CORSAIR BOSUN
Hello everyone. I have been gone for a while, not only from making these challenges but from the game as well. I was a little busy with life, however, when I saw that the Riftwatchers came out, I knew I had to play again! And let me tell you, this has breathed new life into the game. This is why in today's challenge I'll talk about a new card that I overlooked at first, but now it's one of my favorites. That card is none other than the Corsair Bosun, a new Rare Life Monster from the Riftwatchers edition.
Stats
The Splinterlands team said that they wanted to focus the Riftwatchers set on high mana monsters, and it shows with Corsair Bosun, being tied with Tinderlock as the highest mana cost for a Rare Monster, at 10. This means that, even though it's only Rare, it has great stats.
At level 1, the level I'll be using him, he has 6 Health, 5 Armor, 4 Melee and 3 Speed. Those are great stats for a Physical tank: great Armor, solid Health and excellent Melee. However, it doesn't end there since he also has Reach, which allows him to attack from the second position, and Reflection Shield, which nullifies damage from Blast, Magic Reflect, Thorns and Return Fire.
Once you max him, he has a total of 9 Health and 6 Melee, while the rest of his stats remain unchanged. He also gains the ability Cleanse, acting as a Support monster, giving him more versatility, since it removes any negative status condition on the Monster in the first position. While not great, it's a nice addition for the Bosun.
Battle
Here I'll show you a battle using the Corsair Bosun, and a strategy that can be useful. I'll describe it as best as I can, but nothing beats the feeling of actually watching the battle, so in this link you'll be able to watch the battle yourself.
Ruleset
- Weak Magic: Magic attacks hit Armor before reducing Health.
- Explosive Weaponry: All Monsters have the Blast ability, dealing additional damage to the monsters adjacent to the target.
- Allowed Splinters: Fire, Water, Life, Death, and Dragon.
Team
For this battle, I didn't pay much attention to the Weak Magic ruleset and completely focused on the Explosive Weaponry. Thanks to Reflection Shield, the Bosun won't take damage from Blast, being a must for this battle, when pairing him with another card.
| Card | Description |
|---|---|
 | ILTHAIN The new summoner from Riftwatchers, this little guy gives +1 Speed and the ability Return Fire to every allied Monster. While I don't think I'll face off against many Ranged Monsters, the +1 Speed is always great. |
 | SHIELDBEARER This is the card to pair with the Bosun. With Taunt, every enemy attack will target him, protecting the more squishy Monsters on the team. |
 | CORSAIR BOSUN By being in the second position, he won't take any damage from Blast after the enemy attacks the Shieldbearer, which means that, as long as the Shieldbearer remains alive, the enemy won't deal any Blast damage. |
 | SOUL FIEND This 0 mana monster was only used in case the Shieldbearer died, to be targetted before the rest of the team, to protect them. |
 | CELESTIAL HARPY This winged creature has Opportunity, which allows her to target the enemy with the least Health. This synergizes well with Blast, since, more likely than not, she'll target the backline, dealing lots of damage. |
 | BATTERIN RAM Another monster with Opportunity to deal lots of damage to the squishy enemy monsters. |
 | VENARI CRYSTALSMITH With her Tank Heal ability, she restores Health to the Monster in the first position. She'll help the Shieldbearer remain alive as long as possible. |
ROUND 1
- As expected, the enemy went for monsters to target the backline, in Sha-vi, the Badger and Death Elemental. However, they'll end up targetting the Shieldbearer.
- The battle starts with the Corsair Bosun attacking the Windeku, dealing Blast damage to Sha-vi as well.
- The enemy team all attack the Shieldbearer, but it's not enough to take him down thanks to his great armor and health.
- Ilthain's Return Fire pays off, dealing damage to the Goblin Chariot's ranged attack.
- The Celestial Harpy deals the finishing blow to a weakened Sha-vi, dealing additional damage to its 2 adjacent monsters.
- Finally, the Battering Ram attacks the Windeku, defeating it alongside the Carrion Shade. However, because of the Windeku's Thorns, the Ram also dies.
I managed to defeat half of the enemy team, while only having one casualty. And the remaining enemy monsters all have low health. This battle is mine to lose.
ROUND 2
- The Corsair Bosun is the first to attack, defeating both the Undead Badger and the Death Elemental in one fell swoop.
- This leaves the Chariot in the first position, where it's unable to attack.
- The Crystalsmith puts it out of its misery and deals the finishing blow.
This was a quick battle thanks to all the Blast damage that took the enemy one after the other with few attacks.
Final Thoughts
- The combination of the Shieldbearer and the Corsair Bosun is great and I find myself using it a lot, even in non-Blast battles, since they function as great main and secondary tank.
- I have never been that fond of Reach monsters and that's why I didn't think I'd like the Bosun as much as I do, however, thanks to his great Melee and Speed, it's a great attacker as well.
- Ilthain is the best Summoner from this new set, and that's because of his +1 Speed without a doubt. Speed control is key in this game, and that's why both Kelya and him are the most expensive Summoners from their respective sets (excluding Legendary Summoners).
If you want to be part of the incredible community of Splinterlands, click here!