Death splinter is both powerful and fun to play.

Once I started my Splinterlands career, death splinter wasn't on top of my list to play. But after I got a feel for it, this became one of my top splinters to use.

Sure, it may not look that much with the current starter cards. But add in a couple of rentals and neutral cards, and suddenly it seems rather interesting.

In my opinion, the death splinter starts to shine in the Silver league. But for that, you'll need to rent out level 3 to 5 cards.

Unfortunately, at this moment, I don't own a summoner that could utilize such high-level cards. That's why I occasionally rent out some to spice up the play.

But what makes this splinter so cool, and why should you give it a try?

Let's go over some cards to understand it better. This article will be geared more towards the silver league. But I'll also mention some cards that work wonders in the bronze league.

At first, we'll look at the latest cards from chaos legion.

Are you facing annoying healing monsters? Then either of these two cards can take care of that problem. That is if you can't use a summoner with affliction ability.

Undead archer works wonders in small mana fights where I expect a self-healing monster or just healing from the opponent.

Of course, there is no guarantee that the debuff will be applied 100% of the time, but I find it reliable.

Ok then, let's check out some use cases with this splinter. Of course, there is no sure-win team. I can give you some ideas, but you'll need to think about the use of these monsters and how to counter your opponent.

Countering wins most matches unless you're heavily outgunned.

Here's one annoying composition:

It's suited for quite a high mana cost battle totaling 41 required mana points. For super high mana battles, you can throw in other high-cost cards.

But what makes this composition so annoying?

Let's check our tank, which in most cases takes most of the damage unless the opponent goes with a sneak army.

A level 2 Harklaw already has two abilities - shield and immunity. Great survival abilities. But it can be increased even more.

Firstly the summoner gives another damage reduction from ranged attacks and adds void ability - protection from magic attacks. On top of that, Octopider has demoralize, which decreases the melee damage further.

With this, our tank has protection from any attacks that are aimed at him. And if the opponent does not have hard hitters, you could be looking at 0 to 1 damage to him.

Next, we have a heavy damage dealer - Sand worm. He can dish out a lot of damage and put high pressure on the opponent's back row. It's best to use a leveled version due to the increased speed.

Otherwise, you could see quite a few misses if there is a fast monster(s) at the back.

Probably not the best option against a Mylor. So use another card in that situation.

After the main tank and off-tank, we have another annoying card - Venari Bonesmith. With the life leach ability, this monster can become a tank as well.

By the time the opponent gets to him, he'll have absorbed quite a few points.

Just watch out for the magic reflect and/or snipe attacks. If you expect them, then you should swap it out or change positioning.

And what's more - this card has one more annoying ability - poison. It's not applied 100% of the time but works rather reliably. If your opponent can't remove it, then it becomes a huge problem.

Do you expect magic monsters? Then throw in your lineup Death Elemental. With its silence ability, he'll give a headache for the opponents' monsters.

At the same time, he'll help the tank to survive. If, after all the debuffs, the opponents' magic monsters will have under 2 magic damage, then any of your cards will receive 0 damage.

There could be a high hitter at the front. So why don't we punish him even further? Throw in Halfling Alchemist and cut his damage in half. That is if this card lands his hit.

This card works wonders also in the bronze league, plus it costs only 2 mana. A highly recommended card that you should have in your card list.

And lastly, at the very back, we have a ranged card - Octopider. As I mentioned earlier, then this card has a very useful debuff - demoralize. It's like using the summoner - Zintar Mortalis himself, but only better as you can get other buffs/debuffs from another summoner.

This card is at the back also because it can work as a meat shield for other cards at the back. Unless the opponent uses a sand worm, then he'll survive a few hits.

And finally, let's look at the summoner itself. It's a legendary card with a 7 mana usage cost.

Because of that, this card is more suited for mid to high mana cost battles. And those in the silver league are common.

I've already mentioned ranged damage reduction and void buff. But there is one more debuff - affliction.

It's just brutal, and in some situations, it can easily win matches. E.g. a poison match if the opponent does not have a monster with immunity.

This screws up the opponents' deck badly if he relies on healers or self-healing monsters.

Of course, this lineup isn't unbeatable. It very much is with the appropriate lineup. That's why you should study your opponents' previous matches and think of your perfect counter for the given battle.

But as you can see, the death splinter can be highly annoying if you drop such a bomb on an unsuspecting opponent.

Of course, there are many other superb cards from this splinter, but to list them all and talk about their usage would turn this article into a book :)

Check out some battles with this summoner:

Battle I

Battle II

The first is a general battle, while the other is against Llama + Kron.