Today I'm going to talk about a card that I consider to be essential in the life deck in Splinterlands, and the best thing is that it only has 4 mana cost so you'll be able to use it in practically all your battles. Her name is Time Mage and she is a rare card from the chaos legion edition and came to save you in your battles.
But you may wonder if it is really useful and can be the salvation for your battles and that's what this post is for because I will show its usefulness in theory and also in practice on the battlefield so I hope you can help me follow until the end.
The first thing I'm going to talk about is your skills and status.
As you can see and as I mentioned before, Time Mage is a rare card from the life deck and has a magic type attack, but despite its attack not being that high, its usefulness in battle makes up for it.
But first I have to consider that it is not one of the best choices at level 1 and 2 that would be the levels allowed in the bronze league, so if you intend to use it at these levels I don't advise you to expect much, but above level 2 it already has 2 magic attack and starts to get more interesting as it will have a reasonable attack and a low mana cost.
But that's not her main use, but her skills, as you can see she has the Slow skill at all levels and this skill makes her slow down all enemy cards by 1, so if the enemy card has 3 speed she will have 2 and I think I can understand how it works. This is her first skill and I already consider it to be of great help since decreasing the speed of enemy cards increases the chances of your cards attacking first and thus being able to defeat enemy cards before she makes her attack, and you can believe that 1 attack on less on the enemy team can make all the difference in a battle.
I consider her good already at level 3 because she has 2 attack and the Slow skill but for me her greatest utility starts to be at level 5 because she gains the Rust skill and she makes all enemy cards get 2 shield and as I usually play my battles in the gold league so I can use it at this level (but I usually use it at level 6 to maximize its stats), so just think about it this way. Time Mage has a low mana cost and a reasonable attack so it's already 2 positive points, but in addition it reduces enemy speed giving your cards an advantage and even takes the shield off enemies making them vulnerable and all this spending only 4 of mana, do you still have any questions about how useful this card is?
With that I conclude the theory of how it is useful but it shouldn't be enough to convince you that it's essential for your battles so how about I show it in practice in a battle?
But first I want to show you my composition of cards for battles with a low mana cost which makes them useful in most battles.
I usually use the life deck a lot and sometimes I change summoner because I believe that each battle has a summoner that is more useful than another, but in this battle I used Tyrus Paladium because the battle had the Weak Magic rule that makes it magic attacks first pass through the shield to hit health then the shield that Tyrus Paladium will be very useful even if you have magic cards on the enemy team.
In the first position I chose a card that I think is ideal to defend this position in low mana cost battles and this card is Pelacor Conjure, I think you all should know him and how to use the skills are useful, first he has high speed and Fly skill so it will dodge many melee and ranged attacks, it also has the Magic Reflect skill which will be extremely important in this battle as it is an skill that deals damage back to magic cards that attack it and also the Divine Shield skill which causes the first enemy attack to be nullified so they are very good skills and with only 2 mana cost which is amazing.
In the second position I put Celestial Harpy and it is not the best position for her as she has little health but as I consider the following cards to be more useful so I put her in this position and in addition she has the Fly skill so even with low life she will not be defeated so easily.
In third position I put Stitch Leech and I consider it more valuable than Celestial Harpy because of its attack which is bigger and its Sneak skill would be almost as useful as Celestial Harpy's Opportunity skill, but Life Leech that makes it he increases his health based on the damage done to the enemy is what makes him better for this position since if it comes his turn to occupy the first position and defend he will have more health and be more useful for that.
In fourth position we have the Time Mage and as I said before its greatest use will be its abilities which are Slow and Rust so the enemy defense and the chance to attack first will decrease a lot and give a great advantage to your team.
In fifth position we have Defender of Truth which is another very useful card in the life deck as it has a low mana cost like Time Mage and also has the Protect ability that grants +2 shield to all allied cards and their team having a shield is something very important in battles because it makes your cards last longer in battle and thus increases their chances of winning, but in this particular battle it will be of greater importance as even magic attacks will have to go through shield before dealing damage to life.
And finally we have the Peacebringer card that doesn't even have an ability but has a very high offensive power and a low mana cost so it's perfect for your team not to have little damage and even if it's not the most important thing it's what makes you win the battles.
Now that you know which cards I used in the battle then I will show them to you.
But before commenting on it, I'll just warn you that the battle lasted only 1 round and that's not a bad thing as it shows the efficiency of these cards on the battlefield.
As you can see in the image above and also in the battle link, my opponent has most of the magic type cards which makes him with a lot of offensive power since he is using Summoner Alric Stormbringer to increase the attack of these cards, but as it exists the Weak Magic rule so magic cards won't be a problem, but there is also the Explosive Weaponry rule that makes all cards have the Blast ability and it's in these rules that the Time Mage card will show its full potential.
Each Time Mage skill will present an important point for each rule on the field, the first is the Explosive Weaponry rule that grants the Blast skill to all cards so her Slow skill will be of great importance as it will make the enemy lose speed and end up attacking later so they will take a lot of damage before and even be defeated before they can attack.
The second rule that would be the Weak Magic that makes magic attacks attack the shields would be for the Rust ability of the Time mage, as you can see my opponent has the Venari Wavesmith card and she has the Protect ability that makes his cards gain 2 shield but as the Time Mage has the ability Rust then this ability will be nullified and the enemy team will be very vulnerable to my attacks, and don't forget that both my summoner and the Defender of Truth card grant shield so my team will have a lot of defense and a good attack.
And at the end of the first round the battle was already decided with the victory being mine and thanks to my combination of cards and main Time Mage it was possible to do this and without losing any of my cards, so Time Mage is an incredible card that can be used in practically all battles, I would say that you could only use it in battles that don't allow magic cards because its cost is very low so it won't be a big problem to put it on your team.
And that was the battle I wanted to show you so you can understand how the Time Mage is incredibly useful and deserves more space in battles in Splinterlands.
LORE
Time Mages are members of the Order of the Silver Shield and close associates of the Wizards' Council. They are trusted to peer through the fabric of time and reality to foretell the future or manipulate the present by slowing the flow of time. They can also speed up the aging process of armor, causing it to rust prematurely.
However, with such power also comes great risk. The future is ever-changing, and the ripples of time can affect everyone. Time Mages must undergo strict training to ensure they don't abuse their power and use it only for the most dire of circumstances.
“It’s your kids, Marten! something’s gotta be done about your kids!”
--Time Mage to Marten Paragon, Father of Dax Paragon, 25 years prior to the Chaos Legion invasion