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This post was made as entry for Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge
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In Splinterlands it’s not always the strongest cards that win. Sometimes you can use lower level units and still turn the game around if you play the rule sets and your strategies right. That’s what makes battles like this feel special and even a bit nostalgic.
Here I went up against an enemy with stronger cards on paper. But with good planning and the right mix of units I managed to get an advantage. It’s a nice reminder that the game is more than just better stats win. It’s also about how you use what you have.
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Battle
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_0879c102e3863c79e713ed97bd734739
Strategy Summary:
For this match I went with a full magic team even though most of my units were lower leveled. I paired them up with my Archon, Eternal Tofu, to give the lineup a little more durability and survivability. I had Thunderous Herald as my main carry of choice because of her Enfeeble ability. This is a good ability for melee units which tanks normally have. I also have other supports for her increasing her damage and health but we'll go to that in detail later.
On the other side, my enemy had the clear advantage. They brought in a level 2 Rage unit, which is already one of the strongest units in the game, plus higher leveled monsters overall. Their team even had Void to counter my magic attacks and higher base damage to push through quickly. So, on paper this was not a balanced fight at all. The game actually is on my enemy's favor and to make it worse, they have more units and most of the units they have has magic attacks which Eternal Tofu's Thorns don't have any effect. This is undoubtedly and overwhelmingly against my favor.
However, that’s what made the strategy here important. I focused on creating a lineup that could survive just long enough for my magic units to chip away. I took advantage of the rule sets to have the units I have to its maximum potential. With units that could heal or give me advantages as they get revived, it gave me a solid strategy. The goal wasn’t to overpower the enemy but to outlast them and in a setup like this, sometimes patience is stronger than raw stats.
Battle Summary:
I understand the enemy's lineup. I would've done the same except for the two units at the back. The two lacks both firepower and purpose. Once I get passed through Rage, which is the main tank and main carry of the team, I easily overtook the game.
Round 3 is when Moribund Arrowbait died twice giving my Thunderous Herald extra 2 magic attack. I now have a big unit, 4 magic attack, similar to the enemy Rage at this point but they still have the advantage since their Rage is still unharmed and has Void which will be a problem.
The breakthrough came around Round 6 or Round 7 when my Thunderous Herald comes to front as a tank with 17 health due to Scavenger. At 17 health, my Meriput Magician's Tank Heal gives him 5 health each round. The enemy's overall damage is still higher totaling to 8 magic attack and 1 range attack. The high health though gave me the advantage and lets my Thunderous Herald live until Rage was killed on Round 8. Once Rage died, they lost 4 magic attack making the enemy's overall damage only 4 magic attack and 1 range attack. That, compared to my Thunderous Herald's 19 max health with 6 heal every round coming from Meriput Magician's Tank Heal, I now outheal the enemy team's overall damage.
So, starting at Round 9, I have complete control of the game and I just need to wait until my last two units eliminate the rest of the enemy team.
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Battle Rules Dissected
Mana: 31
Element: Water, Life, Death, Dragon
Rule Set 1: Fog of War - Units lose Sneak, Snipe, and Opportunity.
This is an important rule set because this makes support units safe. Units that give you advantage throughout the battle like those with Tank Heal, Cleanse or units that needs time to get stronger will be on the safer side until you get them stronger.
Rule Set 2: Holy Protection - All units have Divine Shield (ignores all damage once, after which the Divine Shield is destroyed).
Divine Shield combined with armor is a strong defensive combo. It eliminates two attacks if it's a melee and/or range. Since Holy Protection is per unit, this means the more unit you have, the more defensive options you have as well.
Rule Set 3: Born Again - All units have Rebirth (self-resurrects once per battle with 1 health and 100% of armor; all magic debuffs are removed, and all magic buffs are reapplied; skips turn).
The Rebirth ability is good with other abilities that has an effect when a unit dies. The ability gains from this ability allows the said ability to activate once again after revival making this a crucial rule set to focus on.
Overall, the mana is decent allowing me to get a couple of strong units in battle. I can't use a huge mana unit though or else some part of the lineup will suffer. The elements favor melee units but there are also strong magic attack units that can be on the board as well. Water and Life elements have strong defensive units like Bera Dallin or Warborn Shaman. Death and Dragon elements are a gamble though because they are flexible and good with any strategies.
