The Fast and the Furriest

Did you ever have to make up your mind?
And pick up on one and leave the other behind?
It's not often easy and not often kind.
Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Picture yourself assembling your team, the timer in the upper corner counts down to your impending battle. Having decided on Earth Splinter you find yourself with one slot and 1 mana left to spend.

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In this corner...weighing in at 23 ounces, the Brownie. These fun loving primates of the Earth Splinter can be yours as an Epic Reward card for only 1 mana. At Level 1 (bcx 1) he sports 1 melee, 4 speed, 1 life and the ability Swiftness.

His opponent, the Sultan of Slime, Gelatinous Ooze. Once a mild mannered bowl of Raspberry Jello, until the fateful night when he stumbled into a gamma radiation chamber and emerged....never mind. I leave it to the developers to come up with backstories. A common Neutral Reward Monster if you don't know this creature - are you sure you are playing Splinterlands? At Level 1 (bcx 1) you are going to get 0 melee, 1 speed, 1 life and the ability Slow.

And there in lies the rub...

Do you give your friendly Monsters 1 more Speed or do you give your enemy Monsters one less Speed?

I've been experimenting back and forth and my opinion is that the INCREASED Speed seems to win out more often then its counterpart. There are more opportunities to strike first. There are more chances at misses. There is a reason why this card started out as epic.

Now if we look at the Brownie stats as he evolves the decision becomes more glaringly simple:

Fully maxed you are going to get 1 melee, 6 speed, 3 life and the twin abilities of Swiftness and Inspire. So he will increase himself to 7 speed and 2 melee. The Summoner will likely give him 1 more life as well. All this for 1 mana.

There are many other cards that have abilities that manipulate the speed of both friendly and unfriendly monsters. Let me know which are your favorite and why.

Remember:

1. Experiment with the cards and the different combinations. See which ones create synergies that complement your game style.
2. Share your discoveries and build this community.
3. Play on and have Fun!!!!