Hello, Splinterlands Friends and Family! 👋✨

This week's Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge asks us to share one of our favorite gameplay strategies for securing a win in Splinterlands. 🏆🎮

For this post, I’ve chosen a mix of old and new reward cards to highlight a well-loved combo for the Life Splinter: the Iziar + Olivia synergy. 💡✨

🌟 Introduction

Since Iziar was introduced into the game, it has become a powerhouse and a must-have asset in every deck. 💪✨ Iziar serves as a formidable tank with Taunt, providing tanky abilities like Void. Its versatility allows it to pair effectively with a wide range of units, making the possible combinations nearly endless! ♾️

On the other hand, Olivia brings the unique Mimic ability, which can be game-changing in prolonged battles. 🌀 Iziar compensates for Olivia’s lack of survivability, and this balance is precisely what makes the combo so powerful. Together, they create a synergy that’s hard to beat! 🌟⚔️

First, let's take a quick look at both units.
It's important to note that I frequently use this strategy in ranked Diamond/Champion-level matches, but this combo also works well in Gold level since the units remain quite similar.

Iziar

Iziar is an exceptional tank. For 11 mana, you get a unit equipped with three abilities: Taunt, Void, and Martyr.

Taunt: All enemy Monsters target this Monster (if able).
Void: Reduces damage from Magic attacks.
Martyr: When this Monster dies, adjacent Monsters get +1 to all stats.

In addition to its abilities, Iziar provides 3 Magic damage, 3 Speed, and 14 Life. Notably, the 14 Life is substantial, even for an 11-mana card, making it an excellent tank.

Strengths and Strategy

While Iziar is expensive, its value justifies the cost. It excels in matches where its Taunt ability redirects all enemy attacks, protecting your other units. Positioned in the middle of the backline, it can reliably buff two adjacent units with Martyr when it dies.

Even on its own, Iziar’s ability to buff just one adjacent unit can create game-changing combos. The flexibility it offers makes it a staple in many strategies.

Synergy with Resurrect

When using Iziar, pairing it with a Resurrect unit is key. The best options for this are Adelade Brightwing and Oshuur Constantia, as they are outstanding units themselves. However, any unit with Resurrect can do the job.

The goal is to maximize Martyr by repeatedly resurrecting Iziar. By stacking Resurrects, you can build powerful teams that buff a single unit four or five times through Iziar’s ability, creating unstoppable synergies. 💪✨

Olivia of The Brook 🌊✨

Olivia of The Brook is arguably the best card in the Rebellion Reward set, and for good reason. At just 6 mana, Olivia brings three key abilities to the table:

Reflection Shield 🛡️: Widely regarded as one of the best abilities in the game.
Opportunity 🎯: Extremely useful and easy to synergize with.
Mimic 🌀: A game-changing ability that deserves its own spotlight.

Mimic: A Closer Look

Mimic is unique and often unpredictable, but it frequently secures victory if Olivia survives long enough. Here's how it works:

Round-Based Ability Gain: Starting from round 2, Olivia gains a random ability from the enemy team at the start of each round.
Attack-Based Mimic Chance: Olivia has a 25% chance to mimic a random ability from an attacker when hit.
Dispel Interaction: Dispel removes mimicked abilities one at a time, in the order they were gained, but does not remove them all at once.
Restrictions: Some abilities, such as Debilitate, Targeting, Ambush, Weapons Training, Flank, Reach, Charge, and Taunt, cannot be mimicked.

This ability alone makes Olivia a terrifying avalanche—slowly building power until she becomes an unstoppable force.

At level 6, Olivia gains Reflection Shield, making her indispensable in melee-only matches. A level 6 Olivia is significantly stronger than a level 5. For instance, Tofu's Thorns can quickly destroy a level 5 Olivia, while a level 6 Olivia not only survives but thrives, gaining ability after ability and becoming unkillable.

Combining Olivia and Iziar: The Strategy

When using Olivia, the strategy revolves around protecting her at all costs, giving her time to build up and steal enemy abilities. This makes Olivia and Iziar a perfect match:

Iziar’s Role: Iziar serves as a defensive shield with Taunt, keeping damage away from Olivia while buffing her with Martyr.
Buff Synergy: Even Olivia’s modest attacks (1 Magic and 2 Melee) can become deadly with just one or two Martyr buffs, increasing to 3 Magic and 5 Melee damage.

The result? A powerful, buffed Olivia that has stolen numerous enemy abilities through Mimic. By this point, Olivia is nearly unkillable, delivering devastating attacks while leveraging her stolen abilities.

Versatility of the Combo

This combo is versatile, effective in both high-mana and low-mana battles. To illustrate this, I'll showcase two fascinating fights featuring this combo: one in a high-mana battle and another in a low-mana match. These examples demonstrate how adaptable and effective the Olivia + Iziar combo can be.

I. First Match:

Battle Link

Match Overview:

This was a 58 mana match with the single ruleset: Target Practice (all Ranged and Magic units gain the Snipe ability). Although the ruleset wasn’t particularly relevant, it did slightly influence the strategy. The enemy opted for a Water Splinter team with Oshanus anchoring their defense against my Magic and Ranged attacks.

Early Game:

By Turn 2, the match remained evenly matched. Both tanks absorbed significant damage but stayed alive. Neither team had lost a unit yet, though consistent damage was starting to build up for both sides.

Mid Game:

Around mid-game, my Iziar fell for the first time, triggering its Martyr ability and buffing both Djinn Renova and Olivia. At this stage, Olivia had already mimicked Protect and Poison, two very impactful abilities. Meanwhile, my damage started to break through their backline, defeating Oshanus and severely injuring Runemancer Kye.

Late Game:

With Iziar completely taken out, the buffs to Olivia and Renova turned the tide. Their enhanced damage output proved overwhelming for the enemy backline, which struggled to keep up.

Closing Turns:

By Turn 5, the battle was effectively decided. The enemy backline couldn’t match the raw damage of my buffed units. While Djinn Renova provided critical Triage support for Iziar, Olivia’s stolen abilities and boosted stats became unstoppable.

Key Takeaways:

Iziar’s Martyr: It was essential in buffing both Olivia and Renova, allowing them to dominate in the later stages.
Djinn Renova’s Utility: Renova’s Triage helped prolong Iziar’s survivability, making it a strong second-unit choice.
Olivia’s Mimic Synergy: Stealing Protect and Poison further amplified the strategic value of Olivia in this match.

This match showcased the raw power of the Olivia + Iziar combo, even in a high-mana, competitive setting.