The rule sets are more on the defensive side. These three can be good to overcome your lineup's weakness or make your team stronger depending on how you use them. So, for this battle, units that can maximize the Born Again rule set can be game changing. Fog of War and Divine Shield rule sets are simply there
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Lineup:
Archon: Eternal Tofu
Ability: +2 Health, Snare, Thorns | Triage & Scavenger on Thunderous Herald
Opinion: Eternal Tofu is a good situational archon. The +2 Health and Thorns are two strong abilities since she gives it to all units. Snare can be powerful in Earthquake rule set to bring down those Flying units. Triage and Scavenger is a good ability to make someone tankier. I normally put them on my main carries and it's especially useful when you have a backline Taunt even though it's still a strong choice if you don't.
Unit 1: Halfling Refugee
Ability: Weary, Rebirth, Divine Shield, Snare, Thorns
Opinion: Halfling Refugee is my usual main tank. He has low mana with high health. Weary can be a problem as it may skip its attack once a round but whether he attacks or not, the high health is still a good reason for Halfling Refugee to be a tank. On higher levels, Halfling Refugee gains Heal as well making him more durable especially in this setup.
Unit 2: Moribund Arrowbait
Ability: Bloodline Tribute, Rebirth, Divine Shield, Snare, Thorns
Opinion: Bloodline Tribute is an ability that increases a unit's damage by 1 if it has similar attack type and bloodline as her. It is an "on-death" ability. This has a similar mechanics with Martyr ability. This means if this unit gets revived, and died once more, Bloodline Tribute can activate again. In this lineup, Moribund Arrowbait has Ulund Bloodline with range and magic attack. That means, Thunderous Herald, my main carry for this battle and an Ulund bloodline unit with magic attack is the target of this Bloodline Tribute. That is also Moribund Arrowbait's main purpose for this lineup. I had Moribund Arrowbait on the second position because her purpose is the Bloodline Tribute. If Halfling Refugee is not part of this lineup, Moribund Arrowbait will be on the first position.
Unit 3: Harbinger of Chaos
Ability: Rebirth, Divine Shield, Snare, Thorns
Opinion: Harbinger of Chaos is my second main tank and was positioned after Moribund Arrowbait after. He has high magic attack and a decent good health as well that synergizes with Meriput Magician's Tank Heal.
Unit 4: Thunderous Herald
Ability: Enfeeble, Rebirth, Divine Shield, Snare, Thorns
Opinion: Thunderous Herald is my main carry for this battle. His Enfeeble that reduces unit's melee attack is strong when kept uncheck. It wasn't as effective as I expected in this battle because I was expecting the enemy to use the other three elements available which all have strong melee units as their main tank. He is also the main target of Bloodline Tribute and Scavenger which both works really well with Born Again rule set. I put her second to the last for the Scavenger to benefit from the deaths of the units in front of her. Scavenger gets an extra health from all deaths, friend or foe.
Unit 5: Meriput Magician
Ability: Tank Heal, Rebirth, Divine Shield, Snare, Thorns
Opinion: Tank Heal heals a part of the unit's health on the first position each round. The Heal is based on the unit's max health which Eternal Tofu's +2 Health and Scavenger ability can increase. I put her last to maximize the Tank Heal. This is a risk though since if the enemy is using a lot of Sneak unit. Thanks to Fog of War rule set though, there would be no Sneak units for this battle making it the most effective position to put Meriput Magician in. Also, Meriput Magician and a unit with Scavenger (Thunderous Herald in this battle) can create miracles.
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Disclaimer
Other photos and images that I used in this post can be found in these websites below:
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About the Author
Hey! I’m Mavis the Muggle, your friendly Splinterlands addict with a slight obsession for all things Harry Potter. 🧙
When I’m not immersed in gaming or wizardry, I’m busy learning new things. Recently, I’ve been having putting a lot of effort and having a blast creating content on Hive so relax!
You can support me by upvoting this post, reblogging, leaving a comment below or by using my Splinterlands referral link.
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