Hello, my dear Splinterlanders and Hivers,
How are you today?
Those who reach this post, I wish you a good day.

With the approval of proposal #9 a new SPS airdrop has started to those who hold Tower Defence packs in their accounts.
I'm holding a tiny bag of TD packs (only 7 TD packs.. Ha ha..), and I'm getting 0.811 SPS per day.
If we calculate, with each pack you're holding, you're eligible for 0.116 SPS/day (approx.) airdrop, which will decrease as time goes by.
It's not much, but it's something.
How many packs you're holding and how many SPS airdrops you're getting per day? Let me know in the comment.

Anyway, in the 'Card In Spotlight' series, I review the best and undervalued cards of the Splinterlands. This is the third edition and you can read the other two editions here -

Edition 1: Card In Spotlight : Baakjira | This Ancient Beast Is The Ultimate Tank Of The Water Splinter.

Edition 2: Card In Spotlight : RIFTWING | Kill This Monster If You Can.

In this edition, I'll talk about a monster that is well known as the 'Kron Killer'. Yes, you guessed it right, the Grund.
I'll also share the best battle I fought and won using Grund in my team.

So without further ado, let's start.

THE LORE

Grund, the protector of Praetorous

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Shadows came from everywhere, spilling over the small wall that used to keep the wild animals at bay and clambering over the outbuildings that held the settler’s stock of animals.
The smallholding hadn’t been built for long but the people had hoped that because of its vicinity to Mount Praetorous, the area would soon grow and become busy with trade, especially considering the earth was so fertile here.
But now a strange light had appeared in the distant sky and hordes of monsters had descended upon the land.

Gasps of fear and sobbing sounded behind him as the pack of dark creatures encircled them. The snarling, howling, and spitting, caused the children to scream, their cries only increasing the fervor of the fell beasts that stalked them.
Grund widened his stance and gripped the warhammers, feeling the leather creak beneath his strong grasp. This is what he had sort ever since the portal had opened, an opportunity to save the people, a chance to smash the enemy into annihilation.

As the first wave came at him, he spun to meet them, his hammers crushing flesh and bone, sending broken bodies flying through the air. More and more pressed in upon him but he only laughed, his attack becoming a dance of death, the righteous energy inside of him spilling forth and feeding his strength. When he was done the enemy lay everywhere, the dead broken, the dying wailing with their last breaths. He looked to the others that crouched beyond the wall and beckoned them forward, uncertainty now in their eyes.

“Is this all you’ve got?” he called. “Please tell me this is not your best and you have more to offer.”

BATTLE STATS AND ABILITIES OF THE GRUND

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Before I share my strategy and the battle, let's talk about the stats and abilities of this card.

The Grund is an epic earth unit card from the Chaos Legion edition.
This melee attack card costs 10 mana to use in the battle which makes this card a high-mana-cost card.
Talking about the abilities, this monster has the incredible 'double strike' ability activated from level 1. With this ability, this monster attacks twice each round.
From level 4 the 'trample' ability is applied. With this ability, if this monster hits and kills its target, it will perform another attack on the next monster on the enemy team.
At the highest level 6, the 'cripple' ability is unlocked. With this ability, each time an enemy is hit by a monster with cripple ability it loses one max health.
This card's stats also increase through levels, from 3 melee attacks, 3 speeds, and, 10 health in level 1, to 4 melee attacks, 3 speeds, and 11 health in level 4.
At the highest level 6, the stats of this card are 4 melee attacks, 3 speeds, and, 13 health.

How To Use Grund Effectively ?

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Due to his huge attack power, Grund is well known as the 'Kron killer'. This monster also has a good amount of health, so you can safely use it as a tank.
Let's explore the ways we can use the Grund effectively.

In the 'unprotected' ruleset

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In the 'unprotected' ruleset, monsters on either team do not have any armor, they also don't have any summoner buff of extra armor.
This is the perfect scenario to use Grund in action. Place it in the tank position and then use a 'taunt' ability monster in the last position.
This will split the hits of the enemy team and the tank monster will survive longer.
On the other hand, Grund will diminish the enemy team with its huge firepower. As there's no armor, each round Grund dealt 8 points of attack if not missed.
We can further increase the firepower of Grund by adding 'inspire' ability monsters like Brownie and/or Orc Sergeant to the team.

