This battle felt stressful the moment I saw the modifier. Global Warming is one of those modifiers that constantly make your units lose health because of burning debuff. On top of that, we only had 25 mana to work with which made team building even harder. With limited mana and constant burning damage, I really want to rely on a single unit to carry the game but I don't have that. So, instead, I focused on magic damage that would directly affect their health similar to the effect of Burning modifier.
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_06433511fd159db88dd68ce291ff844e
This battle has Global Warming modifier which puts a burning debuff to everyone. Burning deals 2 damage to units every start of the round. It's like poison but it spreads so it's harder to try and remove them with Cleanse. The battle also has low 25 mana that you can use so very limited units can be played. With these limitations, if you don't have a unit with heal to offset the burning, the higher health your unit is, the better it would be for you.
My lineup was very limited because of the low mana I am allowed to use. I honestly didn’t have many strong low-cost options so I leaned toward using the most efficient units available to me. Instead of spreading out weaker cards, I chose fewer but stronger ones. I feel like if I can't have units that can survive for long, I'd rather have the enemy die first.
Marlai Singariel: Marlai Singariel fits well with my lineup because two of my three units deal magic damage. The +1 magic boost increases their damage immediately. I wanted more damage so that I could kill the enemies faster and to help with the modifier, I plan to target their health directly. The faster I remove enemy units, the less burning damage I have to endure overall.
Stampeding Calf: I didn’t have many low-mana frontline options, so Stampeding Calf became my main tank. With 3 health and no armor, he’s very easy to kill, especially under Burning. His 1 melee attack is small, but at least he contributes something before going down. He has Charge, but since he’s already placed in front, that ability doesn’t really matter here. His main job is simply to absorb early hits and buy time.
Captain Fellblade: Captain Fellblade works well with Saltwater Mage because both of them have Sneak abilities. His 2 magic damage benefits from Marlai Singariel’s increased magic damage, increasing it to 3, which is significant if I want the enemies dead fast. The Sneak ability is also useful since it allows her to pressure the enemy backline while Burning eats away at everyone. Combining direct damage to health with constant debuff that damages health creates a good synergy.
Saltwater Mage: Saltwater Mage is one of my key damage dealers. Her 2 magic damage becomes 3 with Marlai Singariel’s boost which is strong in a 25 mana match. The Sneak ability allows her to target units at the back just like Captain Fellblade. That helped me secure faster kills. Since Burning lowers health every round, finishing off weakened enemies quickly can reduce the damage my team would get.
Their lineup is weird. I think they mistook the positioning and Great Bear Druid and Azhar Ibn Sulaim. Azhar Ibn Sulaim should be in the second position so he could still attack while Taunting units and Great Bear Druid is in the front to attack with both of the attacks.
Barthalamas: Barthalamas gives +1 speed to their team. Speed can be helpful for attacking first or dodging but in this kind of battle, damage and survivability feel more important. Since everyone is losing health every round from Burning, acting first doesn’t always save you. He is not a strong archon in my opinion since Speed is not as useful of a stat than damage, health or armor.
Azhar Ibn Sulaim: Azhar Ibn Sulaim being in the front is questionable because he’s a ranged unit without Close Range ability. That means his 2 ranged damage can’t even be used from that position. He does have Taunt, which draws attacks, and his 8 health with 3 armor makes him sturdy. However, with Burning dealing 2 damage every round, even the high health gets chipped down quickly and not being able to attack is very bad since you want the enemy units to die first than yours.
Great Bear Druid: Great Bear Druid has decent stats with 6 health and both magic and melee damage. Since he’s not in the front, his melee attack can’t be used, but the 1 magic damage still works. Under Burning, his 6 health helps him survive a bit longer than other units. Still, limited damage can be a disadvantage in a match where health constantly gets damaged on top of the enemy attacks.
Surly Drunk: Surly Drunk has 1 melee attack and Opportunity. I think he is bad in this modifier because Burning deals 2 damage so he would be out immediately even if I don't attack him. I think he is a filler though so it's fine.
Global Warming makes every round feel dangerous. With health constantly dropping, I wanted to end the game fast. In the end, the mistakes my enemy did contributed a lot in winning this battle. I learned in this battle that you need to have good damage in your units if you don't have abilities to sustain the constant damage.
