Splinter Kombat

Happy Halloween! For this week's Social Media Challenge, I decided to make a Mortal Kombat inspired article. I also wanted to highlight Ilthain and how good of a summoner she is.

I got to admit, I brushed off Ilthain when it was first revealed. I really thought Aquatus will be the chase summoner card for Riftwatchers. I failed to realize just how powerful her speed buff and return fire ability is. But now that I am using her now in modern gold league, I wouldn't use any other summoner but Ilthain.

I found out a good low mana cap defensive combination between Ilthain, Pelacor Conjurer and Venator Kinjo. Conjurer already has the ability to dodge any type of attack when phase is unlocked. Ilthain will provide a speed buff while Kinjo will slow the enemy monsters, effectively giving Pelacor Conjurer a two-point speed advantage. And since Conjurer will have return fire and magic reflect, Kinjo's amplify ability will be very useful.

For my Ilthain led team, I chose Pelacor Conjurer as the frontline card. I then have Time Mage and Venari Crystalsmith as support units for the Conjurer. For damage dealers, I have two sneak monsters, Uraeus and Stitch Leech. Finally, there's Xenith Monk for backend defense.

For this matchup, although the mana available is 56, this is constrained by the little league rule set where you can only use 4-mana cards or lower.

My opponent uses a fire-aligned Quix the Devious summoner. He positions Antoid Platoon and Twilight Basilisk as primary and secondary tanks. His Dhampir Infiltrator is a card to watch out for with its combination of sneak and double strike skills. He also has Naga Assasin and Lava Spider for ranged attacks.

Ilthain and Quix's speed modifiers basically cancel each other out. Luckily, I also have Time Mage that helps slow down the enemy monsters. Pelacor Conjurer's return fire has kicked in and critically damaged Naga Assasin. We also have our first casualty at round two, Antoid Platoon, which falls down to the spiky pit.

Crystalsmith manages to heal Pelacor Conjurer right before Twilight Basilisk attacks it. Meanwhile, Serpentine Spy sneaks in a revenge kill, decapitating Stitch Leech.

Uraeus finally dispatches Naga Assasin. There's a total of three casualties just in round two alone.

Twilight Basilisk and Xenith Monk both got taken out at round three. Meanwhile, Pelacor Conjurer is still holding the frontlines thanks to Crystalsmith's healing.

At the start of round five, Pelacor Conjurer is defeated along with Lava Spider and Time Mage. It's now a two-on-two match between Venari Crystalsmith and Uraeus versus Dhampir Infiltrator and Serpentine Spy.

It was down to Uraeus and Dhamphir Infiltrator at the end. Thanks to Crystalsmith's heal, she was able to tank long enough for Uraeus to end up having the finishing blow.

And with that, Ilthain wins the game and brutality decapitates Quix the Devious. Thank you for reading and Happy Halloween.

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