It's been very slow going with my "Dollar-A-Day" challenge, so I haven't had too much to post about... but then I came across a post (@mryosoplanet143/what-s-the-best-combo-for-you-in-13-mana-cap) asking about the best Splinter for a 13-mana cap game... and my feeling is, without a doubt, either black or red.
Guaranteed Wins you say?
OK, so that's obiviously a lie, but "a good chance of winning" just isn't catchy now is it? ... and if you're reading this, then my click-bait obviously worked ;-)
But fear not... it's not all a lie. I'm gonna share my (almost guaranteed to win) strategy with you for the lower mana cap games.
Gotta LOOOOVE me some Water Splinter
When Alric Stormbringer summons 4 or 5 magic monsters, he's effectively adding 4 or 5 damage to your opponent in each round. Very few line-ups can handle that sort of battering in the lower leagues... but that's not the topic of THIS post.
So how DO you win lower mana cap battles?
It's a toss-up between black & red for me.
Both red (with Cerberus leading the attack) & black (with Haunted spirit leading the attack) have fantastic tanks that will last for several rounds (if not the entire game) when they're taking just 2 or 3 damage per round... So 99% of my red & black (low mana cap) games start with them in front. Hell, I've won several games with nothing but a Haunted Spirit & Twisted Jester.
1) So... Leading the attack:
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2) ... and who's behind them?
You wanna follow these Never-Say-Die, I'll-Heal-Myself tanks with some cheap sneak, snipe & opportunity cards and it's almost surely a win (reminding me a lot of the "White Weenie" decks in MTG)... in the lower leagues anyway... no idea what happens in Silver, Gold, Diamond and Champion... yet ;-).
My favourite black follow-up choices
Depending on your mana-cap, you be picking from a combination of these cards:
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Twisted Jester
The jester is a shoo-in for almost every game (even in higher leagues). While not necc. scoring a miss from an enemy, is fast enough to get a shot in before many enemy monsters. Sniping away for 2 damage takes care of most low-cap targets in 1 or 2 rounds. Add 4 health on to that and our clown makes a great back stop... lasting 2 (sometimes even 4) rounds of enemy sneak assaults.
Skeleton Assassin
DAMN I love me some spead!!! ... and for just 3 mana, they don't get faster than this. Let skeletor sneak up on your enemies, finishing them before they even get out of bed and onto the battlefield.
Death Elemental
It's a toss-up between skeletor above and this ghost kid for me. Cutting right past any armor makes him the obvious choice when vs a life splinter opponent, but even against non-life splinters he backs up our Jester very nicely, often sniping in for that 1 last pesky health in your enemy monster.
Maggots
Got a pesky monster in the middle of your enemy's line-up? Let the maggots take care of that!
Undead Badger
For just 2 mana, I'm getting a very quick sneak in for a shot of damage... if my priest (mentioned later) is in play, then I almost certainly want a badger on my team too.
For the mana costs, all these cards are respectable on their own, but when combined, they'll eat through the back of an enemy line-up completely ignoring the enemy tank for last (and more often than not they've done so while your own Haunted Spirit is still merrily chilling out front healing himself from the bits of damage that enemy tank might be trying to inflict).
... and if you have 1 mana spare?
The cursed slimeball never actually sees any frontline action when I play him, but he's great at drawing (i.e. wasting) an attack from an enemy Opportunity or Sneak attack (allowing my snipers, sneakers and opportunists an extra round of attack to do THEIR thing.
... and an honourable mention:
Actually, I've been playing this priest so much, I was tempted to put him up there with my main attackers. Why is he so good? Reducing a 2-health enemy monster to just 1 allows a cheap mana 1-attack friendly to take out an enemy with a single blow... #OUCH!
My favourite red follow-up choices
The death splinter is cool and all, but speed is key when playing weenie line-ups like this... and that's where red owns it with Pyre doing the summoning for me.
Second position (maybe)
Not necc. a GREAT choice for low-mana cap games, but when we edge towards the 20s, this bird will attack from the second position for a little extra, but more NB: when your Cerberus falls, acts as a great second-tank often evading an attack (dodging a bullet completely is better than having a tough hide to absorb it... in my opinion anyway) while your weaker monster behind him can carry on with their tricks.
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Serpentine Spy
2 attack opportunity? DAMN! That's nice... and when he's summoned by Pyre, he's almost sure to be one of the first to attack taking care of at least 1 pesky enemy.
Kobold Miner
Not quite the same calibre as Skeletor in death splinter, but for just 2 mana, there aren't too many low mana cap games where this dude won't be useful.
Fire Beetle
Almost a Centaur, but saving us 1 mana... this sniper makes a great backstop & sniper at the same time.
Don't forget our neutral helpers
With red being a little slim on the cheap sneaky-snipers, I use my Centaur for red a lot... But, slotting in to both death & fire splinters quite comfortably, the Centaur makes a great option protecting against enemy sneaks, add some respectable speed and sneak ability, he's the perfect compliment to both sneaky-sniper-opportunist splinters.
3) As far as summoners go?
Fire
Malric Inferno's +1 melee is a great option when you've got a high mana cap game and your line-up is loaded with strong defenders, but these cheap sneak, snipe, opportunity attacks I've described above are littered with low health monsters, so you want to be hitting first, which makes Pyre not only a no-brainer, but a MUST!
Death
There's really only one choice here: Zintaur kicks ass! Turning most opponents' 2-melee attacks into a 1-point damage makes your Haunted Spirit almost immortal ;-) ... In fact the only time I can imagine using Contessa L'Ament is with the "no melee attackers" ruleset... which doesn't happen in the lower bronze leagues ANYWAY.
Note:
These choices are focused on the free-to-play cards you get with your Spellbook... No chickens, creeping ooze's and all those other cool low mana cards considered (which I don't have yet ANYWAY).... but even when coming up against them I've still had numerous wins ;-)
So... if you're reading this and haven't joined Splinterlands... You're NOT going to be outclassed by players with bigger/stronger cards... so Join Splinterlands NOW and join me in kicking some ass!
Are you a seasoned player? Have I missed something? Can you spot a flaw in my thinking? I would LOVE to hear about it in the comments below.