Battle Mage Secrets: Going The Distance - Tanks Are Still Needed

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 penalize the Taunt cards by giving them double damage. Today, what we will be looking at will be a rule set that actually give many people headache due to the lack of cards to fit the lineup as this is an arsenal restricting rule set.

Ruleset Spotlight

Going the Distance

Description:

• Only units with ranged attacks may be used.
• Consider including units with the Close Range and Return Fire abilities in your lineup.

What thrives with this ruleset?
As mentioned above, this is an arsenal restricting ruleset and the only cards you will see it this match will be range attackers only.

As what was mentioned, in the ruleset description, Close Range ability is absolutely essential so that your first position card will not be a sitting duck in the match. The weakness for range cards is that when it does not carry Close Range, all you get is a target board at first position which does nothing but just being a meat shield. Return Fire wise is good as well as it "returns the favour" back to the aggressor.

Because this is a range match, some armour will do good. Protect is great too if you play Death where Ravenhood Warden gives you +2 armour. The next good ability that give advantage will be the Headwinds which gives -1 range attack to the whole of your opponent's lineup.

Stats wise, the higher the better, no matter which one it is.

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

The Battle
Link: https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sm_utiWMlnwS7AVlCoQ3iXP&ref=vaynard86

Ruleset
Going The Distance, Even Stevens, Reverse Speed
Mana Limit: 25

Splinter	Mana Cost	Position	Reason
Kelya Frendul	4	Summoner	The extra armour is important to help cushion 1 damage from opponent.
Wave Brood	8	1st	Close Range and Taunt with a big chunk of health making this a very good card to tank damage.
Kulu Swimhunter	4	2nd	A simple card with no ability but good damage of 2 which is reliable
Edith Emberstar	8	3rd	The big hitter of the team to deal some good punishment to opponent lineup.
Total Mana:	24

Opponent Lineup

• Summoner - Pembrook Nymph
• Position 1 - Tatiana Blayde
• Position 2 - Supply Runner
• Position 3 - Alfredo
• Position 4 - NA
• Position 5 - NA
• Position 6 - NA

Prediction before pressing rumble
Wow, I don't like what I see at the front of my opponent especially when that card is a really good card with a double attack. The backline is ok, quite expected cards that will fill. I hope Wave Brood can hold off as long as it can.

Let's battle!

Battle Synopsis

Round 1, A good front with Wave Brood taking the damage then Edith doing the damage and settling Tatiana. I have a good feeling for this.

Round 2, A simple exchange with Wave Brood still holding the fort, though Edith missed a shot. But definitely this match is for the taking.

Round 3, Every card on my side manage to hit their respective target and easily disposed off my whole opponent line up. Victory secured!

Post Battle Summary
Seeing a very strong Gladius card usually shakes me a little. While it is strong, it needed time to grow with Blood Lust. Was really thankful that we got it removed right at first turn.

Did my strategy work? I planned to have a tank in Wave Brood and also have Kelya as the summoner which gives the additional +1 Armour which was really instrumental in such a ruleset. Edith Emberstar makes a backline powerhouse that is ready to deal huge amount of damage to opponent. So all in all, everything went as planned and worked well in my favour.

What's the Battle Mage Secret?

For today, the Battle Mage Secret is quite simply, you will still need a tank even for such a lineup. Take for example, when you compare cards like Gargoya Devil vs Wave Brood, when it does have a Close Range, it will not have the health to sustain and keep your team alive for your backline cards to do what they need to do. Remember in this ruleset, range cards without Close Range become sitting duck, so get a tank to hold the fort while your backline have sufficient time to do damage before becoming the sitting duck at the first position. Imagine if I didn't play Wave Brood, Edith and Kulu Swimhunter will be in the sitting duck position very quickly rather doing the big damage they are meant to.

Wrap Up
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my sharing on the rule set Going The Distance. 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.

Many events are being organized from time to time. Join the PIZZA DISCORD. This is a place filled with 💰🍕🎁GIVEAWAYS & AIRDROPS💰🍕🎁 and most definitely consisting of a friendly community to be in.

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

If you are keen on playing Splinterlands, feel free to join me via this link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=vaynard86