Wild-eyed and bushy-haired, he doesn’t look the type you’d want to be your press representative. But if you need a fast archer that fits on all your Splinterlands teams, he’s got the goods. He’s the Supply Runner.
This week’s “Share Your Battle” feature is the Supply Runner. The Supply Runner is a 6-mana-cost, neutral ranged-attacker. As a neutral monster, the Supply Runner can be used on any Splinterlands team regardless of the team’s summoner’s splinter. Its level-1 stats of 4-health, 3-speed and 2-attack power are all respectable, neither top nor bottom of the line in any single aspect. This makes the supply runner a well rounded archer that works well on any team that can afford its summoning cost.
Looking at the Supply Runner’s level-progression chart we find that its growth nicely fits its profession. At lower levels, it becomes faster and more robust. There is no doubt that speed and health can only help the red-headed archer ferry supplies in a midst of battle. At level five efficient supply lines pay dividends to the whole team when the Supply Runner gains the “swiftness ability,” which makes every member of its team faster. Finally, at level ten the Supply Runner is granted the “strength ability,” which adds health to all the team’s members. When the Supply Runner is keeping your team equipped, your whole team works that much better!
My opponent had used earth headed by Obsidian once, and headed by The Wizard of Eastwood once during their last five matches. Considering the rules, I felt confident that they would use earth again.
I decided to go with an anti-magic strategy. I would use the water splinter and their health-laden members to try to build a health wall thick enough that I could dispose of the enemy forces before they blasted their way through mine.
For my summoner, I chose Bortus with his -1 magic debuff. I rarely see Bortus played here in the bronze league, and that’s a big part of the reason I am playing anti-magic. With the death splinter disallowed, many players may think that magic has a free run. But Bortus paired with waves of water’s high-health members can wash away earth magic as well.
Second in line is the Angelic Mandarin. On my team this player has two things going for it. First is its excellent 5-health to 3-mana cost ratio. And secondly, its ability to attack when it becomes the tank under this matches rules.
In the penultimate slot is this week’s feature, the Supply Runner. In all honesty I am using the logistics master only because it fits the SYB challenge. Suspecting I am facing magic, I think the equally costly and also neutral Mantoid would be a better call for its snipe ability and extra health point. But I am hoping that what I might be losing in backfield attack ability will be offset by the fact that my archers can still attack from the front line.
The deepest member of my team is the Deeplurker. With an overwhelming 3-powered, opportunistic attack, I am relying upon my Deeplurker to clear my opponent’s backfield of magic attackers and healers.
Earth led by Obsidian. At least that much has gone as expected. So far so good.
Nothing unexpected. The summoners' effects cancel each other out, so what we see is what we get.
But as it stands, things don’t look bad. It’s going to take my foe two rounds to bury my Diemonshark. In that time, my Deeplurker will drag the two 2-health members of the earth team under. Further I should be able to chip a few points of health off of the Unicorn Mustang despite two rounds of healing.
After that, water drowns the pesky healer in round three, and the race is on. If my team can keep scoring hits on my opponent’s fast tank and wash it away before my Deeplurker is forced to surface, I stand an excellent shot of grounding the elusive Peryton needing to land at most two hits to its six. As is often the case the RNG is going to have a lot to say in this match, and it’s all going to boil down to if I can land hits on faster foes. But I am going to be greatly aided by the "close up" rule and won't lose ranged attacks until the archers fall.
How did it go? You can see for yourself here.
As easily predicted, my tank makes it to the end of round 2.
And the earth healer won't see round 4. Things are looking very good for me. I can take down the Unicorn in round 4 and then take me chances with the fancy flyer.
As round 5 starts, the Regal will blast away my Supply Runner and it's time for a speed vs. strength showdown.
Speed took round 5 as the Deeplurker missed. But strength gets its pound of flesh by pounding a 3-point hit in round six. Four more chances to score one more hit. Smooth sailing for the the water crew?
No way! The Deeplurker misses in rounds 7, 8 and 9, and I watch as my chances flow down the drain. After taking a point of damage to start round 10 I have just one shot left!
Wheew! A great match with a classic finish—win or lose!
Although I have stated that the Mantoid would have been a better choice than the Supply Runner, that does not mean the redhead was a poor choice. While my 2-speed Angelic Mandarin missed my opponent’s one-horned wonder twice, my Supply Runner never missed. In Splinterlands, speed matters.
The eight points of damage dealt to the earth tank by this week’s feature were critical to winning this match. Had my team fizzled out in the end, that would have been thanks to the slow speed of my Deeplurker, not the choice of using the Supply Runner.
The Supply Runner showed its mettle in this match and is a fine addition to any Splinterlands team.