Weekly Splinterlands Share Your Battle Challenge - Haunted Spider

If you have been wanting to try out a Splinterlands Battle Challenge but don't want to buy or rent a card, then this is the challenge for you! In this week's challenge, we have been asked to fight a match using Haunted Spider which is one of the initial starter cards, so you can take part in this challenge without having to buy/rent any additional card. So, can a basic starter card be any good??? We'll find out in this challenge!!

This match was fought with 27 Mana and no modifications to the standard ruleset which I really liked because it gave me enough Mana to field a strong supporting team for Haunted Spider without being a 99 Mana match in which I likely would have been at a severe disadvantage for playing a monster that on y cost 3 Mana. Although each player will have their preferences, I have never thought that Death Splinter had a very strong first position monster, so I played the neutral Goblin Mech in first position. It has a high attack, good speed, armor, and health, so why not?

In second spot, I played Spineback Wolf. Although Spineback Wolf has a weak attack, it has incredibly fast speed which lets it dodge some attacks, and its combination of armor and health means that it can stay in the battle for quite a while.

In third spot, I played Furious Chicken. As I have said, almost every week, Furious Chicken is just a fantastic monster that costs zero Mana to play and that can absorb one of the enemy's attacks thus protecting my other monsters. In a close match causing the enemy to waste one of their attacks on a "buffer monster" could easily be the difference between victory and defeat.

In fourth spot, I played Haunted Spider. For only 3 Mana, Haunted Spider can deal 2 ranged damage from the safety of the rear of the formation. However, I want to stress the "rear" of the formation part. Haunted Spider has low health and low armor which means you will definitely want to keep it off the front lines or risk it being quickly destroyed.

In last spot, I played Boogeyman. Boogey man is one of my favorite Death monsters because it only costs 6 Mana but has a strong magic attack, decent health, AND slows the entire opponent's team much the same as Creeping Ooze does. It's definitely a force multiplier.

The Match
As the match started, I saw that my opponent had played quite a strong lineup. Specifically, I was worried that Divine Healer would be able to heal their first position monster while my team slowly lost their strength. Fortunately, that didn't happen and my team was slowly able to wear down the opponent's monsters and carry the victory.

Analysis of Haunted Spider

Although we did win the battle, I have to say that I simply don't use Haunted Spider a lot in my matches. Part of this is due to the fact that I don't play with the Death Splinter that much (I prefer Earth and Fire), but part of this is because I believe there are MUCH better cards available with only slightly higher Mana costs. Consider that Twisted Jester has DOUBLE the life, the "Snipe" ability, and 3X the speed of Haunted Spider for only 1 additional Mana. If you'd prefer a monster without "Snipe" then Dark Astronomer (also a starter card) has you covered. If I had exactly 3 Mana to spend, then I might consider playing Haunted Spider, but in almost any other situation, I'd prefer to spend the extra 1 Mana and get a much more powerful monster. Obviously, this is a personal preference, and each player will have their own strategy.

Summary
Win or loose, it is always nice to enter into the challenges and try new strategies and cards. Although the primary purpose of this post is to share my battle, I always like to remind players that Splinterlands rewards players for EVERY SINGLE match that they win with cryptocurrency. Players also win from daily quests, end of season rewards, and even get free airdrops of the SPS governance token based on their card collections. It's not financial advice, but if you like trading card games or just earning crypto and NFTs, then feel free to check out Splinterlands or watch my battle replay here

Win or loose, it is always nice to enter into the challenges and try new strategies and cards. Although the primary purpose of this post is to share my battle, I always like to remind players that Splinterlands rewards players for EVERY SINGLE match that they win with cryptocurrency. Players also win from daily quests, end of season rewards, and even get free airdrops of the SPS governance token based on their card collections. It's not financial advice, but if you like trading card games or just earning crypto and NFTs, then feel free to check out Splinterlands or watch my battle replay here

https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_324cdc6d8f3c7b7afd48c8a3fd0e6bd7&ref=parttimeeconon