Peaceful and gentle creatures, but when called to battle, they become lumbering Tanks impaling everyone in their path on their Spiked Shells. 🐢🛡️🌊

(Instead of the Venari Knifer, I've decided to write about Spineback Turtle. I've been renting this amazing card this week with great results!)

A peaceful and slow moving turtle might not seem to be much of a threat. However, imagine an enraged creature hellbent on destroying you, fitted with an unbreakable armour covered in deadly spears, advancing on you relentlessly and eventually impaling you. It's a slow and almost certain approaching doom that'll bring fear into anyone who's trapped in such a creature's path.

The theme of this week's Share Your Battle Challenge - I give you the SPINEBACK TURTLE! 🐢🛡️🌊

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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.

🐢🛡️🌊From Splinterlands Lore on SPINEBACK TURTLE🐢🛡️🌊

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The Spineback Turtle is a Common card released during the Alpha and Beta series. It has definitely found it's place in many Water decks given its availability and usefulness. At LEVEL 1, it has 1 ⚔️ATTACK⚔️ and 1 🏃🏻SPEED🏃🏻, with 2 🛡️ARMOR🛡️ and 6 ❤️HEALTH❤️. It has NO abilities at this level. It's summoning cost is also on the lower range at just 4 🧪MANA🧪.

These stats alone make the Spineback Turtle a relatively tough unit which also deals decent damage to boot. Unfortunately, it is rather slow though, so misses are expected. But it's main purpose is really to get in a few hits and be able to take some hits too. If the rulesets or mana limitations call for it, it would make a fantastic Main Tank too!

The Spineback Turtle's true strength lies when it is upgraded to at least level 4. This is where it gets the THORNS ability. This is where it starts to shine as it's tanky stats, when combined with THORNS allow it to reciprocate even more damage in return when opponents attack it. This could make all the difference if the battle comes down to the wire where the slightest advantage is the fine line between victory or defeat! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

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The Alpha and Beta sets have given the Water splinter a really unique card in the Spineback Turtle. This is a card that has minimal attacking power and really slow speed. With just 1 attack and speed (up till level 4), I would not even count on the Spineback Turtle to hit any of it's opponents reliably at all 😂. However, the addition of THORNS at level 4 changes this card completely. It is suddenly able to tank and reflect back a lot of damage against any melee opponents 😱!

The only other cards with THORNS among ALL the Water units in the game are Demented Shark and Sea Monster, yet both of these only get this ability at level 6! If you play at the Silver League, the maximum level of Common cards available to you is level 5, which would mean the Spineback Turtle is the ONLY Thorns unit that one can use in a Water deck!

This ensures that the Spineback Turtle will definitely have it's own place here in all Water decks. This is definitely what I'd consider game changing! 😱😱😱

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📊Card Stats by Level📊

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As we can see here, the main purpose of the Spineback Turtle is to be a low cost Tank. Every level improves it's tanking stats all the way to level 10. The real magic begins at level 4 where it gets the THORNS ability. This will change the dynamics of this card entirely!

Now, it may seem that stat wise, these numbers are not entirely exciting, and that may be true. However, we must remember that because it only costs a mere 4 mana, it is a REALLY CHEAP card to field in your deck! In any lower mana limits scenario, it beats out just about every other card pound for pound. There will definitely be plenty of situations whereby you'll end up with just a few more mana lying around to fill up that one last slot, and that is where the Spineback Turtle will come in handy too. It's casting cost combined with its stats really make this a most fearsome unit with a perfect mix of offense and defense.

Personally, I rented the Gold Foil Version of the Spineback Turtle. The rentals for a Common card, even if it's from the earliest Alpha/Beta releases, are still very affordable, and a Gold Foil version of such a card instantly bumps it to the required level 4 which grants it the THORNS ability.

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📝Important Rulesets Rundown📝

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Here, I detail the list of combat rulesets that may affect the Spineback Turtle.

