Introduction

A month back, I used the extra DEC that I had to buy five untamed packs and one dice pack. I got lucky with the untamed packs where I got a Byzantine Kitty. I had written about the same some time back. However, what I did not cover was that I got lucky with the dice pack too.

The dice pack got me the Oaken Behemoth, a legendary card trading at $8 per card. That was a cool find. So, while I was happy with the monetary value, I did not play many battles with that card.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks back, and I happened to play a high mana battle. Since the Earth quest was in play, I noticed that the Oaken Behemoth would fit in quite well. Not only fit in, but it also came with the reach-ability. Which meant that I need not use it as a tank and yet get some heavy damages dealt to the opposition.

What I did not expect was the ease with which the Oaken Behemoth single-handedly won the match for me. And I had a self-healing tank, a tank healing monster in the lineup, and despite all of them, the Behemoth won the match for me.

Needless to say, the Behemoth became my obvious choice in many battles. After about fifty to a hundred battles (not sure fifty or hundred 😊), I am here to talk about the Oaken. Let’s get to know it.

But before that, as always, let’s understand the Splinterlands game so that newbies and players intending to play can figure out where to find the Behemoth.

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 that you can play or guilds that you can join.

Just to give you an idea of how lucky you can get in Splinterlands - read my story of getting cards worth $327 for buying few packs worth $20 only.

Got Cards Worth $327 for $20

And this is just a small number. I have witnessed people getting uber-expensive cards in their pack and selling it for as high as $6500. This means the game has interested buyers for your cards too. In fact, there is a whole Splinterlands marketplace.

Now, if all that interests you and you want to try out the game, then I am leaving a link below for you to join.

Scroll down, quick. 😊

Oaken Behemoth | Melee-cum-Magic Attacker

The Oaken Behemoth comes with some staggering stats. You know it is fit for a tank but can do the job even better from the second position. At times, it appears stronger than the tank that I have chosen for the battle. Now, you know what I mean.

The Behemoth comes with a mana cost of twelve, making it one of the costliest monsters to take into battle. However, it comes with a health of nine, has void armor, and a combination of magic and melee attack. Void armor refers to the fact that the magic attacks first hit the armor and only after that can affect the health. Amazing, right? 😊

What is even more fun is to see the Behemoth attack and take down visibly difficult tanks in the opposition’s team. I am talking about dodging tanks that can be affected by the Behemoth’s magic attack, while the regular ones will further be affected by the Behemoth’s melee attack. That’s right – there are two attacks, one after the other in each round by the Oaken Behemoth. It is quite exciting to see. 😊 I am sure you want to see it as well. So, let’s go.

Oaken Behemoth in Battle

Over a period of time, I realized that the Behemoth could fit into medium mana battles too. What I do is take a small mana tank and keep the Behemoth in the second position. The strategy works well, as the opponent’s monsters would be going after the monster at the first position, the Behemoth will continue to remain shielded in the second position. Not only that, but also the Behemoth will launch a massive attack on the opponent from the second position.

Here is the battle that I was entering into:

Imagine that I am okay to take a twelve-man monster into a 22-mana cap battle. That speaks volumes of the Oaken’s ability. This battle has a general rule in play, which means nothing out of the ordinary expected as far as the rules go. The regular ones of keeping the melee in front, the magic behind, and the ranged attackers last.

The Face-Off

Okay, I did not go the regular way. I kept the Earth Elemental, which is a ranged attacker, in the first position. Now, there is a strategy to it. We will soon see the strategy.

But how about first getting to know both the lineups? We will start with the opponent’s lineup.

Summoner: Pyre | Fire Splinter | Ability – Increases the speed of all friendly monsters.

Monsters:

Position 1: Living Lava | A melee attacker with an attack value of three. It also takes reduced hit from melee and ranged attackers.

Position 2: Fire Elemental | Ranged attacker with the blast ability. Its attacks not only affect the monster being attacked but also the monsters in the neighboring positions.

Position 3: Serpentine Spy | Melee attacker with opportunity ability. It will go for the least healthy monster in my lineup.

Position 4: Fire Pixie | Ranged attacker with flying ability. Hard to attack by non-flying monsters.

My thoughts were that the opponent did not get strong magic attackers. That’s something I did. Let’s look at my lineup now.

Summoner: Wizard of Eastwood | Earth Splinter | Ability – Reduces the opponent’s shields by two. This would remove the Living Lava’s shield even before the battle begins. 😊

Monsters:

Position 1: Earth Elemental | Ranged attacker which cannot attack from the first position.

Position 2: Oaken Behemoth | Our champion. It can attack from the second position due to its reach-ability.

Position 3: Wood Nymph | Magic attacker with an attack value of one and tank-healing ability.

Position 4: Furious Chicken | To protect the rear of my lineup and deflect the Serpentine Spy’s attack to itself.

The Battle Begins

The reason for the Earth Elemental in the first position was quite simple. I needed a tank with the least mana cost and high health. There was no other monster fitting the bill than the Earth Elemental. Although the Earth Elemental would not be able to attack, it would do its job of taking attacks from the opponent while the Behemoth does most of the damage from the second position. The Earth Elemental would be similar to a non-attack monster in this battle.

And the Earth Elemental and the Furious Chicken did well to take the attacks from the three monsters in the opponent’s lineup. The last one was from the Living Lava, which most certainly would take out my Earth Elemental. But it was still a good stand because both the Oaken Behemoth and the Wood Nymph were yet to attack.

See the condition of the Living Lava? This was the start of the second round. Very good chance that the Wood Nymph would be taken out by the Fire Elemental’s blast attack followed by the Serpentine Spy’s direct (opportunity) attack. That would leave the Behemoth on its own.

The Battle Races to Conclusion

And that’s what happened – the Oaken Behemoth was standing against the opponent’s entire lineup.

But it was the Behemoth’s turn to attack. The first attack was magic which took out the Living Lava. So, the Fire Elemental came to the first position, which was taken out by the melee attack of the Oaken. Remember, the Oaken Behemoth does a magic and melee attack one after the other.

The attack ensured that the Serpentine Spy came to the first position. Here is how the battlefield appeared:

Both the monsters attacked the Behemoth and took its health down to three. Now, it was the counterattack time. The Spy was gone with the magic attack, and that brought the Fire Pixie to the first position. The Oaken Behemoth then delivered the melee attack to obliterate the opponent’s lineup.

That was it! I won!

Oaken Behemoth| Too Good!

Didn’t I say that the Behemoth can single-handedly take down the opposition? You can make out from my lineup which monster actually caused the most damage and won it for me. That’s why I like the Oaken Behemoth.

And guess what – this is a medium mana battle only. Imagine the damage that the Behemoth can do in big battles when other monsters from my lineup are also attacking. It is just fun to watch.

Also, I have taken the Behemoth into a battle all alone and still won. But then, the least mana cap that the Behemoth can be accommodated in is fifteen – twelve for the Behemoth and three for the summoner. Any lesser mana cap, the Behemoth won’t be able to join. In that sense, there is a whole spectrum where the Behemoth can join and literally play with the opponent’s lineup. 😊

I hope you had fun going through the battle. Get your hands on the Behemoth. It is a good investment to have!!

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**Image Courtesy: Splinterlands