😊Hello There!
Another splinter-week has begun, and we have been assigned the theme card 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 for this week's battle. There's a lot more to this death monster than meets the eye, and I'll explain why. But first, if you want to take part in Splinterlands' weekly battle, simply go to 👉SHARE YOUR BATTLE Weekly Challenge! CRYPT BEETLE.

THEME CARD INFORMATION: 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡
EDITION	CHAOS
RARITY	COMMON
ELEMENT	DEATH
LEVEL	2
MANA COST	3 POINT
ATTACK	MELEE
ABILITIES	SHIELD

🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 is a common rare that has the SHIELD ability from level 1 to level 10, with a speed of 2 at level 2. This card however, even In higher league battles like the silver league, doesn't gain any extra, but at Level 10, it's gains 3-range, 4-shield and 5-health but it's speed remains same.

🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 has a decent mana cap of 3, which is great for low mana battles and that's fascinating because it's rare to see monsters with the shield ability at such low mana cost.

The 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 is a melee attack monster and this obviously tells us that it doesn't have a huge tank, hence not best for front-line. Because of it's "Shield" ability though, I think you could place it in second position, but I'd hate to expose it that soon, so i 3rd or 4th is okay. But all this depends on the battle MANA CAP.
It's 2-point Speed is an important factor and this determines the winner and the loser in battle.

To make good use of the card, you'll need to level it up. At Level 1-2, this monster not only has the shield ability, but it also carries a shield that protects it from melee and ranged attacks. You'll be lucky to fight an enemy who doesn't use magical attack monsters, because 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 will be difficult to kill, a good distraction for you to take full control of the battle and win 80% the chance⚔️.

⚔️ THE BATTLE ⚔️

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RULE SET
STANDARD	NO MODIFICATION TO THE STANDARD GAMEPLAY RULES AND MECHANICS
MANA CAPACITY	20
AVAILABLE ELEMENT	ALL

This was a decent 20 mana cap battle, I used the Legendary CRYPT MANCER as my summoner that weakens my enemies lineup by deducting a -1 range, -1speed and -1 health to my enemies at start of battle. It was a standard game having no changes to the ruleset and every type of splinter was allowed in the battle.

⚔️ TEAM LINE-UP ⚔️

BUFF	SUMMONER	ELEMENT
-1 Ranged, -1 Speed and -1 Health		Death

STRATEGY:

I enjoy playing the Death Element, so I had a lot of fun using this fantastic summoner, CRYPT MANCER. It has an intriguing lore, and what makes it great is its ability. For this battle with a melee attack monster, I needed to disarmer the enemy at the start of the battle.

There is the daring WAKA SPIRITBLADE summoner, but he is only available at level 4. This is the second best low mana death summoner, but I don't own him because he's quite expensive (market price 300$-3500$), so I rented him.

POSITION	CARD	ABILITY
Front-line		Thorns

STRATEGY:

As always, I don't like taking chances in battle by underestimating my enemy, so i make sure to set my best front line on this one. The wicked CURSED WINDEKU, a 6-mana point card with 2-melee attacks, 3-speed points, no shield, and 10-health. The CURSED WINDEKU possesses a much needed ability. When the thorn ability is used and the attacker is hit with a melee attack, the attacker takes damage.

POSITION	CARD	ABILITY
Second-line		Snipe

STRATEGY:

Then next comes DEATH ELEMENTAL, a 3 mana cost snipe ability monster that comes in handy in this battle to target enemy monsters with ranged or magic attacks, as well as those with no attacks but not front-liners.

POSITION	CARD	ABILITY
Third-line		Shield

STRATEGY:

Next came the card of the moment 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡. Already introduced and placed him in third as a distraction for my enemy so that at their weakest, it will strike hard.

POSITION	CARD	ABILITY
Fourth-line		Weaken

STRATEGY:

On my fourth position, UNDEAD PRIEST, it is my first time using this card, but the stats got me curious and glad i involved him in this battle. It's another fantastic card because along side the summoner, it also weakens by reducing the health of enemy monsters. Talk of "THE MUMMY😆"

POSITION	CARD	ABILITY
Fifth-line		no-ability

STRATEGY:

This Card for some reason got me curious because anytime i faced a battle with it in my enemy's lineup, i quickly give up, cause i know i have lost and surely so😁. So this time around, i thought to have it in my line up, quiet pricey for a 0 mana cost card, it's excellent.

