THE GORLODON : TERROR OF THE TIDE

Nobodies would ever dare to venture into the unfathomable deep of the southern ocean. The ocean was known for its terrifying creature. One of them, The Gorlodon, a behemoth whale-like creature with a dark bluish skin. Eight limbs of tentacles unravel from its posterior section which functioned not only for swimming but also for protection. Its mouth could open as big as the size of a sperm-whale - its main prey; tore them with its long-thin fang and then devour them in a single chomp.
Standing at the top of the food chain, nobodies ever dare to disturb The Gorlodon in its habitat. But once in the past, Nerissa Tridawn "The Hurricane", protector of the sea beyond the Shallowing Coast, dare herself to venture into the southern ocean. Nerrisa accompanied by a company of Sea Stalker scours to find path for the Sea Admiral and their armada. They venture in the midnight to hide themself from the enemies. But bad luck befall upon them. The behemoth was a nocturnal animal and become aware of the Nerissa and her company presence. And in an instant, The Gorlodon emerge from beneath the dark water and quickly devour several of the Sea Stalker. The group was divided, but Nerissa bravely rallies them to fight back.
Nerissa thought she could bring down the behemoth with a dozens of magical blast casted from her trident, but soon she found herself to be in equal match against it. With her fallen comrades started to mounting up, the battle turned into a bloody one. Nerissa can sense her comrades started to wavering. She unwillingly order for retreat.
Hurt from spear and trident stuck to its skin, The Gorlodon become enraged and chase down Nerissa relentlessly. Several Sea Stalker sacrifice themselves to delay The Gorlodon from advancing. Lucky for them, the low tide peninsula which border the southern sea from the Shallowing Coast impeding The Gorlodon from swimming much further.
Nerissa felt relieved she able to escape from the monster. But only after watching the surviving comrades that a heavy guilt engulf herself. She had led her comrades into their demise. The harrowing terror of the southern sea is a trauma she would never forget.

After composing my post about Nerissa Tridawn, I remember that Nerissa Tridawn had the same 9 mana cost as The Gorlodon, and both are an Epic card. And after I take another look at The Gorlodon card, I found both of these card are in an equal match. It would be great to watch them battle face-to-face. And so I decided to write a short-stories about their encounter.

The Gorlodon is a formidable card for having 3 damage and 12 health which cost just 9 mana. As if this was the powerful version of Cursed Windeku (except for its speed). Even more, possessing a Reach ability allow us to deploy additional Tanker, and save this card as a secondary Tanker. The only matter is its speed which started at 1 and never grow any further. Although on Level 3, it would get True Strike ability which relieve concern over accuracy. So let's get going with this analysis!

Pros & Cons

1. High health and high damage at initial level. In addition, the high damage value will extend from 3 damage up to 7 damage (which we will later explain). These combinations make The Gorlodon not only the best Tanker but also the best Tanker destroyer.	1. A speed value of 1 not only hinder your act order but also give nil chance for evasion and less accuracy. Although later, owning True Strike ability will solve the accuracy problem
2. The Gorlodon possessed a variety of abilities which empower a powerful but certain blow to the front row of opponent formation, similar to a battering ram.	2. Another thing about about speed, The Gorlodon will always act in value. Without considerate timing, The Gorlodon huge damage could be wasted upon card stood with last health.
*Reference for Archetype term : Striker --> Superior Damage / Tanker --> Superior Health / Ninja --> Superior Speed / Support --> A Lot Number of Abilities.

Market Price Analysis

The price of both regular foil and gold foil have been in a downtrend. Regular price has hit the bottom quite hard around 3 to 4 weeks ago (considering $6.50 to $7.00 is the highest price ever reached). Currently the price has rebounded quite well and sit at $4.68. If compared to other cards from Untamed edition, the price of this card placed in the middle range among others. Gold foil price seemed a bit irrational since currently the price sit at $111.00. This could be explained from the illiquid market conditions where currently there's only 3 gold card listed in the market. So its better to use price reference from the past 1 to 2 weeks ago which sit at $50.00.

Now calculating the total bcx to reached max level, it will cost $215.28 for regular foil, and cost around $500.00 for gold foil. Both foil are very expensive and will require extra budget to reserve the card. With the current gold foil price and the illiquid market conditions, in my opinion purchasing the regular foil would be a better alternatives currently.

