Steem Monsters - Best Tanks for Little League

New Battle Conditions

Today there were two new battle conditions released in the live game of Steem Monsters. I would like to talk about the condition called, Little League. This battle condition states that you can only make a team using cards costing 4 mana or less. This includes both the Summoner card as well as all Monster cards. This is tricky because a lot of the really high powered cards cost more than 4 mana to use. Not only this but a player may find it difficult to use up all the allotted mana with only one summoner and a maximum of six monsters. As mentioned in earlier posts on the subject (check out my other articles at https://steemit.com/@jeremycrow) the basic strategy involves picking a "tank" as your first monster. This would be a card with strong attack and strong defense. Speed isn't as important for this role although it definitely helps. Usually these cards have a cost above 4 mana so what I've done is compiled a list of what I think are probably the best cards to use for the tank costing 4 mana or less in each splinter.

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Fire Splinter - Cerberus

For the Fire splinter my pick for best tank would have to be Cerberus. This monster costs 4 mana and at level 1 starts off with 2 melee attack, 3 speed and 5 health. Not too bad, especially when you consider that the main Fire summoner gives an additional +1 attack point to all friendly melee monsters. In addition, Cerberus also has the Heal ability, which means he can heal himself if he's taken damage. I've actually seen people successfully using Cerberus as a tank even before the Little League battle condition entered into the rotation. At level 3 he gains an extra attack point and at level 5 he gains the Retaliate ability. The retaliate ability means that if Cerberus is attacked there is a chance he will immediately attack back. This retaliatory attack is extra and not counted as the monster's turn.

Water Splinter - Spineback Turtle

Another 4 mana cost monster, the Spineback Turtle seems like the best choice for the Water splinter. Again, I have seen people successfully using this as a tank even before today. This guy starts out with just 1 melee attack and 1 speed point but it has a combined 8 defensive points (2 shield + 6 health.) That's a lot of defense for just 4 mana! At level 3 this card gains +1 shield and +1 health compared to the basic unleveled card for a total of 10 defensive points. At level 4 it also gains the Thorns ability. This is similar to Retaliate but it's more reliable. When this monster gets hit with an attack it will cause damage to the attacker. This can help make up for the weak attack power. Additionally, you could consider using the Dragon splinter summoner Daria Dragonscale with this because she is only 4 mana cost (and therefore is eligible to use in Little League rules) and will give +1 attack to all friendly melee monsters including Spineback Turtle. Sometimes that extra point ends up deciding the result of a battle.

Earth Splinter - Minotaur Warrior

This one was a bit trickier but I ultimately settled on the Minotaur Warrior card. This card is a melee fighter like the two previous and starts off with 1 attack, 3 speed and 3 defence (1 shield + 2 health) points. Levels 2 & 3 each see a +1 increase in health points and level 4 brings the card up to 2 attack. This card also has the Reach ability, but it is useless in first position. At level 6 the card gains the Piercing ability. For an example of this ability let's say you attack a monster that has 1 shield and 2 health points. If you made a single attack on this enemy monster with 3 attack points it won't just break the shield. It will also apply the additional 2 attacks points against the health of the target monster (which would defeat it in this scenario.) Might be a good idea to use Daria Dragonscale summoner here to give that extra attack point to your tank. I also considered Magi of the Forest as a candidate for the best Earth shard tank. It's a magic attacker and it's a decent alternative to the Minotaur Warrior.

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Life Splinter - Crystal Werewolf

For the Life splinter my pick for the Little League tank would be the Crystal Werewolf. This one comes at a discount with only 3 mana cost to play. This card starts off at level 1 with 1 attack, 2 speed and 5 health. In addition, the Crystal Werewolf has the Silence ability which causes -1 attack on all ranged enemy attackers. At level 5 it gains the additional ability Thorns which I've already described above. This is a pretty decent tank for such a low mana cost. You could also consider using the Defender of Truth card, which is a magic type attacker which costs 4 mana to use.

Death Splinter - Animated Corpse

In my mind there can be only one real contender for Little League Death Tank (sounds like a pop-punk band name!) and that would be the Animated Corpse card. I've already been using this card as the tank sometimes during battles where all monsters lose their abilities. It's a great little fighter at 4 mana cost it starts out with 2 attack, 1 speed and 6 health. It doesn't have any abilities to start with but it gains Void at level 4, which reduces any attack damage he takes from magic by 1 point.

Dragon Splinter - Manticore

In the Dragon splinter there aren't very many native cards at or below 4 mana cost. Luckily when picking a Dragon summoner you will select a secondary splinter to use cards from which expands your options for a Little League tank. However, if you are going to use a native Dragon card as your tank, the Manticore would be the natural choice. This costs 4 mana to use and it starts off with 1 attack, 3 speed and 6 health. Not only that but it also has the Reach ability (again, this is useless in the front tank position) as well as Flying. The Flying ability makes this card more likely to dodge attacks. It gains +1 attack at level 2 and once you upgrade it to level 4 it gains the Thorns ability, which again has been discussed earlier.

Neutral Splinter - Cocatrice

Neutral splinter doesn't have its own summoners (at least so far) but I thought it might be valuable to include it for the sake of completion. Any other summoner can use Neutral cards so an alternate tank could be selected from among them. One of the most interesting selections, and my first choice for the purposes of this article, would be the Cocatrice. This is the cheapest tank that I'm discussing here at only 2 mana! What do you get for that 2 mana? To start off the Cocatrice has 1 attack, 3 speed and 2 health. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot but you have to take everything together. This card also has the Flying ability, which along with 3 speed makes it a lot more difficult to hit than any other melee attacker with a 2 mana cost. It gains speed and health points when you level it up, only gaining a +1 attack point when it's maxed out to level 8. Once it reaches level 5 it gains the Dodge ability, making it even more difficult to hit. This option might work out best during Little League matches in which there is also a low mana cap.

HONORABLE MENTION: Neutral Splinter - Grumpy Dwarf

A close second for my personal choice of a Neutral splinter tank would have to be the Grumpy Dwarf. This guy is pretty similar to the Minotaur Warrior. He's a melee fighter like the others I've chosen and similar to some of the others he has the Reach ability. This indicates that when this card was designed, it was intended to be used mostly as support for the tank. With the Little League battle conditions these guys get a promotion to lead tank. The Grumpy Dwarf starts out with 1 attack, 2 speed and 3 defense (1 shield + 2 health) points. He gets a +1 upgrade to his attack points when he reaches level 4 and at level 5 he gains the Enrage ability. Enrage kicks in when a monster with that ability takes damage to his health points. The effect is that the monster will gain a +1 boost to their attack and +1 boost to their speed. If you aren't strapped for mana this is a viable alternative tank when you're hit with the Little League battle conditions.

What do you think of my picks? Do you disagree with any of these? Which ones would you choose for your tank when playing a Little League battle? Let me know in the comments below!

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