Weekly Battle Challenge: Ant Miners?

Okay, so the real battle challenge is for Dark Ha'on, and that card seems pretty cool, but I've only been playing for a week and I've never seen a Dark Ha'on in battle yet. However, in checking out the card, I notice that Dark Ha'on has the Scavenger ability, and I have used an interesting card with that: Ant Miners!

The Card

Ant Miners may not seem like much at first glance. At level 1, he's got 1 health, 1 speed, and 1 melee for 2 mana. But he also has that Scavenger ability! Because of that, Ant Miners gains 1 max health each time any monster dies, which can stack up quickly under the right conditions. As the card levels up, it gains some additional starting stats, but at level 6 it also gains Shield. With Shield's reduction in damage from melee and ranged attacks, that Scavenger health stretches even further, turning Ant Miners into a potentially very strong tank for only 2 mana.

The Battle

My first time using Ant Miners was in this 14 mana battle with the Noxious Fumes ruleset (all monsters start Poisoned, taking 2 damage each round). Now Ant Miners, as frail as it is already, may not seem like a natural choice for this modifier, but at only 14 mana, this battle was bound to be filled with small monsters that could be killed early to feed Scavenger. I also brought Goblin Shaman, whose 4 health could help shield Ant Miners in the early turns, and whose enemy health reduction might accelerate the early kills. Also along for the ride were Serpentine Spy, with Opportunity to kill the weakest enemy, and Fire Beetle, with Snipe to get around anything beefy on the front line. These were all under the command of Pyre for the extra speed. That speed was essential so that we could get some quick kills to bring Ant Miners out of the danger zone.

As it turned out, nearly every monster on the battlefield had 1 health, so as long as we survived to the end of the round, poison would do all the work for us. And that's just how it happened. Over the course of the battle, those tiny Ant Miners took 2 damage from enemies and 2 damage from poison, and still ended the battle with 5 health. Scavenger for the win!

Final Thoughts

Ant Miners may not be the flashiest card in the game, and it certainly isn't a general purpose card that can be thrown into any Fire splinter battle. But under the right conditions, that Scavenger ability can grow Ant Miners into an exceptional tank for only 2 mana. There aren't many monsters in the game with that kind of stat-to-mana ratio, even if you need to do some work to achieve its full potential. Consider giving Ant Miners a try the next time you are working with low mana.