LEGIONNAIRE ALVAR : DICTATOR OF CHAOS

Alvar Veralyn was chosen as the leader of Legionnaire for a clear reason. He has a stature of a leader, tall in height and bulky in both arms. He had a fearless disposition, and would always stand in the frontline rallying the Chaos Legion in their charge. He is a heroic figure for his compatriot, an awe inspiring monument. But his ruthless massacre against his adversary is a show which shower the Legion with excitement of brutality. His sword has been bathed with blood of hundred warriors.
May warriors have tried to challenge him, but ended with them being laid down into his feet. They vainly ask for his mercy only to be answered by the swing of his giant blade. His eyes has turned dark when staring the eyes of the pleading one. But beneath those eyes, a shimmer of light glimpse faintly. The light coming from his deep down conscience which never cease trying to break the darkness that engulfed his inner humanity.

Legionnaire Alvar have emphasized itself as a true Tanker. The artwork show a warrior solidly cladded with a black armor. The lore assert his armor is imbued with magical resistance. And finally his status assert it all, armor value exceeding his health and made complete with Void Armor ability. Voila! We have our hardened Tanker!

Pros & Cons

1. Tanker, tanker, and tanker! It is the sole and absolute reason you will deploy Legionnaire Alvar in the battlefield. Although there are other cards with greater health value (for example Tusk The Wide having 12 health for only 6 mana), having an armor provide a stopper against single attack with high damage.	1. The common weakness of Neutral Splinter, it always have lesser status than other Splinter.
2. Most Tanker must have armor which provide protection against melee and ranged attack, but not against magic. And having Void Armor is a great advantage since not only magic damage will be redirected, but also damage stopper mechanism could be used against the magic attack. In addition, among card with Void Armor, Legionnaire Alvar have the highest total number of armor and health.	2. Other than health and armor, damage and speed are rather low and barely useable to counter against opposing card.
3. Standard to all Neutral cards, it is deployable in all Splinter formation.
*Reference for Archetype term : Striker --> Superior Damage / Tanker --> Superior Health / Ninja --> Superior Speed / Support --> A Lot Number of Abilities.

Market Price Analysis

Several month in the past the card have quite high price on gold foil, with the price ratio between regular foil and gold foil reached around 1:10. But gold price have been in downtrend and the current ratio is floating at around 1:7. The past 2 weeks have been the lowest point on price, but a price hike have been happened few days earlier. The current regular foil price is $5.72 and gold foil price is $36.61. By calculating the total bcx, it will require around $62.92 to reach max level on regular and $146.44 to reach max level on gold. The price hike is quite sharp and sudden and there's possibility for the price to retract before continuing the uptrend. In my opinion its best to wait and see for the price the price retraction before purchasing one.

Progression Analysis

Legendary card always give limited choice for progression. Not only in the sense of growth gained but also in the sense of cost. Fortunately since Legionnaire Alvar is a 9 mana card, each progression steps provide two growth at once, one ability and one status. Level 2 provide with Giant Killer and damage growth. This is the most valuable step, considering this card will be used most of time in high mana cap battle and 3 damage would put stronger blow to enemy frontier. The next two level are less fascinating. Level 3 provide with Demoralize ability and armor growth. A single armor is a puny addition if compared with the current 8 armor. Lot of other cards possessed Demoralize ability, but to have have it on powerful Tanker will keep the ability to stay on effect. The last level is the least of all. A single health addition might be better than a single armor addition, but the Deathblow ability is rarely used in any battle situation.

Rulesets To Be Watched

Ruleset	Strategy
	Legionnaire Alvar will be in an advantage in Earthquake ruleset, but will be in a trouble in Noxious Fumes ruleset (of course since poison don't care if the card had Void Armor ability)
	In Melee Mayhem ruleset, Legionnaire Alvar could take roles as backup Tanker while maintaining its attack capability. But more to it, the card can survive to later round to keeping the Demoralize ability stay in effects.

