, some of the best Sneak units were out. This meant Magic the prime choice even more than usual. Additionally, Sloan and Quix were both pretty awkward, due to ranged units being unavailable.
- Mana: The mana cap was 28. This is a standard mid-mana battle and usually makes for nearly full teams - it is also what made Gargoya Scrapper viable.
Frontline
Frontline was honestly not a real frontline, rather than a few damage sponges to buy time. The 3 monsters I used for that purpose cost a total of 4 mana and yet then managed to tank 5 powerful hits and dish some damage back at the opposing team. Pelacor Conjurer was crucial here, especially combined with Dax Paragon's Amplify. The Magic Reflect made the opponent's units fragile and even more vulnerable to Chaos Dragon's.. well, chaos.
Gargoya Scrapper and Chaos Agent were just there to soak damage and they did very well. Especially the Scrapper, with a few lucky circumstances, ended up tanking two whole shots with the meager 2 health - all thanks to having the Void ability.
Support
Dax Paragon's role in this fight was simple - make sure that Pelacor Conjurer deals a ton of damage with its Magic Reflect. While it wasn't perfect, it did a fair bit and led to the fight being easier. I will also admit that the survival of Dax Paragon was all thanks to Chaos Dragon and who knows how the battle would turn out if the Goblin Sorcerer didn't get defeated so early.
Time Mage was doing its usual thing - Slowing down the enemies. I thought that combined with Quix, it would essentially let my whole team attack before the opposing one - and it seems I was right! The fact I have this card at level 3 really makes the difference due to the extra attack point. Overall, the supports were one of the main reasons for my victory.
Chaos Dragon
Chaos Dragon is a fantastic card when you have enough mana - and I really try to use it as much as I can. It makes games exciting due to the randomness, but it is also so massive it is hard not to find it pleasant just to watch it shoot all around the battlefield - I wish there was more of an animation for that!
Gargoya Scrapper
As a 1-mana card, Gargoya Scrapper is easy to overlook - but this is the kind of card that I like. While not flashy, it works whenever the right rulesets present themselves and being cheap - it is easy to throw into the lineup without taking up anyone else's spot.
The Void ability ensures the viability against Magic units, as often it will survive more than just one hit. While that might not sound like much, it can often be the difference between defeat and victory. The best ruleset for the Scrapper is definitely Equalizer - that Void does a lot of work in that one. Broken Arrows, as presented above, can also be make it a consideration.
As for downsides, it is just not an exciting card. It does not win games by itself, it isn't flashy and it's only really an option as a filler - as 1-mana cards should be. Even so, it is a great addition and having at least a level 3 is a must in my opinion!
Closing Words
I enjoyed the battle that I included in this post - writing about Gargoya Scrapper slightly less so, as there simply isn't so much to say. IT is an alright monster that in the right circumstances can turn into "very alright". It is cheap though, so make sure you get a few, as a level 3 is great to have for those niche scenarios.
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RABONA - Join the football management game through my referral link to receive a large RBN bonus!
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