Hello guys!
Yeeeeey I'm back again with my Splinterlands post. I'm writing this post to follow Splinterlands Mage Secrets Battle Challenge Taking Sides. We often encounter these rulesets when pushing rank. Actually, there is no need for a special strategy in dealing with these rulesets, it's just that neutral monsters cannot be used. In this post I will share one of my battles with Taking Sides rulesets which I think this strategy is quite interesting and can be your reference if you get the same battle rulests and in the same league.
By the way guys, I'm not a professional player or a tournament hero. I merely like to discuss battles and strategies that in my opinion are worthwhile. I participated in this combat using my Scholarship account with IGN BLTZR-WIZARD-700. I played in the Diamond league at modern rank while using a Full main Chaos Legion edition card and several Reward cards whose level was not max. The battle strategy that I shared may not be effective in other leagues because of the different levels of each league.
BATTLE PREPARATION
Challenge Rules
RULESET: TAKING SIDES
Description:
No neutral units may be used.
Battle Rulesets
The rulesets in this battle are:
- Heavy Hitter (All Monsters have the Knock Out ability)
- Up to Eleven (All Monsters have the Amplify ability)
- Taking Sides (Neutral Monsters may not be used in battles)
- Mana Capacity 36
- Active Element Water, Earth, Life and Death.
Line Up and Strategy
In accordance with the rulesets above, I decided to use Kelya Frendul with a focus on Melee monsters that have both Sneak and Opportunity abilities. So I put together the line-up as shown in the table below:
| Monster | Position | Abilities | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|
 Kelya Frendul | Summoner | +1 Speed, +1 Armor | Kelya Frendul is the only Water Summoner max level I have, so if I want to use a Water monster, of course this Summoner is my choice. Besides there, my chance of victory might increase if I use an attacking strategy, because Kelya Frendul gives +1 Speed and +1 Armor buffs. In the upper league battles, it is clear that the difference in speed determines victory, and besides that the +1 Armor buff will make the defense of Melee and Range stronger. My hunch says the opponent won't use many Magic monsters, considering that in this battle there are Up to Eleven rulesets. |
 Baakjira | First | Void, Slow, Strengthen, Heal | The main tank in this battle is Baakira. Although this is nn damage monster, this monster is a favorite tank for many players because of its abilities. This monster is great enough to withstand magic attacks because it has a Void ability. In addition, this monster has a huge HP equipped with the Heal ability. Slow and Strengthen abilities will support other friendly monsters in this battle, because the Slow ability will reduce 1 speed of all enemy monsters, while Strengthen will increase the HP of all friend monsters. Well, if this monster is side by side with Weapons Training, then this monster will be stronger because it will have 1/2 of the monster's damage with the Weapons Training. |
 Kulu Mastermind | Second | Weapons Training, Opportunity, Shield | Kulu Mastermind is a Legendary Soulbound monster with Weapons Training ability. This means that the monster in front and behind is a monster without damage, then the monster will get 1/2 of this monster's damage. If this monster has 4 melee damage, then this means that Baakjira in first place will have 2 melee damage. Kulu Mastermind is one of the Opportunity monsters of the Water element, which when combined with other Opportunity monsters will be very powerful and troublesome for opponents. In addition to some of the abilities I mentioned earlier, Kulu Mastermind in this battle is also a second tank because it also has a Shield ability, where all Melee attacks and ranges will be reduced by half if they hit this monster. |
 Deeplurker | Third | Opportunity, Poison, Demoralize | The Deeplurker in third place is the second Opportunity monster and is the main attacker in this battle. This is because Deeplurker has considerable damage, namely 5 Melee attacks that have been equipped with Poison abilities and also high Speed. This monster also has a Demoralize ability that will reduce the attack of all enemy monsters. |
 Pelacor Bandit | Fourth | Sneak, Flying | Pelacor Bandit is a Sneak monster that has high speed and also considerable melee damage, namely 4 melee attacks. This monster is also an Attacker in this formation, but the target of its attack is the opponent's mob in the last position. |
 Angelic Mandarin | Fifth | Triage, Silence | Angelic Mnadaarin, has the Triage ability as support because it will restore the HP of other friendly monsters that are not in the first position. It's possible that the opponent also uses strategy like I used, so Triage will be a savior for back defense. In addition, Angelic Mandaarin has 2 attack ranges which also have a fairly high speed. |
 Noa The Just | Last | Rust, Dodge | Nao The Just is also a Souldbound monster, but has no damage. In my formation, this monster acts as a rear tank to repel the opponent's monster sneak attack. This monster has high speed and is equipped with Dodge ability, so Melee and Rang monsters are quite difficult to hit this monster. As support, Nao the Just has a Rust ability that will reduce 2 Armor from all enemy monsters. |
You can see the complete line-up of both teams in the picture below. Opponent also used Summoner kelya Frendul with Baakjira as a tank in the first position. It seems that the opponent has almost the same strategy as me.
