The world is a giant hive! Or is it a colony? It depends if you are a busy bee or one of the powerful ants! There are 12,000 ant species worldwide, and a couple of them in the Splinterlands! The Ant Miners and the Antoid Platoon are top Fire cards, and one of my favorite monsters for complicated game mechanics.
The Bullet Ant sting is as powerful as being hit by a bullet, while Fire Ants cause over $3 billion worth of damage yearly in the US. The Pogonomyrmex Owyheei ant queen can live up to 30 years, while every single ant can carry 50 times it's own body weight.
The largest ant colony was found in Argentina, over 3,700 miles wide. Millions of nests and billions of ants were living in the supercolony, and I am sure they had some Antoid Platoons to guard the gates.
The Antoid Platoon typically consists of five to seven Fire Ants, each approximately the size of a man's fist. They are small but wild, wielding shields and spears. The platoon operates through shared hive mind, and with the mission to defend Ant Miners, workers and the queen. This makes me think that we will see more ants in the next expansions. It costs 4 mana but the Shield makes it a valuable team card. Is a mini Living Lava, for games with low mana cap.
Embrace the Poison! Did I say that the Antoid Platoon is a good card for low mana battle? Well... is good for high mana battles! Today's show has 56 mana cap, Even Steven and Noxious Fumes battle rules. Only even mana cards are allowed and all the monsters start the battle poisoned.
Summoner - Tarsa: +1 HP and +1 Melee Damage
Antoid Platoon: Main Tank with Shield
Charlok Minotaur: Off-Tank with True Aim
Gelatinous Cube: The Jolly-Joker Winning Card
Pyromancer: Ranged with Blast
Ettin Spearman: Ranged with Piercing
Efreet Elder: Caster with Last Stand
The enemy went for full magical team with spell damage boosted by Obsidian. The Antoid Platoon took the hits for the team, and protected the team just before the Poison hit everyone. The armor boost made no difference, as two enemy monsters were added to the casualty list. The Charlok Minotaur joined as well, crushed by the Unicorn Mustang's hoofs!
The Noxious Fumes battles tend to finish quickly, and the Cube was my wild card. It kept scavenging for every victim, and countered the poison effect until now. I gained a small advantage by the end of round three, when the battle turned into a 4v2.
Scavenging and scavenging is the winning tactics. Embracing the poison is the way to win the fight. The Unicorn Mustang inhaled too much and it was the Efreet who delivered the final blow. See the full battle here!
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