This battle surprised me more than I expected. When I first saw the enemy lineup, I honestly thought I was going to lose in terms of the damage. Their units had strong magic and range attacks and it felt like they could melt through my front line quickly. The Fog of War changed how the usual flow of the fight goes and that forced both of us to rely on pure positioning and how much stats we can push to each other. Instead of usual strategies like Opportunity or Sneak plays to deal with the back line, this match became about how long your units can survive, abilities that still work in Fog of War modifier and who could kill the unit's health faster.
Battle:
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_9789da1864d6b0a9425f93d970a767ae?ref=aiko2ne1
The enemy's Celestial Guardian was scary since it has 2 magic damage proceeded with other 2 units with 2 range damage each. They have better damage overall is what I want to say. The first 3 units though is questionable. Since Sneak doesn't work, Sherringham Logger stares at me on the second position and behind him is Vengeful Monk without his Opportunity and the main tank is Twice Yester Knight. For some reason, I won in this battle and I would assume that it's because of Sorrow Harvester's Weaken and Thalgrimore Combo lessening their unit's healths by 2.
Modifier 1: Fog of War -Units lose Sneak, Snipe, and Opportunity.
My Lineup:
This lineup is good in my opinion since the unit that you want to protect the most is Sorrow Harvester. The longer you keep her alive, the higher you have a chance to win the battle. The Weaken ability is good as it stacks with Thalgrimore's ability giving your enemies -2 health. This is the max health so reducing their health at the start of the battle means you only need a little more to kill their units.
Thalgrimore: Thalgrimore gives -1 health to all enemy units at the start of the battle. On its own, that might not seem huge but it becomes powerful when combined with other health-reducing abilities like Weaken. In this match, pairing it with Weaken meant the enemy team began with a -2 health to all of their units which make them easier to kill. That health reduction was very impactful because units in Frontier Ranked are usually low health especially on low level.
Nim Guard Captain: Nim Guard Captain serves as my main tank. With Void, he can reduce incoming magic damage which is important against Celestial Guardian. His 3 armor and 5 health give him enough durability to absorb early hits while my backline works. Even though his melee attack is only 1, his main role is to absorb damage and not to deal damage.
Great Bear Druid: Great Bear Druid doesn’t have any abilities but he’s reliable. Even though his melee attack can’t be used from the second position, his 1 magic attack still contributes damage. With 6 health, he also acts as a secondary tank if my Nim Guard Captain falls. That extra layer of protection of having a second tank is a nice feeling so you don't over rely in your main tank.
New Beluroc Aegis: New Beluroc Aegis cannot attack but his Taunt ability is extremely valuable here. By forcing ranged and magic attacks toward him, he reduces the damage to my frontline. This means the frontline can withstand mode attacks and do some damage before they fall. His 3 armor and 5 health give him enough durability to soak several hits. You can change this with another strong tank if you want but I think Beluroc New Aegis can do the job well.
Moros Malik: Moros Malik has Opportunity, which unfortunately doesn’t work under Fog of War. I do like his 1 ranged damage as it can attack from the back so he still contributes some damage. Even without his ability, having additional ranged damage helps add damage at the enemy frontline.
Sorrow Harvester: Sorrow Harvester is the core of this lineup. With 2 magic damage and Weaken, she both reduces enemy health and deals consistent damage. Since there’s no Sneak in this modifier, I can safely position her in the back. As long as she stays alive, the enemy team's health remains reduced making them easier to kill from the attacks of my units. This combo with Thalgrimore and Sorrow may not look amazing but they do a lot of the lifting especially in Frontier Ranked where units aren't naturally tanky unlike he other units you can use in Modern Ranked.
Black Widow: Black Widow provides strong ranged assist with 2 damage. Because ranged units cannot attack from the front, placing her last ensures she keeps firing as long as possible. Her 1 armor and 5 health give her decent survivability for a backliner although it wasn't as important since there's no attack coming from the back thanks to Fog of War modifier. She adds a lot of damage over time that helps secure kills faster.
This battle showed me how powerful health reduction can be under Fog of War. Even when the enemy seems stronger on the battle, these small debuffs can completely shift the resut of the battle. Protecting the right unit made all the difference and this is far easier when there's no Sneak and Snipe you need to worry about.