Commander Slade
Since his appearance as one of the REBELLION REWARD CARDS (SOULBOUND), I have been interested in Commander Slade. As a Melee monster of the water element, it has quite high SPEED and equipped with DODGE 
and BACKFIRE 
abilities that allow Commander Slade to dodge attacks from opposing Melee or Ranged monsters and deal 2 points of damage through BACKFIRE if opposing Melee and Ranged monsters fail to land their attacks on it. With Commander Slade, Water Elemental has a monster option that can fill the first position besides Diemonshark (and can replace it when CHAOS LEGION SET is no longer usable in MODERN RANKED BATTLE).
In addition to the 2 abilities I mentioned above, Commander Slade also has ENFEEBLE 
which he has had since level 1 along with the DODGE ability. ENFEEBLE is a new ability that gives a reduction of 1 Attack power every time Commander Slade (or other monsters that have this ability) successfully lands an attack on a Melee monster (Attack power reduction does not apply when attacking Ranged and Magic monsters).
His third ability, REFLECTION SHIELD 
he only got when he was level 4. REFLECTION SHIELD is an ability that can protect Commander Slade from the damage that will be received if he attacks monsters that have the THORNS 
ability as well as additional damage if monsters close to him being hit by monsters that have the BLAST 
ability.
And at level 8, Commander Slade gains the BACKFIRE ability which can be combined with the DODGE ability.
Get the Card and Try It Out
Last season, I tried my luck by buying 10 Major Chests and got 2 BCX of Commander Slade along with some other cards. Out of curiosity, I tried to use Commander Slade level 1 in my 2 battles in the previous season but failed.
In this first battle, we are faced with the BLOOD AND SUNDER 
and NOXIOUS FUMES 
rulesets. I chose Commander Slade who was still level 1 and several other monsters including Sea Stalker to clear the poison effect on Commander Slade and Merdaali Guardian to repair ARMOR and heal him.
Although I had a slight speed advantage, my poor monster selection made my strategy look weak. The opponent using Mycelic Slipspawn attacked Sea Stalker and only dealt minor damage due to the FORCEFIELD 
ability. In addition, the opponent brought 2 HEAL monsters that could attack Commander Slade and heal themselves from the effects of Poison. While I only rely on Merdaali Guardian to heal Commander Slade (where Merdaali Guardian is not protected from poison effects)
Some of the opponent's attacks (Melee and Ranged monsters) had failed to hit my monsters, especially those aimed at Commander Slade. However, the opponent also has Pelacor Mercenary who has FLYING 
ability, so some of my monster's 2 Melee attacks also failed to hit him several times.
Because the speed of all my monsters was superior, the opponent's (slower) attacks that managed to hit me did not have time to be healed by Merdaali Guardian, then Merdaali Guardian lost due to the effects of poison without having time to repair ARMOR and heal Commander Slade.
Commander Slade was defeated by the attacks of the opponent's 2 magic monsters even though he managed to avoid the attacks of the opponent's Melee and Ranged monsters in the same round. And that led to me being defeated in the fourth round.
2nd Try
On the second try, I fought on the STANDARD 
ruleset and used Commander Slade again as a TANK combined with Flying Squid. This time, I faced a TANK that has always been a mainstay in the water element (Diemonshark).
I managed to defeat Diemonshark in the fourth round despite having to sacrifice Wave Brood who was the target of attacks from almost all opposing monsters and still took unavoidable damage from attacks made by Tide Biter who has TRUE STRIKE 
ability.
Commander Slade can only survive for 9 rounds after receiving poison from Deeplurker's attack. The Deeplurker previously targeted other monsters that had low Health points before attacking Commander Slade. Meanwhile, Flying Squid was brutally attacked by Pelacor Bandit without being able to dodge it.
Musim Ini
This season I bought Major Chests again and got Commander Slade for 5 BCX. With this, I was able to raise Commander Slade to level 2. At level 2, Commander Slade only received an additional 1 point of speed and Health.
Winning Battle
Fighting in the COUNTERSPELL 
ruleset, made both sides cautious and did not use Magic monsters. Because of that, I decided to use Commander Slade (who was already at level 2) as well as a few other monsters. The opponent this time also used Deeplurker and Pelacor Bandit which had been a threat to me in the previous battle.
Despite both using Flying Squid which has BLIND 
ability, I decided to increase the speed by using 2 speed-regulating monsters (Supply Runner and Scavo Hireling) while the opponent didn't use those kinds of monsters at all.
Because of that, I went through the first round with little damage (Commander Slade lost ARMOR). Meanwhile, on the opponent's side, Diemonshark only had a few Health points.
Although he could only survive for 4 rounds, Commander Slade was so helpful in surviving that he and my other monsters were able to defeat 3 opposing Melee monsters before finally being defeated by Merdhampir.
Unlike the previous battle, this time I still had a lot of monsters as well as the Flying Squid which only took a little damage. So I was able to win this battle.
Conclusion about Commander Slade
After doing some experiments, I can conclude that Commander Slade can be a choice for monsters that fill the first position besides Diemonshark or Arkemis the Bear. But since I only have his level 2, he can't be used optimally.
Commander Slade is good enough to avoid some attacks from Melee and Ranged monsters if assisted with the BLIND ability as well as SWIFTNESS 
and or SLOW 
to widen the speed difference between himself and the opponent. In addition, to optimize the potential of Commander Slade, the BACKFIRE ability is needed so that every time the opponent's attack fails to hit him, he can deal 2 points of damage. He can only get the BACKFIRE ability when he is at his maximum level (8) or by using Aquatus as a Summoner.
Ruleset for Commander Slade
Below are some rulesets that I recommend or do not recommend using Commander Slade.
| Rulesets (and Abilities) | Yes/No | Note |
|---|---|---|
NOXIOUS FUMES | NO | If you do not bring monsters that have CLEANSE  ability and TANK HEAL  , you should not use Commander Slade.Unlike Diemonshark and Arkemis the Bear, Commander Slade does not have ENRAGE  ability that can increase speed and Attack power if his Health points are below 100%. |
| AIM TRUE (TRUE STRIKE)  | NO | Maybe his ENFEEBLE is quite useful in this ruleset, but if Commander Slade is in the first position, DODGE and BACKFIRE will be useless and he will most likely be defeated easily. |
| BRIAR PATCH (THORNS)  | YES | Commander Slade has a REFLECTION SHIELD that protects him from THORNS when attacking opponents |
LOST MAGIC  COUNTERSPELL WEAK MAGIC  | YES (depending on conditions) | For the LOST MAGIC Ruleset, you can use Commander Slade because magic monsters cannot be used in this ruleset. As for the COUNTERSPELL and WEAK MAGIC Ruleset, we can still use Commander Slade as long as the opponent does not use Magic monsters that have VOID  abilities or use monsters that have SHATTER  abilities or use Immortalis as a Summoner (where he has these 2 abilities). |
GIANT KILLER | NO | Always provide monsters that have BLIND , SWIFTNESS , and SLOW abilities to increase the possibility of avoiding attacks from monsters that have the GIANT KILLER  ability. But if the one with those abilities is a Magic monster, it's Game Over for Commander Slade. |
That was the first post about the Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge where I reviewed Commander Slade. If you have any additions about Commander Slade especially about the Ruleset or abilities that he should avoid, you can write them in the comments below.
Thank you for visiting and reading this. See you in the next post....
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