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Card Highlights #21: Xenith Monk

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Be a shield to those in need.
Be a guiding light in the darkness.
Be a helping hand to the weary.
Be an unmoving scale, balanced as all things should be.
by The Code of Xenith Scale
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I always thought Xenith Monk was a very weak unit to have. Even though he has Heal early, with the amount of damage you can receive with the current cards, that can easily be outdone by a few units.

My view changed once I tried it at max level and it's actually one of the best low mana tanks in the whole game.

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Lore

Magical attacks erupted around the Xenith Monk in bursts of spectacular colors. Fire, lightning, ice, and wind whirled like a hurricane around the warrior, cutting, slicing, and battering her again and again. Blood poured from her wounds, coating the ground red. The energy from the arcane assault kicked up a torrent of smoke around the monk but still it persisted.
In the blinding smoke, the Xenith Monk twisted her hands around in a rhythmic motion. She began to dance within the cloud, her hands moving with unnatural speed. The barrage of arcane attacks continued but slowly, one by one, the Magi of Chaos each stopped their assault. They stared wide eyed inside the cloud of smoke as their attacks froze in space. An arcane hum filled the air.

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^{For full lore of this card, visit this website:
https://next.splinterlands.com/card-detail/428/regular/7?tab=lore}

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Buy and Rental Costs

Xenith Monk's price is kind of funny in the sense that he's only a rare unit but his pricing is the same as some legendaries you can find in the market. This shows how strong he is at higher levels that allows his price to increase due to that demand.

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Xenith Monk's really in demand in the rental market. It is very seldom that I can find someone renting out a max level Xenith Monk. The good thing is you can still find a few level 6 which gives the Void ability. His rental price isn't as expensive as well which can bring positive results in your games if you regularly rent him. Fun fact: If you sorted out Xenith Monk on the rental market from most expensive to least, you will see a lot flexing their cards.

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Card Stats

Xenith Monk's early levels are not good. Even though he has Heal, it's not good enough for him to be a main tank due to the amount of damage in this current meta. In addition to that, he has very weak damage which becomes a problem if your enemies have Sneaks and eliminates your damage dealers at the back first.

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Card Effects

Heal	Restores a portion of the Unit's health each round

One of the strongest, if not the strongest. Unfortunately, due to Xenith Monk's low health, the heal per round is also low.

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Void	Reduced damage from Magic attacks

I think Void is the strongest defensive ability since Magic attacks are the strongest type of attack. This combined with Heal is what makes Xenith Monk a good low cost tank.

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Magic Reflect

When hit with Magic damage, does reduced Magic damage back to the attacker

I discovered this recently that the Magic Reflect takes the damage before the reduction back to the enemy. If your enemy has 4 magic attack, Even though you only received 2 damage due to Void, your enemy will still take 2 Magic Reflect damage, which is half the initial 4 damage and not the reduced 2 damage from Void.

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Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths
Xenith Monk's strength is his defensive abilities and low mana cost. Since he only needs 4 mana, you can use the other mana you saved for stronger units in the back for more firepower.

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Weaknesses
Xenith Monk is weak against high melee and range attacks. Since his ability only reduces the damage he gets from magic attack, strong melee and range attacks can instantly kill him.

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When To Use

Noxious Fumes

All Units start the battle Poisoned.

Even though Xenith Monk doesn't have Immunity, the Heal can counteract the damage from poison in Noxious Fumes rule set.

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Blood and Sunder

All units have Corrosive Ward.

Since Xenith Monk doesn't have any armor, this rule set does not affect him.

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Shades of Gray

Only Neutral Units may be used in battles.

He's probably the strongest one you can play in this rule set.

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When Not To Use

Healed Out

All healing abilities are removed from Units and Summoners.

Heal is Xenith Monk's primary strength. Without Heal, he's just a weak tank that can be blasted in 1-2 rounds.

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Back to Basics

Units lose all abilities.

His abilities are what makes Xenith Monk great. Without abilities, having a unit with higher damage is better.

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Equal Opportunity

All Units have the Opportunity ability.

Just like all tanks, it's bad if your tank is the one that is hit the last.

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Battle Sample

^{https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_cffc629354a7cd2ed907844d7d7dd814}

Bortus's -1 magic attack is on point in this battle. This reduced my enemy's magic damage to 1. Since the damage is 1, it will be negated by Void. The other possible damage from ENEMY Mycelic Morphoid and ENEMY Venari Marksrat can be healed making sure my Xenith Monk stays alive tanking the whole enemy team.

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Final Thoughts

Xenith Monk is, by no means, a one man team like The Kraken. However, if he has proper support, he can be as good as The Kraken provided that your enemies will not focus on melee and range attacks.

Xenith Monk is one of those units that are weak early but strong late. You may get greedy thinking this unit is a good tank just because he has Heal but believe me, you would rather pick someone high health coupled with Tank Heals.

This view changes though once you control at least a level 6 Xenith Monk. At level 6, he gains Void which makes him a decent tank. In addition to this, he also gets some bonus stats that can help his role better.

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If you have suggested combos or questions, feel free to comment it down below.

If you are planning to play and is inspired by my post, please consider using my referral link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=kpgamingch

I do not own any of the photos in this post. All credits goes to:

• Splinterlands
• Peakmonsters
• Canva
• Giphy