Splinterlands Challenge of the Week: Sea Monster (looks can be deceiving)

This week's Splinterlands Challenge of the Week was to showcase a battle featuring the Sea Monster from the Water Splinter...

My opinion on this card is that while it seems useful, even devastating, with the high damage, relatively high health, thorns and self-heal into the bargain, the Sea Monster invariably ends up getting destroyed in the first round more times than he survives.

However, I did have a crack using him in a 'monsters loose all abilities' battle thinking that nice health and a chance of doing 5 damage meant he was not the worst of tanks for this rule set.

However, he still ended up proving to be pretty useless even here!

The Rule Set and Line Up

• Mana cap 34 - OK for an 8 mana card
• Monsters lose all abilities - Sea monster not too obvious, but I thought I'd give him a crack.

Summoner - Bortus

1. Sea Monster - high health, high damage
2. Kelp initiate - 2 mana, almost as much health as the Monster
3. Prismatic energy - high damage and health, standard for this rul set
4. Ice pixie - next because the shields might held
5. Genie - slightly higher health than the
6. Mermaid - weak health, high damage at the back!

Note how my opponent gets the order wrong!

Did my strategy work?

It did, but with only partial thanks to the Sea Monster. Click here to see the battle!

• Round 1 - We both lose our tanks with neither doing damage!
• Round 2 - straight of the back he loses his Mermaid - had that been PE he would have landed a blow this round at least! I lose my Kelp Initiative, he loses his mermaid Healer.
• Round 3 - First hit he loses his Medusa which means my PE now survives
• Round 4 - We both lose our Prismatic Energies.
• Round 5 - he's now only got one ranged attack in first position left, it's all over!

How important was The Sea Monster?

Well he soaked up some damage, but he was no more use than no attack cards because he never got an attack in!

The Kelp Initiate was 4 times more useful near enough for the mana!

If I ever play this strategy again, I'll make sure to put the monster in second, then at least he'd get a chance of hitting, but if i was going to do that, I may as well put a magic monster there!

I would have been better off sticking in a giant and using the additional 3 mana on raising my magic attack by a point or two!

Final Thoughts: Sea Monster - worth levelling up?

I have mine levelled up to 7 because that's his 'price optimum' IMO - by which point he's got his max damage, both buffs and beyond that all you're doing is stacking more health.

If you don't have that much DEC to spend I guess this is an OK card to use lower down the leagues - and he can do OK in lower mana battles with the Crustacean as a second healer - with <20 mana cap it's less likely that the Sea Monster will be critically damaged and killed outright by 3 high damage fast cards as can so easily happen in higher mana battles.

So he has his uses, but for higher mana battles you're better off with (I'm afraid, and not surprisingly) more expensive defensive tanks which soak up more damage with shield or void, otherwise 9 health doesn't go very far with middling speed!

If you don't yet play Splinterlands, why not give it a go?

Anyone using my referral link will receive a free rare card!