Jared Scar blasts his way through a wild battle.
The feature for this week’s “Share Your Battle” is the Djinn Inferni. Well, I don’t have this particular fire-fighter in my deck, so I’ve decided to switch things up and feature one of the wildest matches I've ever had in Splinterlands instead.
If I had to choose a card that I would describe as “the feature” for my match, I would definitely have to go with the comeback kid, Jared Scar. This life-splinter, 7-mana cost, legendary reward card from the Chaos Legion set can be a one man demolition squad thanks to the bloodlust ability which makes him stronger and faster every time he scores a kill. The only catch is that he starts off a little light on the life points. So, you have to find a way to keep him from taking too much damage until he is able to start racking up kills.
At level one Jared Scar packs a powerful punch with five points of melee damage. Paired with two speed points and legendary status, Jared is a capable melee fighter getting to attempt his devastating attacks before nearly all 2-speed melee fighters. But on the flipside, Sir Scar starts his career with only four health points. This is supplemented by two armor points, but nonetheless just a few speedy attacks can end the day for Jared Scar before it even begins.
Looking at Jared Scar’s level-progression chart we find that he’s focused on one goal, becoming a fearsome killer. At level two, he gains the true strike ability which guarantees that all those big blows always find their mark. Additionally, level two also sees Jared picking up a needed health point to help him get to the killing before he gets himself killed. At level three the team-life behemoth adds another point of damage and the piercing ability which allows his blows to penetrate armor. At his max level of four, Jared Scar gains a massive seventh point of damage and a welcomed sixth point of health.
And never forget that the bloodlust ability comes standard with this model! So a maxed Jared scar starts with 7-damage, can’t-miss, armor-piercing blows and gains additional damage, health and speed every time he personally defeats an opponent. If that’s not a handful to deal with, I don’t know what is. Well... what if he had the blast ability as well?
Considering the rules of the match and the allowed splinters, I thought that the life splinter was the clear choice, and therefore I decided to field a life team and strongly suspected that I would be facing off against another one.
For my strategy, I decided to try to roll through the match with bloodlust. After all, the blast rules would give my bloodlust-fueled tank twice the opportunities to get kills. So, I knew I had to construct my team so that Jared Scar (said bloodlust-fueled tank) would have a chance to get a kill or two before he faced full on attacks himeself. Further, I realized that I would need to make allowances for the blast rule set, and thus protect vital team members from being blasted away.
For my summoner I chose the Grandmaster Rathe. This decision was all about countering the blast rule. The +1 void-armor granted by the grandmaster’s buff will allow all of my team members weather one blast attack, whether it be physical or magical, without being any worse for wear.
For my tank, I recruited the aforementioned Jared Scar. With the blast rule set, Jared has a chance to kill both his main target and his next-in-line opponent. Killing either will trigger his bloodlust ability, and killing both will send him into a veritable frenzy!
The second position is filled by the Djinn Renova. This chaos-legion reward card has high health points which will allow it to absorb a fair amount of blast damage before it falls. As a further benefit, the Djinn buffs my whole team with one additional point of health. Jared Scar should especially appreciate this.
Breaking from tradition and jumping to the end of the line, I anchored my team with the Shieldbearer. My aim is to use his taunt ability to forcibly draw fire away from my initially fragile tank. I positioned my taunt at the very back of my team to limit the spread of blast damage to only one direction.
Moving forward through my ranks, the second to last position on my team is filled by the Warrior of Peace. Boosted to ten health points after my Djinn’s buff, the attackless warrior serves one purpose only, blast guard. Still, his demoralize ability should help take a little pressure off Jared Scar by reducing the melee attack of any opponent that takes him on.
Finally, the center two slots on my team are filled by attackers. The Prismologist’s 3-point ranged attack will trigger a two point blast, while the Pelacor Arbalest’s double strike ability allows it to deliver four points of ranged damage and an additional two points on the blasts.
Indeed I am facing off against a life team summoned by General Sloan.
Here is the field with all the buffs and debuffs applied.
