This week's battle challenge focuses on the Dark Ha'on:

Card Details

An untamed edition legendary rarity monster from the Death Splinter at level 1:

• Estimated cost: $59.90
• Mana cost: 10
• Melee damage: 2
• Speed: 3
• Health: 13
• Armor: 1
• Taunt ability: All enemy Monsters target this Monster (if they are able to).
• Flying ability: Has an increased chance of evading Melee or Ranged attacks from Monsters who do not have the Flying ability.

The Dark Ha'on was introduced when Untamed edition cards were released and started the trend for higher mana cost cards, especially with 99 mana battles. In traditional RPGs or MMORPGs, the Taunt ability is the staple of the Warrior. The Warrior can activate the Taunt ability and attract mobs of enemies to target it. Similarly, the Taunt ability on Dark Ha'on functions similarly. It has all the traits associated with a tanky warrior - high health, armor, ability to sometimes evade enemy attacks, and decent damage. Suppose you are one of the lucky few that managed to level up Dark Ha'on before the prices exploded at increased levels. In that case, it acquires abilities like Magic Reflect, Scavenge and Void abilities. These abilities provide considerable advantages in those magic battles and give you an option to play Dark Ha'on in the backline instead of position 1. 

Battle - Full Battle Replay

Battle Details

• Mana cap: 99
• Rulesets(s): Back to Basics

Lineup Details

• Contessa L'ament (Summoner): -1 range damage
• Gelatinous Cube + Almo Cambio: high health passive tanks
• Dark Ha'on: primary melee tank
• Phantom Soldier + Prismatic Energy: primary magic tanks
• Cornealus: primary range tank

Did your strategy work? What will you try differently next time?

I learned early in splinterlands that you focus on damage and health when you face Back to Basics rulesets. With a 99 mana cap battles, I look for high-health monsters and then focus on damage. It proved a stroke of good luck that I chose Contessa summoner and unfortunate for my opposition, who played 2 range monsters and therefore -2 range damage. This meant that my 3 range/magic monsters did the same combined damage as 4 range/magic backline opposition monsters. Even though Dark Ha'on was unable to proc its taunt ability, in this battle, once it got to position 1, it acted as a tank absorbing damage and deal damage to eradicate the opposition. 

Do you like the Dark Ha'on? Why or why not?

If there were ever a card that is most similar to the traditional warrior in RPGs and MMORPGs, the Dark Ha'on would be it. The Dark Ha'on has many similarities to the king of tanks, the Lord Arianthus, but with one added advantage, it does melee damage. Also, the Dark Ha'on is not often used in lower leagues but does increase in usage in Gold, Diamond, and Champion leagues, which makes sense as the higher you go up, the more magic battles are encountered. Sadly, I only have 1 BCX of Dark Ha'on, and it doesn't feel right to me to spend almost $450 to max out Dark Ha'on. Are there any similar monsters to it? There are only 4 monsters that have the Taunt ability: The Kraken, Magnor, and the Shieldbearer. Luckily, I have The Kraken and Shieldbearer in my collection and leveled them up before the prices increased. 

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