This week's battle challenge focuses on the Cerberus:

It’s not easy being a three-headed dog. The constant bickering, biting and slobbering are always a distraction, and the heads can rarely agree on anything. When summoned to battle, these giant dogs present a fury of claw, flame and fang that is difficult for any monster to get past.

Card Details

A beta edition rare rarity monster from the Fire Splinter at level 5:

• Estimated cost: $75.48
• Mana cost: 4
• Melee damage: 3
• Speed: 4
• Health: 7
• Heal ability: Restores a portion of the Monster's health each round.
• Retaliate ability: When hit with a Melee attack, Monsters with Retaliate have a chance of attacking their attacker.

I have always been told dynamite comes in small packages, and this cliche is so true for the Cerberus. For all low mana cap battles, the Cerberus is my default choice in position 1 for the Fire Splinter. It has everything you want in a damage dealer tank; excellent health, good speed, good melee damage and healing. Unfortunately, its value is reflected in its price. It will cost you ~$75 to get it to level 5 and $175 to the max. Luckily, I levelled it up way before the prices of the beta edition cards started to increase in price; the cheapest single card of Cerberus is reaching ~$3, which may not seem high, but if you want to level it up to level 5 you would require 21 cards to upgrade so it becomes a pricey exercise.

Battle - Full Battle Replay

Battle Details

• Mana cap: 14
• Rulesets(s): Target Practice, Spreading Fury

Lineup Details

• Malric Inferno (Summoner): +1 melee damage to all friendly monsters
• Cerberus: primary melee damage + heal
• Flame Monkey + Furious Chicken + Creeping Ooze: support monsters for the team buffs and hexes
• Imp Bowman + Lord of Fire: support range damage + team buffs

Did your strategy work? What will you try differently next time?

This battle showcased the importance of having a backline that supports the monsters responsible for doing the most critical damage. The Cerberus was an absolute beast in this battle, but he would've been nowhere without the support of the backline. Flame Monkey + Furious Chicken + Creeping Ooze trio of team buffs and hexes were critical in helping Cerberus deal with finishing off the opposition. But also, I got lucky. My opponent had higher levelled monsters than me, but crucially no monsters packed a punch like the Cerberus. But what about that Cerberus, what a beast! Healing itself and single-handedly dealing blows and eliminating the enemy.

Do you like the Cerberus? Why or why not?

I am so happy that I purchased the Cerberus and got it to level 5 before the prices went wild for beta edition cards. I use the card often, and also it's well-liked and used by the broader player base of splinterlands. With these battle reports, I always like to look if there are cheaper alternatives, and frankly, I wouldn't recommend anyone paying $75 to get it to level 5, so what are your options? This is tough as the Cerberus is unique in that it's the only low mana cap (4) melee monster with heal ability. If you increase the mana cap to 5, then the Haunted Spirit is a cheaper alternative ($28) with slightly more health and Magic Reflect ability. So if players can't afford to shell out for Cerberus, then Haunted Spirit is a worthy alternative.

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