Each Splinterlands battle calls for a different approach. The requirement may push you to select certain monsters you hardly use; sometimes it works out and you learn a new trick, but other times, it turns out to be a colossal failure. Luckily, this isn't one of those fails, and my Hellish snake played a small part in this victory.
Edition: ALPHA/BETA
Rarity: EPIC
Element: FIRE
ATTACK: MELEE
ABILITIES: Retaliate at level 1; Poison at level 3; Piercing at level 5
The Battle
The best about this battle is that at first glance, I thought I was going to lose it. My shields were taken off and my shock absorber was the super slow Caladuum.
Summoner
Plado came into my team when I was struggling to assemble a squad strong enough to circumvent the collection power situation. The plan was to squeeze into Champions league but I scrapped that plan.
In this battle, Plado was essential because of his Melee, and Speed boosts in particular. He reduces health as well for good measure, and at level 3, offers the best potential of all my monsters
A Vengeful Tank
This monster isn't usually the first on my list for tanks, and I'd actually go with Cerberus on another day but in this battle, it served its purpose.
I figured my opponent would fill up his/her team with magic and/or ranged monsters, so I put this serpent upfront to combine its high speed and retaliation to do some damage.
Shock Absorber
I named it my shock absorber but the reality is that it was only one half of the shock-absorbing crew. This legendary dice pack monster is super slow but, it has magic resistance and that's all that matters.
I put it right behind the vengeful snake because I figured my opponent would be hitting me with magic, which actually turned out to be a masterstroke.
Potential Shield
The other shock absorber in this battle was this fire wizard with the shield ability. If Caladuum was is a magic absorber, this one was meant to be a ranged absorber. This monsters shield ability means that it will take less damage from ranged hits and keep me in the game longer.
Slippery Spy
My Serpentine spy and still one of my favourite monsters in the game is a sweeper. Its role? Clean up and mop up of course. Find vulnerable points and take out those monsters clean and easy.
I placed it in between the healer and the Wizard because I wanted to protect it from the possibility that a ranged or magic monster with blast could easily take it out before it accomplished its wicked plan.
The Healer
A wise man(me) once said, never go into battle without a healer. The funniest part is that this healer was actually meant for both Caladuum and the flame serpent. I suspected that Serpent was going to die early, and so I needed somebody and that's why Caladuum was put in the second position. Did its job and since there was no magic reflector, stood the "test of time.
Shatter
Last and certainly not the least, we have this flamesmith that hates shields. The shatter ability is a bonus, particularly when you're in battles without magic. In this battle, I wanted to give myself more chance of winning by destroying the shield of the next monster to take the front stage for my opponent.
Did it work?
Surprisingly, this simple strategy worked out. I had no clue how things were going to pan out when I started watching the battle but hey, winning is winning and I like winning.
Despite being one of the cheapest monsters in the squad, the Serpentine spy turned out to be the kingmaker in this battle. Taking out the wood Nymph in the first round, effectively crippling my opponent's team was a big factor in deciding the victor.
In the second round, my Serpent of the flame was taken out, leaving me with Caladuum up front but after Serpentine spy yet again took out the only magic user in my opponent's back rank, all that was left were ranged users, thus falling right into my plan to contain their attacks with the Wizard's shield ability.
With Caladuum in front, my beetle queen doing the healing and a monster with shield ability taking hits from ranged monsters, I found myself in a very comfortable position.
Get In The Game
If you enjoyed this battle and would like to join the game, you can join with my affiliate link below and we'd both stand the chance of getting a gold foiled legendary monster that could be worth like $100
https://splinterlands.com?ref=belemo
