Broken Arrows ruleset along with Keep Your Distance, Lost Magic, Up Close & Personal, Going The Distance, and Wands Out are the most common ruleset you will find in any battle. Cards could fall within 1 out of 4 type of attacks, which is Melee, Range, Magic, and Non-Attack. Having formation with balanced number of each attack types provide better risk spreading against any negative effect performed by opponent. Therefor its wise to collect balanced number of cards of each type to counter restriction on certain attack types.
But this isn't always the case. Some cards on higher mana levels might possess dual attck types (for example War Chang or Quora Towershead). These cards are not affected by the ruleset by the fact they possessed an alternate attack type. So its an advantage to have these cards. Unfortunately they only available on higher mana which means they are better be used on higher mana cap or league.
Lastly, restriction on ranged card is less difficult to handle than the other attack types. Mainly because the roles of ranged card is to be back-row Striker, which could easily be subtituted by magic card. In addition, magic card attack is able to bypass armor traits. But one thing to remind, ranged card have higher damage output and accompanied by variety of Striker abilities (especially the Status Ailments Abilities, such as Stun, Affliction, Position, Shatter, etc.). So lets continue on with this ruleset!
| 1. Broken Arrows restrict the use of ranged cards, so having stronger and higher level melee card and/or magic card is a benefit. | 1. Broken Arrows restrict the use of ranged cards; leaving less cards available to deal damage from the back-row. Although as previously mentioned that magic cards could substituted them; magic card deal less damage and cost more fortune to collect. |
| 2. Broken Arrows are less impactful if come out on very low mana cap (around less than 20 mana). It's because in this mana cap range, ranged cards are too risky, and better off with melee cards. | 2. Some summoner such as General Sloan and Contessa L'ament will be rendered useless of their abilities under this ruleset. |
| 3. Scattershot is an ability that is very useful to take chances targeting the middle position. Unfortunately Scattershot is available mostly on ranged cards, and thus this ruleset will limit their use. |
| Ruleset | Strategy |
|---|---|
Back To Basics have two edge implication when combined with Broken Arrows. First, melee cards will lost Reach, Opportunity, and Sneak, causing them only useful on the front-row. Second, while magic cards aren't affected, most of them pose useful Support abilities, which a great loss if locked by this ruleset. The same conditions with Fog Of War, except Opportunity are allowed to be used. | |
| With more magic cards will be deployed, Weak Magic ruleset will put additional restriction into magic effectiveness, and might shift the tendency to use melee cards. |
So here we have the battle experience with Broken Arrows as the ruleset.
https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sm_URUTYxyThyYc6GamN0kM
The battle has 55 mana cap, with Lost Legendaries, Little League, and Broken Arrows ruleset, and all splinter except Water and Dragon are able to be used. For my formation, I used:
| Position | Card Name | Level | Mana | Health | Armor | Speed | Damage Type | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summoner | Obsidian | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1st Row | Hill Giant | 3 | 3 | 7 | - | 1 | Melee | 2 |
| 2nd Row | Xenith Monk | 2 | 4 | 6 | - | 3 | Melee | 1 |
| 3rd Row | Madcap Magus | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | 1 | Magic | 1 |
| 4th Row | Venari Spellsmith | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | 2 | Magic | 1 |
| 5th Row | Bertrol Gobson | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | 3 | Melee | 1 |
| 6th Row | Clockwork Aide | 1 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
My opponent formation:
| Position | Card Name | Level | Mana | Health | Armor | Speed | Damage Type | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summoner | Obsidian | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1st Row | Hill Giant | 3 | 3 | 7 | - | 1 | Melee | 2 |
| 2nd Row | Xenith Monk | 2 | 4 | 6 | - | 3 | Melee | 1 |
| 3rd Row | Madcap Magus | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | 1 | Magic | 1 |
| 4th Row | Venari Spellsmith | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | 2 | Magic | 1 |
| 5th Row | Bertrol Gobson | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | 4 | Melee | 2 |
| 6th Row | Uraeus | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Melee | 2 |
There's several occasion where both formation would deploy a very similar formation. And this is that rare occasion because we both have the same formation, same in cards and same in position of the cards, except for the last row. There's already a lot of restriction with Lost Legendaries and Little League in addition to Broken Arrows. Magic card should be the least preferrable choice, since there's very few magic cards with Normal and Rare type with less than 4 mana. But I remain to choose magic cards in anticipation that most players would be more likely to use melee cards.
I pick Hill Giant for its huge health and follow up with Xenith Monk as secondary Tanker in hope that later Xenith Monk could sustain damage with its Heal. Then I pick Madcap Magus and Venari Spellsmith as the main damage dealer. This is a brawl, so I have allowance for 1 gladiator. Bertrol Gobson is my only choice. Even if its cost only 2 mana, I hope to gain advantage from Bloodlust. Lastly I decided to pick Clockwork Aide because its Swiftness could boost the turn order of my magic cards.
And then my opponent used a very similar formation, but it seemed to have an upper hand. Not only because Madcap Magus and Venari Spellsmith have 1 extra health from higher level, but Bertrol Gobson at level 3 could deal 2 damage. In addition, Uraeus in the last row could pose a threat with its 2 damage.
Round 1 turns quickly into a nightmare when Bertrol Gobson strike a killing blow into Madcap Magus and claimed the Blodlust. Even if its not at level 3, Bertrol Gobson only need 1 damage to kill Madcap Magus. And battle turn for the worst when Madcap Magus cast it spell to banish Venari Spellsmith. My Bertrol Gobson counter against Madcap Magus, but bring no result, as Madcap Magus already gained 1 health from its attack. Hill Giant both sustained 4 damage, and stood with 3 health remaining.
At Round 2, Uraeus and Bertrol Gobson unite to crush Clockwork Aide armor. This attack followed by Venari Spellsmith and Madcap Magus which score a kill into Hill Giant. Xenith Monk step up into front-row just to be hit by Hill Giant.
Entering Round 3, there's almost no chance for my formation to make a comeback. Once Bertrol Gobson deliver its 3rd deadly blow into Clockwork Aide, it already gained the momentum to finish the battle with its 4 damage and 6 speed. Xenith Monk and Bertrol Gobson fight in vain as their attack left Hill Giant stood with 1 health.
Entering Round 4, the battle quickly finished with final blow from opposing Bertrol Gobson against my Bertrol Gobson, fulfilling its full 4th Bloodlust boost and claimed its victory.
So this is a bitter experience to face a loss. But sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I thought bringing Swiftness will allow my formation to blitz the attack and claim early kill. But I was wrong, mainly because my formation fallen behind in level, leading to stronger opposing card. When Bertrol Gobson claimed its 1st Bloodlust, it gained so much power, because a fix +1 to all status parameter on low mana cards make smaller diminishing return. So I guess this is just another mismatch battle.
