BEATING Llama Kron combo with Stun, Crystal Jaguar and CHICKEN TANK! | Equalizer and Heavy Hitters ruleset

over 2 years ago

A sneaky lineup or having an OP tank are not the only methods to beat a Llama Kron combo. In this match, I will share with you how I was able to counter Llama Kron -- with the help of Stun, low mana tanks, and favorable ruleset.

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STRATEGY TIME

MATCH DETAILS

This match was fought with an Equalizer (chicken tank anyone?) and Heavy Hitter rulesets. The mana cap to build our team is 20, with most Splinters available except Death.

MY LINEUP AND TEAM PLACEMENT

Summoner	First position	Second position

Third position	Fourth position	Fifth position

Summoner: Camila Sungazer
The only reason that I have for using Camila Sungazer in this match is to have access to Lightning Dragon. Whenever I am on a maximum rental mode, I usually rent Camila Sungazer because the rental price (usually 20-30 DEC/day) is quite cheap for a Level 3 Legendary Summoner.

Position 1: Crystal Jaguar
In low and average mana battles, I always like to use Crystal Jaguar as my tank whenever I am running a life deck. Imagine getting a 2 shield, 6 base health and thorns just by spending 4 mana cost? That is a great deal for me! This also helped me hedge my bet in case my enemy suddenly did not go for a Llama Kron combo.

Positions 2 & 3: Furious Chicken and Creeping Ooze
Putting Furious Chicken and Creeping Ooze in any position is usually just a filler position to waste some enemy attacks. In this case, it is different. I am expecting both monsters to serve as a decent tank with Crystal Jaguar. With the Equalizer ruleset, Chicken and Ooze can definitely make it painful for the enemy.

Position 4: Lightning Dragon
Since I am expecting a Llama Kron combo in this match, a monster with stun and high speed is essential for my plan. Having Stun becomes more attractive because of the Heavy Hitters ruleset. With all my criteria, Lightning Dragon is the perfect one to put in this lineup.

Position 5: Fire Spitter
Another low mana-cost monster with decent damage. At 4 mana cost, a level 2 Fire Spitter can deal 2 ranged attack at 4 speed. This is a perfect add since my main concern is I might not be able to deal enough damage to Kron with Lightning Dragon alone. At 4 speed, Fire Spitter also has a higher speed than a slowed down (by Ooze) Level 1 Kron in Last Stand.

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Battle time: Llama Kron vs. Cheap tanks and Stun

Let us now see how my drafted Llama Kron counter will perform against this nasty combo.

Match replay link

With Kron in the board, all our monsters now have 10 initial health at round 1. That makes our Chicken and Crystal Jaguar better tanks.

After taking a peek at my enemy's lineup, I am expecting the following:

The main battle will ONLY happen when Kron is in Last Stand. I will be basically removing some fillers until Kron is up front.
Since there are three monsters with 12 health before Kron, our Crystal Jaguar might not have the chance to face Kron head to head. There will be plenty of time for Kron to kill Jaguar from the backline.
Fire Spitter and Lightning Dragon would have a feast on this one. Kron is the only damage dealing monster from my enemy's lineup. That removes the threat from Sneak attacks.

DEATH OF CRYSTAL JAGUAR

Since it is pretty obvious that the early part of the match will be focused on weeding out my enemy's Chicken, Failed summoner, and Ooze. Let us skip ahead to the death of Crystal Jaguar.

By the end of Round 4, Crystal Jaguar died in the hands (or wand) of Kron. Moving our Chicken up front, and giving us a Chicken Tank show! At this point, it seems like Chicken can last a total of 4 Rounds to absorb Kron's 3 magic damage. At the early part of Round 6, our enemy's Ooze died with an attack from Lightning Dragon -- moving Kron up front and activating LAST STAND!!

KRON IN LAST STAND

Now the real battle begins. With Kron in Last Stand, it now has 5 magic damage and 18 health. The leader of the Centauri people is now a real threat.

With 5 magic damage, it will be difficult for Chicken to last the entire battle. By end of Round 8, Chicken died from the hands of Kron. This puts Ooze now as our frontline. At this point, few unlucky consecutive turns could easily kill Ooze, forcing Lightning Dragon to move up front, and easily concluding the match in the favor of Kron.

Luckily, RNG was with us. Ooze did not take any damage from Kron, as Lightning Dragon did not waste any time and stunned Kron right off the bat. This made Fire Spitter deal double damage on Kron, lowering its Health to 5 by end of Round 9. The match concluded at Round 10, with Lightning Dragon and Fire Spitter killing Kron before it gets the chance to heal.

Note: When utilizing Stun as a Counter for Kron, Speed is VERY IMPORTANT. You would want your monster to have a higher speed than Kron in Last Stand. This way, Llama Mage won't be able to cleanse the stun, as stun will hit right before Kron heals and after Llama Mage uses cleanse.

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Final Thoughts

One of the things that I spend my time the most in playing Splinterlands is thinking of counter for meta combos. There is a different kind of joy in finding a decent counter for combos that are considered "OP" at the moment. That is why when I drafted a counter that worked, I could not resist not sharing it. Of course, this entire lineup is very situational and would need adjustments depending on the match ruleset. Nevertheless, having Crystal Jaguar, Chicken, and Ooze as my tank to beat a Llama Kron team is fulfilling as hell.

As for Crystal Jaguar's verdict, I have always loved using Crystal Jaguar in my matches even before this week's battle challenge. Crystal Jaguar has been a staple to my life deck -- whether I am running a Magic Life team or a Sneaky life team. With its thorns ability, Crystal Jaguar is perfect either as a frontline tank or a backline sneak counter. You can get all those stats and thorns ability just at 4 mana cost. Who would not want that?

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this match. In case you missed the previous replay link, click HERE to watch the stunning match against Llama Kron.