For the last of the common cards I received from the airdrop, we have a trio. The HORNY TOAD, the MANTOID, and PARASITIC GROWTH, all from the Neutral Splinter.
Cards 1509-1577/2500
Since the lowest mana matches was dropped significantly, we have a number of new compelling low mana cards hit the market. The HORNY TOAD is among them. If you already have a GRUMPY DWARF from the Beta, I'm not sure this one will be overly compelling to you. It does however cost one less mana, so it could be a niche card for those 12 mana matches. It's also not very expensive.
At level 6 the HORNY TOAD gets the poison ability, so it has the chance to deal up extra damage to the tank if it hits. Maxed out it does 3 damage, which is fairly efficient. One issue is, it has neither a armor or high health, so thorns or blast abilities will take him out pretty fast.
When we merge our drop of 67 cards, we are 33 cards away from obtaining the Poison ability. I am definitely interested in getting it to level 6 eventually, but who knows from there. It's a niche card with potential uses for sure, but not really compelling to me at this point.
Verdict: Keep and eventually upgrade to level 6. Sell the gold foils.
Cards 1578-1633/2500
The next card we will examine is the MANTOID of the Neutral Splinter, an interesting sniper card. I'm shocked it doesn't have the cannibal ability, but I suppose it's hard to build 'chewing your mates head off while engaged in coitus' into a card game. Oh well.
The reason I think this card is interesting, is that it introduces the Snare ability at level 6. The Snare ability will cause flying enemies to get grounded and more vulnerable to both melee attacks and Earthquake rounds. I'm not sure how useful this will really be, but I will definitely try to find out.
My goal with the card is to get him to level 6 to play around with the Snare ability, though my 56 cards doesn't get us very far towards the goal. At some point when I've upgraded more important stuff and can afford to buy 44 more of these, I'll do so.
Verdict: Keep and eventually upgrade to level 6. No hurry though.
Cards 1634-1702/2500
Though disgusting, here we have the most compelling of this ménage à trois of Neutral cards, the PARASITIC GROWTH. Judging by its market price, other people think so too.
From the very start this card gets the Opportunity ability. It also costs 4 mana, so it is eligible for Little League rounds. It gets the Scavenger ability at level 6, and its damage caps out at 3 when it reaches level 10. This looks like an interesting card to throw into the mix due to it being Neutral. During play, I think you need to keep it well protected in order to give Scavenger a chance to suck up some health.
My 69 cards get me about 25% of the way toward level 6. I want to play around with it at this level prior to making any decisions about further upgrades. It does appear some people are finding it useful due to the high price, but I'm not completely sold at first glance.
Verdict: Keep and upgrade to level 6, re-revaluate from there.