All About the Second Map in the Escalation Conflict, “Ghezira”

Best regards Splinterlovers 💚

It’s been over a month—almost two months—since I talked about the first card in the “Escalation Conflict” set, called “MEREDROOL,” but now it’s time to talk about the second card in the conflict. It’s a little late, but not too late, because as I write this post, there are 11 days and about 13 hours left until this conflict ends. That means that even though it’s taken me quite a while to explain how the card works and go over those details, the reality is that you’re just 11 days away from learning how to play it and knowing practically everything about it.

This means I’ll continue using the same format I usually use to provide all the details about the cards. As you know, I always start with the design, then the stats, and finally the abilities, along with some basic recommendations on how and where to play it—all so you have an idea of how to use it. Besides, that’s the goal of these posts: to help you gauge the value of this card when it’s released.

So, if you're ready, let's dive into the explanation of the “Ghezira” card and how it might influence the current METAGAME in conjunction with “Rebellion,” “Arcana Conclave,” and now “Escalation.”

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The Design and Statistics of “Ghezira”

Ghezira is a rather unique card, but its design is fairly easy to understand, since it’s basically a kind of warrior werewolf with the ability to grant his team the power to move through the air, as well as weakening the enemy team or, failing that, your own team. However, purely in terms of design, it’s quite elaborate—its features, the shading on its armor, and the overall look of the card fit very well with the Splinter faction to which it belongs. Not only that, but it also makes perfect sense given the “Feliform” lineage it represents.

We already know that all cards now have a specific “Bloodline” and that these can be used to create endless new strategies and/or combinations. It’s not exactly my favorite design, but it’s not bad either. The “Splinterlands” design team has always done a good job, so I have no complaints about it.

Statistics:

This is where the analysis really gets interesting, as I’ll reveal its statistics—which can significantly influence its value, in terms of market price—because, depending on those statistics, we can determine whether it’s a useful, easy-to-use card or one that’s more complicated to use, and this could affect its market value. But without further ado, let’s take a look at what they are:

• Mana: This card is an “Archon” and costs 3 mana to play, which makes it a fairly versatile option; so, to me, this is a clear sign of its value.

• Bloodline Dominion: A characteristic of all new cards—especially the “Archons”—is that they possess the “Bloodline Dominion” ability, which means you can play cards that correspond not only to the splinter they belong to but also to the bloodline they represent.

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NOTE: In addition to this, this card is of “Legendary” rarity, which means that not only do these stats increase its value, but the supply of these cards is clearly lower—and when an asset is scarce, its value is much higher. Of course, we still need to evaluate its abilities, as they are what will determine just how much of an impact this card could have on the battlefield.

"Ghezira" Abilities and Gameplay

Since this card is an “Archon,” its usefulness lies in boosting either its entire team or part of it with the abilities it grants, depending on the type of strategy being used—since everything really depends on how and when we use this card. But to get an idea of how to do this, let’s take a closer look at its abilities and how we might play this card:

Ghezira's Abilities

• Bloodline Dominion: I already mentioned this in the previous stats, but it’s still an intrinsic ability of the card, so it works in two ways, However, the true utility of this ability is that this card can not only select cards from its team that belong to its original “Splinter”—which is “Earth”—but it can also play cards that belong to the same “Bloodline,” in this case “Feliform,” offering many more options than are normally available.

• Flying: This is where it gets interesting, because “Summoning Tactics” come into play—you can choose certain cards, whether yours or your opponent’s, to grant the “Flying” ability to a specific number of cards, in this case between 1 and 3 cards on the field, all before the battle actually begins. Ghezira works exactly the same way, as she can grant up to 3 cards the “Flying” ability, which can boost both their attack and defense at the same time.

• Weary: It also functions as a summoning tactic, just as I explained in the previous section, but in this case, instead of 3 cards, it can grant the “Weary” ability to 2. The effect of this ability is that at the start of Round 1, Weary cards have a 10% chance of becoming Exhausted; however, the best part is that as the rounds progress, this probability increases by 10% each round, reaching a maximum of 80%. Best of all, these units skip their turn to attack, preventing them from even being able to take “Retaliation.”

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NOTE: The ideal strategy with this card and the tactics it provides is to apply “Flying” to 3 of my cards to give them attack and defense, while applying “Weary” to 2 of my opponent’s cards to weaken them and prevent them from acting with each passing round. This way, you’ll weaken their cards on the “Offense” and be able to take control of the battle. This is how you play “Ghezira.”

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Conclusion

With that in mind, I think this card will hold its value well on the market; however, to wrap up my thoughts on the card, I believe it may be quite situational despite its versatility, which could, to some extent, cause its price to stagnate—though, as I said, this is just my opinion and is essentially speculation.

So, let me know what you think of this card. Do you think it will be useful and that it will be part of the current META in Splinterlands? Leave a comment.