I almost made a very grave mistake by nearly overlooking this treasure of a card! Let's see what all the fuss is about!
To begin, it's not a bad looking card. I'm generally hit and miss with the artwork so it shouldn't come as a surprise this one doesn't really do anything for me. It's nice, but it doesn't command my attention, which may be one of the reasons I nearly passed it over... such a mistake that would have been...
Here he is all suited up, and even still I can't get terribly enthusiastic about him. For the most part I find his abilities rather stale, which is another reason I didn't think I should bother...
Flying is nice, but it's a little gauche at this point so it's not an ability that will generally influence my decision to buy a card, and the same goes for retaliate. They're both legacy abilities that have been around since the launch of the game, and while I still appreciate what they do it's hard to get excited about them these days.
Backfire, on the other hand, is one of my new personal favorites!
I rarely post anything about Splinterlands that doesn't preach the Gospel of Speed and backfire is one of the coolest abilities to tie into it.
I LOVE watching my opponent miss time after time, but now, I get to watch them bleed over it, too!
How much better can it get, save the addition of expletive sound bites that vocalize the opponent's frustration with each one?
... can we get a "HOLD STILL YA BLOODY TWAT!" audio reply to consecutive misses? 😁 Or even just a furious scream would be sweet, too...like an enraged grizzly bear (heh heh). I should move on before my, ummm, situation over this, becomes too apparent.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_IEFgbPYcFUWpyhGsct5h&ref=sinistry
So, I think the first match says it all, including a nice example of how appropriately named this card is. For the reasons stated above, I was totally deceived by this cards appearance, but I quickly learned how wrong I was.
This guy is a beast!!
Just watch as he holds his own and gives back worse than he gets!
...and if you think that's impressive check him out buffed up!!
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_62ea6c6ba2e5d1efba52e94131127056&ref=sinistry
With a natural speed of 5, plus the miss chance with flying, his backfire ability is triggered often, and with deadly results, but if something happens to get through there's a good chance a retaliation is on the horizon.
Stack that with a competitive natural +3 attack damage and a hearty +10 health and you suddenly have a legit tank that dances like a butterfly and stings like a bee!
And there it is! That's why this card is so awesome! It smacks you around if you miss, and it smacks you back if you hit! You just can't win if you step up against this guy!
Personal Thoughts and Reflections:
I'm actually a little bitter I have a max Lord of Darkness I may never use again, now. I guess I can toss him in the mines when land launches, but it's a shame...
I mean, LoD is a much nicer card by all metrics, but the functionality of Pelacor Deceiver just can't be denied.
I think I might be mad at this card and I don't know how to carry on in a world where The Lord can be dethroned by a common pigeon...