If the Summoner and the first position, I and the opponent have the same monster, but the third and fourth positions are different. In the third position, the opponent uses Mardaali Guardian which is a support monster that has no dmage with Thank Heal, Repair, and Strengthen abilities. Fourth place, the opponent uses a Magic monster attacker, Runemancer Kye who is a Riftwatcher monster. This monster is quite scary because it has 4 magic attacks combined with Leech's Life ability, as well as other abilities, namely Flying and Fury. The fifth and final position, the monsters are the same as the monsters that became my attackers, that is Deeplurker and Pelacor Bandit.
Position determines Achievement. You must be familiar with this term in this Splinterlands game. Even though both teams have the same monster, if one of the monsters has a different position, the result must also be different. Especially if there are 3 different monsters. Adi, are you curious about how exciting this battle is? Let's move to the battlefield arena!
BATTLEFIELD ARENA
I've also included a youtube video of this battle that you can play right away.
As usual, this battle begins with party buffs and debuffs from all summoners and monsters. Because the buff and debff speed of the two teams are the same, the average speed of all monsters is also almost the same. Because the opponent's Pelacor Bandit is in the backmost position, so My Pelacor Bandit who gets the opportunity to be the first attacker, then followed by the opponent's Pelacor Bandit who gets the opportunity to attack. It's a pity that Deeplurker and Kulu Mastermind's attacks missed hitting the opponent's Pelacor Conjurer. Likewise, the opponent's Deeplurker attack also missed hitting my Pelacor Conjurer. The first round ended with both teams still equally strong and each still in full formation.
Just like the first round, My Pelakor Bandit gets the opportunity to attack first, then followed by the opponent's Pelacor Bandit. Not long after, the opponent's Pelacor Bandit died from Kulu Mastermind's punch. Mardaali Guardian is now the target of an attack by the Opportunity monster, my Deeplurker. My Pelacor Bandit is still the target of the opponent's Deeplurker, and this time the punch hit the target to damage the bandit's Pelacor Armor, and also the Pelacor Bandit also got poisoned. The second round ended with the opponent leaving only 5 monsters while I was still in full formation.
The third round begins with the Pelacor Bandit being poisoned so that it loses 2 HP. Not long after, Mardaali Guardian died because of My Deeplurker. Until the third round ended, the opponent only had 4 monsters left while I was still in full formation but my Pelacor Bandit already had very thin HP.
The fourth round begins with my Pelacor Bandiit dying from poisoning. Now Angelic Mandarin is the first monster to attack. Followed by a Kulu Mastermind attack that kills the opponent's Deeplurker. Now the target of my Opportunity monster is Tide Biter. The fourth round ended with 3 monsters left on the opponent's side and 5 monsters on my side.
Tide Biter died shortly after the fifth round began. The first attack begins with Angelic Mandarin, then followed by Kulu Mastermind who kills Tide Bite. The opponent only left 2 monsters, namely Runemanter Kye and Baakjira.
The sixth round began with Angelic Mnadarin heading to Baakjira. Now the target of the Opportunity monster is Baakjira. Kulu Mastermind and Deeplurker attack Baakjira respectively. Deeplurker's poison also hit Baakjira. You think that until this point the opponent is unlikely to turn things around and win, considering that the opposing attacker is only Runemancer Kye after his attack that hits Baakjira is also reduced because of the Void of Baakjira.
The round begins with poison hitting Baakjira so that it loses 2 HP. Not long after that, the opponent's Baakjira died due to a Kulu Mastermind attack. Runemancer Kye, who is the opponent's last monster, was poisoned when hit by my Deeplurker. The seventh round ended with Baakjira rushing to Runemancer Kye so that Eunemancer Kye's HP was only 8 left.
The eighth round begins with Runemanter Kye losing 2 HP due to Poison. Followed by Angelic Mnadarin. Then followed by the Kulu Mastermind, but unfortunately the attack missed. Runemancer Kye eventually dies after getting a blow from Deeplurker. I won with 5 remaining monsters that are Baakjira, Kulu Mastermind, Deeplurker, Angelic Mnadarin and Nao The Just.
You can see the final result of this battle in the picture below. During this battle, I was on Diamond 2 with 220k SPS delegates to this account.
STRATEGY DISCUSSION
The strategy I applied was very good in this battle. Nao The just and Kulu Mastermind who are Soulbound monsters are the keys to victory. Kulu Mastermind's Weapon Training ability allows Baakjira to have melee attacks, so it can add attacks to the opponent. Rust Nao the Just is also very helpful in breaking down the opponent's defense, because the missing Armor makes my attacker who is a Melee attack can speed up the crush because it can directly hit the target's HP without having to damage the armor first.
Ok guys, I think is enough here, thank you for visiting my blog, don't forget to upvote and leave a comment. If you want to start playing Splinterlands and don't have an account yet, don't hesitate to use my referral:
https://splinterlands.com?ref=anif1908
Credits:
The wonderful divider by kyo-gaming
Thumbnail created using canva
All images taken from Splinterlands website
