Aurendrak and the Art of Keeping the Tank Alive
Hello, fellow Splinterlands warriors!
Welcome back to Battle of the Day. This time, I’m not talking about a new card or a strategy I already know by heart. Instead, I’m experimenting with something that still feels quite new to me: Archon Aurendrak.
Aurendrak has an ability that I find pretty interesting. This Archon can grant Flank or Void to a chosen monster. Both abilities may look simple at first, but they can actually change the way we build our formations.
So I thought, if that’s the case, why not make a battle revolve around the tank?
And that’s where this experiment began.
Commander Slade Becomes the Main Star
For my first experiment, I gave Flank to Commander Slade.
Why Commander Slade?
Because Flank allows the monster in the second position to attack from the front as well. That meant I could place Giant Alpine Skink, which has 4 melee attack, directly behind Commander Slade while still allowing it to attack.
I found that pretty interesting.
Normally, if we want to make good use of a melee monster, we have to think carefully about its position and the battle rules. But with Flank, a monster standing behind the tank basically gets permission to step into the ring and join the fight.
So the formation looked something like this: Commander Slade became the center of attention, Giant Alpine Skink supported him from behind, while the other monsters were there to make sure the defensive line didn’t collapse too quickly.
I also included Night Reaper, Surgehammer, Dragon Egg Forager, and Chuma Marandu, with its Sneak ability.
With this combination, I was hoping for one thing: if Commander Slade fell, the troops behind him would still be strong enough to keep the battle going.
And as it turned out, that hope wasn’t misplaced.
But this is still Splinterlands.
Eventually, my tank had to face the harsh reality: Commander Slade could still be taken down.
The difference was that this time, I had already prepared the troops behind him to continue the fight.
Night Reaper and Surgehammer kept applying pressure. Dragon Egg Forager helped out, while Chuma Marandu worked from the back with Sneak.
Little by little, the enemy’s defenses began to crumble.
And eventually, the victory was mine.
Second Experiment: This Time Commander Slade Gets Void
Then I started thinking: if Flank can make Commander Slade more aggressive, what if I tried a completely different approach?
So, in the next battle, I gave Void to Commander Slade.
The concept changed.
This time, I wasn’t simply looking for Commander Slade to become the center of physical attacks. I wanted to see whether he could survive longer when facing magic damage.
Interestingly, the enemy formation this time wasn’t really built around a large number of magic monsters.
There were only two magic monsters that caused any real trouble.
But that was where I saw the benefit of Void.
Commander Slade, equipped with Void, was able to deal with those magic attacks much better. He didn’t immediately collapse like he might have without that extra protection.
Once again, I kept the same basic pattern: tank in front, followed by supporting monsters working together as a team.
At this point, I started to feel that the Aurendrak experiment wasn’t simply about choosing between Flank and Void.
What mattered more was who receives the ability and how the entire formation is built to support that monster.
Aurendrak Doesn’t Win Battles Alone
After these two battles, I came away with a pretty clear impression.
Aurendrak definitely provides some interesting options, but this Archon isn’t the type you can simply put into a lineup and expect victory to come automatically.
Flank is great when you have a melee monster that can really take advantage of it.
In my case, Giant Alpine Skink was a perfect example. It could stand behind Commander Slade and still attack.
Void, meanwhile, makes more sense when you want to give a particular tank additional durability against magic damage.
So the same ability can create a completely different story simply because the target is different.
And that, for me, is the interesting part.
Closing: An Experiment Worth Continuing
These two battles have made me even more interested in experimenting with Aurendrak.
In the first battle, I tried Flank, turning Commander Slade into both a tank and a path opener for Giant Alpine Skink.
In the second battle, I changed my approach and gave Void to Commander Slade.
Both approaches ended in victory, but the feeling of each battle was completely different.
And I think that’s where the fun really is.
We’re not simply looking for the strongest card. We’re looking for the right combination of Archon, monster, ability, position, and battle conditions.
For me, Aurendrak is definitely worth experimenting with further. Not because it guarantees victory, but because Flank and Void open up plenty of possibilities for creating unusual formations.
Because in Splinterlands, even a powerful ability without the right partner can sometimes be like bringing an umbrella into the house: it’s a useful thing to have, but you probably won’t notice its usefulness there.
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