Introduction

Dragon Splinter happens to be one of my favorites for daily play, but that was not the case when I started. I had just a couple of Dragon Monsters and those too, I guess, were the ones provided by the game itself. Besides, the cards from the Dragon Splinter were scarce compared to the other cards, which is one of the reasons the game allows us to combine splinters for a Dragon battle. If all that is so, how is the Dragon Splinter one of my favorites?

It became my favorite as I started accumulating the dragon cards. Most of them were purchased from peakmonsters, and it was a worthy purchase. Of course, those were the pre-SPS airdrop days, and the cards weren’t mind-numbing costly. 😊 I am sure you know what I mean.

Today the same Dragon cards that I purchased anywhere between ten cents to twenty dollars cost nothing less than fifty dollars for the least of the cards. You can imagine the cost of the ones I bought for twenty dollars back then. Just for a comparison, my GFL Byzantine Kitty, which is a Dragon Summoner, costs about two thousand five hundred dollars in today’s price. Boy, that’s a hefty sum for a card!

By now, most of you’ll would be wondering when I would show the actual battle and the Dragon cards in action rather than what was and how it was so good back then. 😊 I get it. So, let’s get to know the Dragon Splinter a bit more, but before that, I will take a moment to know more about Splinterlands. After all, that’s where you will find the Dragon Splinter. 😊

What Game is Splinterlands?

Splinterlands is a digital card game that allows you to collect, trade, battle, rent, and even earn from the cards. The game gives Play to Earn a whole different meaning. It is one of the most generous games that I have seen where cards, potions, Dark Energy Crystals (DEC. Cryptocurrency) are given out every day to thousands of players for just playing and winning daily quests. And there are tournaments that you can play or guilds that you can join.

Just to give you an idea of how lucky you can get in Splinterlands - read my story of getting cards worth $500 from buying few packs worth $20 only.

Got Cards Worth $500 from $20 Packs

And this is just a small number. I have witnessed people getting uber-expensive cards in their pack and selling it for as high as $6500. This means the game has interested buyers for your cards too. In fact, there is a whole Splinterlands marketplace.

If this is not enough, then Splinterlands has just launched the governance token SPS, which is being airdropped to all Splinterlands players over the next year. So, you are not late. Get on with the game and earn SPS today.

To join, scroll down quickly. 😊

Dragon Splinter | No Land For the Mortals

The Dragon Splinter collection of mine has grown leaps and bounds. Now my collection includes a high dose of legendaries followed by the rare and epic cards. As such, the collection works well for any battle, except for no-legendary battles. Hmm.. that’s when I feel a whole lot powered down. ☹

Here is a look at a few of Dragon Splinter King Kong cards:

I realized that I have about eighteen Dragon Splinter cards which include the Summoners and Monsters. I thought that was less, but the total Dragon Splinter cards are only thirty-eight. That means I have more than 50% of the cards as of now. That is not bad, I am sure.

I like a few of the cards, which I do not have, but at the moment, the cost is astronomical. So, I will leave it for now. Once the chaos legion packs are out, I am sure that the prices would come down. I will go for the kill then.

Let’s jump to the battle now.

The Dragon goes to War

The time to test the Dragon Splinter in war has come. So, here is one battle where I planned to take the Dragon warriors.

The twenty-five mana cap did not allow me to take the big legendaries in, but it was still good enough to take the others. The one problem with Dragon Splinter is that I have too many larger mana monsters and fewer smaller ones, so it becomes a bit dicey to take Dragon warriors for low to medium mana battles. Of course, at times, you can take Dragon Splinter just for the Summoner. 😊

Anyway, the one good thing about this battle was the health-equalizer rule. This means all monsters on both sides will end up having the highest health of a monster on either side. The health being equal on both sides would boil down to the attack value and the strategy employed. Hmm… what was my strategy?

Let’s find out.

The Face-Off

I chose the Water Splinter as the one to combine with the Dragon Splinter. And here is how the face-off with my opponent looked like:

The opponent had gone with the Fire Splinter against me. It is a good choice considering that I had four monsters with an attack value of one, and none of them will have any effect on the Living Lava. Oh shucks!!

Anyway, that was me trying to explain the battle even before shaking hands with the opponent. We will do the shaking hands by knowing both the lineup. I will start with the opponent’s lineup.

Summoner: Pyre | Fire Splinter | Increases the speed of all friendly monsters by one.

Monsters:

Position 1: Living Lava | A melee attacker with an attack value of three. It also takes reduced damage from melee and ranged attackers.

Position 2: Kobold Miner | A melee attacker with an attack value of one. It also has the sneak ability.

