It's another week's entry for Battle Mage secrets and this time a theme for Neutral monsters. As a player, I used to use many Nuetral monsters in any of my battles since I have only limited monsters in my selection, and enabling Nuetral monsters will increase my chance to fully use all the mana caps being declared in the ruleset. Without Neutral, I surely have less chance of winning since I will not be able to maximize the use of monsters.
But anyway, it's another thing that a player such make a way to complete the Splinterlands card set as much as possible, even just level 1, so that you will not able to miss any chances to use effective monsters of that color. And if you are just relying on Neutral units, I would say that you will probably lack something if the Taking Sides rule is added in the battle.
As a player, we need to be flexible as always and not always depend on Neutral monsters. These following Neutral monsters will serve as additional monsters that players will able to select in any regard an element is being chosen. I see that most neutral units are quite effective in battle and have a decent skillset that could take a large chunk of your possible win if you just use them in a very effective way.
Now, I will submit my Battle Report regarding the Taking Sides ruleset on how I was able to experience it.
| Name | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Fire, Water, Earth, Life and Dragon | |
| Mana Cap | 24 |  |
| Unprotected | Monsters do not have any armor and do not get armor from abilities or Summoner Buffs. |  |
| Silenced Summoners | Summoners do not give any stat buffs or debuffs or grant/use any abilities. |  |
| Taking Sides | Nuetral Monsters may not be used in battles. |  |
Looking at the given ruleset in my battle, we can see that almost all elements are possible to be used, and the only one missing is the Death element. With such a variety of elements to select from, there is plenty of room to start strategizing and perform the best Summoner to select from based on your preferred monsters at their advantage. I can say that the Dragon element would be the best choice since you will have a dual selection of monsters depending on the second element that you will select from. And if you choose a non-dragon then your possible selection of monsters will be limited and I think that choosing monsters in a team would be quite different. Anyway, we do have different tactics in handling teams, I may not be correct on what I assume to be, so it may depend on the player as always.
We can see also that Mana Cap is not that high and that there would be a possibility that you either maximized your team with smaller monsters rather than those big mana monsters which as a result will not fully complete the team roster. Anyway, sometimes, a smaller number of monsters with great strength might win over a complete roster in a team. In just that, there should be a proper advantage checking always based on the complete ruleset of the battle. With that, chances of winning in such kind of scenario are high or fall sometimes into a disadvantage than the winning percentage would kinda low also.
An Unprotected rule is in effect also and all monster does not have the privilege of acquiring armor. With that, I see that melee units might have a low advantage in term of this ruleset since most melee especially those that are tank-based monsters relies mostly on their armor for survival purposes. I say that a good team balance with some ranged monsters would make a team powerful and if any magic monster is possible then adding it to the team would be quite nice also. A mixture of monsters is usually a good decision of a player, by a negative rule towards your selected attack type of monster might happen to fall under your disadvantage. Anyway, we do have our own preference, and on my side, I usually do a mixture of all attack types of monsters if possible in a ruleset.
Another one added to the rule is Silenced Summoner, which disables your Summoner to give buffs to your friendly monsters and also debuffs to non-friendly monsters. I say that picking a cheap mana-size monster is quite a good choice in such kind of battle especially since the current mana cap is 24, which is really limited as I can see it. If you have chosen the right Summoner then I would say that it would be an advantage on your part.
Lastly, the Taking Sides rule is also in effect in this match in which no neutral monster will be possible to be selected. Now, it's up to the player to think of what would be the better Summoner and the monsters to be selected as its advantage, noting that active ruleset and mana cap that is already in the set.
MATCHUP
Regarding the matchup, I am using a no-skill dragon Summoner since abilities are not active in the ruleset. While my opponent using a summoner that has an ability in it. I think I have the advantage on this one since I have maximized the opportunity to choose a much lesser mana Summoner. A good advantage on both level and mana, giving me room to choose better monsters and cost-effective as well.
Let's just see which of this Dragon Summoner make it to the end, whether mine will left standing since it has a better level or his Summoner which has less level in it. I guess it also depends on what monsters we pick on our corresponding team.
LINEUP : MINE
| Summoner | Active Skill in Battle | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Kretch Tallevor |  |
| Monsters | Active Skill in Battle | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Pelacor Conjurer | Flying, Magic Reflect |  |
| Time Mage | Slow |  |
| Venari CrystalSmith | Tank Heal |  |
| Fire Spitter | Flying |  |
| Runeslinger | Stun |  |
| Naga Assassin | Backfire |  |
In my lineup, I use Kretch Tallevor which has no abilities at all but is cost effective. I think he is very effective in this kind of situation since no Summoner abilities will be permitted inside the battlefield. A big plus for picking this Summoner since I have the advantage of 1 mana over my opponent which I can use to monster for an extra 1 mana. A good way to maximize the team of monsters available for selection and complete the team roster as much as possible.
