The new #Splinterlands reward cards are almost here! I'm very excited about this card set and wanted to share my thoughts on how I'd rate each one, and what the primary use cases are for each below. Have a look below and let me know what you think in the comments.
New reward card tiers
Without further ado, here is how I would rate the latest rewards cards. Note of course these are my ratings, and subject to change after I've gotten more play-time with the cards.
- "Awesome" cards have unique features that make them stand out and are useful in many different scenarios and rulesets
- "Good" cards are viable in various situations and can give an edge
- "Niche" cards aren't bad, but they only stand out in a small number of situations
- "Pass" cards aren't likely to be used very often
Blood Maker
- Rating: Niche
- Synergies: Yodin (scatter shot blast and +1 ranged)
- Counters: Nothing particular
- Rulesets: Blast (if not using Yodin)
A nice card to add in with Yodin, but doesn't really stand out beyond that. He's too expensive for little league, the scatter shot adds frustrating RNG, and his cripple is unlikely to be a significant factor.
Countess Sinash
- Rating: Awesome
- Synergies: Yodin
- Counters: Kitty (via speed boost and affliction)
- Rulesets: Blast (if not using Yodin), Close Range
Countess Sinash is an excellent Legendary card that dramatically boosts the already OP Yodin. With speed she makes the whole team more lethal, and with sneak she'll likely do increased blast damage. Then with Life Leech she'll collect lots of health, especially with blast, and the camouflage will prevent her from getting hit. There's a risk she ends up being your last living card, in which case she'd obviously benefit from close range.
Merdhampir
- Rating: Pass
- Synergies: None
- Counters: None
- Rulesets: Little league, Earthquake
Just a really hard "meh" in my opinion. Sure, he can be used in Little league and has extra survivability thanks to the Life Leech, but there's just not enough in this kit for me to get excited. That is unless we get a new Water summoner with range synergy.
Tide Biter
- Rating: Pass
- Synergies: None
- Counters: None
- Rulesets: Little League, Blast (due to Reflection Shield)
Another "meh" from the Water splinter if you ask me. Won't get blast damage thanks to Reflection Shield but that's a little niche. True Strike isn't useful with 4 speed.
Vampire Bat
- Rating: Niche
- Synergies: Speed
- Counters: Slow melee monsters
- Rulesets: Little League, Earthquake, Super Sneak
Great card to counter slow melee monsters due to his speed, flight, and dodge. This is kind of like an Earth version of cockatrice, and will likely be very useful as a front tank or back tank in Super Sneak.
Vampiric Blossom
- Rating: Niche
- Synergies: Prince Rennyn
- Counters: Llama w/ Kron, Cube, or other heal monsters
- Rulesets: Poison
I love this card, but it's a bit niche. It's basically a hard counter to LlamaKron, LlamaCube, etc. With Oppress and Deathblow, it'll absolutely destroy a cube (at max level it'll do 3 * 2 * 2 = 12 damage to Cube) and given it has immunity it'll stay alive long enough to do it (provided it's not the last living monster on your team).
Jared Scar
- Rating: Awesome
- Synergies: Speed monsters to give it a boost, Chanseus to keep it alive
- Counters: Anything with armor
- Rulesets: Reverse Speed, Equalizer, Super Sneak, Spreading Fury
Step aside Grom, there's another Gladiator in the arena! Jared has a whopping 7 melee attack, which is tied for highest in the game with Sand Worm. His pierce means that will never get wasted on 1 armor, the Bloodlust will make him go crazy, and True Strike ensures he'll never miss (Ahem...Grom). He's weak, so he'll need to be kept alive (e.g. via Equalizer ruleset) or hidden (e.g. via Super Sneak). Since he's slow he'll need help to go early and before he dies (e.g. via Reverse Speed ruleset or lost of speed support). Think of how much damage he'll do if he gets enraged and starts killing a few enemies. Overall, I can see myself using Jared Scar a lot.
Vulguine
- Rating: Good
- Synergies: Speed
- Counters: Nothing particular
- Rulesets: Little League
First off, I'd like to say that I want to pronounce this guy's name the same way you say "Linguine", and therefore I think of him as a noodle wolf. Vulguine is pretty good overall, with a good chance of being an effective tank if he can survive the first attack due to the combo of dodge and enrage. At 2 mana he'll definitely get some usage. On a separate note, I have no idea how/why this is a "life" card.
Revealer
- Rating: Good
- Synergies: Nothing particular
- Counters: Nothing particular
- Rulesets: Little League, Poison
The stun at level 1 is clutch, and the fact this is a 4 mana card available in Little League and mostly attainable at all mana caps will make this card very frequently used.
Ever-Hungry Skull
- Rating: Good
- Synergies: None
- Counters: Melee and Ranged
- Rulesets: Lost Magic, Earthquake, Super Sneak
This guy will absolutely crush Lost Magic battles with his high armor, Thorns, and Return Fire. Of course his weakness is magic, so don't put him in position 1 if you don't want to see him simply get 1-shot. Will also be great in Super Sneak.
Dhampir Infiltrator
- Rating: Amazing
- Synergies: Nothing particular
- Counters: LlamaKron/Cube
- Rulesets: Little League, Blast
I absolutely love this card. First of all the art is amazing, but look at those skills. Double Strike at level 1 - awesome! At level 8 with affliction, this is a great way to negate a back-line Kron or a Cube w/ Llama. And at 4 mana this card will absolutely get lots of action.
Venator Kinjo
- Rating: Good
- Synergies: All reflect monsters
- Counters: Yodin
- Rulesets: Little League, Blast, Poison
This card is good bordering on awesome for me. I'll know after using him a while whether he upgrades, but overall I think he's packed with utility, coming with Slow and Amplify to make reflect teams absolutely killer. Think of a Lost Magic ruleset against Yodin, where Yodin brings Countess Sinash and a bunch of other powerful Ranged monsters. On your side you put the Ever-Hungry skull up front, Kinjo in position 2 (he can't take blast damage thanks to his Deflection Shield, remember?), stick Scavo Hireling in the back to repair the skull's shield. If you have an Almo put him in position 2 instead and Kinjo in #3, so he also reflects Yodin's attacks and becomes the target for snipe and Kinjo is still safe and amplifying all the damage you return. Kinjo, btw, will almost always be the last card standing as long as he's somewhere towards the back, but his best position may in fact not be all the way back. Really cool support card.
That's it for my analysis of the new reward cards. Hope you guys enjoyed and found this interesting, and hope you're as excited as I am to start getting some of these in chests next season!