https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_5c82aeb7574df8642ac93c9b6ca6fc92&ref=atbui89
This week's battle challenge involves the Supply Runner! The Supply Runner is a Neutral Ranged attacker from the Chaos Legion set that becomes extremely valuable once you gain the Swiftness ability at Level 5.
Supply Runner Highlights
At Level 1, the Supply Runner is not a bad card at all. It's relatively quick with 3 speed, does 2 damage and has a decent amount of health which is important for Ranged cards since they're typically in the back where they're vulnerable to Sneak attacks.
Being a Neutral card, it can be used with any Splinter. It is particularly good when paired with General Sloan since he will give +1 Ranged damage to all friendly monsters.
Once you get to Level 5, however, this card can completely change the landscape of your battles.
 | Swiftness : All friendly monsters have increased Speed |
|---|---|
 | Strengthen : All friendly monsters have increased Health |
With Swiftness, the slower Ranged attackers in the Life deck are suddenly absolute monsters! Speed is extremely important for Ranged attackers because they generally aren't able to attack from the first position so they need to be able to get their hits off before the tanks die. Additionally, they can miss if they're too slow so the Swiftness ability is great.
So when do I use the Supply Runner?
- At Level 5, any time you can! Speed is such an important stat and with this being a Neutral card, a lot of lineups can really benefit from the increased speed.
- Pair this with Supply Runner and Time Mage to really gain a speed advantage over your opponent.
- Close Range is especially beneficial for this card since it can attack from the first position. With decent health and high speed, you can potentially use it as a mini tank.
This Week's Featured Battle
In this featured battle, my opponent and I both played the General Sloan Summoner and the Life Deck. Who will take the victory?
Battle Ruleset
 | Aim True | Melee and Ranged attacks always hit their target |
|---|---|---|
 | Heavy Hitters | All Monsters have the Knock Out ability |
 | 42 Mana | This is considered a high mana battle |
 | Active Splinters | Only Life is available |
Strategy Highlights
- Aim True
- Since Melee and Ranged always hit, Armor is important as well as Speed
- Dodge, Flying, and Blind are not useful here since everything can hit
- Heavy Hitters
- This is generally ignored for me in the Silver leagues and below
- It's rare to see a monster that can take advantage of this rule
Since only the Life splinter is available, it's extremely likely that General Sloan will be used since it's the most widely available summoner.
Knowing that all Ranged will get +1 Damage and can always hit, you want to be the faster attacker and try to spread out your opponents attack in order to keep your monsters alive just a little bit longer.
My strategy was to draw attention with Taunt while attempting to attack before my opponent does.
The Lineup
| Position | Card Image | Card Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summoner |  | General Sloan | Life Summoner that gives all friendly monsters +1 to their Ranged attacks. This is an extremely powerful summoner but isn't the most popular summoner in Bronze & Silver |
| Pos 1 (tank) |  | Chaos Knight | As I mentioned before, I want to make sure I can reduce the amount of damage my team takes and one of the ways is with the Chaos Knight's Shield ability |
| Pos 2 (secondary tank/taunt) |  | Shieldbearer | At Level 1, this card is critical to the Life deck. With Taunt, it will draw all of the opposing teams fire which allows your team to pick off the enemy. Even though it can't attack from here, it plays a major role in the success of the lineup |
| Pos 3 (attacker/support) |  | Supply Runner | As I mentioned before, I want to be the first one to hit so the Swiftness ability really helps here. It also has the most health out of my backline (except Shieldbearer) so it will be the first one up behind my 2 tanks |
| Pos 4 (attacker/support) |  | Time Mage | As I mentioned previously, Speed is my priority so the Slow ability is helpful here. At Level 3, the Time Mage also gets 1 more Magic damage |
| Pos 5 (attacker) |  | Prismologist | This card has the Blast ability which will help take out the enemy backline (or at least their Armor) |
| Pos 6 (attacker) |  | Pelacor Arbalest | This is another Life Deck staple. It has Dual Strike and when paired with General Sloan, that's 6 potential damage in one turn! |
Let's Battle!
- My opponent had a similar lineup which was to be expected since only the Life splinter was available
- Unfortunately for them, the level of my team was too high and they could not compete
- Regardless, some things to note:
- By gaining the speed advantage, I was able to take out their tank and then pick off the rest of their team
- Additionally, because the Shieldbearer is in the front, he's getting EVERY attack until he dies
- I like to place my Shieldbearer in the 2nd position if the mana allows because he will not take damage from their tank which can make a massive difference in survivability
Did it work?
Yes! Although my lineup was a little overkill since my opponent only had a Level 1 General Sloan. Regardless, this lineup can be extremely difficult to beat since it can deal out a ton of damage.
I analyzed the battle with Splintertools and obviously, my opponent had no chance of winning. Really tough for them to go against a summoner 3 levels above them.
Final Thoughts
Initially, I wasn't impressed with the Supply Runner. It was a decent card but at 6 Mana, it's tough to justify. Once you reach Level 5, however, it becomes nearly a must play anytime you can fit it in the lineup.
With a cost of only $0.10/BCX, this card is undervalued in my opinion. It has so much utility since it's a Neutral card with abilities that apply to ALL friendly monsters.
Thanks for reading! I hoped you enjoyed it!
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