POSITION	CARD	ABILITY
sixth-line		no-ability

STRATEGY:

The first thing that amazes you about CARRION SHADE, and maybe the card's value, is that it just costs a single point of mana, making it useful as a little tank to take the initial enemy hit or as a late card to shield the star. A monster you can have in your deck without any problem.

As you can see from my lineup, I attempted to provide a balance and focused more on weakening my enemy's monsters. Without further ado, let us now enter the battleground.

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⚔️ROUND 1⚔️

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• Enemy used the Dragon element with DRAKE OF ARNAK as Summoner, and the Fire element as monsters. LIVING LAVA in first position, SERPENTINE SPY in second, SPARK PIXIES in third, and GOBLIN FIREBALLER in last position. Enemy came for a fire-war😆

• Round 1 started with CRYPT MANCER striking enemy monster with a -1 Ranged, -1 Speed and -1 Health and the UNDEAD PRIEST also weakening enemy as expected
• DEATH ELEMENTAL snipes at enemy back line monster GOBLIN FIREBALLER killing it instantly.
• SERPENTINE SPY with an opportunity, goes on to kill my monster FURIOUS CHICKEN cause it had the lowest health.
• Round ends with a strike from LIVING LAVA on CURSED WINDEKU but in turn also get cursed by her thorns

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⚔️ROUND 2⚔️

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• Round 2 begins with a strike from SPARK PIXIES but then DEATH ELEMENTAL snipes a retaliation and kills it instantly.

• Round 2 ends with a missed attack on CURSED WINDEKU by enemy LIVING LAVA.

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⚔️ROUND 3⚔️

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• Round 3 begins with the enemy infuriated and attacks CURSED WINDEKU, get's cursed with thorns -1 and then comes enemy SERPENTINE SPY launching a deadly one on DEATH ELEMENTAL and kills it -1.

• Round 3 ends with more attacks by enemy, an attempt to dominate battle.

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⚔️ROUND 4⚔️

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• In round 4, CURSED WINDEKU strikes at LIVING LAVE killing it instantly, but unfortunately, SERPENTINE SPY takes the opportunity again to strike and kills it. CURSED WINDEKU however doesn't go down without a fight, but curses SERPENTINE SPY, dismantling it's shield -1.

• Then comes 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 , in grand style strikes SERPENTINE SPY and game over.

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⚔️FINAL RESULT⚔️

• The Battle ends in FLAWLESS VICTORY!!!

🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 👉 CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE BATTLE 1

✅Two other Successful battles in which I engaged the 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡👇

👉 CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE BATTLE 2

👉 CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE BATTLE 3

DO I LIKE THIS MONSTER AND WHAT I WOULD'VE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
I can't say for sure whether i do like like this monster card 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡. Normally, one would simply ignore cards like these. However, even at level 1, this card begins with an ability. That's already a slam dunk. This only demonstrates that if you play the death splinter, it is a card to have and keep for lower leagues.
The battle was exciting to watch and I will keep seeking more ways to engage the 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 Monster and also upgrade it to level 10 for the extra Health, Ranged and speed it offers.

DID MY STRATEGY WORK?
Yes, my strategy worked very well. It was a good lineup and strategy for mid-mana battles and even low-ranged such as this one⚔️

🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 is no doubt a decent card, Though in my honest opinion, I don't recommend using this card in higher league battles at all; as it's not that powerful and there are plenty of other better options.

😊That will be all about my weekly battle with 🛡CRYPT BEETLE🛡 as the themed card.

Worthy Notes:

✅All the images are taken from my in-game at WWW.SPLINTERLANDS.COM
✅Cover made in Canva with background image from artist KELLEPICS.
✅My gratitude to @saffisara, @enginewitty and #staytenrocks for the many card gifts, Support and encouragement.
✅Click on Theterminal banner to join Hive's House of Help community.
✅Awesome PIMP Banner by Inthenow.
✅Free to use Splinterlands text dividers by freeztag..

😊Until next Splinterlands Battle, Hive, Vibe & Be Lucky🍀

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