Splinterlands Share Your Battle Challenge: Defender of TRUTH!

Every time I enter the General Chat on the discord I hear people being treated unfairly... if only the Defender of Truth were there to rectify all these injustices, to right the wrong of this world, to defend not only truth but justice! This week we look at a card that initially made its debut way back in the ALPHA days. A throwback card that is often overlooked by players of lower levels! Why? Well, it doesn't seem like much at first glance. We'll need to examine further to see how much this card can bring to the table.. and whether it is worthy of its name.

Let's have a look at the card art!

That's a lot of whipped cream!

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My opinion on the card design: I fear that I joined the party much too late to have any right to comment on the masterful design of the Alpha card. And by party, of course, I mean all the people who joined when you could buy a Kron for $10 and now have accounts worth thousnads of... I mean, hang on. I think I've gotten a bit off-topic! I do appreciate this lovely art that the Alpha cards frame with such magnificence and quality. Honestly, the lower middle part being bare is a bit of an oversight in my opinion- why is nothing there? It looks like where something would be written, perhaps? All the same the heavenly clouds (which actually also look like very frothy whipped cream if you ask me - not that you asked me of course-) make a glorious impression. What about the character's design? Well for someone who's been an anime fan among other things, it's hard not to be reminded of the anime series of the 80s and one in particular which, of course, I will not name unless you force me to. I think it looks great!~

My History with this card: In all honesty... my history with this card began the day that I rented it in order to enter this battle challenge! When I saw it was an Alpha, I did decide that I should rent an alpha version, and I also went with a level 2 just to really do it justice.

Official Lore: "The Defender of Truth is a powerful wizard of Khymeria, as well as an important political figure for the Order of the Silver Shield. When the Khymian warriors march to war, the Defender of Truth is their General. He inspires his troops with the divine protection of the Silver Shield." -Splinterlands.com

Unofficial Lore: Knights are, of course, a well-known part of human history, specifically in European history. This kind of armor is reminiscent of knights in the middle ages, though the cape and the color design is unlikely to have appeared in recorded history. Furthermore, there is no factually backed chronicle of recorded history that mentions the use of weaponized magical energy so let's not try too hard to combine fantasy lore with history!

Stats from Splinterlands:

Looking at these stats, ...

Let's look at the level-ups and note any important milestones:

1. Base level Stats as seen on the card

2. An increase of 1 magic attack ~ a massive boost to this unit's offensive capabilities.

3. An increase of speed & the addition of the Protect skill ~ Important milestone here. Protect is a skill which gives every member of the current team +2 armor at the beginning of the battle, which are removed either when destroyed or when this unit is eliminated. It is always of great use to have additional armor, especially for cards that don't have any of their own.

4. An increase of 1 health.

5. An increase of 1 magic and decrease of 1 health.

6. An increase of 1 health.

Recommended level:

Taking these milestones into account, a minimum of level 2 of this card is STRONGLY recommended, since keeping pressure on the opposing frontline in a consistent matter is important. Magic attack, especially cannot be blocked by shields and cannot miss, so every bit of additional magic given is important. However, the greatest benefit given by this unit is unlocked at level 3, where it gains the Protect ability.

The battle! Click here for the BATTLE!

Setting: Ranked match in Silver 2, month of November, 2021
Opponent: OTEPZXCKI, using the majestic Contessa L'ament.
Ruleset was the following....

• Total Mana Cost Allowed: 44
• Splinters Allowed: ALL
• Special Conditions: Back to Basics

Back to Basics simply means that units lose ALL abilities (though this does not mean that summoner effects are cancelled out. In fact, even abilities granted by summoners, such as Thorns by Mylor Crowling and, in this case, Holy Shield, by Lorna Shine, do count since they are applied at the start of the battle).

