YABAPMATT DOWN!

Good day to everyone who's reading this post. I'm @dongreyy/@thegreyborne on Discord, and I have been playing Splinterlands since August 2021. I started the game when Reward Cards from Untamed set were still dropping from loot chests. I remember my very first reward card being a Temple Priest as clear as day.

Anyway, during one of my daily play sessions with the game. I had a lucky encounter with @yabapmatt, one of the game's that we all share and love Co-Founders, both in the high and low moments we encounter while playing.

For our battle, which I will link here below, had the ruleset of ranged only and no sneak, as well as all monsters gaining the amplify ability, which I think was not really relevant for me since I wasn't able to use any form of Thorns at all. As an avid Chaos Legion renter, my first thought was to use a summoner with Armor, so I was left with Kelya or Lux. I decided on Lux in the end because I thought the one extra HP would better my chances of winning the battle, and I was right.

Now, for the lineup, I had to take into account the ranged only ruleset so I needed a monster with the close range ability, deciding on Gargoya Devil which also has flying, made Yabapmatt miss both of his f so that I could attack from the first position, armor restoration with Swamp Spitter so I could absorb more attacks. Mar Toren Trader with the Headwind ability so I could reduce @yabapmatt's DPS. Kulu Swimhunter as filler, and finally Igor Darkspear for the 50% chance for him to skip a turn with one of his monsters. Yabapmatt's Wave Brood having Return Fire, Close Range, Taunt and Shield because of his summoner made for a very tanky monster. Add in Drybone Raider to the mix which allowed him to both use melee attacks from the first position with double strike. Finally, he also had the Angelic Mandarin which would heal his Wave Brood since it was at the back because of the Triage ability.

I would say that his Drybone Raider missing the first three attacks on my Gargoya Devil made the difference in this fight as it allowed me more breathing room, and thanks to my Repair Ability which made my monsters more tankier which allowed me to outlast his Wave Brood even with return fire and shield. Honestly I didn't give it a long and hard thought, just that I needed one monster that was tanky enough who could sit in the first position, it having close range was a bonus I considered as well. All of my units played their parts well, especially Gargoya Devil and Swamp Spitter buying me enough time, despite Wave Brood's Shield and Angelic Mandarin's Triage to win the battle.

I don't see myself as a good player, being stuck in the low 3100 range most of the time, but being able to beat Yabapmatt gave me more confidence in my ability.

GGs Yabapmatt, clever thinking you got there, we both played well, only that I was able to walk away with the victory this time around.
I hope we get to rematch some day. It was such an honor to fight and beat you.

Battle Link: https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_4ff06a04db567943987dc2c254295e5b