The theme for this week’s battle challenge is the Dragon Splinter.
The Dragon Splinter is the most unique of the Splinters as it allows you to use monsters from one other Splinter. The caveat is that Dragons are usually more expensive mana-wise.
The dragon that I chose to highlight for this battle is the Chromatic Dragon
INITIAL THOUGHTS
Chromatic Dragon is a 7-Mana Legendary Dragon Monster. It has the ability Flying at Level 1 and gains the abilities Enrage at Level 2, Piercing at Level 3, and Thorns at Level 4.
I’ve rented this card a few times already but mostly just for Power purposes only. I rarely rent a levelled-up Dragon Summoner, so in the few times I’m forced to use a Dragon, I’ve chosen to use Djinn Chwala with her Thorns ability over Chromatic Dragon.
But in the chaos of last End-of-Season renting, I managed to snipe both a max level Chromatic Dragon and Daria Dragonscale. Perfect for this week’s battle challenge!
THE BATTLE
The battle I will feature had the following ruleset:
League: Gold
Mana Cap: 24
Active Splinters: Fire, Water, Dragon
Armored Up: All Monsters have 2 Armor in addition to their normal Armor stat.
Lost Magic: Monsters with Magic attack may not be used in battles.
TEAM COMPOSITION
Daria Dragonscale
Daria Dragonscale is the Summoner I used for this battle. She buffs Melee attacks by 1 damage. Because of her ability, I decided to utilize the Water Splinter Monsters, which has a mixture of good Melee attackers and supports.
Chromatic Dragon
Chromatic Dragon pairs up great with Daria Dragonscale. Because of ‘Lost Magic’, it has a chance to block all incoming damage because of its ‘Flying’. Its ‘Pierce’ counters the extra Armor from ‘Armored Up’ and makes sure all the extra damage from ‘Enrage’ won’t be wasted on busting Armor.
Wave Runner
Wave Runner is another Melee Monster which will be boosted by Daria Dragonscale. With its ‘Reach’, it will kill off any stragglers who managed to survive Chromatic Dragon’s attacks.
Elven Cutthroat
Elven Cutthroat will also be another Monster who benefits from the attack boost. With its ‘Sneak’, it can eliminate any backline supports.
Crustacean King
Crustacean King supports the Chromatic Dragon with its ‘Tank Heal’.
Naga Assassin
Naga Assassin is placed in the last position to protect the Crustacean King from any ‘Sneak’ Monsters. Hopefully she can dodge a few attacks because of her high speed.
ENEMY TEAM
My opponent used Camila Sungazer as their Summoner, which means her -1 Melee Attack cancelled out the buff given by my Daria. A Chain Golem acts as their frontline and it receives 0 damage from my Crustacean King and Naga Assassin because of its 'Shield' ability. A Crustacean King of their own supports the Chain Golem. It's followed by a Axemaster as one of their main damage dealers. A Uraeus was fielded for the 'Sneak' attacks and a Furious Chicken is in the back to counter any of my own sneaks. Seems like we had similar strategies for this match.
BATTLE PROPER
The battle was happening on all fronts. My Chromatic Dragon - Wave Runner pair was trying to out-damage their Chain Golem - Axemaster combo on the frontlines while the Elven Cutthroat and Uraeus were trying to breach from the back. Both of our Crustacean Kings were trying to heal up our tanks. Eventually, the damage from the enraged dragon was enough to kill off the Chain Golem. After that, my victory was imminent.
Here are some highlights from the match:
FINAL THOUGHTS
This match-up was perfect for Chromatic Dragon and all of his abilities were maximized. The battle showcased the effectivity of Chromatic Dragon as a frontline when levelled-up. In the future, I shall consider it more, especially in certain rulesets.