Splinterlands is an exciting blockchain based trading card game that requires exceptional strategy, planning, and a little bit of luck to succeed. Having the right cards is important, but how you play them matters just as much. In today's post, I want to share some of the tactics that my team used to to overcome a much more powerful opponent.
Setting the Stage
The key to understanding Splinterlands's strategy is realizing that success or failure on the battlefield often begins before the match even starts. As you can see from this screenshot, I played a 32 mana match where the Water, Death, and Life Splinters were available. The first ingredient in my success for this match was picking the right Splinter. I knew that my Water deck was the strongest, that my Earth deck was somewhere in the middle, and that my Death deck was the weakest. So, I decided to go with the Water Splinter.
Another part of succeeding in this battle was determining what cards to play. As you can see, I decided to place Shock Trooper in the first position. This is an incredibly powerful magic card, and when it is paired with the Water Archon, it can pump out 5 magic damage, which is pretty significant, especially for the Bronze League. However, there is a massive drawback. If Shock Trooper makes it to the second round, he starts dealing 1 damage every single turn to all friendly monsters.
My plan was to put Shock Trooper in the first position and let it deal a massive amount of damage on the first round, with the hope that the opponent would knock it out of the fight before the second round triggered its debilitation that deals one damage to all friendly units.
The Battle Begins
However, things didn't exactly go as planned, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I played a team that focused on dealing a lot of magic damage, and I also included Mystic Scaleweaver to slow my opponent's team. On one hand, this was a great decision because it allowed my team to get in the first round attack and eliminate two of my opponents units by the end of the first round.
The good thing about eliminating two of my opponent's units was that, well, I eliminated two of my opponent's units. However, the bad thing is that Shock Trooper didn't get taken out of the fight and I lost two of my own units from friendly fire.
Friendly Fire 😢
At the start of the second round, I was completely outnumbered. My opponent had three units and I only had two units. This was a major setback, but the battle wasn't over.
The Battle Wasn't Over Yet
At the start of the first round, Mystic Scaleweaver launched a powerful attack that immediately knocked Halaran Huntress out of the fight.
After that, the opponent's Buttercup Mauler moved into the first position. It had a very powerful Melee attack, but the good thing is that my Chaos Rear Guard had the shield ability which absorbed that attack and kept it in the fight. At the start of round three, Mystic Scale weaver knocked the opponent's Buttercup Mauler out of the battle.
This match definitely came down to the wire. By the end of the fourth round, there were just two units left. I had Mystic Scaleweaver, and my opponent had Blackmoor Wild Elf. Thankfully, my unit was able to strike first, and we secured the victory.
Tactics Analysis
At first glance, it might seem like this isn't a great battle to discuss tactics. It might seem like I just got lucky and barely scraped by to secure the victory. But that misses the point. My opponent was actually significantly more powerful than I was heading into the battle. They played with a level 4 Archon while I was only using a level 2 Archon from Foundations. In addition, they played two different level 3 units, whereas all of my units were level 1.
Keys to Success
When I think back on the match, I realized there were a couple things that helped me secure the victory.
Creating an impressive synergy with my team. My Archon gave a magic buff, so I used to a lot of magic monsters.
Playing good defense. Although my primary strategy was to deal a lot of magic damage, I also wanted to be prepared in case my opponent played a lot of melee monsters. That's where Chaos Rear Guard came into play. For only 4 mana, I got a unit with the shield ability, which I knew would significantly reduce damage from melee attacks.
Opponent's Mistake. I have to admit that part of my success was attributed to a decision that my opponent made before the match even started. At the start of the match, my opponent gave a plus 2 melee attack to their first position tank. In a normal match, this might have been a good strategy. However, they underestimated how quickly my team would delete their first position unit. My magic team eliminated my opponent's tank before it even got to launch it s attack. Essentially, my opponent completely wasted the plus 2 magic buff on a unit that didn't even get to participate in the battle. If my opponent would have used the poison ability on Mystic Scaleweaver instead, the match likely would have gone in a very different direction.
Join Me In Splinterlands
Whether it was due to my own strategy or my opponent's miscalculations, the simple fact is that my team was able to win the victory and secure some Glint as well as SPS.As much as I enjoy winning matches, moving up the ranks, and earning bragging rights, I've got to be honest: earning Glint and SPS to level up my deck is pretty awesome as well. If you enjoy collectible trading card games that require strategy and you're interested by the possibility of earning cryptocurrency as well as tradable NFT cards for winning matches, then I would like to invite you to join me in Splinterlands using my referral link.
Disclaimer
As a US resident, I am required to disclose that I might receive a benefit, such as reward or incentive, if you join using my affiliate link. All image credits belong to Splinterlands. Nothing is financial advice.
Thanks for sharing! - @clove71
