What is the most underrated card in the game? Let's have a look at the GELATINOUS CUBE!

Hey there Splinterfriends;

Today, I think we need to sit down and have a chat about one of the most underrated cards in the game. You probably can't even begin to guess who I'm talking about - he's that far underrated! But, for those of you who ventured a guess, the answer is: The Gelatinous Cube!

And, I imagine that that is a card that you're not particularly familiar with. This is probably because you rarely see it in a battle and because it is a neutral card, it is so often overlooked.

Let's check this unassuming little fellow out:
Right away, you'll notice that this guy has 11 health. I know what you're thinking - that's massive! But the truth is - it's just a starting point. Check out his skills - he has the SCAVENGER skill, what this means is that when any card on the battle field dies, he will gain health - this is key, as he also has the self-health ability. What this means is that by the end of the battle it is likely that this card will have over 20 health and be healing for 6 or 7 each round! The card costs 6 mana, and doesn't attack - but it's certainly all about strategy. You see, this card is great for putting your team into a position where you will eventually win based on the FATIGUE skill kicking in.

This does mean, of course, that you will want him able to access the HEAL ability, which you'll notice only happens at Level 6. This is why I choose to play mine at this level. It makes the card particularly difficult to knock down. Of course, you do need to be careful of the AFFLICTION skill, which will stop the healing and ruin the strategy - GOBLIN PYSCHIC - I'm looking at you!

Let's take a look at the #leofinance part of this card then. You'll notice that I like to play this card in the GOLD FOIL edition. This allows me to access higher rSHARES and DEC in RANKED battles. I also like how shiney the cards look too, when they take to the field. Interestingly enough, the value of this card is going down. There are just under 3500 of these in circulation, and you need 4 of them to combine to a Level 6. The cards are currently $8.10 to purchase, so you would need to spend $32.40 to take this guy up to Level 6. To me, that's really cheap! However, it's not on my buy list just yet, because interestingly, this card only rents for around 10 DEC a day. Outrageous! This means that you're not getting a great saving by purchasing the card, or a great return to rent it out.

So then - all we need now is to find the right ruleset to see this little guy in action, and this is the one I found:

The reason this ruleset is perfect for THE GELATINOUS CUBE is because it is the NOXIOUS FUMES ruleset - having any healer on your team is helpful. But - more than that, the mana count at 29 is not large, but it is enough to play a team with 6 cards. The reason this is key is because eventually you will hope those cards all die - this will increase the CUBE's base health and allow him to heal for more significant numbers. In a battle like this, the CUBE will certainly be hard to knock down.

And this is what the opening of the battle looks like:
You can see that my team has 3 cards which will die within two rounds, having 4 health or less - and I'm using these cards to shield my DIEMONSHARK and FLYING SQUID. In total, I only have +3 melee available to hit in this opening round. The intention of this ruleset is survival, not in doing damage. In contrast, my opponent has +7 melee and +2 magic which will hit me from the start. On those numbers, he's 3x more potent that me and he's played the RIVER NYMPH to heal his DODGE card, the SERPENT OF ELD out the front. Intererestingly, he also plays a HEALER on the backline, which is likely to help keep the SERPENT ALIVE while he intends for my cards to fall. In truth though, with my opponent having so many low health cards, I can see the GELATINOUS CUBE moving to 17 base health very, very quickly. From there, he'll be healing for +6 each round making it impossible for my opponent to even come close to winning this one.

And by the end of the battle, you can see that my DIEMONSHARK and FLYING SQUID would die due to the poisoning at the end of the round, had they not defeated my opponent. My GELATINOUS CUBE hadn't healed this round yet, but his base health will be up to 19! Imagine that - 19 and healing every round for more than the poison takes! It would take like 30 rounds to drop him!

Check out the full battle replay here:
https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_b97e54df556561e52328f7dba5cdec21

And for good measure, let's explore another battle - with a completely different ruleset. In this next ruleset, I'm playing a 12 mana battle with no melee. It was a no brainer then to play THADDEUS, assuming my opponent would play magic. In this battle, that didn't happen (how annoying!) - but I played the GELATINOUS CUBE with 2 x 1 mana cards (you see, I need them to die to boost my CUBE's health). So in this battle, I play a total of 0 attack. My opponent plays a total of 4 attack. Want to guess what happens?

An easy win happens! You see, my CUBE's health popped to 13, and he was healing for +4 every round - which mirrored the +4 damage my opponent was doing. This forced a stalemate, and in a boring battle, we make Round 20 - and then of course, FATIGUE kicks in, and the longevity of the GELATINOUS CUBE wins this battle - go figure, a win without even making a single attack!

Check out the full battle link:
https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_e9aa6d47c146be8eecca3a8702b51c93

So there you have it (Evaluation):

1. I have learned that the GELATINOUS CUBE should not be overlooked, as he is a strategic weapon that will win single-handedly in an awful lot of situations. Today, I had 6 battles where he was the absolute star - including a number of POISON rulesets.
2. The cost of the CUBE isn't expensive, and my guess is that it will only go up in value as more players more into the GOLD LEAGUE and have the ability to play Level 6 common cards. To that end, I'd suggest it'd be a good investment and worth picking up a couple. I know that I'll be looking to buy mine soon - and, to improve your win rate significantly - absolutely awesome! The savings to ECR in gaining daily chests - look, I'm not sure how you would put a value on that, but there'd have to be a way to figure out this card is easily worth more than 10 DEC to me a day!

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