Prelude
Hello everybody, how is it going? It's time for more Battle Mage Secrets. Last week's sharing was on how we are able to make use of non melee cards to bring victory to matches. This week the ruleset is another commonly encountered ruleset.
The ruleset of the challenge this week is: Little League
Ruleset Spotlight
Little League
Only units and summoners with a mana cost of 4 or less may be used.
Abilities/Cards that get shutdown with this rule set
You can use anything, but it's mana cost needs to be 4 or less. So do note that Conscript Summoners will not be able to be used in Little League rule set as they are all cost 6 summoners.
What thrives with this ruleset?
In past Battle Mage Secret sharing, I've always break down how we should be playing to the advantage of the ruleset and also how to improve survivability to overcome the ruleset.
Today it will be a little different because we can essentially play anything. So in today's sharing, I will focus on what we should consider putting into the lineup.
1 summoner and 6 cards with effective maximum cost of 28. In this small package, what should we include?
My rule of the thumb will be a decent tank and pack in a bunch of utility cards that have good abilities. And if there are extra slot, put in the chicken or fiends.
Little League Tanks
| Card | Splinter |
|---|---|
| Antoid Platoon | Fire |
| Crypt Beetle | Death |
| Cruel Sethropod | Water |
| Hill Giant | Earth |
| Blinding Reflector | Life |
| Pelacor Conjurer | Life |
| Xenith Monk | Neutral |
Above are some tank recommendations. These are cards have significant health, shield, armour or heal capabilities to hold up the front line.
Utility Cards
Here are some of the utility cards that I commonly used that you can include in your lineups.
| Card | Splinter | Ability |
|---|---|---|
| Serpentine Spy | Fire | Opportunity |
| Magma Troll | Fire | Reach |
| Lava Spider | Fire | Snipe |
| River Nymph | Water | Cleanse |
| Merdaali Guardian | Water | Tank Heal |
| Angelic Mandarin | Water | Triage |
| Merdaali Guardian | Water | Tank Heal |
| Merdhampir | Water | Life Leech |
| Pelacor Bandit | Water | Sneak, Flying |
| Tide Biter | Water | Reach |
| Venari Scout | Earth | Opportunity |
| Queen Mycelia | Earth | Protect |
| Iza The Fanged | Earth | Sneak, Scavenge |
| Stitch Leech | Life | Sneak |
| Time Mage | Life | Slow |
| Venari Crystalsmith | Life | Tank Heal |
| Celestial Harpy | Life | Opportunity |
| Riftwing | Death | Flying, Scavenge |
| Life Sapper | Death | Life Leech |
| Venari Bonesmith | Death | Life Leech |
| Ravenhood Warden | Death | Protect |
| Revealer | Death | Stun |
| Weirding Warrior | Death | Shatter |
| Vruz | Dragon | Sneak |
| Dhampir Infiltrator | Dragon | Sneak, Double Strike |
| Uraeus | Neutral | Sneak |
| Venator Kinjo | Neutral | Reflection Shield |
| Scavo Hireling | Neutral | Repair |
| Venari Spellsmith | Neutral | Dispel |
| Spirit Hoarder | Neutral | Triage |
*Note, the list above mainly is based on Chaos Legion and Reward cards which I often play in modern
What a handful of cards that are packed with good abilities to pick from. Generally, to pick on cards that improve survivability or able to attack from behind the tanks. One ability that I like is the Life Leech which allows such cards to become secondary tanks as they grow bigger and bigger while the main tank holds the front.
Apart from these utility cards, it will be stats maximisation of the others cards to have high health, armour and speed. And remember not to waste the unfilled slots with fiends if you have them.
With these in mind, let's start to talk about the battle proper.
The Battle
Link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_echmprfHvDsjFZPSw9PC&ref=vaynard86
Rules
Little League, Target Practice, Counterspell
Mana Limit: 36
| Splinter | Mana Cost | Position | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thaddius Brood | 4 | Summoner | Good summoner which reduces magic attack and 1 health from opponent |
| Crypt Beetle | 3 | 1st | Small and tanky tank with shield |
| Venari Bonesmith | 4 | 2nd | Secondary tank with life leech |
| Soul Strangler | 3 | 3rd | Big range attack hitter |
| Whistling Damon | 3 | 4th | Blood lust range attacker |
| Ravenhood Warden | 4 | 5th | Gives protection to the team |
| Uraeus | 3 | 6th | Sneaky up the backline |
| Total Mana: | 24 |
Opponent Lineup
- Summoner - Thaddius Brood
- Position 1 - Riftwing
- Position 2 - Uraeus
- Position 3 - Revealer
- Position 4 - Life Sapper
- Position 5 - Soul Strangler
- Position 6 - Weirding Warrior
Prediction before pressing rumble
Effectively a very similar lineup and consist of cards that I've listed abive, just that opponent went for stun while I go for protect. Let's see how things evolve.
Battle Synopsis
Round 1, Because it is little league, it usually very exciting and fast paced. Many things fallen this round. Whistling Damon reduced Revealer's health to 1 and when Revealer strikes, it was killed by magic reflect. Then effectively all the magic cards were falled, my Solu Strangler was exposed due to shattering by Weirding Warrior and was killed off by opponent's copy of it. Weirding Warrier then fell as well.
Round 2, Soul Strangler was taken out by my Whistling Damon which grew through blood lust. My Uraeus was still intact due to the extra armour given by Ravenhood Warden.
Round 3 and 4, Within round 3, opponent Uraeus was taken out and coming into round 4, it was the weaning down of Riftwing to secure the victory.
Post Battle Summary
Super exciting and fast paced game especially with the magic reflect making things move even faster. But all in all, a good exchange and a well deserved win.
Did my strategy work? Yes, everything went as planned, I was amazed to see an equally strong death splinter little league lineup which considered the same aspect of utility just that they deployed a non attack tank in Riftwing. My small package tank with utility cards supporting worked.
What's the Battle Mage Secret?
In Little League when everything is fast paced, survivability become utmost important. We can either strike fast before opponent strike back, else will need to ramp up defences. The arrival of Ravenhood Warden for death splinter added an amazing option to list of cards good for Little League.
We need to pay attention to the utility cards in Little League. In this match, Ravenhood Warden provided that additional armour which is essential for death splinter because of their generally lower in health and provided additional survivability, especially when there is Target Practice ruleset and backline needs that additional armour. The rest of the squad did well with Crypt Beetle holding the front and Uraeus creating trouble from the back.
The battle mage secret here will be that, we need to know what we are selecting for Little League backline. Paying attention to what splinter shortfall is will be key such as in this case when I know death is low in HP and needed extra protection. Abilities like life leech is also viable, because the reflected damage will not have any effect when we launch a 1 damage magic attack as it is "healed" back. I love playing little league because we need to assemble a small package to showcase what our lineup have to be sufficiently offensive, have protection and able to secure victories.
Wrap Up
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my sharing on the rule set Little League. I would really appreciate it if you liked and/or commented to let me know what are you thoughts.
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Till my next battle sharing, take care, stay safe and happy battling!
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