Alright, time for another #Splinterlands card spotlight!
Today I wanted to look at a card that honestly doesn't look that crazy when you first see it.
It's not legendary.
It's not some super expensive card with 5 different abilities.
It's actually just a Common Water unit.
But sometimes those simple cards can be surprisingly useful.
The card I'm talking about today is, Chaos Rear Guard.
At max level, which is Level 10, this card has just one ability:
Shield –> Takes 50% less damage from physical attacks, or 0 damage from physical attacks with 1 power.
And here are its max-level stats:
Melee Attack: 2
Health: 9
Speed: 1
Armor: 6
Mana: 4
That definitely got my attention.
First Look
The first thing I noticed about Chaos Rear Guard is that it is basically screaming:
"Please don't make me go fast."
Because seriously, 1 speed.
That's VERY slow.
You're probably not going to be attacking first with this thing very often.
But I don't think speed is really the point of this card.
Looking at the rest of the stats, it's clearly designed to survive.
9 health.
6 armor.
And then you add Shield on top of that.
Now things start getting interesting.
This isn't really a card that you use because you want massive damage.
You use it because you want something that can stand there and take hits.
Ability: Shield
Shield: 50% less damage from physical attacks or 0 damage from physical attacks of 1 power.
Obviously, the biggest reason to use Chaos Rear Guard is its Shield ability.
Shield reduces physical damage by 50%.
And against physical attacks with only 1 power, it can completely reduce the damage to 0.
That can make a huge difference against melee and ranged physical attackers.
Especially when you already have 6 armor protecting 9 health.
So imagine an enemy physical attacker hits Chaos Rear Guard.
Instead of taking the full damage, Shield cuts it down.
The armor can absorb the remaining damage.
And suddenly this little 4 mana Common is still standing there.
Only 4 Mana
This is probably my favorite part about the card.
4 mana.
That's really cheap for something with this much defensive potential.
In higher mana battles, you can use the extra mana on stronger damage dealers and support cards.
But in low mana battles?
That's where cards like Chaos Rear Guard can become really interesting.
When you don't have much mana available, you can't just throw a huge tank into your lineup.
You have to make every mana point count.
And getting a card with:
9 Health + 6 Armor + Shield
for only 4 mana, that's pretty useful.
The Problem: 1 Speed
Okay, now we have to talk about the obvious weakness.
1 speed.
This thing is SLOW.
Like, really slow.
If the enemy has faster units, they're probably going to attack first.
And that can be a problem.
Especially if the enemy has abilities that can target your backline or exploit slow units.
You also shouldn't expect Chaos Rear Guard to dodge many attacks.
With only 1 speed, evasion isn't really going to be its thing.
But again, that's not what this card is trying to do.
It's basically saying:
"You attack me, I'll just keep standing here."
6 Armor Is Huge For A 4 Mana Card
The 6 armor is probably the other stat that immediately stands out.
For only 4 mana, having that much armor gives the card a lot of protection against physical attacks.
And because Shield reduces incoming physical damage, the combination can be pretty annoying.
That's especially true when the opponent is relying heavily on melee attacks.
They might expect their attackers to quickly break through the frontline, and instead, they're still hitting this giant armored lizard thing several rounds later.
Where Would I Use It?
Personally, I think Chaos Rear Guard makes the most sense when I expect the enemy to rely heavily on physical attacks.
That's where Shield can really shine.
If I see a battle where melee or ranged physical damage is likely to be important, this card becomes much more interesting.
I'd also consider it when the mana cap is low and I need a cheap defensive unit.
Because spending only 4 mana on a card with this much health and armor gives me more room to build the rest of my team.
CONCLUSION
After looking at Chaos Rear Guard, I think this is one of those cards that's easy to ignore because it's just a Common.
There's nothing flashy about it.
It doesn't have five different abilities.
It doesn't have massive attack stats.
It doesn't move fast.
But, it doesn't really need to.
For only 4 mana, you get a card with 9 health, 6 armor and Shield.
That's a pretty clear defensive role.
And when you're fighting against physical attackers, that combination can become really annoying for the opponent.
The biggest thing is just knowing when to use it.
If the battle favors physical damage, I can definitely see myself putting Chaos Rear Guard into the lineup.
If the opponent is bringing tons of magic?
Yeah, maybe I'll leave the big armored guy at home.
