I love Rexxie! He is one of my favourite cards in the entire deck... for some reason, despite the fact that he is trying to look mean and menacing... he just ends up looking more than a little bit cute to me!

However, at the cost of 7 mana... he is an expensive sort of card to play! Especially if you have a preferred tank in the form of the Self Healing Flesh Golem or the ever present Lord Arianthus. The only thing that Rexxie brings to the table is a high damage and the Trample ability... however, he is super slow and thus, is more than likely to go down before he can get a swipe out to the enemy team!

He is useful in the matches (if there is enough mana) where the melee monsters are all gifted with the ability to attack the rear or front from any position. However, I have found through painful experience that the trample ability only works in one direction! A pity... I would have thought that it should work in both directions (killing a monster in the rear should trigger the the next attack... ) but alas, it doesn't!

So, in regular (non-melee from any position matches) Rexxie really needs to be paired up with the Brownie (for a bit of a speed boost, and the melee boost is also pretty damn handy!) and the Wood Nymph (for healing and survivability). It really is a bit of a gamble as to whether you can get that hard hitting Trample to play out... or if you go down first... or you get defeated by a single armour point!

Battle 1

In this first battle... I did't opt for the Wood Nymph healer as it wasn't allowed by the Odd numbered battle restriction. So, instead I opted for the rear attacking Goblin Sorceror (a favourite and a definite must play inclusion in my Earth splinter!). To help out with the Rexxie, I had the two support units in the Brownie and Creeping Ooze.... mostly for the speed buff (and debuff)... but also for the Brownie's Melee boost (which gives a better chance for the Trample skill of Rexxie to trigger). At 1 mana each, these two support units really make a big difference to the effectiveness of Rexxie!

Even still... this was a bit of a gamble, if I was allowed even mana cards, I would have led with the Flesh Golem. When the match started, I was still thinking that I probably should have played Lord Arianthus in the lead position, but I really did want to find a match that would feature Rexxie for this post!

As the teams get revealed... the enemy Crustacean King has unfortunately provided armour to all the other monsters... this really gets in the way of the Trample ability, as it means that all the enemy monsters have a "second life" against's Rexxie's powerful melee attack. That said, my magic Rogue should make short work of the enemy support and should resolve that problem by taking out the Crustacean King! Luckily for me, his Water Elemental is in the wrong position to neutralise my rear attacking threat... otherwise, I would definitely have lost this game!

Round 1: I get rid of the Creeping Ooze... and oh crap... there goes my Rogue! That puts a crimp in the plan to slowly hack through the enemy ranks from the back! Uh oh.... at Rexxie is still alive!

Round 2: Now, the front enemy Orca has no armour... and if I hit him, he is going down... and the enemy team will have the Water Elemental at the front with no ability to attack! Orca goes down hard... and Rexxie uses the Trample to strip the armour of the only enemy monster with any real damage dealing ability!

It is game over... I have melee units, and the enemy has only ranged units. Rexxie is going on a rampage!... a cute one!

Battle 2

In this much higher mana battle (31 mana), I have opted for a slightly risky play with Rexxie in the front. I have set up my other 5 units to be the "real team"... but I have placed Rexxie in the front to cause as much havoc as possible before he goes down. If I'm lucky, he will be able to punch through the enemy tank and possible a couple more before they manage to stop him. Then, I will have my Flesh Golem start the real battle against a hopefully diminished enemy team!

Round 1: Again, you see that with the Brownie, Rexxie has a melee attack of 7 damage points... plus another 7 if trample gets activated. Bringing the enemy tank to 6 means that he is going down, and then there is some additional pain for the monster behind. Sadly, it isn't quite as bad as it could have been because of that nasty armour point! Still, I'm pretty chuffed that Rexxie survived the first round... will he make the second?

Round 2: Yes... I think he will manage a second attack! The Wood Nymph heals him... and there isn't enough damage on the enemy team to finish him off! Except his super powerful attack is wasted on the armour of the Prismatic Energy... poop! I really wanted to see Rexxie smash the baby Unicorn! He he he...

Round 3: Oh no... so, close! Rexxie was so close to getting another smash in... but got taken down by the Peacekeeper right before his turn! Oh well... he really has caused havoc in the enemy team... now the Flesh Golem steps up... and this is going to be an impenetrable wall for the enemy... the self healing of the Flesh Golem and the Wood Nymph tank heal is going to be impossible for the enemy to punch through after the depletion from Rexxie!

It is game over! Thanks Rexxie...

Wrapping Up

So, Rexxie is a tricky card to recommend... despite the absolute cuteness of the big guy! On the ruthless battlefields of Splinterlands... cuteness counts for nothing... Baby Unicorns are punched in the face on a daily basis! However, in the right situations such as melee attacks from any position Rexxie can be a handy guy to have in the middle of your line up. Shielded from attacks, and with a heavy hard hitting punch.

His main problem is lack of survivability and slowness.. so, I would always try to pair (trio him...) him with the Brownie (or Creeping Ooze) and the Wood Nymph. However, this means that you are spending quite a lot of mana to field Rexxie... 7 mana for Rexxie himself, and 5 or 6 mana for the support! It's a big call!

Still, it is nice to give the big guy a run every now and then. In the lower mana battles, it could sometimes work to have a single big hitting monster... and the trample ability means that you could potentially slash your way through the enemy ranks. Just be wary of the armour!

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