Strategies and points of view in this post are only relevant within the Silver Leagues 🥈
Watch the showcased battle here.
Featured Monster: Venari Spellsmith
The Venari monsters from Rewards we had before the Chaos Legion release were quite reliable. Venari Spellsmith, a new Neutral monster from Chaos Legion, continues this trend. Its attack and other stats aren't noteworthy, but its multiple abilities make it an attractive team member. ✨
The Chaos Legion's spells slammed into the front rank not thirty yards from the Spellsmith. He used his magic to reflect the damage back at the enemy, and many staggered and fell, smoldering. Next, he dispelled their protective magics, leaving them vulnerable to a counterattack. ~ Lore
Spellsmith starts off with a Dispel ability that removes all positive status from an enemy. It's not a conditional hit or based on probability; it triggers all the time. However, it doesn't remove any status effect brought by the monster's innate skills. So it's not that powerful.
Thus within Silvers, Venari Spellsmith could both have Dispel and Amplify. Between the two, Amplify seems like a much more useful ability. Dispel's utility depends on the enemy team composition. If the enemy had no or few buffs, then it won't be worthwhile. But with Amplify, you got total control over how to maximize its effects.
There are also not a lot of Amplifiers within Silvers. At the moment, we only have four options. Notice that these are all Chaos Legion monsters since Amplify is a new skill that wasn't present in previous edition eras. The Legendary, Queen Mycelia, looks especially ferocious as it has another powerful skill, Protect.
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A level 4 Venari Spellsmith costs around 6.5 USD to own. Renting one would only cost around 2.5 DEC. I decided to buy it since I thought it would be useful and would grow more expensive in the long run as the only Neutral in Silver who has Amplify.
My Lineup
Let me preface this battle retelling by saying I dropped the ball on this one. I got flustered with seeing a level 2 Queen Mycelia on my opponent's battle history. Perhaps I got some lingering trauma from my previous encounter with the Silver Leagues' #1 player who used Mycelia then. It was incredibly OP with Mylor's Thorn. Plus, he had those Reflects, too, for good measure. I was utterly decimated at that time. 😖
I would have countered the enemy's potential magic-heavy lineup with Life's Clay Golem, which has Void, coupled with some Tank Healing. However, White wasn't an active option for this match. Not knowing what to do, I ended up with a "troll" way to battle, abandoning any expectation of winning and just going with whatever looked fun. 😅
If the opponent will go with Amplified reflect, why shouldn't I do it too?
| Summoner |  | I opted with the Earth splinter because I want access to more Reflect-type monsters. Earth has Failed Summoner so Green I went. Obsidian would have been a better option, but she's under-leveled on my deck, so Lyanna would be the one fighting for me. |
 | I rarely use Rusty Android because it's not a durable tank. However, since I'm going with the Amplified Reflect strategy, I'll place as many Reflect monsters as possible. It has at least a decent attack and health, so it would put up a good fight despite not lasting long. | |
 | Again, it's another Reflect monster. Failed Summoner could have peaked at 8 points in health in Silver at level 5, but I only got it on level 1. It would reflect much fewer magic attacks because it's only got 4 health. Good thing Lyanna can at least bump it up to 5. | |
 | Filler spot here. But who doesn't like a zero-cost Furious Chicken with Divine Shield? The ruleset grants one to all monsters in the field. So it's especially crucial to have as many monsters as you can. Instead of getting knocked out in one hit, they'd be able to endure at least two. | |
 | As I mentioned, I was flustered during my battle preparation and wasn't able to think clearly. I added a Creeping Ooze that has the Slow skill in a match with a Reverse Speed ruleset. 🤣 I made this mistake several times already, and I still keep making them. | |
| Venari Spellsmith is the start of the match who would play an important by Amplifying all Magic Reflect. If any monster hits my Reflect monsters with two-magic damage, two points would be dished back at them. Dispel is a nice skill, but I don't have any expectations for it in this upcoming match. | |
 | Everyone's getting a Divine Shield, so the more monsters on your team that get them, the better. Swamp Thing uses up my last two points in the mana pool. It's a huge boon that this low-mana Epic monster has the Weaken debuff skill. |
The Battle
As I expected, the enemy went with a level 2 Queen Mycelia and the summoner, Obsidian. However, their lineup isn't as filled with Magic monsters as I had hoped. They only had two and the rest were Melee fighters.
