This week's battle challenge focuses on the Stone Golem:
Card Details
An alpha/beta edition rare rarity monster from the Earth Splinter at level 5:
Estimated cost: ~$150
Mana cost: 5
Melee damage: 2
Speed: 2
Armor: 3
Health: 6
Shield ability: Reduced damage from Melee and Ranged attacks.
Stun ability: When a Monster with Stun hits a target, it has a chance to stun the target causing it to skip its next turn.
This is the 4th challenge in a row that focuses on the Alpha/Beta edition cards. The Stone Golem is quite a popular character trope in DnD and recently spiked in popularity by being a monster character in the new hit PC game, Valheim. I have a level 5 Stone Golem, which has decent stats for a support tank. I like the combination of the Shield and Stun ability as it takes reduced damage and has a chance of preventing an enemy monster from attacking the next round if Stun procs. The Stone Golem can serve as a primary tank in low mana cap battles, but I tend to use Flesh Golem more as a primary tank due to having more health and more damage.
Battle - Full Battle Replay
Battle Details
Mana cap: 46
Rulesets(s): Healed Out, Rise Of The Commons
Lineup Details
Lyanna Natura (Summoner): +1 health to all friendly
Stone Golem: primary tank
Prismatic Energy: magic reflect tank
Sand Worm: DPS sneak melee damage
Centauri Mage: magic damage tank + armor buffs
Mushroom Seer: poison and silence debuffs + support magic damage
Javelin Thrower: primary range damage
Did your strategy work? What will you try differently next time?
It took five losing battles before I could work out a strategy that worked for the Stone Golem. The 6th battle was up against Selena Sky, a legendary Dragon Splinter summoner, so it was bittersweet to get a victory against it. As I mentioned above, I hardly use the Stone Golem as I tend to always go for the Flesh Golem. Nonetheless, the strategy that finally worked out was repairing Stone Golem's armor which proved vital in keeping it alive as long as it did. This strategy was essential as it allowed Stone Golem to remain in position one and then enable the backline to inflict most of the damage in the battle. I don't see the Stone Golem as a traditional beefy tank, but it served its role quite well in this battle. It survived long enough to inflict damage and Stun, while Centauri Mage Protect could repair Stone Golem's armor. When Stone Golem had fallen, its job was done and allowed the rest of the team to pick up the scraps and win the battle.
Do you like the Stone Golem? Why or why not?
As I mentioned above, I generally prefer to use Flesh Golem when playing Earth Splinter and play a melee tank. There are specific rulesets and battles like Rise of the Commons, low mana cap battles where you can find a use case to use Stone Golem. The Stone Golem is in good company when you look for monsters with a Shield and Stun abilities combo: Frost Giant, Lord of Darkness, and Chain Golem. All these monsters are vastly superior in comparison to Stone Golem, and their prices show it. Would I spend $150 today on purchasing a level 5 Stone Golem? No, I'd rather save the money and look for other options.
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