Position 3: Serpentine Spy | A melee attacker with an attack value of two. It also has the opportunity ability.

Position 4: Elven Cutthroat | Melee attacker with an attack value of one. It has the sneak ability.

Position 5: War Chaang | A melee-cum-ranged attacker. It has retaliate ability.

I think it was the War Chaang’s health that was equalized under the health-equalizer rule. That made all the monsters' health eight.

Now, let’s look at my team.

Summoner: Drake of Arnak | Dragon Splinter | Provides one shield to all friendly monsters

Monsters:

Position 1: Gloridax Soldier [Dragon Splinter]| Melee attacker with an attack value of one. It has the flying and shield ability.

Position 2: Manticore [Dragon Splinter] | Melee attacker with an attack value of one. It has the reach ability.

Position 3: Sabre Shark [Water Splinter] | Melee attacker with an attack value of one. It has the sneak ability.

Position 4: Dragon Jumper [Dragon Splinter]| Melee attacker with an attack value of three. It also has the opportunity ability.

Position 5: Battering Ram [Common Monster] | Melee attacker with an attack value of one. It has the opportunity ability.

Because most of my monsters have the sneak and opportunity ability, they will all focus on the monsters in the rear. The Living Lava will be taking attacks from the Soldier and Manticore. Both of them will not affect the Living Lava. I wonder which direction the battle will take.

Let’s see.

The Battle Gets Intense

At the end of round one, there did not appear to be much change.

The War Chaang appeared to have taken the most damage, which had to be from my sneak and opportunity monsters. On the other hand, the Living Lava was still on. It lost its shield only because of the Dragon Jumper’s attack. Otherwise, there is no way my monsters could win.

Now, even while nearing the end of round three, the Living Lava stands without a scratch. The Soldier still survives because of the flying ability. Most of the opponent’s monsters aren’t able to get it. The same goes for the Dragon Jumper. The Serpentine Spy is not able to get it. If my Jumper falls, then the game is over for me.

The Battle Races to Conclusion

The battle does race to the conclusion but with no visible advantages for me.

The Gloridax Soldier finally fell, and the Manticore took its place. Notice that the Living Lava is still in full strength. My Jumper has also lost health because of attacks from the Serpentine Spy and the Miner. The flying ability is the only thing that is saving the Jumper so far.

But the tables turned once the Serpentine Spy perished. That made it easier for my Jumper to keep on attacking the back of the opponent’s line. But my Manticore, too, succumbed to the Living Lava’s attacks. Here is where things started changing. The only monster that could attack the Living Lava from my side, the Jumper, finally got on with business. The Dragon Jumper made inroads. For the first time in thirteen rounds, the Living Lava was finally meeting its match.

In fact, this was the final assault of the Dragon Jumper on the Living Lava. At the end of the thirteenth round, the Living Lava perished, giving me the victory. 😊

Do I Use the Dragon Splinter Often?

As I had mentioned earlier, I seem to have more of the higher mana Dragon cards, so I prefer to use them in high mana battles. Otherwise, it is mostly the other Splinters.

Sometimes even in medium mana battles, I tend to choose the Dragon Splinter if the rules are conducive. For example, if it is only melee monsters rule, it makes sense to put the Robo-Dragon Knight in the front with many of its shields. That makes it a tough cookie for the opponent. So, yes, depending on the rules, I consider the Dragon Monsters in the lesser mana battles too.

Where Else Does the Dragon Splitner Fit In?

Barring the obvious challenge of shortage of Dragon cards, the Splinter fits in almost everywhere. Why? Because it merges with any Splinter of your choice after all. That is the reason the Dragon Splinter will work well in any scenario.

The only rule where the entire Dragon Splinter works well is the Earthquake rule. You see, flying monsters are untouched under that rule, and the Dragon Splinter has mostly flying monsters. So, it is the obvious choice for the rule.

Also, the Dragon Summoner, Brighton Bloom, makes all monsters in its lineup flying monster. In other words, if I choose this summoner and even if I choose all my monsters as non-flying, this summoner will give it the flying ability. That makes it completely conducive for the Earthquake rule.

Do you see my point? Not only the Dragon monsters but the entire Splinter works well for the Earthquake rule.

Dragon Splinter | Mostly Flying Assassins

Needless to say, most of the Dragon Monsters are flying monsters, and because of the merging of two Splinters, it is the most versatile Splinter in Splinterlands. I love the entire Splinter, and a few of the monsters in that pack are my favorites.

So, will I recommend it? Definitely, yes! 😊

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Image Courtesy: Splinterlands