Do I have the chance of winning this Amplified Reflect Vs Amplified Reflect battle?
Watch the live battle here
After all buffs and debuffs were applied, I breathed a sigh of relief about including Swamp Thing on my lineup. Its Weaken ability dropped Wood Nymph's health to two points, so instead of needing two Reflects, we could take it down in one. Of course, only after getting rid of that Divine Shield.
The other side looks quite intimidating. Aside from Divine Shield, all of them got armor because of Mycelia's Protect. 🛡️ And I'm kicking myself for being dumb in buffing up their speed with Slow in a Reverse Speed ruleset.
Now, let the battle begin!!! ⚔️
It's a slow start. We spent the entirety of Round 1 mostly getting rid of each other's Divine Shields. A monster like Mycelia standing safely at the back would usually be out of harm's way in the early rounds. But since I got Magic Reflect, I was able to get rid of her shield and Wood Nymph's, too.
🔮 That blast graphic on Mycelia after Android's Reflect feels pretty satisfying, lmao 🔮
Round 2 brings out the pain. Most monsters are now feeling it after the Shield's gone. Wood Nymph has been blasted back with her own attack and leaves the game. Queen Mycelia had suffered too, but still held on to her final health point. My side also got dealt with Magic Reflects. Venari Spellsmith endured two-point damage but successfully took out the enemy Failed Summoner. No more Reflects on their side in the next rounds. 🤟
🔮 Right back at ya, Wood Nymph! 🔮
The helpful Rusty Android has been enduring all these attacks without any Healing and very little Defense. It gets knocked out in the middle of Round 3. But as its final aid to the team, it takes Queen Mycelia along with it. Failed Summoner took the Android's place in the frontlines as we watched all of the opponent's armor crumble with their Queen gone.
🔮 Rusty Android's sacrifice. 🔮
It took a bit more effort to sweep the enemy after Mycelia's fall, but we successfully did it by Round 6. Swamp Thing makes the last hit, ending the battle with our 🥳Victory🥳!
Battle Retospective Review
Contrary to my expectations, I still managed to win.
Did your strategy work? Barely. It wasn't a reliable strategy. I tested this several times, but it often fails. Even if I Amplified the damage of Magic Reflect, it's often not enough to totally take out the enemy Magic attacker. It was fortunate that the enemy monsters on this battle weren't leveled up to their Silver league peak. If that were the case, I'm sure they'd be able to hang on long enough for their team to take out my frontline Reflectors.
I really wouldn't recommend this strategy. It's a last-ditch, desperate effort because I don't know what else to do. But regardless of the results, I had fun with this battle. It's interesting to watch two Amplified Reflect teams duke it out.
What will you try differently next time? For one, maybe not use Slow on a Reverse Speed ruleset? But I've said this many times before, and I still keep repeating the mistake. 🤣 Also, I really should guard my rearmost monster better. Swamp Thing should have been placed further inside. The filler Chicken should have taken the last spot to buffer some sneak attacks.
Do you like VENARI SPELLSMITH? Yes. Its Amplify and Dispel are rare skills in the Silver Leagues. It won't be worthwhile to include it in every battle, but players can find good use for it on specific matchups. Such as the one I showcase against a magic-heavy team or against a lineup with several group buffs. ✨✨✨
Author's Note: In case you are wondering what's up with this four-year old account that has few blogs and barren engagement, I'd like to reveal that this
account is just an alternate account exclusively meant for Splinterlands play and publishing content related to it. I considered transferring all my game assets to my main Hive account, but that would erase all of my current progress. 😭
More details about this found on my "introduction" post.
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Attributions:
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Splinterland assets are owned by Splinterlands. Images created with Canva.