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	🤔💭✅❌🤔💭❓❓❓
	👍🏻 It's attack will never miss
	👍🏻 Gives itself more protection. Always good, especially for a unit whose purpose is to take hits.
	👎🏻 Loses all it's abilities.
	👍🏻 Ranged units can't be used.
	N.A. Ranged units can attack from the front.
	👎🏻 will be able to last longer than most cards with it's health/armor though.
	👎🏻 It has a relatively high health pool, which means other units benefit more than it from this ruleset.
	👍🏻 Able to lend it's attack from any slot.
	👍🏻 Even summoning cost
	👎🏻 Unlikely to dodge any attack with it's low speed, thus the unit next to it will almost definitely take Blast damage.
	N.A
	N.A
	Situational. Could add more damage if the opponent's front unit is stunned
	👍🏻 Improve it's own survivability
	👎🏻 Melee units are affected.
	👍🏻 Only units which cost 4 or less mana can be used.
	👍🏻 Only common cards can be used.
	👍🏻 Magic units cannot be used
	👍🏻 Gives melee the positional attack advantage enjoyed by ranged/magic
	👎🏻 Will die to poison.
	👎🏻 Only odd summoning cost units can be used.
	👍🏻 It's slow speed makes it fast
	👍🏻 Only common/rare cards can be used.
	👍🏻 Doesn't really depend on Summoner abilities
	👍🏻 Enrage works out well for units who can take a few hits
	N.A
	👍🏻 All units abilities stay intact
	👍🏻 Allows melee to attack even if it's not in the first slot.
	👍🏻 It is NOT a Neutral unit.
	N.A. All ranged/magic units have the Snipe ability.
	👎🏻 Loses all it's armor.
	👍🏻 Only Melee units can be used
	N.A.

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⚔️🛡My Battle Showcase🛡⚔️

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Let me present a battle I fought recently in which I used the Spineback Turtle. My opponent used the DRAGON splinter, with EARTH as his side choice, while I went for the WATER splinter. 🐉🌱💧

At first glance, it would seem like my opponent had quite an advantage over me.

• Whilst we both had the same level 3 Summoner, his was an EPIC Daria Dragonscale as compared to my RARE Kelya Frendul. This meant that his Summoner was effectively 1 level higher than mine!

• His higher level Summoner resulted in him lining up cards which were generally higher level than mine across the board.

• Some of my cards were not even at their maximum levels for the Summoner level limits whilst my opponent had the luxury of being completely "maxed out".

Clearly, in terms of card rarity and card strength, I was completely out matched 😜🤣. Would I be able to turn the tide of battle against such an opponent then? Victory or defeat would lie in the small details.

I would say that the Spineback Turtle was DEFINITELY the MVP of this match, having played it's role in turning the tide of battle. It did what it was supposed to do by tanking and holding it's ground (as impossible as that might have seemed, having to face such overwhelming better units) right at the forefront of the battlefield! All the while chipping off at the opponent bit by bit. This ensured that the other units could eventually wear down the opponent until victory was achieved! 🏆🏆🏆

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LINK TO FIGHT WITH MY SPINEBACK TURTLE

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👯‍♀️👯👯‍♂️LINEUP CHOICES👯‍♀️👯👯‍♂️

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1st CARD SLOT

The Spineback Turtle takes the role of the Main Tank in the first slot here. It will be the most important role since the backline will fall if the Main Tank goes.

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2nd CARD SLOT

The Furious Chicken fills this next slot. It's role is to be SNIPE/OPPORTUNITY fodder or to take 1 more hit if the main tank falls.

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3rd CARD SLOT

The Scavo Hireling fills this 3rd slot for my team. It's job is to hopefully repair my Tank's armor so that it can last the entire battle. Putting it in the middle here also keeps it safe.

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4th CARD SLOT

The Battering Ram occupies the 4th slot. It's low health means keeping it back here is ideal, while it's OPPORTUNIY should allow it to chip off at the weakest of the opponent's units.

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5th CARD SLOT

The Pirate Archer occupies slot 5. Once again, having such low health, it will be better protected here in the backline. It has the BLAST ability which will help in chipping off the health of units behind the opponent's Tank too.

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6th CARD SLOT

The Torrent Fiend sits in the last spot. It's a 0 mana cost filler unit meant purely to take hits from possible SNEAK attacks.

