Introduction

The Gorlodon is the newest card as new can be. It was introduced just an hour ago, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. The stats in the card reveal had got me interested enough to buy the card if I did not get the airdrop, but as luck would have it, I got the airdrop. 😊

The best part was that I got three cards in the airdrop, so I bought one more and leveled it up to level two. The only stat change at level two is the attack value. The attack value increases to four, and that’s a good one for a monster with reach ability.

By the way, when you look at the above image that was put up on the lore, you realize that the fish is a shark. Mann, Gorlodon is huge and probably the tormentor of the depths!

Anyway, the Gorlodon is an Epic card with reach-ability. That is something most would have known, but its strong health makes it one of the best to be in the second position. I will explain why in a moment.

Before that, can we take a few seconds to talk about Splinterlands? I think we should. After all, readers need to know where to find the Gorlodon. 😊

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.

If all that interests you and you want to try out the game, then I leave a link below for you to join.

Scroll down, quick. 😊

The Gorlodon | Awesome Reach Attacker

So, I was talking about the Gorlodon and why it makes for a great reach attacker. You see, it is a strong companion when facing the blast attack rule. One of the things with the blast ability is that while the tank sustains most of the attacks, the monsters in the second position also have to be strong. The problem is that there are not many strong reach attackers. That means the monsters in the second and third positions end up perishing faster even if they are not attacked directly.

This problem becomes further difficult as we use a taunt monster as the tank. As most would know, the taunt monster would attract all the attacks to it itself, and if the blast ability is in play, then the monster in the second position would also be attacked incessantly. Here is why we need a strong reach monster almost as good as the tank. And the Gorlodon does that part pretty well. I will talk about the battle involving the blast ability in a moment, but before that, we will talk about the new card – The Gorlodon.

Even at the base level, the card is quite strong. It comes with health of twelve and an attack value of three. The high mana cost of nine would make it a serious contender only for high mana battles as much as occasional medium ones. It is difficult to see it playing low mana battles unless we intend to use it as the tank. Even then, it would be a tough ask to fit the Gorlodon in low mana battles.

Focusing on the stats, the Gorlodon comes with reach-ability and, therefore, would find itself stationed in the second position most of the time. It shows impressive growth in stats as we level up. Take a look here:

The two most important things keep on rising through the leveling up process. The attack value goes up to six, whereas the abilities get a further boost of two. The Gorlodon gets the true-strike-ability at level three, and that is just for a mere ten cards. At the current rate, that is about $2.5. Also, at level five, it gets the enraged ability. Most of us would know the enrage ability as there is a rule in play, so no need for me to explain. 😊

If the leveled-up stats weren’t impressive, wouldn’t you love the fact that the Gorlodon is quite strong even at the base level? It is as good as a second-in-tank in a game!!

Let’s see how it fares in battle.

The Gorlodon in Battle

Here is one battle with the blast rule in play. I thought it was the best one to test out the Gorlodon.

Like I mentioned before when the tank is a taunt monster, and there is a blast rule in play, the most tested monster is the monster in the second position. That’s where we will be placing the Gorlodon today. Let’s see how it fares.

The rule itself is not very friendly for the Gorlodon. Not only the blast rule but also the earthquake rule is in play. Since it is not a flying monster, the Gorlodon will bear the brunt of the earthquake rule too. The only thing going for the Gorlodon is the high mana cap.

Anyway, let’s see it in battle.

The Face-Off

The reading from the initial battle face-off screen wasn’t much.

The only difference was the Gorlodon acting as a shield in the second position while the Fineas Rage was the shield for the opponent.

So, why not get to know the entire lineup of both the players. I realized I wasn’t up against a player but a bot. Well, it wouldn’t make much of a difference, I guess.

Let’s look at the opponent’s lineup.

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

Monsters:

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

Position 2: Fineas Rage | Melee attacker with an attack value of two and reach-ability. It can attack from the second position.

Position 3: Spirit Miner | Magic attacker with an attack value of two.

Position 4: Fire Pixie | Ranged attacker with an attack value of two. It has the flying ability and is hence shielded from the earthquake rule.

Position 5: Zalran Efreet | Magic attacker with an attack value of two. It has the life-leech ability and hence will have its health improve with each attack.

Position 6: Pyromancer | Ranged attacker with an attack value of two. It has blast ability.

The opponent’s lineup was good, but it did not have many flying monsters. So, I thought that it might end up going against that team.

Anyway, on to my monsters.

Summoner: Contessa L’ament | Death Splinter | Ability – Reduces the opponent’s ranged attackers’ attack value by one.

Monsters:

Position 1: Dark Ha’on | Melee attacker with an attack value of two. It has the taunt and flying ability. As such, it would take all the attacks from the opponent’s monsters but would be unaffected by the earthquake rule.

Position 2: The Gorlodon | Our champion. It has an attack value of four and a health of twelve. It also has reach-ability making it possible for it to attack from the second position.

Position 3: Fallen Specter | Magic attacker with an attack value of one. It has the flying ability and hence unaffected by the earthquake rule.

Position 4: Ancient Lich | Strong magic monster with an attack value of three. It has the life-leech ability and so will grow in strength with each attack.

Position 5: Soul Storm | Strong ranged attacker with an attack value of three. It has the flying ability and hence will remain unaffected by the earthquake rule.

Position 6: Cornealus | Ranged attacker with an attack value of one. It has affliction ability and can prevent opponent’s monsters from healing.

A closer look makes me confident that I may be able to see this battle through. Besides, the Gorlodon is a big plus compared to the Fineas Rage when it comes to sustaining blast attacks.

Let’s see how it goes.

The Battle Begins

Midway through the battle, there wasn’t much to read between the two teams.

The point to notice is that both the reach monsters were holding quite well. But not for long.

This was Gorlodon’s attack and what it did was it took out the Living Lava. Not only that, but also the blast took out the Fineas Rage. So, in one stroke, two of the leading monsters of the opponent were gone.

The Gorlodon was making its presence felt.

The Battle Races to Conclusion

Midway through the second round, my Dark Ha’on was still standing. However, the opponent was losing monsters quickly. It was the Spirit Miner bidding farewell to us. 😊

The Ha’on’s luck ran out when Zalran Efreet took it out. And that bough the Gorlodon to the front. You can imagine the number of hits the Gorlodon has taken and yet survived. Not bad, in my opinion. But the game was far from over.

Or it was over. 😊 The Ancient Lich’s final blow took out Zalran Efreet, and due to the subsequent blast, the Pyromancer also perished. That completed the battle in my favor.

Notice that the Gorlodon is still standing. How cool is that!! 😊

The Gorlodon | Incredible Second Tank

What could be a better testimony to the Gorlodon’s worth in a battle than this one? It faced blast after blast and still stood firm till the end. Not to mention the fact that it also faced the earthquake rule. As such, it faced everything that the Ha’on faced and more. Isn’t that right? Yes, it is.

Now, this was one of the toughest battles for the Gorlodon. Any other battle would be far easier for it to stand tall. Of course, there would be permutations and combinations, but mostly, the Gorlodon would end up on the winning side. The real battle would be when both the opponent and I used the Gorlodon. 😊

Well, I am pretty impressed with the card, and I am pretty sure it would make it to the team every single time there is a high mana battle. So, if there is anything further interesting, I would surely let you’ll know. In the meantime, enjoy playing with the Gorlodon!

Have fun! 😊

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**Image Courtesy: Splinterlands