Weekly Battle Challenge : Flying Squid

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This week's battle challenge features the Flying Squid! The Flying Squid is a Water splinter Melee monster that is an excellent card due to it's powerful abilities and high health. This card is especially strong in Bronze through Gold Leagues.

Flying Squid Highlights

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Despite it's name, it does NOT fly. However, it does have the Reach ability right out of the gate which allows it to attack from the backline where normal Melee attackers cannot.

Being a Chaos Legion Common card, it is very affordable to buy/rent so you will see this card often.

IconAbility NameDescription
image.pngReachMelee attack Monsters with the Reach ability may attack from the second position on the team
image.pngBlindAll enemy Melee & Ranged attacks have an increased chance of missing their target (+15% chance of evading)
image.pngBackfireIf an enemy misses this Monster with an attack, the attacker takes 2 damage

In Bronze league, you can level this monster up to Level 3 and gain an additional attack.

For Silver, a Level 5 will give you yet another attack as well as speed.

Once you get to Gold, it becomes a nearly must have card with the Blind ability.

At max level, you get Backfire thrown in which can be deadly when paired with Blind.

So when do I use the Flying Squid?

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  • At 7 mana cost, it is difficult to play the Flying Squid so it's typically reserved for medium to high mana battles
  • In Bronze/Silver, it is a great secondary tank because of the high health and Reach ability
  • In Gold, you will want to use this as much as possible if you expect your opponent to use Melee and Ranged since the Blind ability can really turn the battle in your favor

This Week's Featured Battle

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In this week's featured battle, we have my Kelya Frendul and the Water Deck versus the dreaded Yodin Zaku and the Fire Squad.

Battle Ruleset

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image.pngOdd Ones OutOnly Monsters with odd Mana costs may be used in battles
image.png40 ManaThis is considered a medium-high mana battle
image.pngActive SplintersThe Fire, Water, and Death Splinters are available

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  • Odd Ones Out
    • The strategy here is very dependent on the available splinters
    • You will want to think about which splinter your opponent generally plays. In this case, my opponent liked using Yodin Zaku with the Fire Splinter.
    • For me, that means, no Magnor or Pyromaniac to worry about as well as a few other Ranged cards which are powerful with Yodin Zaku.
  • 40 Mana
    • This is a high-ish mana battle
    • You can't play all of your highest cards but there will be a good amount of high mana cards
    • Against Fire, there are a handful of very strong, low mana cards so watch out for Sneak and Opportunity

Since my opponent likes to use Yodin Zaku, my strategy is to be FAST. Attack quickly and try to Dodge/Evade their attacks. Kelya is perfect for this since she increases my Speed while also providing Armor to absorb some of the Splash damage from Yodin.

I do have the option of using Tide Biter which has Reflection Shield (ignores Blast damage) but since it also has Reach, I had to choose between Tide Biter and Flying Squid. Generally, I would choose Tide Biter against Yodin but that's only if I can direct my opponent's attacks with the Taunt ability which is not available in Odd Ones Out. For that reason, the Blind ability of Flying Squid outweighs the potential gain of Reflection Shield.

So with that in mind, I want to play fast monsters to hopefully evade frontline attacks as well as Sneak attacks.

The Lineup

PositionCard ImageCard NameNotes
SummonerKelya FrendulWater Summoner that grants a +1 Speed and +1 Armor buff. She is one of the best summoners in the game. The Speed buff is extremely important for this lineup
Pos 1 (tank)Serpent of EldAs part of the "Don't Touch Me" line-up, this card is both fast and it has Dodge to help with evasion
Pos 2 (secondary tank/attacker/support)Flying SquidFor extra misses, this card Blinds my opponent which provides a 15% chance of missing
Pos 3 (attacker)Sand WormAlthough it isn't fast, it packs a heavy punch. Knowing that my opponent likes using Fire, they generally don't have Armor which is perfect
Pos 4 (attacker)UraeusExcellent Sneak attacker with the Poison Ability
Pos 5 (attacker/support)River HellondaleSince I'm using a lot of melee, his Inspire is very useful. Resurrect will also be key, especially if my Serpent is taken out first
Pos 6 (attacker)Pelacor BanditTo prevent help prevent Sneak from hitting, I placed a very fast flying monster in the back

Let's Battle!

Part 1 - Full Battle Link : https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_fedf780e56a72e897353f7d4a80fa59a

Part 2 - Full Battle Link : https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_fedf780e56a72e897353f7d4a80fa59a

  • Blind, Dodge, and Speed were KEY for this win. The extra bit of missing allowed me to survive a few deadly attacks
  • The Forgotten One has Retaliate which could've been really devastating especially with Blast. Thankfully, I was able to evade that last retaliatory attack.
  • The backline Sneak prevention also worked out nicely

Did it work?

Yes! I was able to pull out the win and I credit it to Flying Squid's Blind ability as well as Serpent of Eld's Dodge.

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I analyzed the battle with Splintertools and was given a 51% chance of winning the battle. It essentially came down to those misses!

Final Thoughts

The Flying Squid is an excellent card at every level. At only $0.067/BCX, it is extremely affordable and should be owned and leveled up by everyone!

Thanks for reading! I hoped you enjoyed it!

Referral link : https://splinterlands.com?ref=at.bui89

If you decide to use my referral link, I'll happily send you a few cards to help you get started!



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7 comments
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Flying squid is great with reach.

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(Edited)

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Excellent post @atbui89 , I really like the way you present the process of your thoughts and how you analyze the battle!
Thanks for Sharing and Keep up the good work!
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