Battle Plan

It had been several matches for which I was trying to find the opportune moment to give this Defender of Truth a real shot at some action. When I see a high Mana count, I immediately think of the Life and Earth splinters. In this case, it was a pretty easy choice. I wanted to pick a faction in which I have cards with strong raw stats (Health, Speed, Ranged/Melee/Magic Attack, Armor) for their cost. My level 2 Defender of Truth was one of them. I went with Lorna Shine, because I feel that the special ability would give me a slight advantage in this scenario... and also because she is the leveled up summoner I have available in order to use the level 2 version of Defender of Truth for the additional 1 magic attack. I was prepared for any set up the opponent could give, since, of course, all factions were available I had no way to predict what could come. This is also why there's a healthy mix of physical and magic attack on my team.

View of the Battlefield

Battle Lineup

Summoner: Lorna Shine: I'll be honest here... this was the only leveled up Life Splinter summoner available to me. It does not take away the fact that I find Lorna Shine to be a strong choice for Life, denying an entire hit to the enemy for each of my cards on the field.

Position 1: Elven Defender: I mean... when else would you really use this card at level 1? It's got great stats and no abilities. Perfect.

Position 2: War Chaang: A pseudo-reach unit with its combination of ranged and melee. A perfect choice here, since it can attack harder when the original tank dies, but also contribute from the second row.

Position 3: Defender of Truth: Our hero! I consider this the best spot for one of the main damage dealers of the team, who has 1 armor.

Position 4: Djinn Renova: The second damage dealer here, without armor, placed before the ranged units still.

Position 5: Air Elemental: Another Alpha Edition card to cheer on Defender of Truth. This card has amazing stats and is a perfect choice here.

Position 6: Cyclops: Simply for the 2 attack.

Did it Work?

This was definitely a resounding success and the Truth was indeed defended. Interestingly, my opponent did not choose cards with armor, apart from the first one. I believe that this was not an ideal set up, considering as well that most of the cards my opponent is using rely quite heavily on the bonus that is granted by their special attribute (Cornealus' Heal, Jester's Snipe, Harklaw's Shield, etc. I simply won by virtue of better stats, but it does have to be said that the extra 1 hit of damage ignored thanks to Lorna's Holy Shield had an impact as well.

What did our Weekly Unit do?

Defender the Truth! In this case, the truth being that stats do matter, and that 2 magic damage is a significant contribution to a full frontal barrage on the opponent. I was very pleased with the damage output and speed of the unit in this set up. Well done!

Based on this information, let's have a quick look at the current market value of this card in our COST ANALYSIS for a Level 1 Defender of Truth:

Beta Version:

Current Low price (1card): $58.89 (wow!!)
Current Best price (per BCX): $43.00
Current High Bid: $37.51
Current Market Value: $42.997

Alpha Version:

Current Low price (1card): $154.00 (even more wow!)
Current Best price (per BCX): $43.00
Current High Bid: $86.719
Current Market Value: $46.00

Recommended Usage

Summoner(s): Delwyn Dragonscale. A unit that utilizes magic is always benefitted by the +1 magic provided by this Dragon summoner. Nevertheless, the Defender of Truth, once level 3, would fit with Mother Khala and Lorna Shine just as well, due to the incredible power of giving everybody +2 armor.
Rulesets: Back to Basics. It worked!
League: I would recommend this card more to higher leagues than lower, as its true capability is unlocked at level 3. I would say Gold and above.

Not Recommended when...

This unit would provide very little benefit in the rulesets that eliminate armor, and would give diminishing returns in the ruleset Armored Up in which every unit is already given +2 armor.

Conclusions

I was pleasanty surprised with this card that I had never used before. Discovering that it gets the armor ability at level 3 really impressed me.

Personal Opinion

If you all donate me A LOT of money I will buy a level 3 version of this card and use it always! Thanks in advance! All joking aside, I find the card has a lot of potential and can be of great utility to early collectors or very wealthy investors.

Be sure to join Splinterlands if you enjoy a TCG that allows for a myriad of battle tactics. If you're interested, I invite you to utilize my referral link:
https://splinterlands.com?ref=letsjam