Cheaper alternatives to Hydra || Ep. #88 || Splinterlands
One of my favourite splinterlands posts to write it is finding cheaper alternatives to outlandishly expensive cards. I have done a couple of these in the past, and they have been well received.
There are many cards that I don't have in my splinterlands deck, and I don't have a goal of collecting all cards. However, there is one that eludes me. I had a chance to pick it up late last year for half its current price.
What makes Hydra so sought after?
The Hydra is a Beta edition legendary monster from the Neutral Splinter. It has many features that make it an attractive card to me - good speed, good melee damage, good health, not too high mana cost and excellent abilities (heal, thorns and retaliate). To begin the search for potential alternatives, I will use the following combinations and look for cards that meet the criteria at the lowest level:
- Melee damage 3+, Heal ability.
- Melee damage 3+, Heal & Thorns ability.
- Melee damage 3+, Heal & Retaliate ability.
- Melee damage 3+, Heal & Trample ability.
Melee damage 3+, Heal ability
card | level | mana | health | armor | speed | melee | ability | cost |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hydra | 1 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 3 | Heal | $24.75 |
Sacred Unicorn | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | Heal | $7.99 |
Sea Monster | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Heal | $0.28 |
Cerberus | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | Heal | $11.16 |
Flesh Golem | 4 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | Heal | $13.30 |
Haunted Spirit | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 3 | Heal | $4.95 |
Red Dragon | 3 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 4 | Heal | $99.99 |
As soon as you have a common level 1 monster in the category, it will almost always be the cheapest in this category. The Sea Monster is a reward card that many players would've gotten when it was still in print in their daily quest reward.
Melee damage 3+, Heal & Thorns ability
card | level | mana | health | armor | speed | melee | ability | cost |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hydra | 2 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 3 | Heal, Thorns | $69.99 |
Sea Monster | 6 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 5 | Heal, Thorns | $7.00 |
The Sea Monster is a 10th of the cost of the Hydra!
Melee damage 3+, Heal & Retaliate ability
card | level | mana | health | armor | speed | melee | ability | cost |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hydra | 3 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 3 | Heal, Retaliate | $120.00 |
Cerberus | 5 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 2 | Heal, Retaliate | $29.00 |
The Cerberus is a top-rated Beta card due to its usefulness and low mana cost. Good to see that it's 4 times cheaper than Hydra in this category.
Melee damage 3+, Heal & Trample ability
card | level | mana | health | armor | speed | melee | ability | cost |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hydra | 4 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | Heal, Trample | $190.00 |
Sacred Unicorn | 3 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 | Heal, Trample | $39.50 |
The Sacred Unicorn is a punchy legendary monster that is almost 5 times cheaper than the Hydra in this category.
Summary
This was again a fun and exciting exercise to undertake. Looking at the data mentioned above and categories, the Sea Monster came out the cheapest in two categories. However, purchasing the 3 cheapest monsters above (level 6 Sea Monster ($7), a level 5 Cerberus ($29) and a level 3 Sacred Unicorn ($39.5)) would still be 2.5 times cheaper than a maxed Hydra!
What do you think - would you opt to have a maxed Hydra or the 3 cheapest monsters?
I recently did a compilation post titled, The New Players Guide to Splinterlands: A Collection of Articles and Guides. This post serves as a summary of articles and guides I have written for new players starting fresh on Splinterlands. If you enjoy reading my Splinterlands content, please follow and support me by signing up to playing Splinterlands through my affiliate link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=mercurial9.
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Excellent post. Love this idea - keep 'em coming! @mercurial9
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Thanks for sharing! - @marianaemilia
Nice! I loved it! Really, the Sea Monster in the lower leagues is very strong!