There are some combinations which just seem to go together; tomato and cheese, bread and butter, and the other obvious one, the REACH ability and YODIN. In this blog, I want to explore this powerful combination, as it is a match made, well and truly, in a fireworks factory!
To do this, let's start with the man of the week, The RADIATED BRUTE
On it's surface, this is a pretty awesome card. It has 6 health, which is solid enough in a backline for an off-tank, especially when paired with YODIN, who will give him +1 additional health. That 1 health will make this guy even more difficult to knock over!
Speaking of hard to knock down, the card initially has +2 speed, so it is faster than most tanks - and likely to be one of the first to get a hit in during a battle. But if not, being in an off-tank position will certainly give this card some pretty awesome protection.
Then finally, his attack, +3 Melee. That's huge! It's enough to completely wipe out an opposing card's armour, or, if they don't have armour, to kill them in one hit. It will mean that when he takes on the BLAST ability, he'll do +2 damage to the 2nd card too!
The key part of this card is also his REACH ability, this means he will hit the opponent on the opposing team in the TANK position - this means he is going to working in partnership with my tank - seeking to throw a lot of damage at my opponent's front - and start working into the back line.
This guy is amazing!
My card is Level 4, and it is leveled so I can make use of it in in my Silver league battles, but I did want to check out it's complete stats, just for some perspective.
In the end, I was incredibly impressed. This is one hot card, even at Level 1 - it's 2 melee attack is amazing!! I didn't know it gained ENRAGE at Level 6 - and I can see how this would make him an even more aggressive strategic asset. At present, I have this card 0/30 on the way to having a Level 5. I can't play a Level 6 yet - but it gets pretty awesome, having the ability to enrage and further destroy your opponent's tank position.
To celebrate the card, I decided to see how much it would cost to boost this guy to Level 6. They were a bit cheaper than I remember, being sold off per BX for between 0.065 per card, right up to 0.071 per card - to buy all 70 BX I'd need to upgrade, it would cost me $4.80 USD. In looking at numbers like these, I can see how by upgrading - these cards will become rarer over time and I'd expect their price to pick up.
The next consideration is how to make this RADIATED BRUTE into a very, very strong strategic weapon by using the BLAST ability, which is granted by YODIN.
This SUMMONER power can be absolutely suited to RAIDATED BRUTE - BLAST means that whoever you hit, the cards on either side will take damage, albeit somewhat reduced. For a monster like RADIATED BRUTE, his REACH will mean he's hitting in the backrow, and damaging cards in the TANK position and to the TANK's sides (2 cards will take damage).
Hitting with 2 damage (not 3, limited by the YODIN level) means that the cards either side will also take +1 damage on - enough to ruin a shield, or start to eat away at health. The key here, is his partnership with my tank, quick enough boots and the REACH skill.
It brings me to my final piece of the strategic puzzle. That puzzle is YODIN:
In the blast strategy, I keep it simple.
- I value speed. If my cards are hitting first, I can take down many of my opponent's cards before he gets a hit off.
- I value high attack. I want to hit and cause carnage.
YODIN helps with that strategy by giving me the BLAST, and a BLAST protection with the +1 health.
So let's get to the RADIATED BRUTE + YODIN Battle:
This ruleset is very interesting, and one you see often ENOUGH. The 'HEAVY HITTERS' skillset is always interesting, and tempts opponents to go into a STUN line-up, which sometimes can be weak. I'll be honest though, in SILVER league - you don't often see a STUN attack. For this battle, my strategy is to keep is really simple. Go in with a heavy attack, go with speed and hit from the front - rather than splitting my attack. I don't want a long battle and I want to push past his TANK quickly.
To help me out, I put my CHAIN GOLEM out the front. This is my go-to tank, and I play it with YODIN a lot! Again, with the BLAST ruleset, I value this guy because he has some speed. He is also incredibly meaty - with his SHIELD skill making him difficult to take down quickly, this guy doesn't mess around and will give my RADIATED BRUTE a lot of forward protection.
My Backrow:
Looking at my backrow, you'll note that without the mana limitations this week have meant my team has a lot of depth. I was happy to pay a higher mana price in order to meet my aggressive attack which all targeted my opponent's tank.
There are two parts of this line that I like.
The first is The LAVA LAUNCHER
Like the other cards, his ARROW ATTACK will be raised up to +4. With BLAST - This guy will damage the tank for 4, and then follow it with a +2 damage on the off-tank. He has the skill which will allow him to fire his arrows in the TANK position - and, his armour and solid health will certainly keep him in the battle long enough to do a lot of damage.
I also like the DJINN INFERNI in this line-up, the reason is his boots are quick at +4 and he he packs a punch with +3 magic. This will ignore my opponent's armour and directly hit his health. Even better, is that the BLAST ability will mean the off-tank will also take +2 magic damage. This guy is sneaky - and often opponents will play an armour attack - this magic man means you'll counter that strategy pretty quickly.
This is how the battle gets underways:
Ok, let's have a look at how the battle went, have a look at this video. Trust me, it's a good one!
As you can see, this battle was on from the start. My opponent played a very good Tank with TAUNT - and he was able to play the HEALING EYE as his off-tank. This was a COUNTER to my BLAST - and would give him the opportunity to start to get through my line-up.
At the end of round 1, you can see, the initial hits have taken a lot from both sides. I've just about cleared his TANK and OFF-TANK, but he's taken my tank on the first hit of Round 2. That said, looking at what is remaining - it seems I am in a very, very good position with a lot of good attackers and a lot of health. It would be near impossible for my opponent to get the win from his position.
As ROUND 2 progressed, it was deadly for my opponent - he simply didn't have the defense needed to stop my hits. Part of his problem is his attack was largely dependent on keeping his ARCHERS free from trouble - but they were exposed too early in the battle and that was that!
So what's the verdict?
- RADIATED BRUTE and BLAST are really a dream team. The potential to decimate opponents and earn a quick win is something to be valued - if the battle drags on, you need a better strategy than 'hit quick and hit hard'. I like to keep it simple, so this worked a treat.
- Regarding the battle and the way it played out, I think my opponent differed to me by playing a strategy which didn't have enough attacking power - which was distinct from mine which sought to powerfully hit from the word go.
- The REACH ability meant that I was in a strong position to use melee to powerfully hit his TANK with multiple melee smackdowns. Tihs is an incredibly useful skill - I use it often in the water splinter with the Flying Squid - I hadn't used the RADIATED BRUTE often - and will need to start making him a more regular part of my line-up.
Thanks for joining me, for another Splinter Chat! This blog was put together as part of Splinterlands' weekly 'Share-Your-Battle' challenge. Have you put yours together yet?
LordTimoty
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