For some time now I have been feeling that I have been missing a strong Neutral tank card in my deck. Escalation packs have solved that problem for me at last with the new card Doomshield Warden. I was very excited to be able to add this to my deck as it was a gap that really had been hurting me in my Modern play. Does it fit every situation? No... But it is an excellent start that has already changed my battle strategy!
This is a really awesome card to have in your deck! The Neutral tank Doomshield Warden starts with some hefty armor of seven and a high health of ten at level three. Added abilities are Flank which grats the card immediately following it the Reach ability, to attack the opponent's card in first position. At level three it picks up Relentless Strike, this gives the advantage that if an attack could be reduced by Void, Forcefield, or Shield it takes one true damage instead. That really cuts back on the amount of damage some attacks could inflict! At level five the melee attack increase to five. Then at level six if picks up Vold so magic attacks hit armor before hitting the monster. And at level nine attack increases the seven. Then at level ten it picks up True Strike meaning it's attacks can't miss the target.
It's huge disadvantage, it's a hefty fourteen mana so can only be used in very high mana matches...
Why did I pick up a gold copy you might ask? Simple economics. It was less expensive than picking up fourteen regular copies. I would ideally like to get him to level five for the added melee attack, but that would require four more cards and they aren't inexpensive. I was fortunate to have enough DEC available from card sales to pick this one up, but not enough for five copies! Those will have to go on the wish list for now...
Now to see this guy in action. It really is a useful card in high mana matches like the one I'll be sharing below.
You can see the entire battle at the link here.
This is a high mana battle at 57 with rulesets of Lost Magic and Amplify. So I did something that defies logic altogether and used an archon (Marlai Singariel) that increases magic attacks. Why the insanity you might ask? Because I wanted to use a specific card that only works in my water team. Also I have no other water archons that work in Modern. My tank was of course Doomshield Warden and I followed him with Blue Wyrm Travesty for it's massive attack and health. It also gains the Reach ability thanks to Flank from my tank. Next up I went with Surgeblade and then Aimee Whisperwind, a Foundations bonus card that I am really starting to enjoy. I rounded things out with Surgehammer and Mar Toren Trader. That last one wasn't an accident, the Headwinds ability was meant to decrease any of the opponent's ranged attacks.
My opponent also used a Foundations archon Incessant Sage which grants an additional armor to each monster on it's team. For a tank they went with Saltwraith Bulkhead which is one of my favorites to use in the Life splinter as well. I do find the name confusing, he sounds like he belongs on a water team, just saying... Next up they chose a nice reach monster in Pallus and followed that with Wild Horse Tamer. The team was rounded out with A'lan Musketeer with it's strike twice ability, Vengeful Monk and a nasty taunt card New Beluroc Aegis. It was a team pretty heavy in Foundations cards which isn't a bad thing, but with the Escalation cards coming into play it does put them at a bit of a disadvantage!
By Round two both tanks are taking a slow beating and the taunt card at the end of my opponent's team is looking pretty battered.
Early in the round my Blue Wrym Travesty delivers a knock out punch to my opponent's tank with a hit of eight melee attack. Ouch! The taunt card has also been taken out.
Near the end of the round my tank is taken out as well leaving Blue Wrym Travesty up front.
The start of Round three...
Mid way through three my opponent is down to two cards and it's pretty much over...
And the Blue Wyrm Travesty delivers the death blow with a powerful eight melee hit!
Great game to my opponent! As you can see the combo of Doomshield Warden followed by Blue Wrym Travesty is pretty nasty. That's why I went with the water archon even though she only increased magic attack! How do you like the combo?
Fourteen Foundations Packs Opened!
I always like to save up some packs I've won just to share opening them in these posts. Today I had fourteen and they turned out awesome!
It's always exciting to see a card start to shudder before flipping over as you know it's a legendary. However, very rarely do you have the luck of getting a gold flash right after of a gold legendary card. Here I pulled a gold Agniavan Salamander which was really exciting. It's only the second gold legendary I've pulled in Foundations so I'm not going to be selling it! I also got three more gold pulls including the epic Glimmernancer which is a valuable little card. I already have a maxed gold copy so this one will be going on the market. The gold Dread Tafarian and Wilhelmdale Deputy will also go right on the market! Not a bad start!
Next no golds but I did get two water archons Marlai Singariel and an epic water card Asel Alagosdil. Both are extremely useful and will be going on the market. I also got a death epic Lenore Nevermore which is a great card as well that I use all the time in battle. Another great batch!
Then at the end some more shaking of another legendary pull, but this time no gold flash. A'lan Musketeer is a must have card to max out as it does four damage with it's strike twice ability. Since I have a gold copy this one is going on the market. I also pulled a fire archon which is always good on the market, but the prices have been down a lot lately...
As for the others, some I will sell leveled up and some I will give away to players still building their decks. And some I will burn in exchange for entries toward the weekly drawing for black and arcane cards. Many cards are becoming overpopulated and I feel it's always smart to burn some off to reduce the numbers.
Not a bad pack opening at all today!
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That will do it for me today, I hope you liked the Doomshield Warden, what a cool Escalation card. A lot of those cards are becoming the key to winning matches that might otherwise be lost! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below, and thank you all so much for all of your support. I really do deeply appreciate it. Have a great week everyone!
Disclaimer
I am not a financial planner and this isn't financial advice. Please always do your own research before investing your money. You worked hard enough to earn it!
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