Now that I have completed the mini-series for all regular splinters, it is time for the absolute last post in the series - the key cards in Dragon splinter. I love Dragon, as it allows for some crazy combinations thanks to being able to pair with any of the available splinters - things like Daria Dragonscale with Water or Earth are some of my favourite comps to play.

I will present to you, as usual, the 5 key cards to own in Dragon splinter, in my opinion. It is the most versatile option you can choose due to it being able to play with any of the other splinters - and it also has some of the most powerful (and expensive) cards in the game.

As always, there's a disclaimer: the cards are considered for up to Silver league, their price is crucial and I am focusing on modern - will only include cards for Wild if they seem like crazy good deals.

1. Naga Assassin - $0.13/BCX

Naga Assassin is an extremely cheap - both in mana cost as well as purchase cost - ranged unit that works well in pretty much every fight that does not have a large mana cap. It only costs around $3-$4 to max, making it a very low risk investment for a powerful unit.

This monster costs only 2 mana and has 5 speed - great to put in the backline to potentially dodge an attack or two, while also surely getting in an attack due to the high speed. The best part is that at level 4, Naga gets Backfire. That means not only can it dodge some Sneak attackers, but also fire back at them for 2 damage! She works very well with summoners such as Brighton Bloom and Byzantine Kitty to make dodging even more likely.

2. Djinn Chwala - $0,60/BCX

Continuing the trend of reward cards, as they are siply the best value for your buck, we have Djinn Chwala. Maxed for just 6 bucks, Chwala is one of the best purchases you can make if you're planning on playing Dragon a lot. It is high mana, so it might not be always possible to play it, but.. It is also quite decent in those as one of 2-3 units in a team.

Thorns are extremely powerful, as shown by Mylor Crowling, Cursed Windeku and a plethora of other monsters. Djinn Chwala might just be the cheapest way to get them with a high amount both health and armor. It gets a lot of stats as it gets to level 3, ending up with 16 effective health, as well as 3 points of attack! That is some good power and your Dragon decks will thank you for maxing him out for Silver!

3. Chaos Dragon - $10.60/BCX

The big boy of the expansion. 14 mana is a huge cost to pay, but Chaos Dragon can absolutely take over high mana battles once you get it to level 2. Of course, it will cost you much more than the reward cards, but there is little more satisfying than getting Chaos Dragon to Blast the enemy off the face of Praetoria.

At level 2, Chaos Dragon gets Blast in addition to already having Flying and Scattershot. Combine that with 3 Magic attack, and here's your recipe for winning a game by killing off a few backliners at once.. Or completely whiffing and losing the game. Chaos Dragon is also great in Earthquake with its Flying - although if Dragon is available, you could just play Brighton. Either way, this is a great card that can make its way to pretty much every high mana comp.

4. Desert Dragon - $6.65/BCX

It was a difficult decision between Desert Dragon and Void Dragon - as I believe both are underrated. I chose this one, just because it has a little more use cases than Void Dragon does. Maxed for Silver at just $20 is a steal for a legendary, especially one that can sometimes win games by itself like Desert Dragon.

The awkwardness of this card, as well as its rare usage comes from the fact that it is extremely squishy, while being fairly slow. With only 6 health and 3 armor, it can die too fast when on the front lines to even get off one attack.. But when it does get it off, it can be deadly, due to having both Piercing AND Trample. I find that it is best used with a backline Taunt to allow it to safely attack fromthe first position. It is also great in Melee Mayhem and Equal Opportunity!

5. Fire Spitter - $6.40/BCX

The only non-Modern card in the list - Dragons are fairly expensive overall, so making a cheap list is not easy; my choices were quite limited. I would love to suggest buying The Vigilator, but that's just really expensive. Fire Spitter costs just under $40 to max for Silver, but it becomes a true nightmare for the opposing lineups.

At 4 mana, the monster is an easy slot in into any Dragon lineup, while having 3 ranged attack - that is quite a high number, comparable to the likes of Peacebringer.. Except Fire Spitter also has Flying. This means that it is a good candidate for the last position to play around Sneak - 4 speed and Flying can be difficult to get through for cards like Sand Worm or Uraeus.

Closing Words

I really enjoy playing Dragon and hope to be able to snatch some of the more expensive Dragon cards eventually. I love the versatility it provides, overcoming some of the shortcomings that other Splinters can have. It really provides for fun combinations of cards and I'm really excited to see both the new Dragon legendary as well as the legendary summoner.

All the images are screenshots from Splinterlands, while the image in the thumbnail is the Splinterlands banner from the SPL facebook page.