This weeks Battle Mage Challenge is about the Armored Up rule.
Splinterlands tells us the following about the Armored Up rule:
All units get a +2 armor buff at the beginning of the game.
Use Void Armor to ensure that magic attacks strike armor first.
Use Shatter or Piercing to destroy your opponent's armor more effectively.
Armored Up typically means a lot of magic damage becase magic passes straight through armor. This means that any measures we can take against magic damage is quite effective, and using magic as our attack type can also be a good idea. However, the mind game resulting from this setup can lead to some interesting results, and sometimes it can be better to try to counter the setups that are magic resistant instead.. Of course, one can imagine countering those setups again, and so on..
Some units are safe bets for this rule though. These include in particular these two:
If life is available, we can always count on the Pelacor Conjurer. For Wild and if Earth is there, we can similarly count on Failed Summoner. It is a good idea to play around these cards, for example with the aid of Oppress.
Incompatible Rules
Armored up is incompatible with Unprotected for obvious reasons.
Desirable Abilities
Void, Void Armor, Rust, Piercing, Shatter
For this rule, we expect a lot of magic damage, and therefore we want to reduce that. We can do it by including Void to directly lower the damage, Void Armor to make the magic hit the extra armor we gain in this rule, or punish the attackers with the aid of Magic Reflect. Offensively, we can include Rust to remove the bonus armor, Piercing to make sure our extra damage goes through the armor and onto the health pool, and Shatter to remove it. Shatter is particularly effective when used by a fast magic attacker, such as with Immortalis and Regal Peryton.
Advantaged Summoners
Three of the legendary Chaos Legion summoners stand out as the most attractive choices for this rule. Immortalis has great protection against magic damage, and ways to deal with armor since he gives Shatter to all his units. Grandmaster Rathe gives Void Armor to his units, and so can use the bonus armor to protect from all forms of damage. Finally, Conqueror Jacek has Piercing which allow him to still use heavy hitting units and take full advantage of their damage even if the targets have armor.
Disadvantaged Summoners
All summoners that rely mainly on ranged or melee damage without having Piercing are at a disadvantage for this rule. This includes for example Malric Inferno, Daria Dragonscale, Selenia Sky, etc..
Desirable Monsters
I find the units with Void, Magic Reflect and Piercing to be the most useful in the Armored Up rule. These are:
My Battle : Armored Up battle
My battle had the following configuration: Modern Diamond Tournament (Golath Zulmar Modern Diamond Beginner Training). 34 mana, rules: Lost Magic, Noxious Fumes, Armored Up. Splinters: Death, Earth.
My Lineup
I went for a gamble for this match. With no magic attackers, Astral Entity is a powerful summoner, and we can expect Sneak units to be in the match (see my own Silent Sha-vi and Uraeus). To counter that, I place an Ever-Hungry Skull in the backline position. It will be able to withstand the Sneak attacks, and will likely be the target of my Resurrect. Second last I placed a Cursed Windeku. Its job will be to survice, and potentially punish any durable Sneak attacker with its Thorns. As my tank I chose the Grimbardun Smith, because it has both Shield, Immunity and Repair, which are all great for this match.
Opponent's Lineup
My opponent went for something interesting. A beefy Ulundin Overseer in front, having Flank, and Mantaroth immediately behind it. Added onto that, he placed a Ravenhood Warden to further amp up the damage of Mantaroth, and finally the Venator Kinjo, which is just there to fill the mana and potentially outlive the rest due to his Immunity.
Battle progress and Result
This battle did not turn out anything like what I had expected. My setup gambled on meeting Sneak attackers, which is usually a pretty safe bet when there is no magic units. Instead, I face this frontline focused setup with Mantaroth. Lets see how it goes.
Obviously, I have the speed advantage here, and my Sneak quickly kill his Ravenhood Warden, which triggers the Resurrect from Astral Entity. Next, my backline units just sit there doing nothing, and eventually Mantaroth does his attacks on my Grimbardun Smith, with Blast doing some damage to my Silent Sha-vi which brings it down to exactly two health where Poison will finish it off in round two. Finally, my Grimbardun Smith restores some armor to itself with Repair.
As we knew would happen, my Silent Sha-Vi dies from Poison in the beginning of round two, and so does my Ever Hungry Skull, which was completely wasted in this match. Silent Sha-vi gets the Resurrect, but to my annoyance both it and my Uraeus miss their hits on the Ravenhood Warden due to Dodge. Mantaroth attacks again, and Blast destroys my Silent Sha-vi.
In round 3, Uraeus gives in to Poison, and at least I now have a Reflection Shield unit in my second position (Had I placed him there to begin with this match would have gone a lot smoother!). Now the game slows down, and both round 3 and 4 pass with Grimbardun Smith tanking the Mantaroth hits while Poison tears down the health on both the Ulundin Overseer and Mantaroth.
In round 5, Mantaroth and Ravenhood Warden bring down the Grimbardun Smith, but Mantaroth is beginning to feel the effect of Poison, having only 3 health left.
Round 6: They kill my Venator Kinjo, and Mantaroth's last hit brings Cursed Windeku down to 4 health.
Poison does two more damage, and Mantaroth and Ulundin Overseer die, and also damages my Windeku, but since it has the Speed advantage, it is able to Heal back up. Ravenhood Warden is now in the frontline position and is unable to attack. Windeku heals 3 health per round, and is able to recover from the Poison. When the enemy Venator Kinjo is finally in the front position, my Windeku has restored more than enough health to easily secure this match for me.
Alternative lineups
Fernheart
Thaddius Brood
I hope you found this post interesting. If you did, you might also enjoy my other content.
Battle mage challenges
Battle Mage Challenge: Aimless
Battle Mage Challenge: Aim True
Battle Mage Challenge: Rise of the Commons
Battle Mage Challenge: Weak Magic
Battle Mage Challenge: Up to Eleven
Battle Mage Challenge: Up Close & Personal
Battle Mage Challenge: Unprotected
Battle Mage Challenge: Target Practice
Battle Mage Challenge: Taking Sides
Battle Mage Challenge: Super Sneak
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Best of luck in Splinterlands!
Kalkulus