This is one of those battles where I felt like I should’ve lost on paper but somehow still pulled through because of the changes I made with the team at the right time. I got countered pretty hard by Bella Ratajowlski’s Shield which made most of my melee damage feel weak. Normally, that kind of matchup would already make me lose the game but I tried something different this time. I started mixing in magic damage instead of forcing my usual melee-heavy playstyle. That small change ended up making a huge difference and honestly it changed how I look at building around Elowen Sylphie.
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_ae499d5f8ca46404709a2e829f7a3b93
I've tried a lot of new units for Elowen Sylphie and I've gotta say, I'm getting very close to that sweet spot. In this battle, I almost lost with my enemy's lineup. Elowen Sylphie's lineup is naturally melee-focused while Bella Ratajowlski's strategy is very anti-melee due to her giving Shield to all Ulund Bloodline units. I started using Forlorn Geomant and Esper Shadowbeak very recently, two units that has magic damage, and they did wonders in this battle. I also realized recently that I don't need to force melee units since Elowen Sylphie only gives Charge to the Mundane Beast and Avian units. This means if the unit can already attack from the back, like if I used magic damage or range damage units, then I don't really need Elowen Sylphie's Bloodline Dominion ability on those units since they don't need Charge unless they are melee. Even if they aren't Mundane Beast or Avian Bloodline, I can still apply her Resurgence and Trample abilities which expanded my options for my combo pieces with Elowen Sylphie. Since the two units I mentioned has magic damage, they were very effective against the enemy lineup especially when almost all of them have Shield.
Modifier 1: Fire & Regret: All units receive the Return Fire ability at the start of the battle. Enemy units that attack with ranged attacks receive damage back.
This lineup is the one I usually go to now which gives me a high win rate unless the enemy really overpower me in terms of level. I still cannot compete with high level enemies since their units have better stats and more abilities giving them advantage over my units. This lineup also have an edge if enemy lineup uses a lot of melee units due to Retaliate and Thorns. On the other hand, this lineup also is slightly melee-focused so anti-melee strategies like Ulundin Bella Ratajowlski makes it hard for me to win cleanly.
Elowen Sylphie: I tried using Elowen Sylphie before but didn't got this much of a result. Now, with the new cards from Escalation set, this is proving to be one of the best archons I've used so far. Elowen Sylphie is a bit unique. She has Bloodline Dominion that affects units with Mundane Beast and Avian Bloodlines. The units from these two Bloodlines are given Charge ability allowing them to attack from any position if they are melee units. This isn't a strong or ground breaking ability but has a lot of good synergy with its units. The other part of the ability is giving up to 2 units Resurgence and Trample abilities. Trample allows the melee unit to do another attack if it kills an enemy which is a good bonus. Resurgence revives the unit if it dies with max health and armor at the cost of inflicting 1 damage to all of the units on the field. This effectively gives you additional 2 units on the field which is really good in any situation.
Grimbardun Fighter: Neutral unit with 3 melee damage, 1 armor, 7 health and 2 speed. He has Shield to halve all melee damage he gets and Corrosive Ward to inflict permanent damage to the enemy melee unit attacking it. It's the same as Thorns ability but only affects armor and all the damage is permanent. It is good if the enemy relies on armor and have abilities like Repair to get it back.
Lioceros: Lioceros has 3 melee damage, 4 armor, 7 health and 2 speed for only 7 mana. Since Lioceros has Mundane Beast Bloodline, he gets Charge and can attack from the back. He also has Thorns which is a good addition if enemy units have a lot of melee attacks. The Shield on the enemy, on the other hand, halves the Thorns damage so it wouldn't be as effective in this battle.
Skyspire Leopard: Skyspire Leopard has 2 melee damage, 3 armor, 5 health and 2 speed. It has Retaliate that gives him a chance to attack back any melee attacker that attacks it. Skyspire Leopard also has Mundane Beast Bloodline allowing him to attack from the back with Charge. This unit only has 5 mana cost which is nice since it has decent stats and synergizes well with Elowen Sylphie and Endless Ape.
Esper Shadowbeak: Esper Shadowbeak has 2 magic damage, 2 melee damage, 2 armor, 7 health and 4 speed. He also has Flying ability as an extra. Esper Shadowbeak is an Avian Bloodline unit so he gets the Charge ability from Elowen Sylphie allowing him to use his melee damage from the back. This unit is the other new addition from my team. The mixed damage is nice so I don't get hard countered like in this battle and still have a chance to win. I gave him the other part of Elowen Sylphie's ability, the Resurgence and Trample. I need to give the resurgence to him since I've seen Opportunity ability on one of the enemy unit. While he isn't getting targeted right away, I wasn't sure how this battle will go so it's better to be safe. Since Esper Shadowbeak and Forlorn Geomant both have 7 health, Esper Shadowbeak will be targeted first by the Opportunity unit since he is more front than the other unit in terms of position. It's similar to when you have two Taunt units. The one in the frontmost position gets targeted first.
Endless Ape: He is the only core for Elowen Sylphie. Since Endless Ape is a Mundane Beast Bloodline, he gets Charge allowing him to attack from behind. I always put one of Elowen Sylphie's Trample and Resurgence to Endless Ape. Trample works with him because of the melee damage. Resurgence work magically with Endless Ape's ability because if Resurgence triggers bringing Endless Ape back to life at full health and full armor, that includes all stack of Scavenger. Instead of being revived at 11 health, if he gets 4 stacks of Scavenger by the time he dies and Resurgence activates, Endless Ape then gets revived at 15 health which is really good.
Forlorn Geomant: Forlorn Geomant has 5 magic damage, 3 armor, 7 health but no abilities at the cost of 13 mana. In this battle, it gains Return Fire ability though due to the modifier. I added him recently because my original build for Elowen Sylphie lacks damage. Forlorn Geomant's high 5 magic damage is perfect for what I am looking for especially since I can always adjust the lineup as all I need for the Elowen Sylphie lineup is Endless Ape and his Scavenger ability. The rest of the units are flexible if needed. I also sometimes add Elowen Sylphie's Resurgence and Trample to Forlorn Geomant if the enemy has Sneak and I think he would die early. While the Trample doesn't work, the Resurgence is nice to keep him alive longer.
This battle made me realize I don’t need to force melee with Elowen Sylphie. Adding magic damage gave me a way to deal with counters like Shield. Just because Elowen Sylphie gives bonuses to certain Bloodlines, it doesn't mean that it's the only way and the strongest way to build the team.
