Until the Briar Patch ruleset came along, the only chance we had to use the thorns were with the mighty Mylor Crowling who gave your team an awesome advantage and punished anybody daring to use a melee attack against you.
When the ruleset was announced, it was thought that the power of Mylor Crowling was put to bed. This however is not the case! Whilst the usage of Mylor Crowling has gone down, those who do use him have an even bigger surprise advantage against their opponents now in my opinion.
However, we are now talking about the game ruleset where all monsters will have the thorns ability. What is the best way to play this ruleset? Should you switch to a ranged or magic attack? Should you buff or de-buff? So many options.
My Team
This is a lowish mana battle and I will need some decent attack plus defensive capabilities.
| Summoner/ Monster | Reason |
|---|---|
| Kelya Frendul | Extra shield and speed |
| Lord Arianthus | Heal and magic reflect |
| Tide Biter | Reflection shield |
| Merdaali Guardian | Health and shield repair |
| Djinn Oshannus | Magic attack and magic void |
| Torrent Fiend | Cannon fodder |
| Furious Chicken | Cannon fodder |
Battle
My opponents:
The rules for the battle are:
| Briar Patch | All monsters have the thorns ability |
| Tis but Scratches | All monsters have the cripple ability |
| Broken Arrows | Ranged monsters may not be used in battle |
Watch the Battle on Splinterlands
or youtube:
ROUND 1 - Lord Arianthus vs. Albatross
It was pretty clear with the game rulesets that there couldn't be any melee or ranged attack, leaving the only option of a magic attack possible.
Therefore, my idea was to counter that attack with Lord Arianthus and try and do as much damage to my opponent as possible. I had an ace up my sleeve with Tide Biter because he has the awesome reflection shield that can attack without worrying about any thorns damage.
In round 1, Albatross falls straight away and Lord Arianthus deals some serious damage to my opponents magic attack. Sadly, because of the cripple ruleset, takes some damage himself.
ROUND 2 & 3
Taking his place his Tide Biter with his reflection shield. He deals some serious damage to their tank and takes no thorns damage.
ROUND 4
In round 4, both their Djinn Oshannus and my Tide Biter fall. This leaves a severly weakened opponent to face off against my own Djinn Oshannus still.
Round 5 - 7
In round 5, River Nymph faces off against Merdaali Guardian who has no attack but plenty of health to fend her off.
In the following rounds, Djinn Oshannus picks off my opponents severly weakened team, one after the other. Debuffing the obvious attack pays off yet again!
Summary:
The thorns ruleset usually means no melee attack, so it is wise to often counter magic or ranged attack. It often pays to have some monsters like Tide Biter who have a reflective shield in your team to give you an edge.
Thanks for reading.
Credits:
The title image was created in Canva with images from KELLEPICS / Pixabay
Screenshots and characters are taken from Splinterlands.
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