In times of war, the Muses are silent – a Roman saying incorrectly attributed to Cicero. This was my very first association when I encountered the Silenced Summoners modification. I also half-expected to face a group of football hooligans when I saw the icon. Yet the modification has nothing to do with muses (although I wonder if AI, which generates the card designs, has its own muse, like ChatGPTia) or rowdies. Instead, it makes players rethink their usual strategies and play monsters that buff their allies and debuff foes. Bearing this in mind, I wiped out my opponent’s army within three rounds in this battle.
Although the Melee Mayhem modification suggested building a deck of close-ranged monsters, I opted for a magic set instead by combining Death and Dragon Splinters. Since I only have one Dragon summoner, I naturally picked Helios Matriarch.
Expecting true melee mayhem, I wanted a flying tank capable of dodging blows while being healed every round—and Night Reaper fits this shoe perfectly.
Will-o-Wisp, Skok Duskblight, and Riftwing form one of my favorite combos. They are quite pricey, but two of them are often hard to hit. Will-o-Wisp debuffs enemies, and Riftwing scavenges lives. When these two unarmed monsters receive weapon training from Skok, they can deal substantial damage.
My high HP monsters needed healing, and Arachne Weaver provided this crucial support. She often proves to be a game-changer.
Ujurak Brave substituted a summoner, silencing enemy magic strikers. In addition, he kept the opponent’s sneakers at bay long enough to prevent them from cutting Arachne’s throat.
My opponent had similar ideas when choosing their tank but devised a thoroughly different strategy. With enough healing and armor repair, Uriel the Purifier could have lasted for ages, but that wasn’t the case—fortunately, as I faced no healer in this battle. Playing Adelade Brightwing in a setup where only two monsters wear armor is a waste of mana; she becomes below average when she cannot use her skills. On the other hand, Time Mage, with its excellent cost-power ratio and a valuable speed buff, fit in just right.
The last three monsters were a rather powerful artillery. With Supply Runner buffing its mates (combined with Time Mage’s buff, the difference became significant—and without a reliance on magic strikers, hitting my foes would have been challenging), Pelacor Arbalest and Prismologist together could deal up to 10 damage per round plus an additional 4 blast damage, which is quite outstanding.
The speed buffs and debuffs resulted in all three ranged monsters firing before mine could even move. Night Reaper was fortunate enough to dodge one strike—otherwise, he would have fallen. That was the only moment the battle could have taken a turn for the worse. My opponent’s debuffed magic monsters posed no threat, and as Uriel charged during the first round, he was eliminated together with Adelade while Night Reaper received healing.
The second round was nothing short of a massacre, leaving Prismologist as the only survivor. However, he wasn’t as lucky in the end, failing to hit Night Reaper again and eventually being eliminated by a single blow in the third round. What a decisive, flawless victory—all thanks to my strategy.
