Magic Reflections Everywhere

Magic is a key component of any proper fantasy book or movie, and in Splinterlands, it's omnipresent in the game's lore. Summoning monsters wouldn't be possible without magic. However, in certain conditions, magic can backfire. I'm talking about the Counterspell ruleset, where any magic damage inflicted on your opponent mirrors back onto you. When combined with the Back to Basics rule, which strips monsters of their abilities, and the Close Range rule, which allows ranged monsters to attack in the first position, battles become incredibly tricky and require careful strategy. Check out this battle of mine where these rules were in effect!

• With a high mana cap available, I had a wide range of options. However, in a game with the Back to Basics rule in effect, I prefer to choose a summoner that grants at least some abilities to my monsters. That's why I selected Possibilus the Wise, which provides Reach and Trample. With these abilities, I was able to place two strong melee monsters in front and hope that at least one of them would strike multiple times. In contrast, my opponent went for a summoner that debuffed my monsters but didn't provide any special abilities to his own. Despite the -1 speed debuff, my monsters matched the speed of his relatively slow deck.

• Coeurl Lurker is generally a solid tank thanks to its ability to evade both physical and magical attacks. However, under the ruleset in effect during this particular battle, magic attacks were not an option, so it didn't matter that Lurker lost its abilities either. Despite this, the Lurker's high 11 HP and speed of 3 (after the debuff) still made it a great choice for the first position in my lineup.

• Well hidden right behind the Coeurl Lurker, there was Coastal Sentry, my favorite second-position card in Possibilus the Wise decks. It is typically a powerful attacker that can strike twice. With a strong 4 melee attack and Reach and Trample, it's usually nearly unstoppable in such decks. However, due to the ruleset in effect during this battle, it was only able to strike once per round. Despite this limitation, the Coastal Sentry still managed to get its share of the enemy's blood.

• Next in my lineup was the Torrent Fiend, which is typically just a filler monster due to its zero mana cost. It usually attracts the first Opportunity strikes in the battle. This time, Torrent Fiend didn't do much other than wait for its turn, but it did manage to cause some damage at the end of the day.

• Swam Spitter could keep my tank alive a bit longer if it was a game with another ruleset and it could use its Repair ability. That way, it merely spat from its swamp – 3 ranged attack for 7 mana isn’t bad in a game where ranged monsters can attack from the first position.

• Sea Stalker has a powerful ranged attack and normally stays camouflaged behind other monsters. In a game with the common ruleset, it would be able to snipe my opponent's ranged monsters. However, in this battle, it was only able to target the first monster in the lineup and deal some serious damage to it.

• I typically don't use Two Gun Pete in mid or high-mana cap games because, despite having two guns, he only deals 1 damage. It seems like Pete misses one of his shots every time he fires. While this card can be useful when I'm running low on mana, it usually doesn't do much damage to stronger and more expensive monsters.

The Battle

In addition to choosing the wrong summoner, my opponent didn't pay close attention to the ruleset. So he spent extra mana on strong monsters that would have been much more effective if they had their abilities. For example, a Drybone Raider placed between two Martyrs could have eventually had 3 ranged attack and 4 melee attack, with the ability to strike twice with each attack. Such a heavily buffed monster could easily eliminate an entire deck on its own. Besides, Arkenis the Bear was unable to use its Halving ability. If we were playing under the common ruleset, I believe I would have had a much harder time facing this deck..

Posted using Splintertalk