Hello Splinterlands summoners and welcome to my blog! The Night Reaper is one of my favorite dragon monsters in Splinterlands. This is because of its utility and versatility in several rulesets especially Earthquake. It's a valuable addition to your deck to stay competitive in Splinterlands battles.
Lore
Splinterlands lore states Night Reapers are a cross between demons and dragons. They are scary creatures that is controlled by Silus of the Rift.
Night Reapers are monstrosities born of a realm of demons and dragons. When their world was subsumed by the dark god Uul, they joined the Host of the legions of Chaos. These malevolent creatures answer to Silus of the Rift alone and unleash their wrath according to his will.
Unpredictable and brutal, Night Reapers ensure terror reigns wherever they soar and have been a crucial instrument in quelling the rising rebellion in the towns and cities that span the empire’s horizons.
Abilities and Stats
At maxed level, the Night Reaper deals four magic damage and is fast with four speed. It has two armor and ten health on defense, making it a good sub or main tank. On abilities, it's great for Earthquake ruleset because of Flying and Wingbreak. In addition it has Deflect and Last Stand, making it a versatile unit that will have utility in most ruleset.
My Night Reaper is at level three and I cannot state enough how important it is in my battles.
Role in Battle and Rulesets
Because of its stats and abilities, the Night Reaper is a great off tank and can also play the main tank. It's combination of speed and Flying makes it able to dodge physical attacks, adding to its already beefy defense. It's a great unit to use in Earthquake ruleset because of it's combination of Flying and Wing break abilities. However, I also use it in battles with rulesets such as Beefcakes, Counterspell, Heavy Metal and Might Makes Right.
Featured Battles
I'm sharing battles where the Night Reaper plays an important role in battles.
Earthquake
The Night Reaper shows its utility in Earthquake ruleset where its combination of Flying and Wing break abilities come to full use. It's immune to Earthquake damage while damaging the enemy flyers at the same time. It's best when you pair it with other flyers in front of it so that enemy units with Wing break ability will target them first.
In this battle, I had Molten Elemental who also can fly in front of the Night Reaper. The enemy team also had a flyer and a unit with Wing break ability. My Night Reaper targeted the enemy flyer while the enemy unit with Wing break ability targeted my Molten Elemental first. This strategy especially works more when the enemy has a Night Reaper of his own. I destroy his Night Reaper while his is busy with my other flyer.
Heavy Metal
In this battle, only units with armor are allowed. Starting at level two, the Night Reaper gains an armor and is eligible in this ruleset. It's magic damage is especially important since it generally goes through armor. My damage dealers in this battle were mostly magic units including Night Reaper. The enemy team also used dragon splinter and his units are powerful which includes the great dragon, Rage. The enemy team included a unit with Taunt ability but it gets ignored by Night Reaper who attacks flying units first because of its Wing break ability. Night Reaper was able to decrease Rage's health before he got defeated enabling my other units to bring down the great dragon and won me the battle.
Counterspell
This battle involves Counterspell and Thick Skinned rulesets. Thick Skinned decreases physical attacks so it makes sense to use magic units but Counterspell punishes magic units by returning damage. Here Night Reaper shines because of its Deflect ability that offsets the Counterspell ruleset. It has all the strengths of magic damage dealers and none of its weaknesses making it a star card in this ruleset combo.
My team was headed by Commander Slade in tank position followed by Night Reaper as off tank. Other support and Taunt units made up the rest of my team. The enemy has a beefy tank and also used a couple of magic units. To offset the effects of Counterspell, he had a healer and Life Leech. Unfortunately, one of his units had Flying ability and was quickly targeted by Night Reaper. My team had to take down the enemy's healer and beefy tank but after that, it was an easy win.
Final Thoughts
The Night Reaper shines in Earthquake rulesets but it's a very versatile unit that has utility in other rulesets. Further, it can play in several positions because of its stats and abilities. In my opinion, it's a must have unit to stay competitive in battles.
