This week's battle challenge focuses on the Elven Cutthroat:

Card Details

An alpha/beta edition common rarity monster from the Neutral Splinter at level 5:

• Estimated cost: ~$95
• Mana cost: 3
• Magic damage: 2
• Speed: 4
• Health: 3
• Sneak ability: Targets the last Monster on the enemy Team instead of the first Monster.

I am getting severe Zelda vibes from the Elven Cutthroat artwork, and maybe that was the original inspiration for it. The Elven Cutthroat may seem tiny, but she can damage unsuspecting foes in battle with two swords and the sneak ability. The pros of the Elven Cutthroat are that it has a low mana cost, from the Neutral splinter, can be utilized in many rulesets, and has good speed at level 5. The cons of the Elven Cutthroat are that it has low health, doesn't do enough damage, and is expensive for what it offers. It needs to be protected in battle, or else it will perish very quickly before it's able to inflict any damage in the battle.

Battle - Full Battle Replay

Battle Details

• Mana cap: 21
• Rulesets(s): Equal Opportunity, Little League

Lineup Details

• Lyanna Natura (Summoner): +1 health to friendly monsters
• Biceratops: primary melee tank
• Grumpy Dwarf: support melee damage
• Elven Cutthroat: support sneak damage
• Brownie: speed and damage buffs
• Screeching Vulture: support melee damage
• Earth Elemental: primary range damage

Did your strategy work? What will you try differently next time?

This battle went way better than expected. It's always a challenging battle whenever you go up a Water splinter and inevitable magic damage barrage. However, the rulesets this time went in my favor. I decided to front-load melee damage and took advantage of the Equal Opportunity ruleset. My opponent chose to pack his backline with magic damage monsters (9 damage in total). What worked in my favor is my backline had a decent combo of speed and damage, and therefore they were able to dispatch those magic monsters in a relatively quick time. This battle allowed the Elven Cutthroat to illustrate her strengths while being protected by two tanks and supported by other monsters. Paired with the Lyanna Natura and Brownie, you'd be surprised how far 1 point of extra health, extra speed, and extra damage go in these low mana cap battles.

Do you like the Elven Cutthroat? Why or why not?

Over time, I had regretted not buying more Elven Cutthroats when she was cheap, so I could level her up to at least level 6, where she would gain more speed. However, that ship has sailed long past as I will not pay close to $100 to get one extra speed. I wasn't around for the alpha/beta packs in circulation, but the Elven Cutthroat seems like a pack filler type of monster. Luckily being a sneak monster, there are many alternatives to Elven Cutthroat if you felt that you missed the boat. The new epic reward card, Uraeus, has very similar stats to the Elven Cutthroat, and best of all, you can potentially acquire it if you are lucky when completing your daily quests. Therefore, Elven Cutthroat should be only for completionists who want to collect all cards or for players with deeper pockets.

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