Any explorers that delve too deeply into the crypts, mausoleums, and necropolises of the world will find a foe they are unprepared for. Not undead, not liches, and not other monsters that can be found in the deep. Instead, tales are told of the crypt beetles. Enormous insects that are found feeding on the corpses within. Most explorers think they are a mere nuisance and will try to scare them away from whatever tomb they are choosing to rob.

But things don't end well for those explorers. These large beetles will defend themselves and their food aggressively. And any explorer that makes it back out alive will have impressive scars to show from the crypt beetle's bite. - Splinterlands Lore

The Crypt Beetle - The Tiny Shield

Hey Splinterfans, Gamers and Collectors!

Today I'll be reviewing Crypt Beetle, a low-cost tank card in the P2E game Splinterlands!

The Death Splinter... Full of interesting abilities, unique cards, counter builds, and much more. While I wouldn't say it's the easiest to use, it's one of the most versatile. (Especially when combined with Dragon 😈)
In terms of abilities, there is quite a wide spread in Death. While some splinters may have similar cards with similar mana costs and abilities, many Death cards are different. Even if they have similar stats, the abilities are usually different.

The Crypt Beetle is one of these unique cards. Especially in lower leagues, there aren't really any options for low mana cards with the Shield Ability, which halves ranged/melee damage. While that sounds great, Crypt Beetle also has some low stats, so the question is, is shield enough to make it a good pick?

Let's dive in!

Stat Breakdown:

As seen above, Crypt Beetle is a fairly straightforward card.
Level 1-4, it is simply a low cost Melee/Ranged tank. Good backliner for sneak battles, no magic rulesets, and low mana caps.

Level 5-9, gaining an additional 1 Melee damage, and slowly climbing to a hefty 4 Armor and 5 HP, Crypt Beetle starts to look a bit more favorable. In these later levels, it becomes more viable as it's less likely to get 1-shot by enemy magic cards if that situation arises, due to its higher base HP.

At max level, it gains an additional 1 Melee damage, ending at 3 Melee, 2 Speed, 4 Armor and 5HP with the Shield Ability. For a max level Common card, these starts are about average I would say. Though, the biggest downside is the lack of further abilities.

So where does this card shine?
In Low Mana battles, this alongside the summoner Thaddius Brood make a tanky combination. Thaddius reducing the enemy magic damage and HP, while Crypt Beetle stands a tough opponent. In my opinion, this card is especially good in Silver and Gold, not so much in Bronze, or Diamond+. I will admit, I don't choose Crypt Beetle all that often, as I find it hard to utilize well.

Overall, this card is a solid choice for its low 3 Mana Cost

Where I like to use this card:

I like this card particularly well in No Magic battles that are also a low Mana cap. Also, in battles which all Melee Monsters have Sneak, it can be a solid backline. Really, any match in which you think is low risk of Magic enemies, or you have another way to counter them, then this card is pretty good! In high mana caps, it usually doesn't work very well, so I use it in somewhat niche situations.

To the fights!

Click here to watch the replay

(Silver 2) This was a lower mana fight, with no ranged allowed, so I put out crypt beetle to protect the frontline. Fortunately, I had a +1 HP buff to my team and -1 HP to theirs. They also chose Thaddius Brood, so I was able to cancel out their debuff. Crypt beetle held on well, if I used a 1bcx copy I may have lost however this one did wonderfully. The 2 melee attack that is unlocked at level 5 makes crypt beetle much more appealing, and it's cheap to buy or rent as well. I go with some magic in the backline, with a little bit of sneak and snipe damage to take out their backline.

Results? I am the winner!

Click here to watch the replay

(Silver 2) Here I went crypt beetle up front again, as it was low mana. We had limited splinter options, so I knew I was either facing a magic water deck or simply a water/fire melee deck. I choose some sneak damage to remove the backline, along with some affliction in the backline in case they chose a monster that could heal.
This match went quite well, with crypt beetle truly putting in some work.

Results? Another win in the books!

Undervalued or Overvalued?

At the time of writing, this card sits at a reasonable $0.08.
Overall, the price has held up quite well. It saw a dip along many cards recently but is working its way back up. I think that, while it's not particularly noteworthy, it's a useful and fun card to have.

Like many cards, since it's a starter card and you can honestly still get by just fine without renting or buying one, the value is not too high. Compared to its competition, it doesn't look the best. You have many solid tank options for Death, Neutral and Dragon, around 2 to 4 mana. For 4 mana, you're able to get several tanky cards that would in most situations outperform Crypt Beetle.

My thoughts - Still undervalued. While it doesn't offer anything unique, it fills a void in the Death splinter, and is still overall a good card especially in Silver and Gold. Chaos legion may have a lot of cards coming out of the packs, however I think that this one will be something that future players will want to have in their collection. That being said, I think that it will maintain its worth unless a new card outperforms it heavily.

Thank you for reading, have a wonderful week!

Credits/Referrals:

A Submission to the weekly Share Your Battle challenge by @splinterlands

Thanks to @peakmonsters for useful price, rental and purchase tools!

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