Alright guys, you saw my Neutral analysis yesterday, get ready for my Dragon Analysis; This one will be a bit shorter unfortunately, but don't worry, I will go into a little more depth on each Dragon monster to make up for it!
Like yesterday, we'll start off my opinions, thus far, on playing with the CL Cards, how I feel about them in both a Modern and Wild context as well as some, small, opinions on the lore and art; Dragons are the next Splinter that is most easily used / enhances other splinters, so I like to start with Dragons and Neutrals!
Consider these tiny little analysis pieces on these CL cards and how I think they'll do in each meta.
"Chaos & Dragons; What's Not to Like?"
LEGENDARIES
ZYVAX VUUL | Chaos Legion | Legendary
- As a Dragon monster, Zyvax only pairs with Dragon summoners; my favorites: Byzantine Kitty and Selenia Sky, your choice depends on your Mana, and on whether you want a very offensive attacker, or some sustain and dodge.
- Vuul is extremely powerful in Close Range at low levels, and in Lost Magic and No Melee Rulesets later on.
- I love using my (level 1) Zyvax Vuul as a Position 6 Attacker, due to his high health and powerful damage, especially in Unprotected Ruleset
(Fun fact: I got my Zyvax Vuul from @Cornavirus and he is precious)
I'm a fan of Zyvax Vuul's Lore and Art, he reminds me of a gargoyle, shrouded in runes and he looks awesome. My biggest disappointment here is that, because of those runes, I was expecting some sort of anti-magick or extremely magical dragon (Which we totally got in Void Dragon) So that was a bit of a disappointment when seeing the art.
I think, because of his potency with Selenia Sky, we'll see Zyvax Vuul more frequently in Wild formats than Modern, where he will be a heavy hitting frontline tank for Selenia; possibly paired with other Close Range attackers, such as Lava Launcher or Hero of Beyond, to create a devastating ranged team that can attack up close, regardless of the ruleset.
In Modern format I think Zyvax will serve as a Dragon counter to Llama Kron primarily; but he will also be a card that is used as a sort of finisher; High damage in the backline, able to fight close range, and absolutely ruthless in 1 on 1 Situations. He also has the health and speed to reliably check the backline sneak attackers and protect squishier allies.
DESERT DRAGON | Chaos Legion | Legendary
- He's pretty slow, so Byzantine Kitty gives him the speed and some sustain to really rock. Daria Dragonscale makes him a mean lean Trample machine.
- Desert Dragon pairs nicely with anything that gives it more sustain, more damage, or more armor. Protect, Heal, Repair, Inspire You're essentially playing a card that needs some external support to really work.
- Desert Dragon is of course, excellent in Armored, Melee Only, Melee Attacks from Anywhere, Super Sneak, Enrage and, especially: Stampede
Desert Dragon's art is awesome, because his patterning is clearly inspired by different types of snakes, and his blatant disregard for his... uh, head trauma just makes him that much more powerful. He gets a few arrows notched into his skull, he shrugs:
I believe Desert Dragon will still see decent play in Modern, he is apparently a little underwhelming to many, but he's STILL a very powerful legendary card. You'll be regretting facing him in situational matchups and niche plays. That's okay too, it's okay for a legendary to be a little niche. We love you Desert Dragon, go rule Stampede.
I think he has simply too much competition from other cards, who have a tendency to have Trample, Retaliate, Piercing, and Enrage, and he could've used an ability like Return Fire or Shield to set himself up as a better Position 1 Dragon.
VOID DRAGON | Chaos Legion | Legendary
One of my absolute favorite Dragon cards; he doesn't cost a lot of mana, he has a lot of health, a lot of speed, and a whole lot of usability. Throw him into nearly any comp (especially Delwyn) to shutdown other magic comps quite effectively while boosting your own potency. Void Dragon and Mushroom Seer, Void Dragon and Death Elemental, Void Dragon and Crystal Werewolf, there's a lot of low-mid mana magic shutdowns you can do. Later on he gets Phase, completing the circle of being the one card you do NOT want to bring a Magic team against.
- My favorite pairings for this bad boy are Delwyn Dragonscale, for increased offense, and Byzantine Kitty for magic dodging antics and complete madness. Pair him with Life and throw on Time Mage and Creeping Ooze because well, you're a monster.
- Void Dragon doesn't really have particular rulesets where it excels in, but I would say that Earthquake is a clear advantage, and Reverse Speed is likely the only Ruleset you do NOT want to use him in.
- I use Void Dragon a lot in Delwyn comps, as a front runner to be paired with silence to eat through and entirely counter other magic comps. My favorite Magic comps are Life and Fire; NOT Earth and Water. ;)
Void Dragon has such cool art. What IS he, a cat? a bat? I mean obviously a dragon. But like, wow! He's got a striking glowy... mug.
Void Dragon is gunna be around a lot, in both Modern and Wild; He's a Void dragon, he's the anti magick dragon with Phase, Void, Flying, High Speed. If you see this thing on your opponents team and you're trying to full-magic spam; cry because you probably just lost. He's just crucial to Dragon Anti-Magick, and makes a much better anti-magick option for low-mid mana than Naga Brute, who is more of a generalist non attacker. (Although still very good with Scavo!)
