Umbral Element - A powerful cord.

Prologue

Death Splinter has gotten a very nice boost with Conclace Arcana. I already wrote about my newfound love, the Shadowfey Sheik. There are many cards and combos that are incredibly strong. Today, I'll focus on a card that looks very similar to the Sheik, though it's not a Djinn, but an Elemental. I'm pretty sure that there is at least some exchange of genes going on between the two Bloodlines, as they do look very, very similar. Anyway, here's the Umbral Elemental (UE).

It's somewhat okay at level 1 with only taunt, gets better at level 2 with swiftness, but develops most of its potential at level 3 - Deflection Shroud, granting the units nearby Deflections Shield (against punishing abilities and explosions). The Void at level 6 is just the crown jewel on this beast of a card.

I could go on in theory about it, but let's rather go into some action.

Battle 1 - Counter-spell my elemental cloud!

Up against a max summoner with my Level 2 Akane - but I have the UE.

Tank: Ujurak Brave. Nice armor and life for decent Mana.
Second Tank/Attacker: Night Reaker. Has Deflect and other powerful abilities. My go-to for earthquake and counterspell rules.
3.: Barashkukor - Wait what? In a counterspell ruleset? Yes, becasue:
4.: UE - giving Barashkukor and my beloved Sheik Deflect.
5.: Arachne Weaver for the heal.

Honestly, I kind of screwed up - I wanted the Weaver to have deflect and the leeching Sheik to use his abilities to not lose life when attacking. But it worked out.

As all units have snipe, Gramel is gone in the Ambush. The Sargeant's Explosion does not do effect - both monsters next to UE have Deflect. So it's gone quickly, too, and so is the Battle Mage. After that, it's only picking the rest apart.

Battle 2 - How to train a dragon.

Again Counter-spell - but the enemy goes for Nidhoggr, adding explosions to the fun. Again it's against a Level 2 Summoner, and my level 2 Akane.

Tank: Raaaaaaaage! No need to present this one. Void makes it work out for Counter-Spell, and never deny a Weapons Training.
Second: Animator. Again with void, and double WT by Rage and ...
3.: Lucky Longshot. I had 3 Mana and a slot left and thought, hey, why not double WT.
4.: Barashkukor again! This one is usually very bad for Counter-Spell, but again is saved by
5.: UE. Same strategy as before, but this time, there's a nice little twist. Oh, and this time I put the
6.: Arachne Weaver in the right spot.

With both Taunt and Deflection Shroud, the UE is perfect against explosive Weaponry. It takes the damage, but there's no explosion damage. The Weaver keeps it alive long enough to give my team the advantage it needs.

Battle 3 - I will die for you!

Uphill battle, but not that much underdog. Triple E-Ruleset: Explosive Weaponry, Earthquake AND Equalizer. This is a fun one.

Tank: Halfling. Of Course.
Second: Sheik - Leeches, gets triggered by friendly fire, and won't get explosion damage neither from attacks on the tank nor the taunter. Also flies.
Third: Umbral Element.
Fourth: Deep Delver. A gnome, has Painforge, too. And Rust. And Corrupted healing.
Fifth: The trigger. Friendly fire for the rest, powering up that damage.
Sixth: An opportunistic Gnome with a social treat - Bloodline Tribute, granting the other two gnomes extra stats.

Watch this one. It's a very cool battle. The Umbral Elementabl does it job to perfection, neutralizing most of the Explosive Damage.

Again, the Sheik is getting OP in time, triggered by the electrification through the Water Diviner. So do the gnomes. Painforge is just an extremely useful ability.

Conclusion

Umbral Elemental protecting a Corrupt Healer = very hard to beat. Throw in the Sheik getting friendly fire, even better. There are many combinations that make the UE useful, especially in the Silver league/Advanced area. I don't know how it works in the higher leagues, but for now, it's my go-to-card for many rule-sets.

Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it at least as much as I enjoyed writing :-D If you have any comments or feedback - please let me know! And don't forget to leave your own posts for me to curate. Thank you very much!

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