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Greetings! Today I will be sharing a battle for the Battle Mage Secrets Challenge. This time, the ruleset in focus is Even Stevens. I will explain what this ruleset does and state whether I like it or not. Also, I will share one or two battles where the ruleset was enforced. Follow along!
So what makes this ruleset so different?
Well, given that all cards have mana costs, this ruleset only allows for the use of monsters that cost an even amount of mana. This is clear from its icon.
Now, the Even Stevens ruleset is a limiting ruleset that is not as limiting as some others like Up Close and Personal. Still, the ruleset, just like others, requires some creativity to work with.
Selecting cards to play with can be a little overwhelming so it is kind of a relief when the options are reduced. This is the first advantage of this ruleset given that the number of strategies that can be formed are reduced making the selection process a lot easier, if you have enough cards, that is.
The Even Stevens ruleset also makes it easier to predict what the opponent would play. This makes it easier to play a possible counter with a higher chance of success.
A downside is that, as you can read an opponent's possible moves, the will be able to also predict yours easier. Considering this, one has to be extra creative when selecting a team. You really have to be unpredictable. The issue of predictability gets worse when the active splinters are not very favorable.
Speaking of active splinters, the Even Stevens ruleset is ok when you have a solid deck for the active splinters. Also, it sucks when you don't have a great deck for the active splinters in that battle.
All in all, if the conditions are right and you outsmart your opponent, you can walk home a victor. That was the case in the battle I will share below.
With a mana cap of 44 and the life element being active, I decided to play Grandmaster Rathe as my summoner for this battle. The void armor buff will be a good addition under the Born Again ruleset given that monsters resurrect with full armor.
Time Meddler is my tank because of his dodge ability which will help him evade melee and ranged attacks. This monster has a solid amount of health and armor as well. With Rathe's ruleset, he should be a good tank even if he is taken out once.
Next in line is Bila The Radiant. It makes sense to place her in the second position because of the Life Leech ability that she has. If Time Meddler is taken out a second time, Bila can serve as a good secondary tank being able to regain some of her health after doing some damage. Also, her divine shield ability is a good plus.
Speed is very important in this game as it determines who has some initial advantage. For this reason, I've decided to play Time Mage to help slow the other side down a bit. They wouldn't know what hit them until it's too late.
With every monster having the rebirth ability, it will be quite smart to support the frontline. This is where the Tank Healer, Venari Crystalsmith comes in. She will support Time Meddler and Bila perhaps.
Pelacor Arbalest is a necessary addition to this team in my opinion. I love this card because of that double strike ability. The potential of a 4x damage is something worth considering. Also, this monster can miss the first time and make a hit the second time which is better than flopping a turn entirely.
Last but not least is Prismologist with the blast. Normally, I would be worried that this monster would miss her attacks but Time Mage's slow should make her chances a little better. This means that the Prismologists 4x ranged damage and potential 2x blast damage are something to look forward to.
I was surprised at the lineup of the opponent. I did expect the opponent to play Time Mage as well and so that caught me off guard. Not just this but the enemy also played Supply Runner who pretty much countered by slow debuff. My monsters were a lot slower and so most of his monsters attacked before mine.
By the end of round 1, both of our tanks had died the first time and rebirthed. Time Meddler was not able to dodge any attack and so was taken out for good during round 2. This was after the enemy's Chaos Knight had been taken out for good.
The turning point began at the end of round 2 when Prismologist struck and killed Supply Runner. From then, the slow debuff kicked in against the other side and my monsters kept attacking. It got even better at the start of round 3 when Pelacor Arbalest destroyed the enemy's time mage and the slow effect on my team disappeared.
From then, the enemy hardly got a chance to attacked as the monsters were taken out one by one. The victor was swift as the match ended after 5 rounds and so my strategy worked!
That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Please drop a comment on any thoughts or ideas. I am eager to learn from others. Also, leave an upvote if you found this content to be good. If you haven't already you can join Splinterlands by clicking the link below.
