Hello Splinterfam...
It's time to take on another challenge.
This time we're taking on the Briar Patch Ruleset.

What lies ahead in a path full of thorns?Will my monsters be able to trudge such a path?
Let's all find out...

I'm hoping you'll once again spare a moment of your precious time to read through my entry for this week.

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R͓͓̽̽U͓͓̽̽L͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽S͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽T͓̽

BRIAR PATCH: All monsters receive the Thorns ability at the start of the battle. Enemy monsters that use melee attacks receive damage back.
Damage returned is equal to damage of the attacker divided by 2, rounded up.
Melee attack monsters with the Reflection Shield ability do not take damage from thorns.
The Amplify ability increases damage.



SUPER SNEAK:All Melee attack Monsters have the Sneak ability.

Choose a summoner that increases/reduces Melee attack or Mylor. Keep a monster with Shield, Retaliate or Thorns in the last position.

ODD ONES OUT:Only Monsters with odd Mana costs may be used in battles.

There are no special tricks for this ruleset, but having an idea of mana points of a few monsters helps in predicting what your opponent can and cannot use.

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L͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽N͓͓̽̽E͓̽ ͓̽U͓͓̽̽P͓̽

Kindly click the image above if you wish to see the actual battle.

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S͓͓̽̽U͓͓̽̽M͓͓̽̽M͓͓̽̽O͓͓̽̽N͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽R͓̽: ͓̽K͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽L͓͓̽̽Y͓͓̽̽A͓̽ ͓̽F͓͓̽̽R͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽N͓͓̽̽D͓͓̽̽U͓͓̽̽L͓̽

I chose this summoner to give my monsters additional speed and a shield. A shield in a Briar Patch ruleset is necessary to somehow preserve the health points of my melee-attack type monsters. While it is ideal to use magic-attack type monsters in Briar Patch ruleset, choosing or making my line-up a complete magic-attack type monsters is impossible to do so since some of my most powerful monsters is disabled by the the accompanying ruleset Odd Ones Out. I have no option but to use melee-attack type monsters and an additional shield or armor can offer vast advantage especially when the summoner is paired with a monster that has a Repair ability.

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L͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽G͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽O͓͓̽̽N͓͓̽̽N͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽R͓͓̽̽E͓̽ ͓̽A͓͓̽̽L͓͓̽̽V͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽R͓̽

I chose this monster as my tank since he's got Void Armor ability. All attacks aimed at him including magic will hit his armor first. He's massive amount of armor is so helpful in any situation. Buffed by my summoner his armor will gain one additional unit. He's got 3 melee-attacking power too. I'd say he is one perfect monster to be placed in such position given the circumstances.

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F͓͓̽̽L͓͓̽̽Y͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽N͓͓̽̽G͓̽ ͓̽S͓͓̽̽Q͓͓̽̽U͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽D͓̽

I placed it in the 2nd Position because it's one of my melee-attack type monster that is powerful enough and can attack while in that position... thanks to its Reach ability. It's 9health points is impressive enough that, even though it will take damage from thorns when it attacks, it can last a few rounds or even last until the end of the game and help my team in achieving certain victory.

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R͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽V͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽R͓̽ ͓̽H͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽L͓͓̽̽L͓͓̽̽O͓͓̽̽N͓͓̽̽D͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽L͓͓̽̽E͓̽

Keeping the ruleset and the monsters I had in mind I added this monster to make full use of one of my monster's ability. This monster can revive one monster that dies first in my team. This monster is a magic-attack type monster which means it is safe from thorns and can last some rounds even its got low health points.

