Hi everyone, for this post I'm going to talk about a card that doesn't have an attack but is incredibly useful for your battles with the water deck, that card is Baakjira. Many cards that don't have attack are not seen very well in splinterlands because they are not able to attack and if they don't attack they can't defeat them either but if that's what you think then you're wrong because they can be incredibly useful and even win battles alone without having to inflict any damage on your opponent.
I will start by explaining how the Baakjira card works and then I will explain how it is able to win battles on its own.
The Baakjira card belongs to the water deck and is a legendary card from the chaos legion edition, as I mentioned before it doesn't have attack only speed and health and incredibly useful abilities that will make it your best defense for your battles with this deck.
Initially at level 1 Baakjira has 2 speed and 11 health, at maximum level (4) he has 2 speed and 16 health. In addition he has 4 abilities which are: Void, Slow, Strengthen and Heal. In the image below you can get a better view of the card.
Its mana cost is 6 which I consider reasonable since it is neither too high nor too low, and you can believe that its usefulness in battles will be worth every mana spent. Your speed won't be very useful because at all levels it remains at 2, it will only be useful to have a chance to dodge attacks which will be unlikely in normal battles but if you have the Reverse Speed rule it will have more chances to deviate.
Its abilities as I mentioned before are 4 and each of them will be very important for Baakjira to become a perfect card for defense, but only from level 3 it has 4, so you can only get the most out of this card if you're playing in the gold league.
The first ability he has is Void which makes him take reduced damage from cards with magic attack and that damage is reduced by half, so if a card with magic attack has 2 attack it will only deal 1 damage to Baakjira, but if the attack is 3 then the damage dealt would be 1.5 but this is not possible in Splinterlands so the value is rounded up and the damage becomes 2. As cards with magic attack are often used in battles then it is a great ability for Baakjira which is a defensive card that will be placed in the first position.
The second ability he has is Slow which will reduce the speed of your opponent's cards by 1 while Baakjira is on the field, if he is defeated your opponent's cards will recover the lost speed. It's a great ability that will give your cards the chance to attack first as the opponent's will have less speed and this will give you a great advantage in battles, so in addition to being a defensive card it will also be useful in other ways.
The third ability he has is Strengthen which makes him and all his other cards on the field gain +1 life and this will be a great ability to increase the chances of your cards surviving for another round as the more life they have the harder it will be to defeat them.
The fourth and last ability he has is Heal which makes Baakjira heal for 1/3 of his maximum health on his turn, remembering that the value is rounded down so if we take the Baakjira that has 16 health (17 with the Strengthen ability) he would be able to heal 5.67 health but as that is not possible he can now heal 5 health, if he had +1 health then it would heal 6. This ability is incredibly useful in battles and makes Baakjira be an incredibly better defensive card as it won't be easy to defeat him.
As I mentioned before Baakjira has all abilities only starting at level 3 so don't buy or rent him until you know at what level you can use him in your current league.
In bronze league you can only use it at level 1 so it will only have Void and Slow abilities.
In silver league you can use it at level 2 so it will have Void, Slow and Strengthen abilities
In the gold league you can use it at level 3 so you will have all the abilities.
In diamond league you can use it at level 4 and it will also have all abilities.
In champion league you can use it at level 4 and it will also have all abilities.
But the question you might be asking yourself is how a card is able to win a battle by itself without having an attack and the answer to that is quite simple.
After a certain number of rounds, your cards and your opponent's cards start to suffer 2 damage from Poison and Earthquake. Earthquake only takes a lot more rounds so you start by taking 2 poison first. So, as all the cards will suffer this damage, this is when Baakjira enters billiards because he has a high amount of health and the Heal ability that makes him heal in 1/3 of his maximum life, so when that moment comes the Baakjira will be able to recover your health and your opponent's cards if they don't have the Heal ability just take damage.
But there are some situations for this to work, first Baakjira has to be at level 3 and that means it can only work from the gold league (but there are other cards besides Baakjira so just look to see if there's any that allow you do this in minor leagues), furthermore Baakjira has to survive until Poison or Earthquake is applied in battle and lastly Baakjira cannot take damage that is much greater than its healing because it can be defeated even with the enable Heal as it will take damage from your opponent's cards and also from Poison/Earthquake.
As you can see Baakjira is an incredible card that will be very useful for your battles, but if we talk about values, is it so expensive since its utility is very high?
Currently the value of this card is $8.28 which I don't consider too high for a powerful legendary card like it. If you want to have him at level 3 where he has all 4 abilities then 6 BCXs will be needed and as 1 BCX is currently equal to $8.28 (the value will vary for less or more depending on when you buy it), so the cost would be $49.68
But if you don't want to spend a lot buying it it is also possible to rent it where currently 1 BCXs cost 3.74 DEC to rent for 24 hours and if you want it at level 3 then it will cost 28.80 DEC.
I consider it a good value for a card that if used correctly will give you great wins, now stick with the story of this amazing card.
Few had borne witness to the mighty Baakjira before the Chaos Legion arrived. Some believe that the void gates disturbed the polarity of the land and oceans, skewing the gravitational fields; others say it was simply another native of the Splinterlands come to defend their home. One thing is for certain however, when Baakjira breached the surface of the sea and his enormous body crashed back into the water, every man, beast and invader stopped what they were doing, in complete awe of such a wondrous sight.
Hailing from the deepest ocean in all of the World, the Delortane Trench, Baakjira, is one of a few remaining Baleenvast left, a monstrous whale so big that it dwarves everything else native to the Splinterlands, even the largest of dragons. They rarely stray from the safe depths of the Delortane Trench but on rare occasions fishermen have seen them breach for the mouthful of air that will last them an entire year before they need to breath again. Ancient maritime folklore says that seeing one of these beasts is supposed to bring you good fortune and bless you for the remainder of your voyage.
Their ship drifted through the calm seas, its main mast having been decimated by the last volley from the Portal Spinners that lined the enemy frigate. Captain Johan lifted the eyeglass and scanned about them.
“Damn it, they’re going to surround us,” he cursed, still peering through the brass monocular, a gift from his wife before he left.
“Then we’re done for,” the first mate replied. “If we still had the sail we might ‘ave out run ‘em,” he sighed, “should I tell the men to get ready to repel boarders?”
“Aye, for what it’s worth,” the captain forced his eyeglass closed and pushed it into his jacket pocket.
“Reef ahead!” the barrelman called from the crow’s nest.
Johan rushed to the bow and leaned over the rail. It was no reef, that was for sure. The water darkened and churned, the ship rocking from side to side as something passed beneath them, catching their keel as it went. He sprinted to the stern, closely followed by his first mate, and they were just in time to see the sea waters explode as a monster breached the surface.
“By the Gods,” the first mate traced a symbol in the air. “It’s a Baleenvast!”
As the behemoth reached the pinnacle of its jump, a barrage of magic was flung from the pursuing enemy ships, striking its vast body with seemingly no effect. When the beast crashed back down into the sea it caused a huge wave that rolled towards the enemy fleet, knocking many off course and even sinking a few of them. Johan felt his own ship spurred on by the forced current, pushing it away from their pursuers and towards the safety of the shoreline where the enemy’s larger frigates couldn’t follow.
A voice then spoke in his head and it was almost as though the ocean itself were calling to him. It was a strange song that played a haunting melody, filling Johan with a sudden tranquillity. They were words he’d never heard before, each one resonating for so long that he thought they might never end. And while the song played out, he felt safely cocooned from all dangers in the world and nothing could ever threaten him again.
“We’re saved,” Johan whispered in awe, looking back at the turmoil the Baleenvast had caused in their wake.
