Share Your Battle - Crypt Beetle Survives 7 Rounds With 2 HP

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The theme for the current "Share Your Battle" challenge is Crypt Beetle, and my impression is that it is a very situational card and only does well in battles such as Equaliser and Little League.

As usual, here's a portion of the lore for Crypt Beetle:

Any explorers that delve too deeply into the crypts, mausoleums, and necropolises of the world will find a foe they are unprepared for. Not undead, not liches, and not other monsters that can be found in the deep. Instead, tales are told of the crypt beetles. Enormous insects that are found feeding on the corpses within. Most explorers think they are a mere nuisance and will try to scare them away from whatever tomb they are choosing to rob.

But things don't end well for those explorers. These large beetles will defend themselves and their food aggressively. And any explorer that makes it back out alive will have impressive scars to show from the crypt beetle's bite.

Battle Type & Team Lineup
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PositionCardNotes
SummonerThaddius BroodI like to pick Death for Little League battles but the results are mixed, as I would explain in more detail below. The positive part is most cards in Little League do not have high HP and -1 HP from the Death Summoner makes the opposing cards more vulnerable.
1Crypt BeetleMost players would go for Xenith Monk which has 6 HP (one of the highest for Little League) but if you think about it, having a Shield ability can be more precious than HP in certain occasions. In Little League, most cards only have 1 Melee or 1 Range damage and Shield neutralises all of them. The only risk is Fire lineups where they have a boost in damage from the Summoner and Magic lineups where 2 HP will be taken out quickly.
2Undead PriestThis was a recommendation by @koodies. As if it wasn't bad enough to receive -1 HP from the summoner, Undead Priest stacks another -1 HP and that's effectively -2 HP across the board. At least half of the cards should be left with 1 HP for Little League battles.
3Death ElementalWith Thaddius Brood and Undead Priest doing the hard work to reduce the HP, it's time to throw in cards with Snipe to take out the backline. Death Elemental is one good card to do the job as its speed is decent.
4RiftwingRiftwing comes in handy in the middle to protect cards behind, e.g. Ranged cards which cannot attack on the first position or cards that need more time to leech life.
5Twisted JesterTwisted Jester works hand in hand with Death Elemental to Snipe the backline and 2 damage can be quite damaging for Little League, except when opponents have armor, e.g. Water lineup or Life lineups.
6Venari BonesmithVenari Bonesmith comes in behind to maximise the Life Leech ability, but it is always tricky to use such cards. It can be Sneaked out or if the opposing tank has Void, there is no damage and no life leeched. Even though this card is quite popular, I don't use it that often.
  • Pre Battle: I was greeted with a Water Magic lineup, which on first glance is terrible for Crypt Beetle, but it's a Snipe battle so it's safe! As expected, my opponent picked Xenith Monk and if you think about it, Crypt Beetle would win a 1v1 fight after 6 rounds.
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  • Round 1: Like I mentioned earlier, with -2 HP across the board, most of the cards are left with 1 HP. However, a cumulative 5 Magic damage sent both my Undead Priest and Death Elemental out! And the Water lineup meant Twisted Jester needed extra hits to get through armor. Things certainly weren't looking good, but Venari Bonesmith has started the Life Leech. Will there be enough time to amass HP though?
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  • Round 2: While Crypt Beetle continued its solo fight against Xenith Monk at the front, Twisted Jester struck out one card on the opposing end and Riftwing absorbed all the damage and held steady to protect the rest behind. 1 more HP leeched by Venari Bonesmith.
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  • Round 3: No change in front, but both teams lost 1 card each. Riftwing went out and it was a race against time at the backlines. While Crypt Beetle was winning the fight in front, it still need 4 more rounds to finish off Xenith Monk. Fortunately, Venari Bonesmith's HP had gone to 6.
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  • Round 4: Twisted Jester was hanging to its last HP while Crypt Beetle still need the backline to hang on for 3 more rounds. Will Venari Bonesmith's 7 HP be enough?
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  • Round 5: Twisted Jester went out and it seemed that Venari Bonesmith would be able to hold on.
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  • Round 6: One round more for Crypt Beetle to win the tank battle and Venari Bonesmith's Life Leech turned this battle around after a bad start.
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  • Round 7: Woohoo! Crypt Beetle held on untouched for 7 rounds!
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If you are interested to watch the battle, you can find it here.

Post Battle

Did my strategy work? I would prefer to say my gamble paid off. Picking Crypt Beetle was the perfect counter for Xenith Monk and Riftwing bought a lot of time for the team, followed by Venari Bonesmith which turned into a monster after all the life leeching. That said, these cards or strategies are probably more suited for Little League battles.

Do I like Crypt Beetle? Yes but only low mana fights and Little League battles. Digressing from this, I think it's because Cursed Windeku is too good a tank in the Death starter deck and one would have to look to Harklaw for a upgrade.

Final thoughts? Use Crypt Beetle at your own risk! It really depends on the opposing lineup! ;)

So that's all I have! What are your takeaways from this battle? Feel free to comment below, as I am always keen to learn and improve!

As always, thanks for reading and have a pleasant day ahead!

If you are interested to sign up to play Splinterlands, my referral link is here.

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