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S͓͓̽̽W͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽M͓͓̽̽P͓̽ ͓̽S͓͓̽̽P͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽T͓͓̽̽T͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽R͓̽

I specifically chose this monster and placed in 4th Position since it can repair the armor of my team. An armor that would have been long gone if he isn't in the battlefield will surely be repaired in time to protect my monsters health points. My monsters can last long when he is around since he can always repair their armors. His ability is well-paired with my summoner and they compliment each other well. Him being in the 4th Position means he can remain in the battlefield for longer periods since he's well-guarded from Sneak attackers by Nerissa Tridawn

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N͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽R͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽S͓͓̽̽S͓͓̽̽A͓̽ ͓̽T͓͓̽̽R͓͓̽̽I͓͓̽̽D͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽W͓͓̽̽N͓̽

I chose this monster because she's got massive firepower as well as an enormous amount of health points. She's best suited in the 5th Position to receive most attacks of melee-attack type monsters from the enemy. She will be the target of melee-attack type monsters in the later phase of the battle due to Super Sneak ruleset. I'm quite sure she can withstand the onslaught of attacks from the enemy with her health points. Her destructive power will also be improved further thanks to the last monster I have in mind that will be placed in the Last Slot.

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V͓͓̽̽E͓͓̽̽N͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽R͓͓̽̽I͓̽ ͓̽M͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽R͓͓̽̽K͓͓̽̽S͓͓̽̽R͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽T͓̽

I placed this monster in the 6th Position because I intended it to die first or be sacrificed to boost the adjacent monsters stats. It will be targeted by melee-attack type monsters and will surely be killed in a matter of seconds right after the battle commenced. If it dies the adjacent monster which is Nerissa Tridawn will get a boost in all of her stats. When this monster is killed River Hellondale will then revive it and summon it to the battlefield once more where it will surely be targeted immediately and will die again because of the attacks. **Nerissa Tridawn will get a 2nd boost of her stats making her more powerful.

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T͓͓̽̽H͓͓̽̽E͓̽ ͓̽B͓͓̽̽A͓͓̽̽T͓͓̽̽T͓͓̽̽L͓͓̽̽E͓̽

Please click the link above should you wish to see the battle...

As expected my 6th Position monster was targeted and immediately killed off in the battlefield. This results in Nerissa Tridawn getting a boost on all her stats. Her magic and health points were debuffed by the enemy summoner but since Venari Marksrat was killed immediately, Nerissa Tridawn was granted one additional boost in all her stat bringing back her full magic power and full health. She also gained one unit additional speed.
Upon Venari Marksrat's death River Hellondale's ability was immediately activated and brought him back to the battlefield.

Below is a clip from when Venari Marksrat was targetted and killed, Nerissa Tridawn getting the initial boost on all her stats and River Hellondale's ability getting activated and reviving Venari Marksrat

This scene is how I envisioned what will happen in the early phase of the battle. The battle I wanted is unfolding right before my very eyes. I can say I have a high chance at victory.

The enemy monster's tank was killed right before the 1st Round ended.

Also shown in the clip is the enemy monster tank's last stand as it unleashes its thorns against my tank when it delivered the final blow...

The 2nd Round started right after...Venari Marksrat was once again targetted and killed right off the bat...This second killing of my Venari Marksrat once again resulted in my Nerissa Tridawn getting additional boost in all her stats.

She now boasts a powerful 4unit magic attack damage. Right after receiving a stat boost Nerissa Tridawn showed it off by immediately killing its target...leaving the opponent with 4 enemy monsters in the end of the current round

The 2nd Round ended and 3rd Round started by an onslaught of attacks of enemy monsters to my Tank and successfully killed it off. My Tank didn't even get to take revenge when it received the finishing blow since the ones that killed it is a ranged-attack type monster.

Revenging my Tank was an easy task for my remaining team of powerful monsters. Briar Patch ruleset didn't affect my line-up too much since I have Swamp Spitter in my team to repair the damages received in the armor of my melee-attack type monsters. The last phase of the 3rd and the Last Round ended with my team baragging the enemy with powerful attacks while the enemy couldn't do anything to retaliate.

My team swept the enemy successfully and gave me a clear victory.

There goes my entry for this week's challenge.
Hope you liked the team I built as much as I did...and maybe learned a thing or two from them.

Hoping to see you all again in the next challenge...

Stay safe always... Have fun battling...

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