Earth lineup has been very fun for me. Elowen Sylphie, at the start, I thought wasn't strong. Charge and Trample aren't game breaking abilities unlike Nidhoggr's Blast or Lorkus's Life Leech ability. Who would've thought that these are the abilities that will allow me to use and maximize Endless Ape as a tank.
Endless Ape brings high health from the start. That makes it hard to die in early rounds. Then, as the fight goes longer, it can become even stronger because of Scavenger. This monster fits well in a team of Mundane Beast Bloodline where you try and maximize the Charge ability from Elowen Sylphie.
Image from Splinterlands
Scavenger increases Endless Ape’s max health whenever a monster dies. This is not a heal, so it still works even under Affliction or in Healed Out battles. That makes it very reliable in different modifiers. As the fight goes longer and more monsters fall, Endless Ape becomes harder and harder to kill. This ability is very strong in a lot of battles where many units are expected to die.
Image from Splinterlands
Deflect helps reduce indirect damage like Blast or Thorns. This prevents Endless Ape from taking extra damage that can slowly wear it down. In battles where Blast is common, this ability gives strong value. It also protects against damage returned from Thorns that could reduce its health from its own attacks. Deflect helps Endless Ape avoid unnecessary damage.
I planned this battle with the thoughts of losing. In Armored Up modifier, melee and range units are at a disadvantage. Both of those attacks hit the bonus armor given by the Armored Up modifier. That's why, most of the time, you should use a magic-heavy team in this modifier. I chose a full melee team leaning with my Elowen Sylphie archon. I could use a magic damage Earth team but I don't have the needed monsters to do that. So, I just went with my usual Earth Mundane Beast Bloodline team instead. With Endless Ape and Satha Toledo as the main core, these two carried the game. I gave Resurgence and Trample to Lioceros and Endless Ape and that worked as Endless Ape was able to survive until the end with the help of Satha Toledo's Tank Heal.
Endless Ape is one of the strongest frontline tanks in the Earth element right now. It does not rely on defensive abilities like Shield and Void but instead on just plain stats. Scavenger makes it scale as the battle continues which is very hard to deal with. Deflect reduces extra damage and keeps it avoid getting hurt from other abilities. If not taken out immediately, Endless Ape becomes a real problem for the opponent.
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