This time we will focus on some techniques on which decks and cards you could use for 99 mana cost battles. The beauty of this game mode is that it allows you to bring out your strongest summons, play any lineup you want while at the same time remain tactical given the different battle rulesets.
Now on to the battle analysis
The first battle is a max mana fire vs fire mirror matchup. You can view the full battle here: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_a3d78b8aee14c50f0e5968d00c2dee76&ref=beerbod
The ruleset for this match is silenced summoners. There's 2 things that I primarily look at when playing at max mana, 1 is which splinter offers the highest HP, and 2 which color splinter gives me the highest damage. Fire is a great choice when summoners won't play a role in a match. My opponent seems to think the same
I went for Living Lava as my tank, Fineas Rage as my off tank, Sand Worm for that strong melee burst damage. Fire Elemental and Pyromancer for that blast duo, and Lava Launcher as it has high damage and high armor and can go in the frontlines too. My opponent on the other hand went with a high range damage lineup. However there are some flaws in his lineup, one is that his elven defender won't be of any use at the early stage. Second is that 3 of his cards have low HP, the goblin chariot, Spark Pixies and Fire Elemental.
The first round ended with 1 casualty for each side, his Mantoid was able to snipe my fire elemental. While my Sandworm took out his goblin chariot. I have a slight advantage given that my living lava still has 3 health vs his 1.
Both our tanks have been taken out the previous round. The overall health total for all of my monsters is 19 compared to my enemies 13, giving me still a slight advantage. However, in this battle, i have a lava launcher that could still fight in the first position given it's close combat ability. Should the trade be even then I will have the upper hand towards the end game.
The advantage of having Fineas Rage in my lineup is it's high speed allowing me to attack first and take out enemy off tank Elven Defender. With this turn, the Mantoid moves to first position being unable to attack. The opponent is left with 2 attacking cards compare to my 4. Although my first position has low health now and may not last another round.
Before the last round ended, my sandworm took out his spark pixies. We start the fourth round with me gaining a huge advantage. the Mantoid is low at health, and opponent only has 1 attacking card which is the flame elemental.
The battle ended with me having 3 cards left with the sandworm, pyromancer and lava launcher. And even if the battle was to last for an additional 2 round i would still have been comfortable given that my last card while ranged can fight close quarters in the first position. One mistake my opponent did is he went with low HP monsters.
The second battle will showcase earth vs water. With my playing the water splinter deck. Usually my go to deck on 99 mana cost battles is the fire deck but with this match it wasn't available. Opponent went with a magic earth lineup which is also a solid choice. Full battle can be viewed here: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_2ffb01fbdb8aed6bd71238bc2b400c5f&ref=beerbod
Same as before, the plan is to go with the strongest monsters with the highest hp and damage. I went with the Deimon Shark as my tank, Flying Squid due to its reach ability and high health. Djinn Oshanus for magic damage and magic def as well as high speed. Disintegrator to reduce enemy melee damage. Sandworm as well due to its high burst damage and Gargoya devil to fight in the frontlines just in case the battle goes down the wire.
The opponent's monster composition starts with Mycelic Infantry to reduce incoming physical damage, Unicorn Mustang for magic defense. Mycelic Slipspawn to attract sneak snipe and opportunity damage, Goblin Tower for that blast ability, Goblin Psychic to provide sustain and tank heal and Regal Peryton for a defensive backline with flying, high speed and high damage. Overall, this is a good composition. Except for one thing, the ruleset is healed out and it cancels all healing abilities removing his goblin psychics tank sustain.
Round 1 saw my DiemonShark Going down. I am left with the flying squid to tank all the damage. My opponents frontline attack is very due to multiple magic bursts. His tank is still at high health and the Mycelic Slipspawn is still alive. I will enter the second round with a slight disadvantage.
With the Mycelic Slipspawn at low health it got eliminated early in the second round. My secondary tank giant squid also went down towards the end of the 2nd round. Djinn Oshanus takes first position Mycelic Slipspawn still has high health and with 4 cards to 5. I am extremely unfavored in this match.
I took out the enemy regal peryton and with the high speed buff of Kelya Frendul and with the debuff caused by the disintegrator. My first position monster can easily evade or get reduced physical damage. The void ability also reduces the magic damage caused by the goblin psychic. Maybe my opponent chose the goblin because of it's 3 damage despite not having the heal ability. It's even at 4 cards a piece.
I manage to take out 2 opposing cards this round. The Mycelic infantry as well as the goblin psychic. My Djinn Oshannus is down to 2 health. But my last remaining 3 cards all still has armor. I only have a slight advantage at this point since my opponents unicorn mustang still has full health.
The fifth round ended with 3 cards to 2. My low health Djinn was already eliminated. All armors have been reduced to 0 as well except for my Gargoya devil. The sandworm has been taking armor damage due to the blast ability of the goblin tower. Overall I still have an advantage over damage output due to the sandworm. However, this attacks could miss due to the high speed of the unicorn mustang.
The sandworm has again done it's job of removing enemy backlines from play. The sixth round left my opponent with a 5 HP mustang. While my disintegrator will have no problems lasting 2 more round as its demoralize ability has significantly reduced damage output of the opponent.
This round gave me the win. And even if all my attacks were evaded consecutively, which is a mere impossibility, I could have lasted 6 more rounds taking all the damage the opponent has left. This battle started of pretty even, then being at a disadvantage to gaining momentum and getting the win. Overall a good match to learn from.
