Hey guys,
we have a new Battle Mage Secrets Challenge. This weeks rule set is Briar Patch and I'll share a battle of mine in gold 1 with thoughts about my line up and strategy.
This weeks rule set is "Briar Patch" which gives every monster the "Thorns" ability. All melee attacking monsters take 2 damage, when hit by Thorns and this damage can be increased with the Amplify ability. At the same time monsters with the Reflection Shield ability do not take any damage from Thorns.
The ability is very deadly for melee attackers, which is why you generally want to avoid those. Magic and ranged attacks are best suited for this rule set and Amplify is also good, just in case the opponent brings melee monsters after all.
When you absolutely need to use melee attackers try to use those with Reflection Shield or Shield, because it reduces the damage taken by half. Other than that Thorns hit armor first so bringing a monster with lots of armor and maybe a repair can also do the trick.
I personally love the rule set and ability, because it has something satisfying when the enemy takes damage during their own turn 😁
The rules for this battle besides Briar Patch were Fog of War (all monsters lose Sneak, Snipe and Opportunity) and Little League (only monsters that cost 4 or less mana are allowed), with 16 mana and Fire, Earth and Life available.
Out of the available splinters I chose life, because they have pretty good ranged and magic Little League monsters. Because of the low mana battle I chose General Sloan as my summoner, even though I don't have him maxed for gold league.
For my tank I went with Pelacor Conjurer who's just perfect for this type of rule set. Super cheap, Flying + good speed to dodge ranged attacks, Magic Reflect against magic attacks and good health for a low mana battle.
In the second spot I went with another "tank" with Scavenger to keep my back line alive longer.
For some support I put in Dax Peragon for the Amplify which is huge with Pelacor Conjurer's Magic Reflect (and the Thorns) and Venari Crystalsmith for the Healing, but also the 3 ranged attack with General Sloan's buff. For some extra damage I also put in the Xenith Archer.
Lastly I did make a mistake. I put Soul Fiend in the back to protect me from eventual sneak attacks. I do this almost automatically, but I forgot that there was the Fog of War rule, which meant no sneak attacks...
My opponent chose to play an Obsidian, but didn't bring any magic attacking monsters, so they got zero buffs from their summoner. They also went with a melee attacking tank, which means it would kill itself off eventually, even though it has heal. Let's see how it went!
Round 1 starts with Iza hitting my Conjurer, which gets healed by the Crystalsmith. Crystalsmith then hits the Monk, which also heals itself and attacks the Conjurer, taking 2 thorns damage.
Acid Shooter's scattershot lands on my Dax, who barely survives with 1HP. Unfortunately he can't deal any damage to the Xenith Monk, because of the Void ability, so the Monk also barely survives with 1HP after my Xenith Archer lands her shot.
No deaths in the first round.
Iza goes first again but misses her attack against Pelcaor Conjurer, which is very good for me. Crystalsmith heals the Conjurer back up to full health and takes out the enemy Monk, pulling their Xenith Archer to the first spot where it can't attack.
Vulguine and Iza both gain 1HP through their Scavenger ability. Acid Shooter hits my Crystalsmith who has enough health to take the hit.
Dax Peragon and my own Archer take the enemy Archer down to 1 health.
Iza hits her attack on the Conjurer this time, but Crystalsmith immediately heals him back up and takes out the enemy Xenith Archer afterwards. The Acid Shooter hits my Fiend which dies and both Vilguin and Iza gain health through Scavenger.
Iza now sits in the front position where she can't attack though and takes the punishment from my Archer and Dax.
Iza can't attack so it's Crystalsmith's turn and she takes out Iza in one hit. Acid Shooter now shares the unfortunate faith of his predecessors in the first position and gets taken out in the next round, without being able to do anything.
This was a rather easy win with our only casualty being the fiend and otherwise not even losing a single health point. The stats also show that we had this at a 100% even though our summoner and cards weren't maxed for gold.
It shows how important summoners can be, as theirs didn't do anything. I personally love these kind of rule sets, because you can narrow down and counter what your opponent is most likely to play. I also enjoy this new Battle Challenge more than I thought, because it makes for more interesting line ups, without having to play a certain card.
None of this is financial advice. This content is for educational purposes only and might fall out of date as both Splinterlands and the Crypto Market in general are subject to constant change.
Check out my push into gold league: Part I, Part II
Check out my Bronze league strategy guides: Part I, Part II
Hope you enjoyed the read. Have a great day and until next time!
Pinkman45
