Introduction

We take a look at a melee monster this week. The card that we will discuss in detail and see in battle is the Spineback Wolf. The most impressive attribute of the card is its speed. At level one, it has a speed value of six. I mean, most monsters at the maxed-out state have that kind of a speed. That means that almost always, the Spineback would be the first one to attack. Good card to have.

The other reason to like the card is for its "reach" ability. Now, players of the game would know that a good melee attacker is hardly of any use if not used in the first position. There aren’t many melee attackers which could be useful in the second position or any other position barring the first. Of course, those with opportunity, sneak, and reach are the exceptions.

Of all these, I like the reach monsters better. Why? You see, when the enemy uses a blast attack, the reach monsters act as a shield in the second position. Besides, they can always counterattack from that position. So, that makes them quite a useful card in the second position.

I am sure we would want to know a lot more about the Spineback. Let’s get on with it, but before that, let’s take a moment to understand Splinterlands as a game. It would help newbies and wannabes. 😊

So, let’s get going.

What Game is Splinterlands?

Well, it is one of the earliest blockchain-based collectible games. Though I started playing the game relatively late, I should have had gotten going early in hindsight. Anyway, no need to despair. There are so many opportunities no matter when you start.

Splinterlands is a digital card game that allows you to collect, trade, battle, rent, and even earn on the cards. It is one of the most generous games that I have seen where cards, potions, Dark Energy Crystals (DEC. Cryptocurrency) are given out every day to thousands of players for just playing and winning daily quests. And there are tournaments or guilds that you can join.

Just to give you an idea of a few of the uber-expensive cards, take a look at this recent purchase of Prince Julian at USD 3500.

Card Purchase Contract: Gold Foil Prince Julian

Did you go to the link and see for yourself? I hope you did. And I hope that gives an overview of the game. I just love the game, and those interested can go to Splinterlands’ site and join. If you want a link to join, I will leave one at the end of the article, which you can use.

Scroll down, quick. 😊

Spineback Wolf | The Melee Attacker With Reach

Other than the speed, the Spineback Wolf has armor. Now, I am a fan of melee attackers with armor because it helps them stay alive longer. A monster with reach and armor is always an asset, even in the case of the opponent’s blast monsters. So, yeah, the Wolf ticks the box for us.

The only thing that would worry me a bit would be the health. At the base level, the Spineback has health of just three. That’s got to be less. The good part is that it will not be used as a tank in the first position. On the flip side, if the tank is lost too soon, then the Spineback may have trouble holding on its own.

However, how well the Spineback works will depend on the strategy that the player follows. So, it’s not always the card. It is also the player’s strategy during a battle.

Talking about the battle, let’s look at the Wolf in battle.

Spineback Wolf in Battle

The Spineback Wolf is a card that can easily work in case of low mana battles, as much as medium and high mana ones. I would still prefer it for low mana battles and maybe medium mana battles. And I was presented a chance under one of the rules.

The battle that we will see soon was a 15 mana battle with armor rule in play. Common monsters could not be used in the game. That was fine as my Spineback, and its companions could easily participate in the battle.

Let’s see how things panned out.

The Face-Off

The opponent was smart to use the Earth Splinter and the Wizard of Eastwood. That is the best summoner to neutralize the armor rule.

Here is how we were at the beginning of the battle.

As I mentioned, the opponent’s summoner and the Unicorn Mustang were strong cards. These alone were easy to take away the game from me. Besides, the armor for my monsters would be gone once the battle starts. The opponent also had a magic monster in tow, but the last melee attacker was in the wrong spot. It was a monster with the reach ability and hence would not be effective from the third spot.

Coming to my monsters, I had gone with the Death Splinter and Zintar Mortalis as the summoner. The summoner would work in reducing the attack values of the opponent’s melee attackers. That would work in my favor. So, the Unicorn Mustang would have a reduced attack value. The choice of monsters was – Haunted Monster in the first position, Spineback Wolf in the second spot, and the Undead Archer in the third spot.

I chose the Undead Archer to take care of self-healing monsters if any. Also, the Wolf would do justice as a “reach” attacker from the second position. The Haunted Spirit in the first position would make a decent attack and self-heal. I am counting on it to keep the momentum going in my favor.

Spineback Attacks | Opponent Appears Stronger

The Spineback Wolf was the first to attack because of its speed advantage, but it did not seem to faze the Mustang much. My Haunted Spirit, though, was not having things easy. At this point in the game, it sure looked in favor of the opponent.

But strangely enough, just after a couple of misses and self-healing, my Haunted Spirit still stood while the Mustang was on its last breath.

The Spineback’s persistent attack and the Mustang’s truncated attack value played in my favor. After the Mustang, I did not see much of an issue in quickly completing the formalities.

The Battle Races to Conclusion

Take a look at my Spirit healing back further.

This was also the first time the opponent’s third monster came into play. Since it was a reach monster, it was attacking my Haunted Spirit. However, both the opponent’s attacks were not enough to dent my Haunted Spirit as it would heal back by the same amount.

The Spineback disposed off the opponent’s magic attacker, and that bought the last melee attacker to the front.

One attack each from the Undead Archer and the Haunted Spirt took off the opponent’s melee attacker’s armor. That left it plain and open for the final assault from my Spineback Wolf. And it had already lunged towards the opponent’s melee monster.

And that did it. Our champion, the Spineback Wolf, completed the formalities for me. I won.

Come to think of it, the Spineback took out two of the opponent’s monsters and did enough to dent the Mustang too. It was one of my main cards in this game, along with the self-healing Haunted Spirit!

Do I Use the Spineback Wolf Often?

The Spineback Wolf is great for low mana battles and, in some cases, medium mana battles. But there wouldn’t be many places for it in high mana battles. It is a companion of choice in some cases, while I completely overlook it in others.

The other issue is the base Spineback with a single attack value could be of no use if the opponent used a tank like the Living Lava. The Lava would only take half of the attack values, which means the Spineback’s attacks would go empty. So, not a great proposition.

These were just a few of the cases which would make me choose some other card.

Where Else Does the Spineback Wolf Fit In?

The Spineback would work wonders in the health-equalizer rule. With an enhanced health value, it would be good. I would love to use the Spineback Wolf from level four and above as its attack value increases. That would make its attack potent.

Of course, the rules like odd only monsters make the Spineback the right choice for battles. I mean, there wouldn’t be many good cards out there anyways. These are cases where the Wolf is the automatic choice even in high mana battles, sometimes.

How Does the Wolf Level Up?

The Spineback’s leveling up is quite impressive. We see improvement across the board. I mean, health, armor, attack value and ability, all get an increase. Speed remains constant as it is one of the fastest, even at the base level. 😊

The Wolf gets thorns at level five, and at this stage, it has enhanced health and attack value. A level five Wolf is also good enough, in my opinion. But then there is more as we level up further.

The armor increases to a maximum value of two while the attack goes up to three. The health doubles from the base level and is at six when maxed out. The Spineback at the topmost level is quite a decent card.

A player can choose to invest in it. In hindsight, (Spine)back Wolf getting thorns is more like something it should obviously have. Spine, thorns, get it? No? Never mind. 😊

Spineback Wolf | Useful Reach Attacker

There is nothing much to deny the fact that the Spineback is a great card in the second position. A maxed-out Wolf would be too bad for the opponent. We have a lot going in our favor when we use the Wolf in battle!

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Image Courtesy: Splinterlands