This week’s battle challenge focuses on any monster from the Dragon unit, and I have decided to focus on Manticore.

Card Details

A Reward edition epic level monster from the Dragon unit at level 4:

• Estimated cost: $22.50
• Melee attack: 2
• Speed: 3
• Health: 8
• Flying ability - Has an increased chance of evading Melee or Ranged attacks from Monsters who do not have the Flying ability.
• Reach ability - Melee attack Monsters with the Reach ability may attack from the second position on the team.
• Thorns ability - When hit with a Melee attack, does damage back to the attacker.

It's no surprise that a battle challenge featuring a Dragon unit monster is one of my favorite challenges. There are many monsters to choose from, and most of them are so good to play with. For this week's challenge, I returned to one of the older reward cards - the Manticore. When I started playing splinterlands two years ago, the Manticore was still in print and being dished out in daily quest rewards and seasonal rewards. At a nominal cost of four mana, you get a monster that can attack from position two (Reach ability), deal decent damage or more if you pair it with Daria Dragonscale summoner, does damage back when hit (Thorns ability), can evade damage (Flying ability) and has enough health to survive a few rounds. It's one of those must-have Dragon unit monster cards.

Battle - Full Battle Replay

Battle Details

• Mana cap: 26
• Rulesets(s): Broken Arrows

Lineup Details

• Daria Dragonscale (Summoner): +1 melee damage to all friendly monsters.
• Lord Arianthus: the OG of passive tanks.
• Manticore: DPS tank.
• Ruler of the Seas + Mermaid Healer + Medusa: trio magic buff monsters to increase team speed, increase health and provide healing abilities.
• Furious Chicken: sacrificial monster to absorb a hit from Sneak/Opportunity enemy monsters.

Did your strategy work? What will you try differently next time?

At the onset of the battle, my opposition's trio of Sneak and Opportunity monsters had the upper hand, and the battle could've gone either way. However, when you play with some of the older reward edition splinterlands cards, their synergies and combos work so well that they make clinching victory even sweeter. The combination of Daria Dragonscale with Lord Arianthus, Manticore, and Ruler of the Seas was crucial in turning the tide of battle. The Manticore, with increased damage, could land many blows thanks to Lord Arianthus being meatshield. Both of these monsters were ably supported by the trio of magic monsters dealing out magic damage and handing out team buffs. Overall a satisfying victory.

Do you like the Manticore? Why or why not?

Over 18 months ago, in blog post #56, I labeled Manticore as a cheap overpowered monster card. At the time, you could pick up a single level of Manticore between $0.2 to $0.45. Since then, we have had a rampant bull market in the crypto and NFT space, and now in a perennial bear market, the price of Manticore has come down considerably, whereby a single level of Manticore will set you back $2.05. I still stand by what I initially said in the post, and the Manticore has many advantages and is one of those must-own cards to add to your splinterlands collection. I was lucky enough to be early and to pick it up for free when it was still in print.

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