Hello friends! Happy New Year. Wish everyone a happy and joyous 2022!
Today, I bring to you Spineback Turtle as part of the @splinterlands, weekly #play2earn share your battle challenge.
With the onset of Chaos Legion, Alpha/Beta cards were nerfed from the 'ghost' deck. As a result, since I am part of the Chaos Legion generation, (I joined September 2021) I don't have Spineback Turtle in my deck. Which I should, since it is one of the best 4 mana water deck tanks out there.
But no need to worry! In order to take part in this week's challenge I went out and rented Spineback Turtle. It cost me 1/10 of a DEC per day lol. I think that's the lowest a card can rent for. If not it would probably have been less lol. Not because its a bad card. It's just that right now there are millions and millions of cards in circulation. All these cards are needed, as more and more players join the play2earn revolution.
According to Splinterlands lore, "Spineback Turtles live around the edges of the Dark Water, in the inner seas of ΛZMΛRÉ. They can breathe air, but the incredibly harsh climate of the Water Splinter makes the recesses of the deep more comfortable. They are generally gentle creatures, but when roused to battle,they are shockingly difficult to destroy." 1
Spineback Turtle is a common water monster from the Alpha/Beta series.
At level 1, it has a mana count of 4 with +6 health, +1 melee,+1 speed, and +2 shield. It is slow but it is an excellent meat shield. Specially since it is a water splinter. People love to use it with a heavy magic attack.
Show me the Stats
At level one Spineback Turtle is a wonderful card. It can eat up a lot of damage and buys you just enough time so the back line can attack. Specially if its a magic attack. As you level up the card becomes even more useful as at level 4 it also has the thorn ability. Making it that much more powerful. At max level it has +3 melee, +5 shield, and +7 health. Making it a formidable tank.
In conclusion, at any level this card is a formidable tank. It takes up a lot of damage giving your back line plenty of time to attack. As you level up, it offers more protection, and has thorn ability making it that much more powerful. This card is great.
The Battle was a mana cap of 32 with earthquake. All non-flying monsters take +2 damage at the end of each round. Only fire and water splinters were allowed. I went with Keyla Frendul as my summoner for the extra shield and extra speed.
1. SPINEBACK TURTLE:
Spineback turtle at position one is a no brainer. The rule set was a favorable one for spineback turtle as its shield would provide protection from both the enemy's attack and the earthquake. The extra shield from my summoner and from venari wavesmith would also come in handy.
2. DJINN OSHANNUS:
Djinn Oshannus is a legendary monster and is probably one of the best cards out there at level one. It provides devastating speed at +5 allowing it to attack first and evade monsters. And its +10 health and magic void allow it to sustain damage while attacking. Spineback turlte would take up the damage while Oshannus attacked.
3. ICE PIXIE:
Given the earthquake rule set Ice Pixie was an excellent choice as she has the flying ability therefore neutralizing the earthquake rule set. I nestled here in position three so Oshannus and Turtle would shield her. Specially since I had extra shields from my summoner and from Venari Wavesmith.
4. TOWER GRIFFIN:
I rarely use Tower Grifin but given the earthquake rule set, +4 mana cost, +3 speed, and flying ability, this card was a good choice. Should it be the last one standing even though it has range it could have a decent chance of surviving since it is immune to earthquakes.
5. VENARI WAVESMITH:
This card is another very powerful card. Its weak magic attack and low health make it a bit vunerable but its +2 armor protect ability can be deadly. Specially in this rule set given that earthquake was involved. Thanks to its protect ability my whole team had +2 shield.
6. WATER ELEMENTAL:
Lastly, I added Water Elemental for its self heal and plus 4 speed. I put them last hoping it could survice both sneak and earthquake attacks with its self heal.
Questions and Answers
Did my strategy work? What will I try differently next time?
My strategy worked out great. I went with a heavy armor protection strategy. My summoner and venari wavesmith were key in this one. Together they provided +3 armor. In addition, having two monsters with flying ability neutralized the earthquake rule set.
There's nothing I would try differently. Having Spineback Turtle as my meat shield while Oshannus attacked provided just enough protection for my two flying monster to survive each successive round with little or no damage. The same goes for my backline. Water elemental and Venari wavesmith took all the damage while my flying monster stayed alive. My team managed the earthquake rule set way better than my opponent and that's why we won. Solid win for sure.
Do I like Spineback Turtle Why or why not?
I love Spineback Turtle. It is a an excellent meat shield. Its price point of +4 mana make it a very effective card. Specially in Water Splinter, since it tends to be magic heavy. Spineback Turtle provides enough time and protection so the backline can attack over and over, making it a formidable tank. Add the thorn ability and forget about it.
As you can see this card even came handy in a earthquake rule set even though it doesn't have the flying ability. The card ate up a whole bunch of damage allowing for my flying monsters to survive each successive round with no damage. Leading us to victory. Spineback Turtle for the win, highly recommend this card!
This concludes my battle challenge. I hope you enjoyed it and were able to learn a little bit more about Spineback Turtle and see how the card stacks up against the rest of the competition.
If you enjoyed my write up and want to talk strategy you can find me @hive.pizza in our Discord.
Lastly, if you are new to Splinterlands and want to play, feel free to use my affiliate link.
*Banners were borrowed from this post and images from splinterlands.com
Curating
Bonus, if you are interested in curating and receiving sick rewards. I highly suggest you check out @oneup-curator and @monster-curator.
For more info check out these posts:
Thank you, have a wonderful day!
