Welcome to part two of my journey through Splinterlands!

In the last post I introduced myself and we got to know all Starter Cards, this time we will have a closer look at the FIRE set. In my opinion it is the strongest starter deck during the UNTAMED iteration.

Let's start with the KOBOLD BRUISER and explain the card basics in Splinterlands. There are 7 key areas that define every Splinterland card (Number 1-7)

1.) the mana cost of your card, i.e.: 3 Mana
Every battle you have certain mana pool you can use to summon your cards.

2.) the attacking power of your card, ie.: 2 melee damage
The higher the better, it reduces the attacked monster´s HP by the number your power has

3.)The acting speed of your card, i.e.: 2 haste
The higher the haster the faster you attack

4.) The Health of your card, i.e. 3 HP
The higher the better, if your cards gets reduced to 0 HP it dies!

5.) The Level of your card, i.e. 1 lvl
I will explain the different levels of a monster in a later blog post, for now just remember this:
the higher the level of a card the higher are their stats,
BUT you need a higher level summoner to play with higher lvl monsters

6.) The rarity of your card, i.e. common
There are 4 different rarities in Splinterlands, (from low to high)
Common (grey), Rare (blue), Epic (purple), Legendary (golden)

3.)The abilites of your card, i.e.: none
special ability of a card can be anything from a heal to flying to blast damage

7.)The armor of your card, i.e.: none
Needs to be reduced to 0, before range and melee monsters (not magic monsters!) can attack the monster´s HP

For a more detailed gameplay guide have a look at the official SPLINTERLANDS page https://splinterlands.com/?p=gameplay

Card is MEDIOCRE!

KOBOLD BRUISER is a melee monster, which means he can only attack from the 1. Position!

Pros:

• 2 melee attack (best attacking power)
• cheap, 3 mana for a 2 attacking power monster

Cons:

• 3 HP, not viable for a melee monster without abilities
• 2 haste the card can´t even attack fast

The only use for this card is when you get in certain battle modes (i.e. melee can attack from all locations).

Conclusion: You can use it in specific battle modes. But the overall stats are bad!

Card is GOOD

SERPENTINE SPY is a melee monster with a special ability so i can attack from all positions.

Pros:

• 2 melee attack (best attacking power)
• Opportunity ability: Monster can attack from every position and targets the monster with the least HP!
• 3 Haste
• Cheap, only 3 Mana for a 2 attacking power monster!

Cons:

• 1 HP

Conclusion: Good card in battles where you have 3 mana to spare and you can manage to keep it alive! ONLY use it when you have room for it! i.e. enough mana and other standard deck cards allready been taken.

Card is BAD!

MAGMA TROLL is a melee monster with the Reach ability (he can also attack from the 2. Position!)

Pros:

• Reach ability
  -- Melee attack (best attack power)

Cons:

• 2 haste and 3 HP (medium low stats)
• 1 attack power (will do zero to shielded monsters

The only use for this card is when you get high enough mana pool games (~40), so you can spare 4 mana for a mediocre 2. position monster.

Conclusion: With the cost of 4 Mana and pretty bad stats the MAGMA TROLL is not worth it. You pay to much to get the ability Reach which isn´t that good anyway.

Card is MEDIOCRE!

GOBLIN FIREBALLER is a low cost range monster.

Pros:

• 2 Mana monster (there aren´t that many in the game)

Cons:

• 1 haste + 1 attacking power + 2 HP
• Range attack (worst attack power)

The only use for this card is when two Mana to spare and you cant choose anything else.

Conclusion: With the cost of 4 Mana and pretty bad stats the MAGMA TROLL is not worth it. You pay to much to get the ability Reach which isn´t that good anyway.

Card is VERY GOOD!

FIRE ELEMNTAL is low HP range monster with one of the best abilities.

Pros:

• 2 range attack power
• 4 Haste (fast)
• Blast ability (makes additional damage to the monsters next to your target)

Cons:

• 2HP
• Range attack (worst attack power)

Conclusion: With a 5 Mana cost, 2 Attack and one of the best abilities FIRE ELEMENTAL is, with LIVING LAVA one of the best fire cards" Only downside is it´s HP. Use it in the backline and try to protect it´s low HP pool.

Card is VERY GOOD!

LIVING LAVA is high cost melee monster and a Tank.

Pros:

• 3 melee attack power
• 2 armor and 6 HP
• Shield ability (best 1. Position ability, cause of halving incoming dmg)

Cons:

• 1 haste
• 7 Mana

The card i use in almost every fire battle!

Conclusion: LIVING LAVA is the best starter card in your deck! It´s your first goto for 1. Position, because of it´s strong tank capabilities. (Shield + 2 Armor + medium high HP). While playing your fast fire decks with PYRE one of the cards Cons (the haste) gets neglected too.

Card is GOOD!

SPARK PIXIES is a really fast range monster.

Pros:

• 2 range attack power
• Flying ability (makes it tanky and sometimes compensates the low HP)
• 5 Haste (really fast attacking monster)

Cons:

• 1 HP (often the first target)
• Range attack (worst attack power)

Conclusion: With the cost of 4 Mana and pretty good stats SPARK PIXIES is a really strong backline monster. But try to avoid it beeing in the 2. starting position. Use it frequently!

PYRE is your summoner, he costs 3 Mana and gives +1 Haste to all of your monsters.
Compared to the other fire summoner, PYRE one of the bad once.
But you can still play him effectivley in the untamed setup, when you make a fast fire deck.

Deck Conclusion
Play a fast fire deck!:

• use fast range/magic monsters like FIRE ELEMENTAL and SPARK PIXIES in the back lines
• Use the Slow ability to enhance your speed even further (i.e. CREEPING OOZE)
• Use a tank in the frontline (i.e. LIVING LAVA)
• Use a healthy monster in the second position

In the next blog post we will have a look at the Life starter cards.
Stay safe in the meantime and i catch you next time!

BE THE GOLD PRINCE JULIAN YOURS!

P.S.
I look forward to any kind of feedback that could help me learn more and develop new strategies for this wonderful game. So don't hesitate to leave comments if you have any suggestions! Thank you, @.Xabi for making the beautiful GIF

Thank you

Yewhos