WATCH BATTLE

Here's one of my battle experience with Legionnaire Alvar in my formation. Click Here for the battle link. The battle has 28 mana cap, with Melee Mayhem ruleset. For my formation, I used:

Position	Card Name	Level	Mana	Health	Armor	Speed	Damage Type	Damage
Summoner	Keyla Frendul	2	4	-	-	-	-	-
1st Row	Albatross	1	1	1	-	1	None	-
2nd Row	Ice Pixie	1	2	1	-	3	Magic	1
3rd Row	Legionnaire Alvar	1	9	6	8	2	Melee	2
4th Row	Hardy Stonefish	3	1	2	1	1	Melee	1
5th Row	Venari Wavesmith	1	5	3	-	2	Magic	1
6th Row	Demented Shark	1	6	6	1	2	Melee	1

My opponent formation:

Position	Card Name	Level	Mana	Health	Armor	Speed	Damage Type	Damage
Summoner	Keyla Frendul	1	4	-	-	-	-	-
1st Row	Serpent of Eld	1	7	5	2	4	Melee	3
2nd Row	Albatross	1	1	1	-	1	None	-
3rd Row	Feasting Seaweed	1	4	2	-	1	Melee	2
4th Row	Merdaali Guardian	1	3	3	-	2	None	-
5th Row	Scavo Hireling	1	3	1	-	2	None	-
6th Row	Deeplurker	1	6	6	-	2	Melee	3

Having Keyla Frendul in both formation means this battle gonna turn into a long running battle. Both formation gained the armor and speed buff. My formation depend on Venari Wavesmith to reinforce the armor, while my opponent bring the Tank Heal and Repair ability to sustain their cards endurance.

Round 1 started. Albatross become the main target and with only single health, Albatross finally gave itself. While my formation launched it full-scale attack against Serpent of Eld ended with barely able to crush its armor. Serpent of Eid is tough opponent especially supported with the Tank Heal and Repair ability.

Round 2 is the pivotal point. Ice Pixie, Venari Wavesmith, and Legionnaire Alvar consecutively score damage against Serpent of Eld and put it in demise. It a fortunate act, if any of those attack had missed, my formation will surely lose the momentum with the Tank Heal and Repair took effect. Ice Pixie had to become cannon fodder this time, and Alvar move up to the frontline.

Having 4 cards in striking position brought an upperhand to my formation. The full scale attack bring down two lines at once, leaving behind Merdali Guardian, Scavo Hireling, and Deeplurker. Meanwhile

Coming to Round 4, Deeplurker slowly creeping to my backline, destroying Hardy Stonefish. Fortunately my formation gained the momentum and able to breach Merdaali Guardian armor at the end of the round. Its a small step, but would open path for the next round.

Round 6 and Alvar swing down its sword to strike down Merdaali Guardian for good. Now its only Scavo Hireling stand between Legionnaire Alvar with Deeplurker.

At Round 6, Venari Wavesmith cast the final blow against Scavo Hireling. And now its a one-on-one between Deeplurker and Legionnaire Alvar.

With no backup and facing 3 Striker at once, Deeplurker knew fate has come upon it. And so the battle ended.

CONCLUSION

Did your strategy work? What will you try differently next time?

Legionnaire Alvar doesn't show its full endurance in this battle. But this battle show how in Melee Mayhem ruleset, Legionnaire Alvar can took middle position to fight once opponent main Striker is down. The key of victory in this battle was actually Demented Shark with its Inspire ability which boosted Alvar melee damage and become powerful attack.

Do you like LEGIONNAIRE ALVAR? Why or why not?

I pretty much like Legionnaire Alvar, only the 9 mana cost sometime put me in dilemma to deploy other cards which make up 9 mana. Speed could be a decisive aspect. With lower average speed, Legionnaire Alvar could be depleted from earlier attack. Putting one cannon fodder card in front of Alvar could stall several damage.