Back to the basics. Steem Monsters Tanks.

The first thing you should know about Steem Monsters tanks is how to properly utilize them, so you actually have a chance of winning!

Nobody wants to pay for cards and get beat all the time, right? So, let's get started.

Everyone has their own preferences, so each team will be completely different based on who likes what, etc.

Getting right to the most important aspect of the cards, their abilities. What makes each card work? Why does this card belong here, and so on. I will explain a little about how to properly assemble your team as to be sure to make the most of your lineup.

Normally you will run into what is called a "tank" being the first card in the line, the tanks usually have a large amount of life and heavy shielding since they are the ones taking a significant amount of damage from the start. One particular tank has 18 life (when maxed) combined with the right summoner.

For example, this Peaceful Giant, when summoned by Lyanna Natura will end up with more hp than any other monster available. Since he has 17 hp when maxed, you can use Lyanna Natura to add one extra hp since that is her special ability. (She adds 1 HP to every monster she summons)

Some people might not think this particular monster is any good since he only has a bunch of HP and literally no atk but that's not always the case! Depending on the ruleset and mana cap that's currently being used, this big lump was literally one of the most sought after cards a few days ago.

Most times you probably will not end up using the Peaceful giant though, at least not yet. However, There will be completely new Spells & Items soon, so there is still no way to know what any of the cards may or may not be capable of when combined with these upcoming additions to the game.

Now for something different. This is another neutral card like the Peaceful Giant, only this one is not so very peaceful at all.

Meet, Hydra.

Hydra is one of the newest additions to the Steem Monsters lineup. Just like the Peaceful Giant, this card was introduced with the BETA edition of Steem Monsters. (Keep in mind that these are stats for maxed out cards, not level 1)

One thing that makes Hydra effective in battle as a tank is it's ability to heal itself. That's something many people want in a tank so that it does not die too easily and leave all the weaker cards unprotected. If you combine this card with a tank healer like the Divine Healer or Crustacean King, it becomes several times harder to kill, making it a much more dangerous adversary in combat.

The next ability about Hydra that is great is thorns. When an enemy hits Hydra with a melee attack they will collect a little damage in return as a result. This will impede their ability to weaken/kill your hydra as it will cause them to virtually commit suicide upon attacking, directly due to their own actions they will lose HP and be eventually beaten. (Hopefully, if your team is strong enough.)

Aside from healing and thorns, Hydra still has 2 very impressive skills. Retaliate and trample. Both skills reveal the true power of Hydra, and will leave you stunned as you watch this card trample the competition. When retaliate is activated Hydra will strike back when hit making the damage dealt 2x that of the original amount. If you're lucky it will be enough to destroy the opponent and then trample comes in for a third and final attack. Trample happens when Hydra successfully destroys an enemy, after the enemy is removed from the lineup, Hydra will automatically attack the next card in line!

There are a lot of do's-and-dont's when it comes to making your team, one of the biggest dont's I would recommend is to never put a squishy little guy like this Skeleton Assassin in the front!

He will die INSTANTLY and leave you with one less player on your team, likely causing you to lose. That doesn't make him useless though, in fact, far from it!

Where you should probably keep this little killer is somewhere safe in the back row between some heavilly armored and/or high hp characters. This bag of bones might not look like much, but when you're using the right setup he lives up to his assassin title. You might be surprised just how useful he can be when given the chance.

Would you like this GOLD SKELETON ASSASSIN on your team? You can win him just by commenting your favorite Steem Monster and choosing a number between 1-5000.

Gain up to 2 extra entries by casting your witness vote for @yabapmatt and @aggroed and sharing a screenshot as proof, choose a number between 1-5000 for each completed witness vote. It is OKAY if you have ALREADY VOTED. You may STILL ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY.

Alternatively, you can win by completing the following 2 steps:

1. Joining the Steem Monsters Discord and tagging me in the general chat (@crystalhuman) with a message saying "I want to win a gold Skeleton Assassin!!"

2. Making a #steemmonsters post that's at least 100 words describing how you found out about Steem Monsters, what makes you like the game so much, and why you think you should be the one to win!

Be sure to pick your number between 1-5000 and share the link to your post here!

Winner will be chosen by random, using a random number generator, on the day this post matures.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here in the comments, or on Discord! You can find me on the Steem Monsters Discord Server.

New to Steem Monsters? Head over to https://steemmonsters.com to get started. All you need is a starter pack to play and you can start winning 1 pack per day just for completing daily quests!

See you there!