The theme for the current "Battle Mage Secret" challenge is Reverse Speed ruleset this time! This means units with lower speeds will attack before units with higher speeds. Attack Accuracy based on speed will also be reversed. Units with Bloodlust will increase speed after killing a unit. Avoid using Slow as this will help your opponent.
It's not always easy to get the specific ruleset, but if you play hard enough, you definitely can find one! This time I was lucky enough to have one - woohoo!
So here's the interesting battle that I encountered.
Today's battle is extra special because it's a friendly battle with a Splinterlands friend, 
Anyway, I thought it would be still be interesting to introduce some useful cards and show how their strengths can be maximised especially with a particular ruleset. In this post, the featured card is a Common Neutral card, Scavo Hireling!
Scavo Hireling is the silent warrior in the team that works hard behind the scenes but most people don't take notice. Sometimes I feel that he resembles me, hardworking and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks, but never in the limelight. Anyway, its key ability is Repair and that effectively absorb one Melee or Ranged attack regardless of its damage. Combined with cards with high speed, Flying, Dodge, it would make it very hard to take down.
As usual, here's the lore for Scavo Hireling for your reading interest:
Scavo Hirelings are good at just about everything. Not great, not poor, just good. They enjoy doing menial tasks that don't require too much thought or effort. Whether it's digging ditches, bandaging wounds, or cooking a meal, they can get it done in no time at all. They accept coin as payment but don't really need it. They'd rather be paid in information, stories, and baubles as they love learning new things. Defenders of Praetoria have hired them to build walls and dig traps around the island to prevent the Chaos Legion from getting too close.
Battle Type & Team Lineup
| Position | Card/Level | Mana |
|---|---|---|
| Summoner | Astral Entity | 6 |
With all the elements up for selection, the key restriction is Neutral cards, which limits a lot of possibility. Went with my trusted Astral Entity with the plan to execute the double Martyr boost with Venari Marksrat. Its -2 Armor is also potentially useful here.
| Position | Card/Level | Mana |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulundin Overseer | 11 |
Ulundin Overseer's 1 speed is very handy here because of the Reverse Speed ruleset. It's one of the cards that is a must have for these Neutral battles because it buys a lot of time for the backline.
| Position | Card/Level | Mana |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Gargoya Lion | 6 |
We need a Melee card behind Ulundin Overseer and a decent card would be Gargoya Lion. With Flying and Dodge (from Astral Entity), it will be difficult to hit and the misses can prove to be critical at times.
| Position | Card/Level | Mana |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Scavo Hireling | 3 |
Scavo Hireling is here to repair Ulundin Overseer's armor and there aren't many choices among the Neutral cards as the mana quota runs low.
| Position | Card/Level | Mana |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Uraeus | 3 |
With the frontline taking a chunk of the mana, Uraeus comes in at 3 mana and 2 Melee damage which is pretty decent.
| Position | Card/Level | Mana |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Venari Marksrat | 3 |
I half suspect my opponent will field some Sneak cards like Uraeus so Venari Marksrat was positioned here to hook the Martyr boost, and hopefully twice with Astral Entity's resurrection.
| Position | Card/Level | Mana |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Venator Kinjo | 2 |
With 2 mana left, my best choice would be Venator Kinjo. His Camouflage ability meant the Martyr would go to 2 cards.
- Pre Battle: No doubt I was going against a strong challenger, and I just had to cross my fingers and hope for the best!
- Round 1: Both tanks were very strong for this battle and it was an uneventful round.
- Round 2: Ulundin Overseer's 5 Armor + 12 HP is really tanky and nothing was going through. At the backline, Martyr was triggered which was good.
- Round 3: My defensive lineup was holding up well and Martyr was triggered twice successfully. On the good side, it's a damage output increase. On the flip side, the increased speed might work against me.
Rounds 4 to 7: Fast forwarding 4 rounds because it took a long while to take down the Gelatinous Cube. However, I was never in danger because Scavo Hireling was doing all the Repairs round after round.
Rounds 8 to 9: My Uraeus finally went down but we were almost there!
Rounds 10 to 11: And we won!
If you are interested to watch the battle, you can find it here.
Post Battle
Did my strategy work? There weren't that many strategies that could be employed in this Neutral only battle because of its restriction. It's always Ulundin Overseer leading the rest of the team. Fortunately, Astral Entity's abilities came in handy, which once again, proved why it is a Legendary summoner. Nonetheless, I had fun battling with a Splinterlands friend!
What's the Battle Mage Secret? Silent warriors like Scavo Hirelings can make a big difference.
So that's all I have! What are your takeaways from this battle? Feel free to comment below, as I am always keen to learn and improve!
As always, thanks for reading and have a pleasant day ahead!
If you are interested to sign up to play Splinterlands, my referral link is here.