This weeks Battle Mage Challenge is about the Lost Magic rule.
Splinterlands tells us the following about this rule:
Magic units may not be used in battle.
Use Thorns and Demoralize to counter melee attacks.
Use Headwinds and Return Fire to counter ranged attacks.
Units with 2 types of attack (which include magic) cannot be used.
The rule is simple: You can't use any unit with magic attacks. Rightfully, Splinterlands advices us to use the debuffs and return damage types that affect melee and ranged damage. I'd argue it it is even more important to include units with armor and Shield. Shield is incredibly powerful when there is no magic damage allowed. Shield tanks become twice as effective as usual (or more, since 1 damage attacks do 0).
The rule also encourages Sneak setups. This is something to consider both for your offensive and defensive strategy. Sneak is to be expected, because we dont want to include too many ranged units at once, and still would like all our units to be able to attack from round 1. Opportunity melee monsters are also an option, but they are rarer, and can only really form a complete strategy with the Water and Dragon splinters.
Incompatible Rules
Lost magic is incompatible with Counterspell and Lost Magic. Both these rules only affect magic attackers, and would not do anything in combination with Lost Magic.
Desirable Abilities
(Demoralize, Headwinds, Inspire, Return Fire, Thorns, Retaliate, Repair)
These are the abilities that have the largest impacts in the Lost Magic rule. As discussed above, Shield. Shield reduces all incoming damage and is incredibly valuable in this rule. Demoralize, Headwinds, and Inspire increase or decrease the attack values. Since magic damage cant be used, Return Fire, Thorns, and Retaliate have increased chances of being effective. Finally, since armor will block both melee and ranged attacks, Repair can make a huge difference.
Advantaged Summoners
A good bunch of strong summoners here. Fire, Life and Dragon clearly have the largest selections. This makes sense, since they seem to have thematic niches in melee damage (fire) and armor (life). Dragon has a little bit of everything.
Disadvantaged Summoners
Water and Death are a little more negatively affected than the other splinters in terms of summoner choise. Fire has none that are disadvantaged.
Desirable Monsters
Based on which abilities we find extra desirable in the Lost Magic rule, below are all the available monsters which are higher value than usual. The following table summarizes the number of cards for each splinter:
| Fire | Water | Earth | Life | Death | Dragon | Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 22 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 11 | 18 |
My Battle : Lost Magic Battle
Disclaimer: This isnt actually my own battle, but my guildmate Mammuter's battle. I did not encounter any Lost Magic match with my own account.
The battle has the following configuration: Modern Diamond league, 36 mana. Ruleset: Fog of War, Lost Magic, Briar Patch. All Splinters except Life available.
This match has a configuration that clearly favors ranged attacks. With Fog of War, we cant use the Sneak or Opportunity abilities, and even if we could, the Briar Patch rule would punish us for it. With Fog of War, all incoming attacks will hit the frontline unit, unless we use Scattershot. So basically, we expect to meet a lineup here that consists of a Shield tank, maybe a backup tank, and at least 4 ranged units. We should prioritize either ranged damage debuffs with Headwinds, or frontline sustain with Tank Heal, Repair and Protect. Offensively, we can try to include Shatter, Rust and Affliction, or we can go for Scattershot in order to target other units than the expected very tough frontline.
Mammuter's lineup:
Mammuter chose the latter strategy with Conqueror Jacek as his summoner. I would often go for the same strategy. The Antoid Platoon has Shield, and will gain health over the course of the battle unless it is taken down first. The Scavo Chemist provides a ranged damage debuff, and Slow to amplify the speed advantage we already have when chosing Jacek. The final units are Supply Runner and Countess Sinash, who both provide Swiftness, and are very common units to use with Jacek.
Opponent's lineup:
The opponent went for Yodin Zaku as their summoner. Yodin is obviously a very strong choice for this match since it favors ranged units quite dramatically. They went for Almo Cambio as their frontline unit. Its a strong choice with its Return Fire ability, and good speed. However it is a unit that is a little stronger against magic attackers than ranged, as the latter tends to have higher speed and will be able to hit it. The second unit, Battering Ram, is wasted since it cant attack from that position. It would have been much more effective to put something like a Venator Kinjo there to guard against Blast and add a Slow and Amplify. Ant Miners in the third position is a good choice of backup tank. The lineup is completed with three ranged units that Yodin will use to Blast and add a Slow away with.
Battle progress and Result
The battle starts off with Mammuter's units' attacks, since he has a massive speed advantage. Two of them end up hitting and killing the Supply Runner already at the third attack of the match, further exaggerating the speed difference, leaving the game in this state:
Next, the Battering Ram goes down, and the Ant Miners take a punch at Almo, before its Yodin's turn to hit back. The Blood Maker misses his strike, while the Flamesmith does a litte damage to the Antoid Platoon and Molten Ash Golem. Round 2 starts off in the following state:
Countess Sinash immediately finished off the Blood Maker, and the Flamesmith falls from the Scavo Firebolt's attack. Now Yodin has no units that can attack until the Almo dies, and the Return Fire is not going to be sufficient to take down the units in Mammuter's team, so the match is already decided. Round 3 starts like this:
And the game ends after a few more hits on the two last units. A rapid battle, and a satisfying victory for Mammuter.
Alternative lineups
Quix the Devious (Death)
Quix the Devious (Water)
Kelya Frendul
Chanseus the Great
Yodin Zaku
Byzantine Kitty
I hope you found this post interesting. If you did, you might also enjoy my other content.
Battle mage challenges
Battle Mage Challenge: Lost Legendaries
Battle Mage Challenge: Little League
Battle Mage Challenge: Keep Your Distance
Battle Mage Challenge: Holy Protection
Battle Mage Challenge: Healed Out
Battle Mage Challenge: Going the Distance
Battle Mage Challenge: Ferocity
Battle Mage Challenge: Fog of War
Battle Mage Challenge: Fire & Regret
Battle Mage Challenge: Explosive weaponry
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Best of luck in Splinterlands!
Kalkulus