Beta Legendary Dragons ~ Splinterlands Share Your Battle Challenge

It's surreal to think that, for a limited time, Splinterlands Daily Quests used to reward players with one Beta pack -- that was five brand new cards daily!

I was fortunate to get three legendary Beta Dragon cards during those days: two Lightning Dragons and one Gold Dragon. They were always chilling on the sidelines because I didn't want to buy and level up Dragon summoners, finding them too expensive. But now that I can get high-leveled summoners cheaply using Splinterlands' renting feature, these Dragon cards are now regular members of my battle force.

Setting Up My Team

_{I got a battle with a big 40 mana and an Earthquake ruleset -- a perfect fit for Dragons!}

Most of the Dragon monsters, especially the legendary ones, got high mana requirements and the Flying ability. By using my two Flying Dragons, not only will I maximize the given mana pool, but I also get to avoid some Earthquake damage. My Lightning Dragon at level 2 is quite a force with a high-speed stat and a Stun skill.

Since I got no Dragon summoner of my own, I'm renting a level 4 Drake of Arnak. I always go for the cheapest high-level summoner, so it's often a toss-up between Drake of Arnak and Kretch Tallevor as they are the usual cheapest to rent. Lucky for me, today's cheapest is Drake of Arnak for 8 DEC daily, which has an armor buff skill that works well in Earthquake ruleset. Djinn Chwala will be my primary tank. Though it doesn't have Flying, I'm betting on its high armor and health to keep it alive for several rounds.

I'm going with Life splinter as my secondary team. Angel of Light will be joining the lineup for its Flying and Resurrect skills. Lastly, I'm filling up the remaining slots with Divine Healer to heal my tank and Defender of Truth to further boost my monsters' armor.

The Battle

I was thinking of combatting Earthquake damage by incorporating some Flying monsters on my lineup. But my opponent went beyond that by going on full flight mode with a Brighton Bloom summoner. That's honestly a much more efficient and overall superior method XD

Check out the live battle here!

After the buffs and debuffs were applied, I patted myself on the back when I saw Chwala's armor up to eight points. But then I saw my opponents' two legendary monsters, Cthulhu and Ancient Lich, with three magic attack points each, so my moment of celebration was short-lived.

Within the first round, my team eliminated my opponent's Haunted Spirit from play. I got a lucky stun coming from my Lightning Dragon so Haunted Spirit didn't even get the chance to attack.

My team defeated two more monsters from the enemy's side in round 2. My opponent's two legendary cards proved formidable as they annihilated my Djinn Chwala. The skill Cripple negated my tank healing. And the resurrection was rendered insignificant as Chwala was immediately eliminated a second time by a magic attack. Chwala truly got the full brunt of the enemy's entire arsenal.

Though Angel of Light's resurrect rescue was ineffective, I could at least count on it as a meat shield. It also has Flying skill so it's immune to Earthquake damage.

My team continues relentlessly attacking and got another lucky stun shot in. Cthulhu was stunned and fell in round 3, while Ancient Lich was eliminated in round 4.

My Lightning Dragon was hands down this match's MVP, boasting a few successful stun attacks. I won the match in round 5, with the only monsters left on my side being those with Flying; the rest were eliminated with Earthquake. But they were more than enough to finish off the remaining opposition.

To End

Are Dragons excellent cards to play? Definitely. The ability to mix-and-match Dragons with a second splinter type is a massive advantage that opens up many play possibilities. It's also great in battling when mana pools are huge since most Dragons are inherently mana-heavy, plus you can also pick high-mana monsters from the second splinter or the neutrals to further make the most out of the pool.

The only downside is that Dragons are generally more expensive than other cards. But this problem is relevant only in the early days. Today's competitively-priced rental market makes way for Dragon strategies for a few tens of DECs.