In low mana cap battles, you are making a desperate gamble with whatever monster fits under the limit. Most of the time, it is a coin flip. You pray your opponent picked something silly, or you get lucky with a dodge. But sometimes, you can engineer a lineup so tight, so good, that it just works.
The Ruleset That Ruins Everyone's Day
Taking Sides modifier is a modifier where no neutral cards allowed. If you are not prepared for this modifier, your toast. I used to hate this ruleset. Now I kind of love it. Because most people still are not ready for it. The recent brawl match had a 12 mana cap and I choose two monsters.
How to Win with Almost Nothing
Here is what I played:
- Summoner: Alric Stormbringer
- Tank: Sea Monster (8 mana)
- Backline: Alfredo (2 mana)
My opponent brought Chuul Jujinchi (summoner) and Quora Towershead (10 mana). One card. At first glance, I looked dead on paper as Quora Towershead is an absolute beast. But there is a reason I won this in three rounds.
Why This Actually Worked
Sea Monster is one of those cards that gets slept on because it is common. But at level 5, it is a 9-health tank with Heal. That is 3 health back every turn. In a 12-mana match, that's absurd value. Quora Towershead has 12 health and also heals (4 per turn). But here is the problem: she is doing 2 magic damage and 2 melee damage per round. My Sea Monster is taking 4 damage, healing back 3. Net -1 health per turn.
Meanwhile, Sea Monster is hitting for 5 melee damage. My other monster pick, Alfredo, is a 2-mana gladius card with 2 ranged damage, 5 health, and Bloodlust. At level 4, he does not have Close Range or True Strike yet (those unlock later). But he does not need them. He just needs to chip away at Quora while Sea Monster absorbs everything. Every round, Quora took 5 damage from Sea Monster and 2 from Alfredo. That is 7 damage. She healed back 4. Net -3 health per turn. I was losing 1 health per turn. She was losing 3. You can do the maths who wins the battle. Quora never stood a chance. She just did not realize it until Round 3.
I almost did not bring Alfredo, but I am glad I did as Alfredo tipped the scales and resulting in that net health return to swing in my favor. And this is the lesson with low-mana battles: every point of damage matters more than you think. You cannot afford to leave mana on the table. You cannot afford to skip a damage source because "it's only 2." That 2 damage is the difference between a draw and a win.
What I would Do Differently (If I Could)
Honestly? Not much. This lineup was as efficient as it gets for 12 mana under Taking Sides modifier. If I had more mana, I would throw in a Ruler of the Seas for extra magic damage. But at 12? There is no room. You are picking between tank + support damage or glass cannon + hope.
The only real risk was if my opponent had brought magic reflect or thorns. But at 12 mana, most people do not have room for that. They are too busy trying to squeeze in a tank that will not die instantly.
Final Thoughts
Taking Sides punishes lazy deckbuilding. If you rely on neutral cards to patch holes in your lineup, this ruleset exposes you hard. The brawl match showed two healing tanks slowly bleeding each other out while a 2-mana ranged attacker tipped the damage balance and that the beauty of it. Showing the importance of how every mana point doing exactly what it needed to do. What is your go-to low-mana Taking Sides lineup?
Are you new to splinterlands and want to learn to play the game? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Splinterlands: A Collection of Articles and Guides. If you enjoy reading my splinterlands content, please follow and support me by signing up to play splinterlands through my affiliate link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=mercurial9.
Thank you for reading, and hope you have a good rest of the day!
Follow me on these other platforms where I also post my content: Publish0x || Hive || Medium || Twitter || Substack