So last week, we have just finished the traits mapping for the Life Splinter's Ranged Card (you can find it here). And this will be the final Splinter before we wrap it up with a compilation of the Ranged Card from the entire Splinter. Dragon always have always the fewest collection compared to other Splinter, which seemed to be because Dragon card is more of complementary for other Splinter. And yet Dragon decorated with cards stronger than the average cards for the same mana value. There's fewer ranged card coming from Dragon Splinter, but it doesn't make these ranged card are less valuable.
Number of Card by Rarity and Mana
| Rarity | 2 Mana | 4 Mana | 5 Mana | 6 Mana | 8 Mana | 9 Mana |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | ||||||
| Rare | ||||||
| Epic | ||||||
| Legendary |
Cards are distributed sparsely but lean toward higher mana cards. Cards with 8 and 9 mana seemed to dominated the collection, which in turn limit these cards to be used for high mana cap battle. Surprisingly there are none Normal type card. There are 3 rare type cards, and the rest are Epic and Legendary. So we should expect extra budget when adding this collection. For Modern battle format there are three less cards available (Dragonling Bowman, Royal Dragon Archer, and Fire Spitter will be omitted). This will leave us with 2 rare types and 3 legendary types, a very limited selection and cost burden.
Traits Mapping
Level 1 chart shows this collection is decorated with high speed cards, having 2 blue nodes card and only 2 red nodes card. Most of the card have an average low damage, since most of them have less than 0.5 damage-mana ratio. The highest ratio will be Naga Assassin (No.3) and Naga Spitter (No.4). But since Naga Spitter have higher mana, this card could be considered have better damage output than Naga Assassin. Exception could be made to the Vigilator (No.5) since it have Double Strike ability which double the total damage output. Health-mana ratio are standard with most cards stand in the SOUTH-WEST quadrant. Scale Doctor (No.6) is the only one to reached 1.4 ratio, which means this card is tough enough to become secondary Tanker.
Max level chart shift the cards far enough from their initial position. Naga Assassin (No.3) gained the most tremendous growth (considering this card is a Rare type); not only 5 health is huge for a 2 mana card, but its speed also grow to 6 and even boosted to 7 by Swiftness ability. So far Naga Assassin might be the only 2 mana card which tough as rock and fast as eagle. Dragonling Bowman (No.1) show a good status growth on all status, boosting its damage ratio to 0.75 and its health ratio to 1.5, and still grow its speed from 2 to 3. Scale Doctor (No.6) which previously a tough Tanker doesn't show any growth on health, but rather gained 3 additional abilities.
In conclusion the collection consist of several cards with very unique and specialized traits. Several cards not only strong in damage and health but also decorated with several number of useful abilities, which we will see next.
Abilities Mapping
Common to ranged type card, the majority abilities coming from striker abilities. There are no particular Striker abilities which are dominant. Snipe ability available to Royal Dragon Archer and Runic Skyclaw. Both cards are very strong with melee damage above 4 point. Scale Doctor is the only card with a whole Support abilities attached. Having both Triage and Repair grant full support to mend the back-row from any battle scar. Royal Dragon Archer with combination of Poison and Snipe will run efficiently, since poison effect will take effect toward middle row longer while the formation attempt to breach down the front row.
Personal Thought
This final section, I give my personal thought for several card mentioned below.
'1. Scale Doctor
 | |
| Scale Doctor are very unique since its the only ranged card to possess a full four support abilities. Rust might be rarely used, but its important as backup to counter Protect ability or any ability from summoner which provide armor booster. Triage and Repair are two very useful abilities to mend off incoming damage from Sneak and Opportunity attack. |
'2. The Vigilator
 | |
| Two type of attack combined with Double Strike ability could turn into a mass destructive weapon. Two attack times two means there's more opportunity to distribute damage to opposing cards, rather than launching single attack and wasted the excess between damage and remaining health. in addition the poison ability will gain much leverage, since there's four times more chances to trigger its occurrence. |
'3. Naga Assassin
 | |
| Naga Assassin is one of my most favorite card when starting in the bronze league. Naga Assassin which cost 2 mana, not only have a high health but also a high speed which contribute towards its evasion. This card not only good as back row cover, but able to stood as cannon fodder eventhought its ranged type will be useless in front row. |