Pocket Rocket Revealed! | Splinterlands Reward Cards

@Kxlm here, with some more exciting @Splinterlands content!

Over the last weekend, we received some fantastic eye-candy from the Splinterlands team, revealing the 12 new reward cards, scheduled for release at the beginning of next season. Of those 12 cards, one, in particular, caught my attention. The devious and alluring Dhampir Infiltrator!

So, in today's post, we do a deep dive into this new reward card, and discuss:

💠 Strengths
💠 Weaknesses / Counters
💠 Initial market value and possible future price appreciation

If you missed the reveal, you can find it in the official Splinterlands Discord Server, under the "eye-candy" channel from May, 21st.

🤜Let’s get into it!🤛

_{Splinterlands Discord, May, 2022}

At first glance, the most notable attribute of this card is the "Sneak" ability, coupled with the "Double Strike" ability.

"Sneak" allows us to attack our opponent from the rear, while "Double Strike" grants the opportunity to attack twice in one round, making it one of the most revered abilities in the game. This combination is a deadly backline slaying concoction that has the potential to decimate our opponents' lineup all on its own.

The true potential of "Double Strike" is realised at level 4, where we gain an additional point of melee damage, taking our maximum damage potential per turn from 2 to 4. A significant power increase that should not be taken lightly.

Another asset to Dhampir Infiltrator's kit is the low mana cost. Not only does this grant us the ability to play this card in the "Little League" ruleset, but also allows us more flexibility in our lineups, when we take into consideration how much mana is saved for the potential damage output this card can offer.

To put this into perspective, let's make a comparison with similar cards at the Silver League level since this is where Dhampir Infiltrator reaches its true potential:

Card		Level	Mana	Type	Attack	Ability	Max DMG Per Turn
	Dhampir Infiltrator	4	4	Melee	2	Sneak	4
	Pelacor Bandit	5	3	Melee	3	Sneak	3
	Coral Wraith	3	4	Magic	2	Sneak	2
	Goblin Thief	5	4	Melee	3	Sneak	3
	Iza The Fanged	2	4	Range	2	Sneak, Scavenger	2
	Undead Badger	5	2	Melee	2	Sneak	2
	Stitch Leech	5	3	Melee	3	Sneak	3
	Uraeus	3	3	Melee	2	Sneak	2

_{Note: I have only included the "modern" cards in this list, for the sake of keeping it short, but the outcome is still the same, regardless.}

As you can see, Dhampir Infiltrator is the only low mana sneak card, able to deal 4 damage per turn (outside of the Diamond and Champion Leagues). We would need to play at least two other "Sneak" cards to achieve the same result without Dhampir Infiltrator. Regardless of which two cards we choose, all combinations are going to cost between 5 - 8 mana.

When we tag on the addition of cards that provide the "Inspire" ability, the gap between Dhampir Infiltrator's damage output and all other low mana "Sneak" cards is widened further!

Moving on to our next point...

Because Dhampir Infiltrator is part of the Dragon Splinter, we can play this card in combination with any other Splinter. Referring back to my point regarding "Inspire", which grants +1 Melee attack, there are several cards that provide this ability. Below are the most accessible at the Bronze and Silver level, with River Hellondale receiving the ability at level 2.

We can also stack our rear-ended attacks with the other "Sneak" cards mentioned earlier, to give our opponent what I like to call the "Doggy-Style" treatment.

The "Cripple" and "Affliction" Dhampir Infiltrator an excellent "Kron Killer". Kron is typically played in the last position, along with Llama, to take advantage of the "Last Stand" ability. "Sneak", in conjunction with "Cripple" and "Affliction" allows us to reduce Kron's max HP, with a chance of nullifying his healing altogether.

That covers all of the strengths of Dhampir Infiltrator. Now, let's take a look at some of the less desirable attributes of this card...

While this card can unleash some serious damage, the same can't be said for its ability to absorb damage. 2 HP at level 1 makes this card extremely susceptible to premature death. The jump to 3 HP at level 2 is nice but is still rather concerning.

The biggest threat to Dhampir Infiltrator's dismal health pool is the "Opportunity" ability. The risk of being slaughtered in one fell swoop is very real, so we must assemble our line up as such that a few sacrificial lambs can absorb these "Opportunity" attacks first.

The second biggest threat is "Thorns". Being punished with 2 thorns damage is one thing, but being punished twice is just brutal. All of a sudden, our biggest asset in "Double Strike", now becomes our biggest liability. With only 3 HP, death vs thorns is guaranteed, unless, of course, we manage to miss all of our attacks entirely.

This brings us to our next weakness...

Dhampir Infiltrator is quite slow. While 2 speed is adequate in the lower Leagues, as we move into high Silver and Gold, the low speed becomes much more apparent. Low speed, in combination with low HP, further solidifies our susceptibility to "Opportunity" attacks.

Speed is also a determining factor in our damage output. What good is "Double Strike", if we can't land anything right? Adding some additional speed via the "Swiftness" ability, or reducing our opponent's speed with the "Slow" ability is recommended.

So, where does this leave us with Dhampir Infiltrator's market value on release?

The "bread and butter" of this card is the "Double Strike" ability, therefore we should compare it to some of the other cards with this same ability to get a gauge on value.

I am inclined to make a more conservative guesstimate, based on the fact that this will be a free reward card, but also that the card supply will be abundant. Taking into consideration the prices of the existing "Double Strike" cards, in addition to the strengths and weaknesses outlined earlier...

I believe this card will hit the market at $0.30 per bcx. Depending on how well it performs in battle, we could see the price surge to the $0.70 - $0.90 range. Once the supply becomes flooded and the hype dies down, the price should fall and stabilize somewhere around the $0.20 mark.

In 2 - 3 years, when this card is out of print, I can see it going for at least $4.00 per bcx, but who knows... Maybe the meta will be as such that this card reaches astronomical levels.

We will just have to wait and see...

Overall, I find this card to be an excellent addition to any deck, regardless of which level you play at. It does require some enabling in the form of speed boosts, meatshields and damage buffs, but once you have those bases covered, this card becomes an absolute wrecking ball.

I will be accumulating a bunch of Dhampir Infiltrators, as I believe this card will garner substantial profits in the not too distant future.

I appreciate your time and attention and I look forward to seeing you in the next post...

God Bless~

-Kxlm

🤜 LETS GROW TOGETHER 🤛

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