Hello Hive community and Welcome Back to another Challenge!

Splinterlands hack, more than $100k in assets dumped on the market, SPS and DEC slightly going down... BUT NOT A REASON TO STOP PLAYING! Well sometimes because of the lack of time and trying to publish my post before the Deadlines 😅 This week wo got:

Close Range

Icon	Description
	Ranged attack Monsters CAN attack on the 1st Position This eliminates the major weakness of Ranged Monsters

Same as last week ruleset (Broken Arrows), it is straightforward and offers some versatility in a couple of strategies. Of course, summoners like General Sloan, Selena Sky, Quix The Devious and Ilthain benefit indirectly from this kind of Rulesets.

For this week, I'll be sharing 2 Battles:

1st Battle: Ranked Game

A mid-low mana battle (21 Mana) with a single Ruleset: Close Range and 4 Elements available: Fire, Water, Life and Dragon

In this case we might expect:

• General Sloan + Ranged Army
• Typical Kelya Team with Oshannus as a Tank

So I've went with this Team

Card	Commentary
	An expensive 6 Mana Ruleset with a couple of benefits: +1 Armor to protect from potential Ranged (and Melee) Attacks Conscript to summon a Gladius Card that'll be shown below
	2 Mana Monster taking the Tank Position 3 Speed + Flying makes it a bit evasive
	Another 2 Mana Monster with more utility Opportunity to target the weakest monster Flying having 25% evasion chance
	A great 4 Mana card! not picking it it for the damage but the utility Tank Heal will heal Pelacor Conjurer allowing it to tank as long as possible Close Range will allow Venari to Heal and Attack at the first position, buying more time for ...
	The OP Gladius Cards making the cost of 7 Mana worthy Snipe will target a non-melee monster on the Rear Position that'll be most likely a squichy Monster In a most likely scenario, killing that squichy monster will trigger Bloodlust, becoming deadlier!

Pre-battle Buffs and Debuffs

Round 1

The Enemy team went for the Blue team: Oshannus + 2 Sneak + Merdalii Healer:

• Captain Katie Snipe Merdaali and stacked Bloodlust on the 1st Round
• Bloodlust will increase even the Armor gained by the Summoner Franz Ruffmane protecting Captain Katie from a Sneak attack

Round 2-3

• Since there are no longer Non-Melee Monsters: Captain Katie is attacking Djinn Oshannus but not effectively because of Void
• Pelacor Bandit & Uraeus are eating away Katie's Health
• Oshannus attacks are rended useless since it's getting healed by Venar's Tank Heal

Between Oshannus VS Katie: The one who survives takes the battle!

Round 4

• It was Celestial Harpy who gave the decisive blow and took down Djinn Oshannus!

Round 5

• With just 1 Health left, Captain Katie takes her revenge on the Bandit accumulating another Bloodlust stack!
• The battle is pretty much over for Uraeus as it gets taken down by the same Captain Katie!

Here's the Link for this Battle

2nd Battle: Scarred Hand Novice Beginner Training

And so I wanted to try the tournament and thought this tourney would be an easy ride... How the f%$k I find some elite players playing a Novice Tourner !! let's get right into the battle:

It was a High Mana battle (40 Mana) where Fire, Earth and Death were available, since it's a Novice Level 1 Cap, Capitalizing on Quora Power is a Must! The same was for the Enemy.

Card	Commentary
	Dear Fungus, This time you won't be only used for the Sacrifice but your ranged attack (that we all forget about) shall be rendered useful thanks to Close Range
	Meet Quora Towershead Casually sitting on 8 Magic + 8 Melee Thanks to Bloodlust. Say no more!
	Here is the Dilemne, Tis but Scratches makes healing less effective BUT having a Healer in Equalizer can win you games by itself! and the damage isn't bad!
	A great Ranged Snipe Card! Does 3 Ranged Damage, can be used in the 1st position thanks to Close Range, applies Cripple to the backline
	Having a Taunt is a must to protect the other monsters and let them freely attack! buying a lot of time with 10 Health!

Pre-battle Buffs and Debuffs

Round 1

My damage output was slightly higher thanks to hunter Jarx: 9 VS 7 leaving Enemy Mycelic Slipspawn with only 2 Health after the 1st round!

Round 2-3

• My Quora was the one to take down Enemy Mycelic Slipspawn leading to Bloodlust Proc
• Hunter Jarx is targetting Enemy Quora applying Cripple a couple of time thus reducing her effective healing!
• Strangely both Martyr Monsters are still alive 😂

Round 4

• Finally both Martyr got taken down:
  • My Quora: 2 Bloodlust stack + Martyr
  • Enemy Quora: 1 Bloodlust stack + Martyr
• Because of multiple Cripple, healing doesn't seem too effective but always help!

Round 5-6

• By being faster, My Quora did eliminate Enemy Quora in a single round, resulting in another Bloodlust!
• Quora has enough damage to eliminate a 10 Health Mycelic Morphoid in a single Round!
• Now Quora is too strong that it can wrap up the battle by itself and Seal the Victory as shown above!

Here's the Link for this Battle

Conclusion

• It's true that I didn't make full use of a Ranged Attack Monster but little always help!
• The emergence of the new Soulbound Summoners oppened the way to Gladius Cards and had a big influence on many picks
• Now, Joining a guild is even more important since having some key cards like Quora or Captain Katie can win many Battles!

Good luck Have Fun on your Splinterlands Battles!

Make sure to take part in the Weekly battle Mage Secret here

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