The Arrival of Riftwatchers - Dragon Splinter

This is the my 7th post regarding riftwatchers including the summoners. In my previous post, I have mentioned that I will be combining the dragon and neutral splinter for this post but during the creation of the cover page of this post. I have changed my mind to separate it into two parts to highlight of course the new cards and the awesome artwork made by the talented creative team.

In this post, we'll quickly look the stats and abilities of each monsters specifically in the dragon splinter and I will give my opinion regarding those monsters. I've already made a post for the other element and summoners. If you have missed out my previous post kindly refer to below link.

Disclaimer: All information below are based on my opinion and playstyle. Each player has its own opinion regarding these cards and I'm just going to share my opinion.

My current owned highest level Whelp Herder is a ★4 normal foil. Whelp Herder gives a good additional damage especially in low mana matchup and little league.

Whelp Herder is the smallest mana cost in the Riftwatcher edition. It is the only cards in the riftwatcher edition that is applicable in the little league ruleset. By looking at the stats of Whelp Herder, the main purpose of this monster is to deal opportunity attack. It might not have a high speed but it is a good choice for small mana battle. Currently only Daria Dragonscale and Archmage Arius were the only one in the dragon summoner that can boost the attack of Whelp Herder. I believe that this card in order to be much powerful is to have a boost on the attack so some monsters with Inspire would be a good help for this card such as Enchanted Pixie in higher level.

The snare ability which can be unlock on ★5 somehow does not have a big impact but this is helpful especially when dealing with flying monsters or if there is an earthquake rule. Whelp Herder can be use together with Brighton Bloom so in every attack of Whelp Herder, the flying ability of the enemies could be disabled which could cost them affected by the earthquake while Whelp Herder with the help of Brighton Bloom does not have any issue with the earthquake.

The final ability which is dispel seems to be not so effective in my opinion when use by a melee unit. I might be wrong as the dispel could remove a lot of positive buffs in the diamond or champion league.

Usage: Good to use in a small mana matchup and best to have in the little league ruleset. A good choice as well when earthquake ruleset is in effect as long as you have a Brighton Bloom by your side to disable enemies with flying abilities.

Rating: ★★★

My current owned highest level Runic Skyclaw is a ★3 normal foil. Dealing heavy damage is one of Runic Skyclaw traits.

Runic Skyclaw even at the baseline level is really powerful. This card initially can deal a 3 range damage, a 6 speed which is very fast, an armor and a 5 health. The stats is really an above average. It also have the flying and snipe ability which synergize with its range attack and high speed.

Well, attaining this stats cost a high mana requirement. Runic Skyclaw consumes a 9 mana in order for the player to be use this card in the battlefield which means this is very good in high mana matchup.

Let's look how this card can be use in different league. Starting with the bronze league, the stats of this card seem pretty powerful, it can deal a 3 range damage which is not pretty common in the bronze league. In Silver League, the range attack of this card is boosted by 1. I think that this card have a great advantage in the back to basic ruleset. Going through Gold League, A reflection shield has been introduced which is good against blast. Also fighting with Ilthain summoner, with the reflection shield the return damage is ignore. The additional ruleset which grants return fire is also neglected because of this ability. Finally in Diamond and Champion League, the attack of this card is boosted again and the Giant Killer ability has been introduced which is really good in the high mana matchup. Imagine this card can deal a 10 range damage to the monsters with a mana cost of 10 and above.

Usage: For me in the lower league Runic Skyclaw is great for the additional damage, It can be use in the back to basic ruleset, Fog of War, Keep Your Distance and Close Range. In the higher league because of the addition of Reflection Shield and Giant Killer, it is good to have in the 50+ to 99 mana capacity as for sure there are enemy monsters with higher than 10 mana cost.

Rating: ★★★★

Sad to say but the powerful beast in the Riftwatcher Edition does not appear in my Riftwatcher Packs opening. Agor Longtail with a massive of 15 mana cost is truly the most or maybe the second most powerful card in the Riftwatcher Edition.

Agor Longtail, just by looking on its stats deals a melee and magic attack. It is good to have in the Up Close and Personal as there is an additional magic damage. This card also have 3 abilities unlocked in the base level. The flying ability which is good against earthquake, the taunt ability which is really good as this card have a 6 armor and 11 health initially and the Void Armor ability which converts its 6 armor durable against magic.

Starting from the gold league, this card introduce a healing ability which synergize on its taunt ability. Additional support in the backline will even make this card truly powerful. Since this have the taunt ability, be careful with the monsters with the Giant Killer ability as these monsters deals x2 damage to Agor Longtail.

Usage: A very powerful card which have a lot of use. It is usually use as a tank but deals a massive damage in the frontline.

Rating: ★★★★★

Whelp Herder, Runic Skyclaw and Agor Longtail are all good monsters. Whelp Herder is pretty nice in the low mana matchup especially little league. Runic Skyclaw focus on dealing high damage while Agor Longtail focus much on defense because of its 3 abilities (Taunt, Void Armor and healing) but also have a good offense as it have melee and magic damage.

I must say that all of these 3 monsters are important and great addition to the dragon splinter.

Thank you for reading and see you on the last post which is the neutral monsters.