In the 'melee mayhem' ruleset

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In the 'melee mayhem' ruleset melee attack monsters can attack from any position. That means our heavy hitter Grund can attack from the second line.
To make attacks of Grund more effective, use a 'rust' ability monster like Sporcerer to the team.
And, use Bownie and/or Orc Sergeant to increase its firepower further.

In the 'equal opportunity' and 'super sneak' ruleset

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In both rulesets, monsters from both teams have chances to attack the weak monsters of the opponent team.
This means that Grund can attack from the second line in these rulesets too.
and it may possible that Grund can kill 2-3 monsters in a single round with its big 'double strike' firepower and the 'trample' ability if the enemy monsters have low health.

In the low mana-cap battles with Kron+Llama combo or Llama+Flesh Golem combo

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In the low mana-cap battles, these two combos are nearly undefeatable because of their 'dual-healing' properties. I lost several low mana-cap battles against these two combos. But Grand can be your savior here. With his 8 points attack each round, Grund can kill these monsters with a little help from Lyanna Natura or Mylor Crowling. This is why Grund is known as the 'Kron killer'.

Now, that we learned how to effectively use the Grund in various rulesets, it's time to apply those strategies in real time.

THE BATTLE

RULESET

Mana Cap: 52
Ruleset:
Unprotected: Monsters do not have any armor and do not get armor from abilities or summoner buffs.
Active Splinters: Water, Earth, Dragon.

My Strategy and Team Setup

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As the ruleset was 'unprotected', and there was enough mana cap to use a few high mana cost cards, it was a perfect time to use Grund.
Choosing Daria Dragonscale as the summoner, I made the following team -

SUMMONER

Daria Dragonscale

TEAM SETUP

1st Position

Grund

2nd Position

Carnage Titan

3rd Position

Sand Worm

4th Position

Spirit Miner

5th Position

Black Dragon

6th Position

Supply Runner

Let the battle begin...

Team Submission

Round 01

Round 02

Watch the full battle in realtime - https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_d7bb7fee6a5902a20829830cc4e64763&ref=furiousfighter

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Key Points Of This Battle

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The winning factor of this battle was speed.
All of my monsters were increased speed, thanks to the 'swiftness' ability of the Spirit Miner and the Supply Runner.
Also due to the 'slow' debuff effect of the Black Dragon, the enemy monsters were decreased in speed.
My monsters attacked first and a few of the enemy monsters were eliminated before they can strike any attack.
Due to the fact that no monsters have any armor because of the 'unprotected' ruleset, the enemy monsters took direct hits.
My monsters has increased melee attack due to the summoner buff, thanks to the Daria Dragonscale. So it took only a few hits to eliminate half of the enemy team.
And last but not the least, the 'trample' ability of the Grund played a vital role in this battle. Due to this ability, Grund alone destroyed two monsters of the enemy team.
With a perfect strategy and team setup, I secured the winning.

My Takes On The Grund

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As I said above, the Grund is a perfect monster as a tank or as the second-line attacker in certain rulesets.
With two killing abilities, the 'double strike' and the 'trample', this monster is the deadliest attacker of the Splinterlands.
When used strategically, the Grund can turn the outcome of any battle.
Not to mention, this is my favorite monster in high mana-cap battles and the battles with the 'unprotected' ruleset.
Therefore, I always keep a level 4-5 Grund in my collection.

And that's all for today, guys.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article. So, don't forget to keep me encouraged with your upvotes and comments.

I'm happy to share with you the strategy, and team combination as well as the gameplay of the good battles every week.
So, if you guys like my writing, please follow me for the latest update.

If you want to try this fun play2earn game Splinterlands, feel free to join here - https://splinterlands.com?ref=furiousfighter

Until next time,
Peace.
Akash Kumar.