Introduction

Out of all varieties and types of Splinterlands’ cards, I like the cards with the weaken ability. The ability reduces the health of all opponent’s monster by one. So, in a battle where we are well-matched with the opponent, the weaken ability could be the one tipping us on the side of advantage. Needless to say, it is a handy ability to have.

Each Splinter has its cards exclusively with the weaken ability or with weaken being one of many abilities. The Fire Splinter has the Goblin Shaman as one of the oldest cards with the weaken ability. I call it the oldest because it was available from the time of the Alpha and Beta packs. That’s like three generations back. 😊

The one issue with the Goblin Shaman is that it is a non-attack monster at lower levels and then gets a magic attack as it levels up. So, for a lower-level Shaman, it is a fine line between taking a non-attack monster vs. taking one with a good attack value. So, it’s not always an easy decision to take the Shaman to the game.

We will see more of the Shaman in a bit. Before that, how about knowing more about Splinterlands. After all, that’s where we will find the Goblin Shaman.

What Game is Splinterlands?

Splinterlands is a digital card game that allows you to collect, trade, battle, rent, and even earn from the cards. The game gives Play to Earn a whole different meaning. It is one of the most generous games that I have seen where cards, potions, Dark Energy Crystals (DEC. Cryptocurrency) are given out every day to thousands of players for just playing and winning daily quests. And there are tournaments that you can play or guilds that you can join.

Just to give you an idea of how lucky you can get in Splinterlands - read my story of getting cards worth $500 from buying a few packs worth $20 only.

Got Cards Worth $500 from $20 Packs

And this is just a tiny number. I have witnessed people getting uber-expensive cards in their pack and selling it for as high as $6500. This means the game has interested buyers for your cards too. In fact, there is a whole Splinterlands marketplace.

If this is not enough, then Splinterlands has just launched the governance token SPS, which is being airdropped to all Splinterlands players over the year. So, you are not late. Get on with the game and earn SPS today. SPS is listed on exchanges, too.

To join, scroll down quickly. 😊

Goblin Shaman | Keeps the Opponents in Check

As discussed in the previous section, Goblin Shaman is a card good to have in battle. However, with numerous permutations and combinations of gameplay coming into effect, the question is, in which conditions do we find the Shaman to be perfect?

It depends, honestly. Ideally, any low mana battle would be a good candidate for including the Shaman. After all, you can be sure that most monsters in the low mana battle would be of low health. A Shaman could prove disastrous for the opponent.

With the medium and high mana battles, the question is balancing high attack monsters with the mana cost. Now, if we are going to have high mana monsters with high attack values, the Shaman finds it challenging to fit in. Even in cases where the Shaman has a magic attack, it is just too little to inflict significant damages on the opponent. These are the situations where we have to think of dropping the Shaman. Otherwise, it is always an excellent addition to the team.

Let’s see the Shaman in action.

The Goblin Shaman in Battle

Here is one battle where we are looking at a low mana cap. The mana cap and the rules in play make it conducive for the Shaman to be included.

The 17-mana battle with the poison rule in play makes the Shaman an ideal choice. Why? The Shaman will reduce the health of all opponent monsters and hence a higher possibility that they would perish with the poison rule in play. Of course, we stand losing the Shaman to poison as well. But then it is about who lives longer. 😊

Let’s look at the lineup, shall we?

The Face-Off

When the opponent’s team and my team came face-to-face, it was apparent that the opponent intended to pulverize my team with magic attacks. But in games with poison attacks, you take high-health monsters or self-healing monsters. The opponent had neither. Would that mean that I have an excellent chance to win? We will know soon.

At this point, let’s look at both teams. We will start with the opponent’s team.

Summoner: Alric Stormbringer | Water Splinter | Increases the magic attack value of friendly monsters by one.

Monsters:

Position 1: Furious Chicken | A non-attack monster.

Position 2: Creeping Ooze | A non-attack monster that reduces the speed of all opponent’s monsters.

Position 3: Battering Ram | A melee monster with an attack value of one. It has opportunity ability.

Position 4: Ice Pixie | Magic monster with an attack value of one.

Position 5: Enchanted Pixie | Magic attack monster with an attack value of one.
Position 6: Gelatinous Cube | Non-attack monster with the scavenger ability

I think the Cube would be formidable for the poisonous rule. Anyway, let’s look at my team.

Summoner: Contessa L’ament | Death Splinter | Reduces enemy ranged attackers’ attack value by one.

Monsters:

Position 1: Furious Chicken | A non-attack monster.

Position 2: Cerberus | Melee attacker with an attack value of two. It also has the self-healing ability.

Position 3: Goblin Shaman | A non-attack monster. It reduces the health of all enemy monsters by one.

Position 4: Zalran Efreet| A magic attack monster with an attack value of two. It also has the life-leech ability.

Position 5: Halfling Alchemist| Ranged attacker with an attack value of one. The Alchemist halves the attack value of any enemy monster facing its attack.

My bet for the rule is the Cerberus and the Zalran Efreet. Of course, the Shaman should help reduce the life of all opponent monsters—time to check out how the battle went.

The Battle Gets Intense

Because the Shield rule was also on, the first round saw no monsters perish except the Furious Chickens. The poison rule takes effect at the end of the round, and the opponent’s entire army perishes except the Cube. In my case, the Halfling perishes too. The Cube, however, now has a health of 12.

But even in the situation, my monsters are doing well. The Cerberus most likely will not perish as it self-heals after the poisoning. Also, there is no other monster in the opponent’s arsenal to attack my monsters.

The Battle Races to Conclusion

The next round sees the Goblin Shaman perish in the poisoning. After that, it is just the Cerberus and Zalran Efreet. Even the Efreet expires a round after that, and it is just between the Cerberus and the Cube.

The Cerberus clearly wasn’t going to perish anymore. On the other hand, the Cube was losing its health. And by round 5, it was the last effecting of the poison, and the Cube was done.

That’s It. I won.

Do I Use the Goblin Shaman Often?

In low mana battles, yes, but hardly in medium and higher mana ones. There is no rocket science to it, and I have explained why. Even a leveled-up Shaman may not be a great addition to a high mana battle.

Where Else Does the Shaman Fit In?

The Shaman fits in for rules like health-equalizer. In such cases, the Shaman becomes a decent tank too. So, even with no attack, it would be good to have. A leveled-up Shaman is even better. In fact, in the health-equalizer rule, the Shaman reduces the health of all opponent monsters. That straight away gives us an advantage despite the health-equalizer in play.

Rules like opportunity, sneak-and-snipe are also few where the Shaman is good. There are many more situations and rules where the Shaman is good to use even in high mana battles.

How Does the Goblin Shaman Level Up?

The Goblin Shaman levels up quite well on the health front. The health goes up to six at level ten. Here are the total stats.

At level five, the Shaman gets the magic attack ability. From thereon, it stays an attacking monster. My only complaint is that the magic attack value does not increase for the Shaman. Ideally, it should have. The other stat that also sees an improvement is the speed. The shield was never there, and the Shaman never got it.

The Goblin Shaman | You Can’t Mess With It

The Shaman is an excellent addition to the team and one of the few cards to have weaken ability in the Fire Splinter. I am not even sure if there are any other cards with the weaken ability. I suppose not. The Shaman is quite an asset, and there are a plethora of situations that warrant its use.

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Image Courtesy: Splinterlands