Hi guys, I rarely see anyone using ANT MINER in any of my rank games, I believe this monster is one of the most overlook monsters in the fire splinter. Yes, he has many weaknesses but he will definitely give you a win if you know how to use him properly.
In this battle challenge, I will discuss the general information about ANT MINER and the best way to use him.

But first, we have to know the story of this monster, and according to the splinterlands lore; Kobolds have long been considered the most skilled miners in the land. Their small stature and inherent bravery allow them to squeeze into small and risky spaces, and they are very good with tools. Recently, however, the Kobolds have apparently dug too deep into the crust beneath the Molten Mountains. This has allowed an undiscovered race of Fire Ants to breach the surface. These Ants are each about the size of a man’s fist, not large enough individually to pose a threat to anyone, but they are very good at teamwork and they operate through a shared hive mind. The Ant Miners carry tiny tools, which they use to enhance their already-formidable digging skills. They always travel in packs and lines; if you see a line of Ant Miners approaching your home, do not attempt to fight. It’s best just to give up your home.

Thus, we learned that ANT MINERS were discovered by kobolds and live in the molten mountains, and this is the first time I've learned that ANTS operate like bees with a hive mind, which is news to me. With that said, a level 1 ANT MINER has the ability SCAVENGER , which means that when a monster dies, it increases ANT MINER HP's by 1. He will also unlock the SHIELD ability at level 6, which increases his physical defense.

I have rented a level 6 ANT MINER and these are his base stats:

	MANA	2
	ARMOR	1
	HEALTH	1
	SPEED	2
	DAMAGE	1

CARD PRICE

If you want to buy an ANT MINER, a single bcx/pieces regular foil of this card will cost $0.168 at the time of writing, and if you want to level him up to 6 like I do, you will need 100 bcx/pieces of this card for a total cost of $16.8. This card also has a CP[CARD POWER] of 10 per bcx and a 1000 CP at level 6.

On the other hand, a Gold Foil version of this card will give 500 CP, and if upgraded to level 6, you will need a 9 bcx of this card that will give 4500 CP. And a 1 bcx of Gold Foil will cost you $4.6 and a level 6 will be $41.4.

If you don't have the money to buy this card, you can rent a level 1 ANT MINER for 0.1 DEC/Day and a level 6 for 2.550 DEC/Day. While the Gold Foil version will be automatically leveled up to 3 and the rental cost will be 8.4 DEC/Day, a level 6 Gold Foil will be 30.484 DEC/Day.

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WEAKNESS AND STRENGTHS

STRENGTHS. When and how should ANT MINER be used? He is a low mana cost monster, which means he excels in low mana cap games, and his ability SCAVENGER allows him to thrive when a monster dies. This is why this monster excels in situations where there are a lot of low HP monsters that will die quickly. This monster is also one of the few with the SHIELD ability, which costs 2 mana.

WEAKNESS, His overall stats are poor, with ARMOR, HP, DAMAGE, and SPEED that are below average. This monster is only useful in specific situations and will struggle in a high mana game or against magical monsters.

A solid strategy is required for ANT MINER to excel and thrive. This monster must be placed correctly or he will die within the first turn, and monsters with low HP are a must when picking him; picking FURIOUS CHICKEN and SCORCH FIEND is a good option because they cost 0 mana and when they die, it increases ANT MINER'sHP.

RULESET

With those strategies being said, the most important plan is always checking your opponent's match history and countering them while making sure that the ruleset will be in your favor.

The rulesets in this game were TRUE AIM and BROKEN ARROW , which means no range monsters can be chosen and all melee damage will never miss. Thus, choosing a monster with high speed/high damage is ideal, and you should never choose a monster with FLYING and DODGE abilities because they are useless.

My main goal for this game was to maximize my ANT MINER, so I needed to choose 6 monsters in the field, most of which should have less than 2 HP and must die for my ANT MINER to increase their HP, and finally, monsters with high damage.

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SUMMONER

MALRIC INFERNO is one of the best summoners to team up with ANT MINER; he will buff ANT MINER damage, and with 3 mana cost, we can pick more monsters to boost ANT MINER ability SCAVENGER.

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TANK

ANT MINER will be the main tank and the only tank in my lineup; he will gain power whenever a monster dies, and he will be difficult to kill thanks to his SHIELD ability (except for magic damage).

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UTILITY MONSTERS

SCORCH FIEND is a utility monster that I placed in the first position because my goal is to die because it will increase ANT MINER HP, which will boost his defense. It would also be advantageous if he used his two melee attacks to inflict damage on the enemy.

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SCAVO CHEMIST, like SCORCH FIEND, this monster's purpose is to increase ANT MINER HP, and his SLOW ability will allow my main damage dealers to take their turns first.

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GOBLIN SHAMAN is one of the most important monsters in my lineup due to his abilities SLOW and WEAKEN, and he is also the only one with magic damage. If the enemy chooses a monster with the Thorns ability, he will be the primary damage dealer because my damage dealer will die as a result.

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MAIN DAMAGE DEALERS

One of my main damage dealers is SERPENTINE SPY. Because of his ability OPPORTUNITY, his 3 damage and 5 speed will undoubtedly kill the enemy's weakest monster with no armor. This monster, on the other hand, is a glass cannon that dies quickly.

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KOBOLD MINER is my final damage dealer and monster in my lineup. Because this monster has the SNEAK ability, he will eliminate the enemy's last position monster, and since this is a low mana cap game, I am sure the enemy has a weak backline or a single high mana cost monster.

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Melee damage vs. poison damage, MALRIC vs. WAKA Our summoner gives us no advantage, but because the enemy chose low HP monsters, my ANT MINER will thrive when they die.

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Battle Link Here

ROUND 1

We both went for quantity over quality monsters because this game has a low mana cap, so we filled up 6 monsters in the field, and because of my ANT MINER SCAVENGER ability thrived, we traded kills, and every time a monster died, my ANT MINER increased his HP.
Even though he killed my SERPENTINE SPY first, I still had the upper hand in this first round thanks to my ANT MINER. In the first round, I lost three monsters and the opponent lost four.

ROUND 2

Because 7 monsters died in the first round, ANT MINER HP was increased to 7, and I still have more damage output than the enemy due to the monster advantage, as well as thanks for the MALRIC +1 melee damage buff. I eventually won the game, but I lost my GOBLIN SHAMAN.

AFTERTHOUGHTS

Ant miner was a great monster and one of my favorites to use in the fire splinter's low mana cap games, but this monster will only be limited to that. And if I had to replace any monster in my lineup, it would be SCAVO CHEMIST with BATTERING RAM for more damage output.
I was in the diamond league with gold-level cards, making it extremely difficult for me to win. I lost money because of the DEC rent, and I made no profit from the rank battles and chest rewards I received today. However, playing in the diamond league is so much fun that I would continue to play in it the following season, even if it means losing some DEC.

If you don't have an account yet you can use my referral here to start playing.
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