I like my title for this week's battle mage secrets. It could easily be for some sort of hand to hand combat manual. Like teaching techniques for self defense or MMA or something. This is all about Splinterlands, but I like the way this title rolls off the tongue.
Here's the ruleset for this week's battle
The close range ruleset means that ranged attacks can attack from your tank position, or your opponent's. This is a small but meaningful change that means ranged attacks may be a little bit more valuable for you and a little bit more likely from your opponent.
The little league ruleset means that neither of us can use summoners or monsters costing more than 4 mana. I'm not sure why they bother to include mana caps over 28 for this ruleset, but that's the effective cap with 1 summoner and 6 monsters.
For whatever reason when I face off in the little league ruleset I seem to be more likely to face off against a team that's been leveled up well or even maxed out.
My favorite summoner for the little league ruleset is Obsidian but the earth splinter is not allowed here. My next thought is to utilize Quix because ranged attacks may be over represented with the close range ruleset.
On the other side of the battlefield, the death splinter is frequently used, especially with Thaddius Brood. The life splinter is also a likely candidate for all things ranged attack.
Here's the starting frame for this week's battle
My opponent did bring the death splinter and they included 3 ranged attacks. Think about how this might play out before watching the battle unfold
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_893b63c4e3a2e7fb0eb8aa5646f471ae&ref=jingo-submo
Let's talk about my lineup
Summoner: Quix the Devious
This is a little bit frustrating. I rented a level 2 Quix near the start of this season, but whoever rented it out ended up canceling the rental. It is possible to get around that by using the new sesason rentals, but they're often more expensive. It seems like a lot of my rentals have been canceled this season. I will need to rent some of them again to achieve my goal of gold 1 in wild. Competition in wild silver league has become extra fierce after I moved into modern play for a couple of seasons.
It is possible that I mistakenly rented that level 2 quix for less than the number of days left in the season, but I think it was canceled on the other side.
Anyways, Quix is great for this ruleset. Quix debuffs my opponent's ranged attacks and their speed.
Tank: Xenith Monk
Thanks to the self heal ability, Xenith Monk is almost always an excellent choice in the little league ruleset. Xenith Monk picks up the ability at level 2 and may be one of the first monsters you want to level up with so many applications.
1st position: Twilight Basilisk
Twilight Basilisk picks up a second melee damage at level 3 and can put in some serious work from this reach position.
2nd position: Venari Bonesmith
Bonesmith has the potential to get big and hard to deal with thanks to the life leach ability.
3rd position: Ravenhood Warden
If you don't have a Ravenhood Warden, you should play more Splinterlands. As a rare rewards card, you'll get one before too long. One of the reasons that I like using Obsidian so well is that I can use Queen Mycelia for the protect ability in the little league ruleset for just 4 mana. The Warden gives me a similar option in the death splinter.
4th position: Revealer
The stun ability has become much more popular over the last few months and that's mostly thanks to Revealer. The ability is great, unfortunately for me you can see that even better from my opponent in this battle.
5th position (rear tank): Doctor Blight
This one is just a rental, but the raw stats on Blight are great. The abilities are good too.
Did we win?
Not this time. It came right down to the wire, but ended up in the L column this week. My opponent fielded a great team, so props to 
What will I try differently next time?
For one I need to go back and re-rent a few cards. With a level 2 Quix, my Blight and Bonesmith would have laid down some poison, and that may have been enough to swing this one in my favor.
Thanks for reading and thanks for all the upvotes, reblogs, comments and follows. I'll see you in the game. I hope the updated format that I'm using is helpful. Feel free to share any specific feedback in the comments.