Progression Analysis

There are few progression steps coming from The Gorlodon as an Epic card which follow a certain pattern, alternating between damage growth and new abilities. Level 2 grant a worthy +1 melee damage. At this point, melee growth would seemed to be far more valuable than health growth. The succeeding level grant the True Strike ability, a key ability which eliminate this card low accuracy problem. Level 4 grant another +1 melee damage. And at Level 5, The Gorlodon will attain the Enrage ability. This ability seemed very redundant considering now The Gorlodon could reached an 8 melee damage (5 damage x 1.5 rounded up), which with its huge health, this ability will certainly be triggered most of the times. The final level grant the final +1 melee damage, which become very redundant and not worthwhile.

In conclusion, the overall the progression steps are very promising and worthy to be pursued or funded (at least up to Level 5). The huge melee damage could deal a fatal blow, but might look excessive and would be wasted very much, especially against armored card. Bringing Piercing ability could solve this problem of leftover damage.

Rulesets To Be Watched

Ruleset	Strategy
	Losing the True Strike ability could be a big trouble for The Gorlodon. It would mean losing around 20% - 40% accuracy and still have to act on last order. This card could lost momentum and become easy target from faster formation launching blitz attack.
	Having Opportunity and Sneak ability allow The Gorlodon to fill middle rpw or even last row. This card could launched attack barrage against the opponent and still stood formidable as the last card standing.
	Reverse Speed will bring The Gorlodon to act in the first order, make an opening damage for other cards to finish.
	Earthquake and Noxious Fumes will pose no major threat to this card which already have a high 12 health.

WATCH BATTLE

Here's one of my battle experience with The Gorlodon in my formation. Click Here (https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_22b8541e323fcd31667bd4b5165f8710&ref=kid.miniatures) for the battle link. The battle have 15 mana cap, with Standard ruleset. For my formation, I used:

Position	Card Name	Level	Mana	Health	Armor	Speed	Damage Type	Damage
Summoner	Thaddius Brood	2	4	-	-	-	-	-
1st Row	Corpse Fiend	1	0	1	-	2	Melee	1
2nd Row	The Gorlodon	1	9	12	-	1	Melee	3
3rd Row	Undead Badger	1	2	1	-	3	Melee	1
4th Row	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th Row	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th Row	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

My opponent formation:

Position	Card Name	Level	Mana	Health	Armor	Speed	Damage Type	Damage
Summoner	Bortus	1	3	-	-	-	-	-
1st Row	Djinn Oshannus	1	8	10	-	5	Magic	2
2nd Row	Albatross	1	1	1	-	1	None	-
3rd Row	Chaos Agent	1	1	1	-	2	None	-
4th Row	Ice Pixie	1	2	1	-	3	Magic	1
5th Row	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th Row	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

At the start of the battle, I'm a bit unsure of the battle outcome, since The Gorlodon have to face Djinn Oshannus, where both have a huge speed difference. The Gorlodon will have 60% accuracy on each attack against Djinn. And then again, The Gorlodon have to face threat coming from Djinn and Ice Pixie. Fortunately, bringing Thaddius Brood caused debuff against Djinn and weaken its attack.

Round 1 is a bad start for my formation. Corpse Fiend get knocked out, and then both Gorlodon and Undead Badger missed their attack. Gorlodon sustain 1 damage and survived to the 2nd Round.

The tide start to turn on Round 2, all my cards make their hit. Undead Badger finish off Ice Pixie in single strike, and then Gorlodon make a fatal blow against Djinn.

The battle entered 3rd round and 4th round, and luck is on my side as both Gorlodon and Badger make their hit again against Chaos Agent and Djinn. It's very surprising to see Gorlodon managed to pass the 60% accuracy threshold and hit the target everytime. And with 3 health left on the fourth round, Djinn have finally meet it demise.

CONCLUSION

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

My strategy lead me the my victory but not as how I expected. The key winning factor seemed to come from Bortus which weaken Djinn Oshannus magic damage. And there's a luck factor where The Gorlodon beat the accuracy handicap and make a total hit 3 out of 4. Considering Djinn Oshannus have very similar trait with Nerissa Tridawn, I think this is the closest I could get imagining a face to face battle between both cards.

Do you like THE GORLODON? Why or why not?

Given the high status parameter against the mana cost, I consider The Gorlodon as a very valuable Tanker card. Having True Strike ability is a big advantage, since it allow The Gorlodon to deal certain hit each round. And combined with Reach ability, The Gorlodon could deal several extra attack from the 2nd position before moving directly to the front row.