Splinterlands is a game that's easy to learn, but difficult to master. Splinterlands requires tactical thinking and strategic decision-making to optimize the team that you field based on what you expect the opponent to do and the specific rule set of the match. Even after playing the game for a long time, I occasionally have ah-ha moments when I experience a breakthrough that changes my entire strategy. In today's post, I want to explain how I've been using a combination of magic and the opportunity ability as a battlefield breakthrough to dominate on the battlefield.
Heading into this match, I was a bit nervous. I could see that my opponent frequently played dual element summoners, which made me suspect that they probably had a deck that was a little bit more powerful than mine. This was confirmed by the fact that their power rating is over 100,000. By contrast, my power is just over 35,000. I definitely expected my opponent to have access to a wider selection of cards and to have the advantage in this matchup, but I was determined not to give up and field the best team possible.
As I was thinking about the match and developing my strategy, I learned an important truth about Splinterlands. A monster with one health still deals its full damage output. With this in mind, I realized my goal should be to start eliminating the opponent's units as quickly as possible. I would much rather take out a single unit, even if it's a relatively weaker unit, than spreading my damage across the battlefield but not taking any of my opponent's units out of the fight.
With this goal in mind, I decided my best strategy would be to combine using as many magic monsters as possible with the opportunity ability. As you can see here from my original lineup, I decided to go with an Archon that gives a plus one magic boost, and I included as many magic monsters as possible.
When I first saw my opponent's lineup, I wasn't sure how everything was going to turn out. But as the match progressed, I slowly started to see my strategy coming into play as my opponent's units got picked off one by one.
The first hint of success came when Rune Arcanist took out the opponents Drybone Megalodon. It's not always a guarantee of success, but being able to eliminate your opponent's tank before your own tank gets knocked out is usually a good sign.
Just a few seconds after that, Thandalorian Scion knocked my opponent's Great Bear Druid out of the fight.
Quillstorm Mage also wanted to get in on the action and quickly eliminated the opponent's Vengeful Monk.
By the end of the first round, I was feeling that I was in a pretty good position. I still had my entire lineup, and my team had eliminated half of the opponent's units. However, the second round started off with a bit of a setback as the opponent knocked out my Giant Alpine Skink.
Despite the loss of my main tank, my team continued to fight back, and Conclave Tracker landed a decisive blow against the opponent's Kha'zi Conjurer that took it out of the fight.
Rune Arcanist then swooped in for another attack and eliminated the opponent's Chaos Evoker.
Quillstorm Mage landed the final blow by finishing off the opposing Chaos Adjutant.
As I reflect back on this match, I realized that the breakthrough wasn't just using magic monsters or using the opportunity ability. Rather, my battlefield breakthrough was realizing that there is a powerful synergy between the magic attack type and the opportunity ability. Unless the Weak Magic rule set is in effect or the opponent's unit has Void Armor, magic is able to bypass armor and directly affect the opponent's unit's health. This is a massive advantage, and I don't think I would have had the same level of success if I had paired the Opportunity ability with either Ranged or Melee attacks.
At the end of the day, my team was able to carry the victory. Not only did I get the bragging rights of having won a match, but I also earned SPS as well as Glint.
Speaking of earning Glint and SPS, I wanted to mention that Splinterlands is a truly unique blockchain-based video game that allows players to earn both cryptocurrency and NFT trading cards for winning matches. Being able to earn tangible rewards for playing a game that you enjoy is a revolutionary concept. and it's something that I'm very passionate about. If you like the idea of earning real rewards for a game that you already enjoy playing, then I'd invite you to join me in Splinterlands using my referral code.
As a US resident, I am required to disclose that I might receive a benefit, such as reward or incentive, if you join using my affiliate link. All image credits belong to Splinterlands. Nothing is financial advice.
