Battle Mage Secrets: Even Stevens - Time to Get Even

Prelude
Hi all, hope all is well for you and it is time for another Battle Mage Secrets. Last week, we looked at a ruleset that allows every card in the lineup to strike from any position and onto the weakest card in terms of health. This week, the ruleset we will examine is something more casual in the form arsenal restriction.

Ruleset Spotlight

Even Stevens

Description:

• Only units with even mana costs may be used.
• This rule does not apply to summoners.

What thrives with this ruleset?
Ok this is a ruleset that does not afflict any form of buff, debuff or unique conditions. It is plainly one that just presents the usage of cards with odd number mana.

One of the most important thing that we have in this ruleset that still can be used will be the 0 mana cards such as Furious Chicken and the various Fiend. These are cards that cost nothing and can be an amazing shield/padding.

Honestly, I prefer even mana to odd mana restriction. Because I have more even mana cards that I use more often than that of odd mana cards. However, in this ruleset, I will miss out on the Martyr cards which are all in the odd mana. Otherwise, most of the other abilities are generally balanced across odd and even, of which both have their own masterpiece that you can use.

Nevertheless, watch on the buffs and debuff that you will field into your lineup. Also, pay attention to the stats, as all of them are critical and instrumental towards your victory.

With these in mind, let's start to talk about the battle proper.

The Battle
Link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_RTMiulH2o9ljFkA9gmBW&ref=vaynard86

Ruleset
Even Stevens, Fog of War, Holy Protection
Mana Limit: 42

Splinter	Mana Cost	Position	Reason
Kelya Frendul	4	Summoner	+1 speed and + 1 armour, one of the better buffs to have
Baakjira	6	1st	Slows down opponent and has void to reduce damage from magic attacks
Djinn Oshannus	8	2nd	Fast magic attacker with void to reduce magic damage
Riverboat Captain	6	3rd	Magic blasters to zap into monster hiding behind tanks
Magi of Chaos	6	4th	Pure magic attack with decent stats
Edith Emberstar	8	5th	Pure damage output range attacker
Kulu Swimhunter	4	6th	Another hard hitter range attacker
Total Mana:	42

Opponent Lineup

• Summoner - Helios Matriach
• Position 1 - Coastal Sentry
• Position 2 - Alva The Crusher
• Position 3 - Riverboat Captain
• Position 4 - Merdhampir
• Position 5 - Naga Assassin
• Position 6 - Edith Emberstar

Prediction before pressing rumble
While my opponent looked like using a Dragon lineup, the core is essentially Water based lineup with many similar cards being used. Both my opponent and I prepared a strong range backline, we both use Edith Emberstar whom can really do a nasty whack with her 4 damage attack.

My lineup contains alot more magic attackers, let's see how things turn out with our selection.

Let's battle.

Battle Synopsis

Round 1, Baakjira taking loads of punishment, 3 strikes from Coastal Sentry and all the magic/range attack from behind but still survived. On my end, my lineup took out Coastal Sentry.

Round 2, A similar round with Baakjira falling while my lineup just continue throwing all the damage towards Alva as we continue to break their lineup one by one.

Round 3, With all the magic attackers gone after Riverboat Captain get smashed, now it is down to the range attackers.

Round 4 onwards, While Edith Emberstar manage to kill off my Oshannus, it was too late as my cards cleared everything and she was standing lone in front and become a sitting down for my lineup to clear her up. Victory secured!

Post Battle Summary
Whew, an interesting match where both sides put up their heaviest attackers in attempt to overrun their opponent. My opponent put up something more aggressive earlier but was cooled off by my side when barrage start flying over to my opponent.

Did my strategy work? Honestly, my strategy with the front loading of Baakjira and Oshannus was to ensure we have sufficient front padding for the backline to do their work with the heavy damage, which they really did. Baakjira was just awesome here with the great tank to handle so many damage, the rest of the lineup just need to ensure their damages land and it will all come down to greatness.

What's the Battle Mage Secret?

For today, my Battle Mage Secret that I want to share is to truly understand what characteristic your arsenal have. I think it is important to know in a particular ruleset, do you have cards that can serve as tanks, attackers or even utility. This is where things become clear, so that when you deploy your cards, you know what are deploying for. In today's case Baakjira had Slow, which improves dodging for the whole team and allowing us to act first as well, and Void which is awesome if opponent fields a full barrage of magic attackers. The remaining, I opted for all my hard hitting cards with a mix of magic attacker and range attacker which really did what is needed and help bring home the victory.

However, if after analyzing your collection, you find that there is a shortfall of card to fit up a role, do either hit the market to get a copy or look into the rental market.

Wrap Up
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my sharing on the rule set Even Stevens.. I would really appreciate it if you liked and/or commented to let me know what are you thoughts.

I am currently part of PIZZA, an active gaming and creative arts crypto community on the HIVE blockchain and part of PIZZA guild. Popular cryto games such as SPLINTERLANDS, RISING STAR and HASHKINGS are actively discussed in this community.

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Till my next battle sharing, take care, stay safe and happy battling!

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