Not a dog. Not a wolf. All he knows is what he's not. If only he could see what he is.

Hey folks! Welcome back to another "Share your Battle Weekly Challenge", easily my favorite appointment here on Hive Blockchain. I guess the reason is that I like to play Splinterlands, like, a lot.
This week challenge is about a card I knew nothing about: I didn't buy it and I'm using it for free since two weeks, when Alpha and Beta cards were added to decks as "ghosts" card.

This Spineback Wolf immediately reminded a quote from "Balto", the hero of a wonderful 1995 movie. I could only see what he is not!😂
He's quick, and that's ok, but apart from that is quite an "average" card: has a little shield, a little life, a litte Melee attack. It would be perfect if its evoking cost was 3 or maybe even 4, but 5 makes it a strange card: not strong enough for low mana cap battles, quite useless in high mana cap battles.

I really had to think to figure out how to use it, let's see what came out!

---

SPINEBACK WOLF

#Edition: ALPHA/BETA
#Rarity: COMMON
#Element: DEATH
#ATTACK: MELEE
#ABILITIES: Reach at level 1; Thorns at level 5

The Spineback Wolves of Mortis have more defense mechanisms than any wolf should need. The spikes on their backs and necks prevent blind side attacks, their teeth can tear through a Bronk’s rump, and their saliva is a powerful corrosive acid that the Gloridax are still attempting to weaponize..

---

SPINEBACK WOLF AS AN INVESTMENT

Spineback Wolf doesn't seem to be one of the most popular card in the game, I hardly see it playing in battles. Maybe this will change since a lot of new players will find it as a "ghost" card in their deck. Like any other not much played card, I don't see Spineback Wolf as a solid investment.

What is good is that this card can be easily upgraded with little cost: Spineback Wolf currently comes at 0.07$ for a level 1 on the market, which means you can easily have a level 3 card for around 1$. Not bad, bud I think you'll need it at least at level 5 to make it somehow useful (how good is thorns ability?)

Honestly, there's not a big market for this kind of card. If you look at the stats, you'll see few transaction and a slowly decreasing trend (-24% in the last month). If you're looking to invest all of your DEC into Spineback Wolf, I suggest you to change your mind.

MY STRATEGY

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY STRATEGY

My idea was to try using Spineback Wolf in a mid-high mana cap battle, to use it as a supporting Melee in second position, well protected by other monsters and able to attack immediately thanks to his quickness.
At the end my team had a good balance: strong and quick attack, with solid protection from enemy's snipe and sneak.

To provide good overall protection I went for Mimosa Nightshade as a Summoner: quite expensive but one of the most powerful Summoner in the game (extra tip: use it in battle with no Melee, it's just perfect!)
I then chose my usual tank Chain Golem, supported by our man itself Spineback Wolf.
I went on with a Furious Chicken (to absorb enemy's first Snipe), a Fallen Spectre (super quick and cheap) and a Soulstorm, such a powerful monster that just need to be protected.
At the end, as usual, my man Halfling Alchemist: he's the perfect buddy for Chain Golem because he makes the shield ability even better.

At the end my strategy worked pretty well, and I'm sure I'll find myself playing again with Spineback Wolf (hopefully I will level him up a little!)

Cheers!

---

Support my blog!

Here's the super-trusted earners I support. Please consider using my referral if want to give them a try

Cake DeFi Passive income, staking made easy.

Cointiply - Best Earner - Earn Bitcoins by doing offers, watching ads and PTC ads

BetFury - Crypto casino with Faucet: Top Earner! Claim -> Play -> Stake -> Earn

PipeFlare - Best Faucet.Pays immediately to your wallet

Presearch Earn tokens for surfing the web!