Level 1 strategies: Death and the Peaceful Giant

Starting with Season 3, Steem Monsters is no longer giving a single rule set to all users at the same time, so we're going to be making more team-building posts for low-level players. This is one of the strategies I've been playing around with today, and the only card it requires that isn't in the starter pack is the neutral common Peaceful Giant.

Peaceful Giant is a little bit of a strange card; it has a lot of health, but no attack, so it just sits there and soaks up damage. It's usually paired with healing cards to make the most of its resistance, so it might seem a little strange to use it with a faction which has no healers. But it actually turns out to be pretty useful in high-mana situations in front of Death's most powerful card at Level 1, Haunted Spirit.

Haunted Spirit's high health, 2 attack, and health regeneration make it a great tank at level one, especially when combined with Zintar's damage reduction ability. It's not uncommon to see an opposing team reduced to a state where it can't do lasting damage to Haunted Spirit while any Death cards remaining rain damage down upon them. But that does mean teams will try to concentrate their damage to knock the Spirit out quickly, and that's where Peaceful Giant comes in.

A team like this one will give the snipers Twisted Jester and Centaur some time to take out one or more of the enemy's ranged attackers while they're busy flailing away at the Giant, leaving the Spirit with full health facing an opponent's team which has already lost some damage, making it much harder to get through. This can be done by doubling up the sneak ability with Skeleton Assassin and Elven Cutthroat as well, or by just focusing firepower on the opponent's tank and hoping to get rid of it before the Giant falls.

Here's an example of this strategy in action. The snipers wipe out the opponent's Centaur quickly, and Cyclops and Stonesplitter Orc only get one shot at the Haunted Spirit. A hit and a retaliation from the Orc in the first round might have put Spirit, and thus the team, in significant trouble. Instead those first-round hits all went to the Giant, and by the time Spirit comes forward there's no chance to ever kill it.

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