SHARE YOUR BATTLE Weekly Challenge! CHAOS KNIGHT

The Chaos Knight is usually the second tank of choice when it comes to the Light Splinter, right after the Shieldbearer. It is not because the Chaos Knight is not good enough to be the 1st pick, but that the taunt ability of the Shieldbearer is really vital for the success of a lot of the Life compositions. However, there are times when the Chaos Knight shines especially since it costs 2 less mana than the Shieldbearer, which is really important in low to moderate mana battles.
Before getting into the stats discussion of the Monster, let's have a sneak peak into its lore: Chaos Knights are most often found at the front line of the Chaos Legion's invading forces, although they are sometimes enlisted to defend garrisons, leadership, and other high-value assets. They are heavily armored and wield massive battle axes that are able to cut down even the mightiest of foes.

Okay, now that we have a vague idea of who the Chaos Knight is, let us have a look at its stats and abilities at the key different levels.

It starts with the Shield ability from level 1, which is actually the main reason to choose the Chaos Knight over similar tank Monsters. The Shield ability reduces the damage from Melee and Ranged attacks, which works really well against low magic/no magic enemy line-ups.
At level 5 it gains the Giant Killer ability (does double damage against targets that cost 10 or more mana). While pretty neat at first sight, I am not really excited about it as it does not contribute much to the role the Chaos Knight plays in the battlefield. Nonetheless it is better than nothing of course.
At level 9 it is rewarded with the Inspire ability. Now if Giant Killer felt lackluster, Inspire is really something else. Granting all friendly Monsters +1 attack is a big deal for sure.

Now that we know what the card does at the different levels of play, let us have a look at the BATTLE I have chosen to showcase.

Let us begin with the line-up:

Even though the mana restriction is 27, which is not that low of a number and Shieldbearer is also a Monster with even mana cost, I decided to opt for the Chaos Knight as the one and only tank in the setup so I could free up 2 mana, which would allow me to setup the line-up in the exact way I felt it would stand a chance.

The 2nd place in the line-up was decided last actually since the Soul Fiend's position is usually the thing I leave for last to determine. This time I decided I would leave it there to take at least one hit for the team.

The third spot in the line-up was assigned to the Time Mage, which is a card included in 95% of the Light Splinter battles (at least at Bronze and Silver level). Its Slow ability (reduces the speed of all enemy Monsters) is often crucial for the outcome of the match. I put it in the third spot as it can take a hit or two if it gets to that, and also attack from the main tank position, while its ranged allies are helpless in that spot unless the ruleset allows for the Monsters to attack.

The forth spot in the line-up is for the Venari Crystalsmith who has the ability to Heal its allies, and is also a ranged attacked who benefits from the +1 Ranged attack buff its Summoner kindly grants.

The fifth position is for the potential MVP of the match, namely the Pelacor Arbalest. It is a real beast with its Double Strike (Monster attacks twice each round) paired with the +1 ranged attack buff of General Sloan. A true champion of Light.

Last but not least is the Celestial Harpy. It might not seem much at first sight but it is surprising good at wreaking a bit of havoc in the enemy backline with her or landing the final blow to the enemy's tank Monster thanks to its Opportunity ability (Monsters with the opportunity ability may attack from any position and will target the enemy Monster with the lowest health). I decided to put it in the last spot since it is a flying Monster so its higher chance to doge Melee/Ranged attacks makes a good candidate to protect the aforementioned potential MVP sitting in the spot in front of the Celestial Harpy.

It is time for a quick round by round analysis:

As we can see both my opponent and I have chosen to go with the Light Splinter for this battle. There are slight differences in the Monster team, however, the main difference is that they have chosen to go with a +1 defense Summoner, while I have chosen to go with General Sloan (+1 ranged attack)
After 1 round, I have lost my Fiend to the enemy's splash damage coming from the Prismologist but the Chaos Knight on my side of the board is looking better than that of the opponent.
At the star of round 3my opponent has lost their Chaos Knight while mine is still standing strong. This is a pivotal point in the battle.
Round 4 is just my team finishing off the remainder of the enemy. An almost flawless victory.

The Chaos Knight is definitely a Monster form the Light line-up which deserves the spotlight, and does play a big role in various rulesets. Especially the lower mana ones. If you have not tried it out yet, I do recommend you do so as soon as possible. 😉

GhostlyBG, over and out
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