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⚔️🛡Battle Action Report🛡⚔️

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As you can see, both of us fielded very different decks from different splinters.

🐉🌱 DRAGON/EARTH 🐉🌱 VS 💧 WATER 💧

My opponent used the Flesh Golem as his main tank in the first slot which is an AMAZING choice, given how suitable he is as a tank. His Screeching Vulture and Khmer Princess sat behind as the DPS, while a Furious Chicken and Fungus Fiend sat behind to protect against SNEAK/OPPORTUNITY attacks.

My choice of the Main Tank was the Spineback Turtle in the first slot, followed by the Furious Chickend in the second. The Furious Chicken would be my backup 1 hit fodder tank and also SNIPE/OPPORTUNIY fodder. The 3rd slot was occupied by my Scavo Hireling whose job was to help my Spineback Turtle survive longer. The Battering Ram and Pirate Archer were my low cost DPS-ers who would sit behind in safety. The Torrent Fiend rounded off the rest of the team as a backline SNEAK/OPPORTUNITY defense.

The battle started out with all our units just duking it out pound for pound. It was a pretty low mana ruleset with just 15 mana as the limit. Both of us spread out our units with the opponent fielding slightly less units than I did because of his more expensive Flesh Golem.

• The first wave surprisingly ended up with none of my units dying. I thought his lineup looked more offensively inclined as compared to mine, and had expected at least one of my cannon fodder units to fall.

• This is where my team started to get a huge advantage. My Scavo Hireling kept repairing my Spineback Turtle's armor. Even though the Flesh Golem deals considerably more damage, and also regenerates itself such that it seemed unkillable, I was still able to chip off at his other units.

• All his DPS-ers eventually ended up getting worn down with the little bits of damage from the BLAST attacks of my Pirate Archer and the OPPORTUNITY attacks of my Battering Ram.

• It ended up with just his Flesh Golem facing my entire team, which was amazingly still completely intact! 😱💯

• However, the Flesh Golem would still be a formidable opponent as it could almost heal itself up to full health, whilst also dishing out an insane amount of damage.

• Had my Scavo Hireling not continually replenished the Spineback Turtle's armour, AND with the THORNS ability of the Spineback Turtle amplifying the amount of damage dealt, the battle could well have ended in my defeat!

• As it was, this was a long drawn out battle where my little bits of damage and the defensive tactics I adopted eventually brought me a victory! 🥳🥳🥳

Talk about doing WAY MORE than it was supposed to!!! 😱🤯🥳 All I expected was for the Spineback Turtle to absorb a few hits from the monstrous level 5 Flesh Golem before dying. Yet, it did more than that, and lasted through the entire battle by absorbing every single attack with it's constantly repaired armor thanks to the Scavo Hireling. It even dealt out a decent amount of damage on it's own through it's THORNS ability. The battle ended up being a perfect battle with NONE of my units even suffering the slightest scratch! Surely that made it the Man of the Match for this battle, punching way above it's weight!

Well as you can see here in this GIF of my battle, the results were pretty good! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

This was truly an eye opener! 😁🏆

Slowly, but surely, I wore down the opponent's team and the match was won handily with ALL of my units still left standing. It was a PERFECT VICTORY! My team selection proved to be the edge I needed to eventually overpower my opponent. 💪🏻

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🔮🔮🔮Hindsight is 20/20🔮🔮🔮

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Would I have done anything differently? 🤔 This might have seemed like a match that would prove to be a challenge at the start because of the opponent's superior card lineups with their significantly higher levels as compared to my team. However, with my PERFECT VICTORY with ZERO casualties, IF I had to use the same cards again, there would be no better lineup than what I had already used for the match. Any other combination MIGHT have resulted in a loss for me. I'm really satisfied with the results against such a worthy opponent. 🏆🥇

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💭🧐💭Ending Thoughts💭🧐💭

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I definitely can appreciate the Spineback Turtle and it's strengths. This is one of those cards which are very strong if surrounded with the proper team. The role it brings to the battlefield will give a player the edge in squeezing out every tiny advantage to get the win. 👍🏻

For any players looking to try out the Spineback Turtle, I hope this article has given you some insight into its potential. 😉

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