At first glance I am not discouraged. My opponent does not have enough firepower to take out my taunt or my blast buffer in the first round. Meanwhile, by landing four, 90-percent-chance-to-hit attacks I can eliminate his Shieldbearer and start the mighty Scar on a bloodlusty killing spree. That gives me a 2 in 3 shot of exiting the first round in excellent shape. (.9 X .9 X .9 X .9 = 0.6561)
Round two will then see the fall of my taunt, but my tank should survive, thanks in part to my opponent’s sniper! I am actually happy to see him attacking my backlines instead of my tank in this match. When my slowed team has it’s turn to counter attack that problem will be solved as the Time Mage should fall to blast damage. After that Jared should have the first attack in round three, followed immediately thereafter by my epic Prismologist. Combined they will have no problem laying waste to the rest of team Sloan.
The only wildcards are my opponent’s Time Mage and Portal Spinner. If my slowed team misses a few times or if the Portal Spinner concentrates his shots on my tank, my taunt or my Arbalest then I could be in for a world of hurt.
Spoiler alert: my Prismologist misses in round one turning this match into a wild one!
You can see how it played out for yourself here. And I strongly suggest you watch the match through at least once before reading the results.
Well, here is my Prismologist preparing her attack in round one and as has already been spoiled…
A miss!!
Well, that’s not great news, and at the time I actually played the match I was more than a little concerned. I hadn’t thought so far ahead as to know what to expect, but I knew for sure that my opponent’s tank would survive into round two facing a damaged Jared Scar who had not yet landed a kill.
After the end of round one, sure enough there stands the opposing Sheildbearer. Moving ahead, I’m actually still in pretty good shape, but the oncoming wave of attack is going to leave me devastated. Of particular concern is the enemy’s Portal Spinner. If he targets my Djinn I will have lost the Djinn and my Arbalist (to blast) after my opponent takes his snipe.
The Portal Spinner targeted my Sheildbearer, so before my counterattack to finish round two, the field stands as above. What’s really wild here is that at first glance it looks like I am finished. I am still facing a full lineup of foes with the blast ability. A single hit to either of my front two and my Prismologist stands alone unable to fire. Just looking, and not thinking, I’m sunk and that’s exactly how I felt watching the game play out in real time.
Imagine my surprise when I won!
But in fact, in this position, about to act, I am a 9 in 10 favorite to win! And more surprisingly, I should already have absorbed the last of my opponent's attacks!!
Let’s do the math… The key here is the opposing Time Mage. Should the time mage fall, and should Jarad Scar get a kill, my forces will go from acting last in the round to acting first with Jared at 3-speed (or possibly 4) and the Prismologist at 2-epic—both faster than anything remaining on the other side of the battlefield. So, I am actually all lined up to strike last in round two and then strike first in round 3!
Only two things need to happen. First, one of my archers must eliminate the remaining Shieldbearer. With three shots at 90% chance to hit each, my probability of failing to accomplish this is just .1 X .1 X .1 = 0.001 or 1 in 1000. Next, my tank must land his 90% shot against the Chaos Knight. Landing this blow will kill the Time Mage in the blast, and give my fighters a second bite at the attacking apple. Combined the probability of my success is 0.899, virtually 9 in 10.
It should be noted that even if my archers land three times, the Chaos Knight and the Time Mage will still both be standing, so Jarad has no chance of either facing off against the faster Time Mage or being fast enough to score a sure hit against the Knight. Further, even in the worst case where only my Arbalist lands one blow leaving the Chaos Knight with armor, my opponent will still not attack again. In round three Scar’s kill shot against the Knight will strip the armor off of the Portal Spinner and the Prismologist’s shot will take out both the Portal Spinner and the opposing Arbalist leaving the sniper unable to fire in first position.
If my tank attacks and hits the Chaos Knight, I win. Otherwise, I lose. But the odds are overwhelmingly with me despite how bad it looks on the surface.
After all three archers' attacks hit, so does Jared Scar's.
And my Pelacor Arbalest lands the final blow.
The combination for bloodlust and blast made for a wild match with one of the most amazing looking comebacks imaginable. I’m glad to have come out on top.
As a concluding remark it can really never be overstated, in Splinterlands speed wins. As such, when I am playing with the Time Mage one of my main focuses is usually to protect it at all costs. Having the speed advantage and being able to dispatch an opponent before they have a chance to strike at all, is often the key to victory. In this match, had my opponent placed this key player further back in their lineup, they would have surely won the match.