This weeks Battle Mage Challenge is about the Equalizer rule.
Splinterlands tells us the following about the Equalizer rule:
All unit start with the same health, based on the highest health on either team.
Buffs and debuffs are done afterward - this impacts base health.
Equalizer sets every monster's health to be the same, as the highest health unit on either team. This means that we can, and should, play the "glass cannon" monsters, or those that have 1 health and a bunch of armor. This rule drastically changes up the strategies we can play, and is one of the more intersting rules in my opinion.
In addition, healing abilities are very powerful (Heal, Tank Heal, Triage), while abilities such as Poison and the return damage abilities (Thorns, Return Fire, Magic Reflect) are less effective since every monster has a high health pool to absorb it.
Desirable Abilities
(Heal, Tank Heal, Triage)
Advantaged Summoners
I'm putting up Gransmaster Rathe as the only summoner with a clear advantage in this rule. The reason for that is that he can use the 1-health massive armor units to its maximal efficiency in this rule. Since he gives Void Armor, all damage types with first hit the huge chunk of armor, and then afterwards the big health pool the monsters have gained due to Equalizer.
Desirable Monsters
1-health armor units:
Healers:
Disadvantaged Monsters
To some extend high health monsters are disadvantaged here, but we can also use them to set the health of our other units, so I wont list any monster specifically.
My Battle : Equalizer battle
| Battle configuration | |
|---|---|
| League | Wild Gold League Brawl. |
| Mana | 24 |
| Rules | Aim True, Equalizer |
| Splinters | Death, Water, Dragon, Earth, Fire |
My Lineup
I went for a classic Possibilus setup with a cheap tank frontline, and Isgald and Deeplurker for damage. I included Musa Saline with the aim of using her Shatter to clear the way for Isgald and Deeplurker to deal damage directly to the health pools. Finally, I put Igor in the back because I had two mana left and he is just the best unit available for that cost in my deck. The Stun he has can also come in handy.
Opponent's Lineup
My opponent went for a Weapons Trainig setup, with Cube and Puffer and the units to train with Moxian Rebel. They also added Katrelba, who is normally quite dangerous, but it doesn't fit well with the cube they have placed in front (since this is an Equalizer match, my backline unit will have the same health as that cube). Finally, they added a fiend and Doctor Blight.
Battle progress and Result
I have a clear speed advantage, and my units go to work on the Gelatinous Cube. My opponent only gets in one attack before I have killed it. Afterwards, my opponent begins attacking my units. The magic damage go onto the Cruel Sethropod, while Katrelba solely attack my backline unit. After all attacks, my Sethropod had 5 health and is poisoned, while Igor has 8 health.
My attacks take the same order every time since I have no reflect or Sneak that could make my Opportunity attackers target something else than the frontline. This time, the Moxian Rebel goes down before it can attack, and Isgald gains a Bloodlust stack, and triggers Trample and attacks the puffer too. At the end of the round, my Sethropod dies to Doctor Blight's attack, while Igor still has two health left.
Now my Isgald has gained more speed and is first in line to attack. He kills the puffer, damages Katrelba and stacks up another Bloodlust. My remaining units all damage Katerelba, and the last hit in my round by Igor finished her.
Now there is no doubt what the outcome is going to be. I have massive damage on the board, while my opponent just has their 3 damage Doctor Blight.
Here I took advantage of the Equalizer rule and put two cheap units up front that worked very well as tanks, while I could include high damage units further back, and those were quickly able to deal with my opponent's units.
Alternative lineups
Owster Rotwell
Obsidian
Plado Emberstorm
I hope you found this post interesting. If you did, you might also enjoy my other content.
Battle mage challenges
Battle Mage Challenge: Counterspell
Battle Mage Challenge: Close Range
Battle Mage Challenge: Broken Arrows
Battle Mage Challenge: Broken Arrows
Battle Mage Challenge: Briar Patch
Battle Mage Challenge: Born Again
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Best of luck in Splinterlands!
Kalkulus