Bone Wall
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Contents
Overview
Bone Wall is one of the most unique and powerful shields in Elements, because of its ability to completely block a source of damage regardless of that damage source's attack power. Initially, Bone Wall generates 7 bones that can each block a single source of physical (creature-based) damage; however, for each creature that dies, 2 more bones are generated.
General Use
Quick Facts:
- Initially, Bone Wall summons 7 charges. 1 charge can block 1 single creature attack regardless of how high the attack is.
- Whenever a creature dies, Bone Wall gains 2 additional charges.
- When targeted by permanent destruction, only 1 charge will be destroyed at a time.
Bone Wall is a strong card with an appropriate price at 7 
quanta. However, upgrading it reduces its cost to 5 , improving the player's ability to deploy it faster. The most unique thing about Bone Wall is that it is not one shield, but multiple shields stacked on top of each other. A single layer of the Bone Wall will block an attack no matter how strong that attack is; whether the player is facing a tough Ruby Dragon with 15 attack or a simple 1|1 Photon, the attack is completely mitigated and absorbed by the shield. The only attacks that may penetrate the shield are Momentum-affected cards and various spells. Also, because the Bone Wall is essentially multiple shields stacked in one slot, it is extremely resistant to permanent control. A permanent destruction card, such as Deflagration or Pulverizer, can only remove a single layer, leaving the shield still intact (if it had more than 1 bone wall "charge").
As a drawback for being able to completely block any attack, one counter of Bone Wall will disintegrate after it blocks one attack. Players start with 7 charges, which means they can block 7 attacks in total with that shield. However, like many other Death cards, Bone Wall is replenished whenever a creature is killed. Thus when a creature dies, regardless if it's the owner's creature or the opponent's, the Bone Wall will gain 2 additional charges. This is extremely useful, as it makes Bone Wall a virtually inexhaustible source of damage blockage, as long as there is a consistent way to trigger creature deaths. However, remember that Bone Wall will only gain additional charges if there is at least 1 charge; if all of its charges are depleted, then the Wall is destroyed and must be replaced by playing a new card. From the above, Bone Wall's main weakness is multiple attacks in one turn. For example, if the opponent has more than 10 creatures in play, the Bone Wall will fall apart quickly to the army of attackers. Likewise, a couple of creatures with Adrenaline will also take down the shield with relative ease to the creature's attack rate.
Synergies
While there are various cards that benefit from creature death, Boneyard | Graveyard is one of the few that complements the Bone Wall in almost every way for both offensive and defensive purposes. Not only can a Death player generate additional shields to block attacks, they'll also generate Skeletons for a minor boost in attacking power (or as sacrificial fodder against enemy mass CC effects). While both versions of Boneyard are used interchangeably (the unupped for cheaper and subsequently faster deployment, the upgraded version for stronger fighters), the permanent is a popular card to include in any deck that specializes in making the most out of Bone Wall.
Sometimes, killing creatures can be difficult without a reliable CC card. Schrodinger's Cat | Schrodinger's Cat removes this necessity and instead goes right into the death triggers to generate additional Bone Wall counters. Assuming that most AI and enemies won't target the Cat due to its low precedence and damage capabilities (not to mention, triggering the death effect if killed), players can repeatedly use the Dead and Alive skill in order to create additional Bone Wall layers for the added defense. Because of its cheap cost and Death-friendly ability, the Cat can be played on the second turn with an Entropy mark in any deck, and works well with Bone Wall given creature protection or other CC cards to protect it.
Spark | Ball Lightning is one of the most unusual creatures in the game with its 0 HP. By the same token, its 'dead on arrival' aspect becomes a perfect synergy card with both offensive and defensive potential with Bone Wall. After dealing its damage, the Spark's death will automatically accumulate 2 Bone Wall counters; players who have Fractal can also spam Sparks repeatedly to generate multiple deaths and build the Bone Wall well into double-digit territory. This tactic can be fairly expensive, but makes a wonderful Aether-Death combination given Spark's unique stats.
Other Cards With Synergy
Many cards that cause consistent death effects work wonders with Bone Wall. Flooding, Otyugh, Eagle's Eye, and even Maxwell's Demon are decent cards to pair up with the shield due to their reusable CC abilities. Players who don't mind killing off their own creatures can also use Catapult, Immolation, and even Virus to help build up the Bone Wall, alongside doing other effects (damage, quanta generation, or CC).
Rain of Fire (or Plague, for mono-Death decks) serve as impressive mass CC effects that can destroy an entire field of enemy creatures, resulting in a potentially insurmountable shield that the enemy may not be able to break down in time. Finally, Soul Catcher serves as an alternative card to pair up with Bone Wall, given its expensive cost; the killed creatures can generate quanta to help replace the crippled Bone Wall with a fresh one, assuming Soul Catcher was in play to reap the souls for energy.
Conclusion
Bone Wall is a fascinating shield for the Death element; given enough creature fodder, any player can create an impenetrable shield that will laugh at any creature-attack regardless of the amount of damage served by them. Those who face the Wall should note that unless they have ways to ignore or break down the shield, to play their army carefully, or else have their fighters be nothing more than mere numbers to the shield...
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