Battle Mage Secrets: Broken Arrows

The battle challenge ruleset this week is ‘Broken Arrows’. In this ruleset no Ranged attack monsters may be used. So all attacks must come from Melee or Magic attacks.

The battle I chose to showcase is a Brawl battle with 40 mana allowed with the only ruleset being ‘Broken Arrows’. Every splinter was available to play.

Here is a link to the battle:

https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_8Z0aLxy6FRQ7jOlXw83V&ref=ninjamike

I wanted to go with the Fire splinter because it is typically the one I choose for Brawl battles at around 40 mana. I picked a Dragon summoner to give me access to more cards and then chose the Fire splinter to pair with Dragon. My strategy was to go with several strong Sneak attackers and then put in my Legendary Gladiator opportunity monster to put a lot of pressure on my opponents’ backline.

I used a strong tank with the Void ability and plenty of armor including Void armor. It will take some time for a combination of Magic and Melee attacks to get through my tank. I finished off my lineup by putting in a double strike Reach Melee monster in second position.

Start of Battle / Round 1

My opponent chose the Immortalis summoner which means that they were prepared for a strong Magic attack. But I came with an all Melee attack. They were also prepared for a strong Sneak attack as they put a high health monster with self heal in last position. They do however have some vulnerable monsters in the middle of their lineup.

Round 2

In the first round, I managed to defeat my opponents’ lone opportunity monster before it could attack. This was important because I have a couple of low health monsters that are vulnerable. My sneak attack monster in last position was wiped out.

Round 3

During the second round, I defeated another of my opponents low health backfield monsters. I also defeated their tank while I only lost one of my sneak attack monsters in last position. Things are looking promising for me.

Round 4

I am one hit away from victory.

With my first hit in the fourth round I was able to declare victory.

Overall my strategy for this battle worked. It was a good battle between my opponent and me. Our strategies and lineup had their similarities. We both had fairly strong Sneak attacks as well as one Opportunity monster. We both made use of the Void ability to counter Magic attacks.

I believe that the biggest key for me winning the battle came in the first round when my Legendary Gladiator Opportunity monster defeated my opponents’ lone Opportunity monster. As a result, from that point forward my opponent could only attack from the front and rear of my lineup. Whereas I was able to attack my opponents’ weakest monsters throughout the battle. Meanwhile my Opportunity monster grew stronger and stronger as a result of Bloodlust.

The ‘Broken Arrows’ ruleset is one that does not affect me much when choosing my splinter and lineup. I tend to favor using Melee and Magic attacks anyway. Most of the time I do not make use of a lot of Ranged Monsters unless I am forced to. Of course the ruleset does make an opponents’ attacks more predictable because there are only two choices for attacks rather than three. So it is worth it to try to counter these attacks as much as possible. Whether it is putting a high health monster in last position or making use of abilities such as Void, Reflect, and Thorns.

Keep Battling