For the first position of monster, I choose Pelacor Conjurer as I see the effectiveness of its Flying skill and Magic Reflect. It can help lessen magic damage dealt which is a good advantage if my opponent picks mostly magic-type attack monsters. It has a pretty decent health point but I think it can stay alive for later rounds, enough time to hold the line for my other monsters to attack from behind.
Second on my lineup is Time Mage which is a magic attack monster. I sense that its Slow skill could help a lot which is why picking it would be a nice add-on as well. It has enough attack damage and pretty high attack speed, giving me room to possibly attack first rather than my opponent's monster units.
Third in position is Venari CrystalSmith which I see as a good support to my frontline. With its Tank Heal skill, my Pelacor Conjurer has more time to stay alive. Fire Spitter would be in my fourth position since it's a range attack type, and has no ability to attack from first position. So I think I made a good call putting him in that position. Next would be Runeslinger which would serve as my Stunner, to help give me more advantage to attacking turns if successfully stunned some enemy monsters.
And lastly Naga Assassin at my very last position since I sense that she can be effective in the long run. Just in case she might possibly be put into the front, I would say that winning still be possible even though she has a ranged attack and no attack from the front. Because it has a backfire skill that would give her the chance to strike back in melee damage if ever attacks on her missed.
LINEUP : OPPONENT
| Summoner | Active Skill in Battle | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Quix the Devious | -1 Ranged Attack, -1 Speed |  |
| Summoner | Active Skill in Battle | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Baakjira | Void, Slow, Strengthen |  |
| Deeplurker | Opportunity |  |
| Pelacor Bandit | Sneak, Flying |  |
| Dhampir Infiltrator | Sneak, Double Strike |  |
| Torrent Fiend |  | |
| Hardy Stonefish |  |
For the lineup of my opponent, I see that he is using Quix the Devious. This Summoner is great if its abilities are enabled for usage, but in this ruleset, those abilities are not functional and I see it as very useless. So anyway, he might end up using this Summoner because he might have no other choice.
For his first position, I see that he is using Baakjira which has a pretty great skill, it slows down all my attack speed and it has also a Void skill which grants him the ability to reduce magic attacks received. Next to that is Deeplurker who I see that it is the silent killer of his team, with its Opportunity skill I should take note of every attack that it engages. The damage is quite strong and the speed is quite fast also.
Another added to his lineup is Pelacor Bandit which is also a sneaky fellow, which attacks from behind. It might be lethal but we shall see if he manages to end up my Naga Assassin that easy. Next to that monster is Dhampir Infiltrator, which is another killer add-on to his team. With its Sneak attack and a double strike, I am sure that this damage will really be a pain. I just hope that its attacks will missed, so that I have still a chance to retaliate.
And the final two on his lineup, Torrent Fiend and Hardy Stonefish both have no skill but still a good add-on to its lineup.
BATTLE ROUNDS
At the start of our battle, both our Summoners didn't put any buff to our corresponding monsters because of the prohibition to using it. But we have monsters that provide that assistance instead since they are not restricted in doing it. His Baakjira and my Time mage both cast a slow speed to their counterparts, decreasing attack speed which both of our monsters are quite slow.
Another boost from his Baakjira, giving additional health to its allies. I guess this one is his advantage as I can see it. I tried to put attacks on his Baakjira but didn't make it to fall but thankfully I was stunned by my Runeslinger. But just in Round 1, my Naga Assassin sustained damages that resulted in its early exit. And another one slain is my Time mage which dealt a huge damage by its Deeplurker.
Now at the start of Round 2, I have only 4 monsters left standing while my opponent's team is still complete. I am a bit disadvantaged but we will just see if I manage to take revenge on what I have suffered in the early start of Round. Thankfully, my Fire Spitter and Runeslinger saved the day by eliminating the tanking Baakjira.
Now with Baakjira slain those position effects are now removed. My Slinger acted as a decoy to attacking sneakers, but sadly, an attack successfully hit him which resulted in its elimination. Now it's up to my tank, to defend the team and make way for my last two damagers to do their job. And successfully, I got its lurker which is a pain in the ass. Now its surviving monster has less health I think that I can win this one and that it has a pretty small attack this time.
I can see that my tank healer can do support and might offset the damages taken by my tank. And the very last of Round 3, my Fire Spitter was slain, making only 2 left in my line up.
Now it's a 2 against 4 in Round 4 but I think I have the better advantage this time since I have pretty solid support and a tank, helping each other's survival. Now at round 5, my support and attacker do have pretty low health but it strikes down its place and manages to slay it, and then slowly eliminates the final 3 monsters on the battlefield.
I won the battle of luck I think.
I see that my opponent focuses on melee attacks and that its Sneak and Opportunity skills are quite deadly to encounter. Thankfully, I managed to withstand it for a long with the support of my Venari CrystalSmith and my tank Pelacor Conjurer.
Full Battle can be seen here: https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_37a3d4a3bad5eecb8c148147419e0393