CHAOS DRAGON | Chaos Legion | Legendary
Question for more experienced players: Blast does NOT trigger some on hit effects, such as Poison, but DOES trigger some such as Return Fire. Do we know if Blind is in the former category or the latter?
- He's great with the same summoners as Void Dragon: Delwyn and Kitty for the same reasons. Kitty and Delwyn also more naturally compliment this card, who is used in high mana almost exclusively.
- Chaos Dragon IS Chaos; He pairs well with nothing and everything, for he is chaos incarnate. No but seriously, there's plenty of cards that he synergizes with, he is your offensive, randomized damage. Support him and protect him.
- Don't use Chaos Dragon in the lowest mana you can; Seriously don't. DO consider using Chaos Dragon in the front, if you're thinking "Hmmm, I don't LIKE Random attacks" and watch him mow down everything in his path. This is less viable in later Leagues, where the sheer abilities and damage will send your punk Chaos Dragon packing Round 1.
- Use him in any ruleset, but keep in mind that Scattershot is the priority over Super Sneak and Opportunity. Play him in Armored rulesets and Fog of War to just ignore the competition.
Chaos Dragon has some of the coolest art for the card; it matches perfectly to the color scheme of Dragons in-game, and of the card template that it is on. It looks like this Template was MADE for Chaos Dragon, and it probably WAS. He is The Chaos Dragon, of Chaos Legion.
Chaos Dragon is another situational card; Calm down guys, calm down don't hate me: He's really great in super high mana, and ramps down as you hit <35 Mana. He will likely be present in Modern and Wild formats for the entirety of Splinterlands' life, he will never NOT be a useful High mana pick who can seriously pack a wallop.
QUIX THE DEVIOUS | Chaos Legion | Legendary Summoner
One of my best pulls from a pack, ever. He has a special space in my heart as my first pulled Legendary summoner and I'm not complaining in the slightest, but he is sort of underwhelming for a Legendary, having 2 debuffs and the same mana cost as the other CL Rares. These debuffs make him very niche, as your effectiveness relies on your ability to predict enemies. That being said, as a Contessa main, he is right up my alley despite this. I will say it's really strange that Quix does not give +1 Speed though.
- Quix is a really good 'inverse' of Kitty; Pair him with Creeping Ooze, Time Mage, and Diamond Dragon and you're bringing many of your opponents down to 1 Speed generally. Pair that with Nightmare or Void Dragon in enrage, and you have a pretty crazy dodge build. He's also quite good at slowing and weakening Yodin's fast and squishy team compositions: He's not a full counter, but he is a big help.
- I think Quix the Devious is most potent in Lost Magic Rulesets, No Abilities and Close Range rulesets, where he can really punish your opponent's ranged attackers.
- I like to use Quix the Devious with a few particular Dragons: Void Dragon, Diamond Dragon, and Naga Assassin, to abuse their dodge, slows, and Naga's Backfire.
Quix the Devious has a cool thing with his art / Lore, in the Card, he is depicted upside down, whereas the lore shows him right side up; I prefer to think he is hanging upside down in the air, and that he's about to open a can of whoop*** on a poor Splinter with his sharp dagger thingies.
Just because Quix the Devious isn't the most astounding Legendary summoner, doesn't make him a dud; He's an extremely powerful play if you make a proper predict, and can easily end an opponent's chances of winning with that prediction. That being said, he will likely remain more of a situational summoner compared to the other Dragon Legendaries due to his double debuffs. Still, if you're a player who has refined your ability to predict your enemy, you will do well with this card, if you're not one of those players, this card is going to be a pass.
He is more potent in Wild format, where he has access to more low mana Slows, and is able to capitalize on a similar style of Dodge build to Byzantine Kitty, but at much lower mana costs. Byz's True Strike and Heal make it a far superior Summoner overall, but Quix may actually be a better choice against Yodin, where his -1 Range may be more useful than Kitty's sustain: Yodin compositions tend to win if they kill you in round 1, before heals can really happen. They tend to fizzle out if you can't successfully get those kills, however. In particular, a Protect card would really help in combination with him; Examples: Queen Mycelia + Centauri Mage | Wavesmith + Serpent of Eld | Gloridax Guardian + Robodragon Knight
Who's your favorite Dragon Chaos Legion card?
My favorites are Void Dragon, and Desert Dragon. Many find Desert Dragon underwhelming, but I really just like him a lot. If I could get a Gold Foil of any of these Dragons; (I won't be buying one unfortunately, too expensive right now!) I would probably want a Quix the Devious, as a GF Summoner is always great to have.
Surprise Giveaway: Okay look I don't have any legendary cards to giveaway, I'm sorry guys, maybe if Chaos Legion had given us an Epic or Legendary, things would be different... So how about this: One commenter will receive a Twilight Basilisk AND A Naga Assassin
𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟 𝕌𝕡 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕊𝕡𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕨!
Wanna collect these and MANY more Dragon cards? join Splinterlands and Get in on these legendary dragons while they're still cheap, buy the Chaos Legion Packs for General Sale on January 17th!
if you use my link, here:
https://splinterlands.com?ref=jakkal
I'll send you 100 DEC when you sign up and get a spellbook, (as long as you show up as referred) which should help you get started via renting! Also, feel free to message me, I can answer any questions, give tips, etc.