This week's Battle Mage Secrets challenge features Close Range! Close Range is an interesting ruleset as it breaks one of the basic rules of the game - normally, ranged attackers can't use their attacks in the first position, but under this ruleset they can. One of the most infuriating scenarios in Splinterlands battles is to lose a battle when you have a strong ranged attacker as your last monster standing - only, it can't attack since it is stuck in the first slot. In Close Range battles, not a problem!
The obvious winners in the Close Range ruleset are the ranged monsters. Ranged attackers can be a little bit of a liability because they might get stuck at the front, and under this ruleset this downside risk is eliminated. With ranged becoming a stronger strategy, anti-ranged monsters also become quite a bit better since they have a greater chance of countering your opponent's strategy. Headwinds, Return Fire, or extra armor? All very nice to have in this case!
If you wanted to jump right to the action, the Battle Link is right here. Want to hear some more about the lineup? Read on further!
First up: the ruleset. As expected, we have Close Range, which will allow any ranged monsters to attack from the first position. We also have What Doesn't Kill You, which gives every monster Enrage, and Even Stevens, which means that only even mana costed monsters are eligible in this battle. There is a bit of an interesting dynamic here - a low mana cap often encourages the use of cheaper monsters, but What Doesn't Kill You makes slightly more expensive monsters more useful, since they can survive a hit and take advantage of Enrage.
While there were several good summoner options for this ruleset, I decided to go with Kelya Frendul. Kelya is a great all-around summoner, and one of the first ones in my deck that I levelled up to the Silver league cap. Her buffs to armor and speed are relevant in nearly every battle and certainly apply for this fight, where I expect to see at least a little bit of physical attacks on the opposing team.
I started my team with some monsters that you don't normally see at the front of a lineup. Torrent Fiend and Igor Darkspear are not generally used near the front of your lineup, but they make sense given the low mana cap and Close Range ruleset. Both of these guys are very mana efficient, giving my team a buffer at the front for a relatively small amount of mana. Igor in particular is great for this situation - 3 speed and 5 health is a bargain for just 2 mana, and thanks to Close Range he will even be able to attack from the first position.
Continuing on with the theme of mana efficiency, my next selection was Ice Pixie. Like Igor, Ice Pixie similarly comes in at the low, low price of just 2 mana. Getting a Flyer that does some magic damage for that price is great, and something that I am happy to be able to fit onto my team for this fight.
I finished off my team by splurging on a relatively expensive monster. Deeplurker is not what I would generally consider "expensive", but 6 mana is quite a lot when you only have 14 to work with in the first place. Deeplurker won its spot in the lineup thanks to its high 4 attack and Opportunity ability. My plan for this battle was for my monsters at the front to buy some time and maybe even do a bit of damage, while Deeplurker picks off the weaker enemy monsters and hopefully leads my team to victory.
With the lineup set, it's off into battle! When I see the selected teams I am hopeful - my opponent actually choose a lineup which was somewhat similar to mine, with Deeplurker anchoring their lineup. There are a few differences though - my team has a slightly higher damage output thanks to my magic and ranged attacks, as well as an extra level on my Deeplurker. On the other hand, the enemy team has some additional bulk due to Xenith Monk and its Heal ability. Which strategy will prevail? We'll have to find out!
In the first round of battle there isn't a whole lot that happens. My Torrent Fiend goes down, but for the most part attacks just knock off some armor, or are negated by Heal. I do notice that the battle seems to be lining up okay for my team though - once the enemy Torrent Fiend is gone, my Deeplurker will be able to join forces with Igor and my Ice Pixie to take down that pesky Xenith Monk.
The battle takes a while to get going, but by the start of Round 4 the field has cleared considerably. My Deeplurker has teamed up with my front line monsters to knock most of the enemy monsters out of the fight, and all that remains on the other side of the field is the opposing Deeplurker. And with a 1 level advantage plus an extra Ice Pixie on my side, I like my chances!
It took another two rounds, but by the start of round 6 the outcome was clear. It came down to a Deeplurker duel, and mine was on full health and armor, against my opponent's heavily damaged one. A quick attack later and the victory was sealed. And again, if you wanted to see the whole battle for yourself, you can see it right here.
My strategy worked out perfectly for this battle. The Close Ranged ruleset allowed me to select some very cost effective "tanks" and dedicate the majority of my resources to additional damage, which was able to win the day. While Deeplurker did the bulk of the damage Igor Darkspear was the real MVP here, as he was the defining difference between my lineup and the opposing team - Igor is already a good card in normal battles, but in Close Range fights he becomes amazing. Being able to recognize which cards suit the ruleset can easily make the difference between victory and defeat!
Thank you so much for reading all the way to the end. Interested in seeing some more of my writing in the future? Be sure to give me a follow! In the meantime, if you'd like to see some of my recent posts:
Hand to Hand - Battling with Up Close and Personal! - A Splinterlands battle analysis, featuring Up Close and Personal!
Splinterlands Economics: Causation - A look at causation, and how we can apply it to Splinterlands!
Splinterlands Economics: Ceteris Paribus - An introduction to the concept of Ceteris Paribus, and how we can apply it to Splinterlands!
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All images used in this article are open source and obtained from Pixabay or Unsplash. Thumbnails borrowed with permission from the Splinterlands team or made in Canva.