It's great that it's NEUTRAL! / Neutral なのが素晴らしい！

[English]

Splinterlands is celebrating its 8th anniversary!

I started playing back in 2021, so that was about five years ago now. Time really flies. I remember there were still AZMARE DICE packs available back then, but I was told they weren't worth buying because the DICE cards weren't very good. I guess that was because people were still actively using BETA cards at the time.

Compared to those days, the number of cards has exploded. However, aside from a few exceptions, it feels like the overall power level of new cards has gradually gone down. I suppose that's to avoid devaluing older cards, but I can't help wondering if a major power creep is coming eventually. (Or maybe it's already started with a few recent cards?)

Lately, battles have tended to allow higher mana caps, making it much easier to field expensive monsters. Because of that, high-cost units with massive stats and lots of Health seem stronger than ever.

Even some of the Common cards added in the Escalation set have mana costs above 10, and they actually see play. It looks like the developers are increasing both the mana cost and the stats together.

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Now then, let's talk about the two 8th Anniversary cards.

Both of them are Neutral magic attackers.

That alone already makes them look pretty strong!

The first one is the Epic card TENRAI.

The Japanese name would probably be written as 天雷, meaning "Heavenly Thunder." Since its breath attack looks like lightning, I'm pretty sure that's what the name is meant to represent.

A magic attacker with Opportunity built in is already a huge plus!

I'd really like to get its Magic Attack up to 3, but that requires Level 3. Its Health also jumps all the way to 6 at that level, so I'd definitely want to upgrade it that far.

That means... ten copies.

At the current price, it's about $0.88 each, or roughly 3,258 DEC per copy. Buying ten copies would cost around 33,000 DEC.

There aren't many magic attackers with Opportunity or Sneak, so this card looks like it could be extremely useful.

If I had to compare it to an existing card, it would probably be this one.

Or maybe Captain Fellblade is the better comparison since it has Sneak, even though it's a different rarity.

Compared to Captain Fellblade, TENRAI loses in both Speed and Health.

(And, just for the record... it also loses in price. 🤪)

The second card is SUIKO.

If I wrote it in Japanese, maybe it would be 酔虎 (Drunken Tiger)?

...Although that doesn't feel quite right.

Maybe it's 水滸, like Water Margin?

Or perhaps it's 水虎, another name for a kappa in Japanese folklore.

Either way, I don't really see anything tiger-like or kappa-like about it, so maybe I'm completely off.

This dragon is also a Neutral magic attacker, which is already a solid starting point.

The problem is... its abilities don't seem particularly practical.

At Level 2, it has Kindred Will and True Strike.

Kindred Will doesn't do much unless you're also playing units with Kindred Spirit.

And True Strike isn't especially valuable on a magic attacker, since magic attacks don't miss under normal circumstances.

The abilities unlocked at Levels 3 and 4 are much more appealing, but since I play at Level 2, the card doesn't really make me think, "Wow, this is amazing!"

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Between these two anniversary cards, I think TENRAI would be much more useful for someone like me, since I play at the Intermediate league (formerly Silver).

While he lacks the support of “Kindred Will” to bring out his full potential, a magic attacker with “Opportunity” seems like he’ll come in handy in any situation.

I'm actually starting to want one.

On the other hand...

Wouldn't STONEBIND MATRON be enough if you're only looking at the price?

Then again, TENRAI is Neutral, so it can fit into almost any lineup.

But if I'm going to invest, I'd really want a Golden Foil copy... which makes me think maybe MATRON is still the better choice.

Then again...

There's a huge difference between 2 Magic Attack and 3 Magic Attack...

Hmm...

It's the 8th Anniversary, after all.

Maybe I should just buy it.

What do you think?

Are you planning to pick one up?

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[日本語]

Splinterlands が8周年という事です。私がプレイを始めたのは2021年なので5年前？結構前ですね。その時はまだ AZMARE DICE のパックが残っていたんですけど、DICEのカードはいまいちだから買わないほうが良いって言われて買わなかったような記憶...まだ BETA とかが使われてたからですかね？

あの時から比べるとカードの枚数は爆増しましたが、一部を除くとカード性能的にはやっぱり徐々に低下している気がします。過去のカードの価値を毀損しないようにするためなんでしょうけど、どこかでインフレが来るのかもしれないですね。（既に一部のカードでは始まっているかもですけど？）

最近はバトルの時に使用できるマナが増えて、大型モンスターを使いやすくなっている傾向があるのでマナコストが高くても高パワー、高Healthのカードのほうが強いような気がします。

エスカレーション で追加されたマナコストが10を超えるコモンカードも使われているようだし、マナコストを上げる代わりにステータスも上げてるんでしょうね。

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さて、今回の8周年記念のカードですが、2枚とも Neutral の魔法攻撃カードです。もうこの時点で強そう！

1枚目は Epic の TENRAI です。漢字だと "天雷" になるのかな？ブレスが雷っぽいからきっとこれで合ってるはず。

魔法攻撃で Oppotunity が標準装備なのは良いですね！攻撃力を3点にしたいけど、レベル3か... Healthも一気に6まで上がるからやっぱり3まで上げたいですね。10枚か...

1枚あたり 0.88 ドル、現在の相場で 3,258.053 DEC です。10枚買えば約33,000 DECです。Oppotunity、Sneak を持っている魔法攻撃ユニットは少ないから便利そうです。

比較するならこのカードになるのかな？

いや、Sneakだけどレアリティ的にはこっちかも？

Captain Fellblade と比べるとスピードもHealthも負けてますね。（ちなみに、カード価格も負けてます。🤪）

2枚目は SUIKO です。漢字だと ”酔虎” かな？でもちょっと違う気がする。水滸伝の "水滸" なのかな？ああ、河童の別名らしいけど "水虎” って言うのもあるね。

虎要素も河童要素もないから違うのかもですが、こちらのドラゴンも Nautral の魔法攻撃ドラゴンです。強い。

しかし、アビリティはあまり使いやすくない？レベル2だと Kindred Will と True Strike なわけですが。 Kindred Will は Kindred Spirit と並べないと意味が無い。True Strike は魔法攻撃のユニットにはあまり意味が無い。

レベル3、レベル4で追加されるアビリティは優秀ですが私が使うならレベル２だからなぁ。凄い！強い！って感じには思えないですね。

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今回の2枚ですが、私は Intermediate（旧シルバー）レベルでのプレイですから TENRAI のほうが使いやすそうな気がしますね。Kindred Spirit は Kindred Will を持つユニットがいないといけないので私は活用できませんが、魔法攻撃の Oppotunity っていうだけで使いどころはありそうです。ちょっとほしくなってきた。

しかし、値段だけを見れば STONEBIND MATRONでいいやん？っていうきもするしなぁ。いやしかし、Nautral だからいろんなとこで使えるし。でもやっぱりGFで欲しいから MATRON でいいかな？いやでも攻撃力が2と3では全然違うし...

8周年だし、買っておくべきなのかなー どうしようかなー みんなは買う予定？

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