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In this post I will guide you through some solid strategies to come out ahead in those those low mana fights. As usual, I do recommend beginners to focus on 2 splinters and I will do the same today.
The main idea
In low mana fights the main idea is to use your most mana efficient monsters. Usually this means using 1 tank and lots of small damage dealers behind the tank. To make those weaker monsters stronger we are looking at summoners that can provide a buff and make our smaller monster surprisingly strong. 2 summoners come to mind: Alric Stormbringer and Malric Inferno. However, sometimes Pyre is actually better than Malric, because attack speed is also very important in low mana fights, but more on that later.
The furious chicken and creeping ooze are 2 very nice cards to have to help you with low mana fights. Especially the chicken since thta's a 0 mana card. However, this card has become pretty expensive so I do understand that lots of you will not be able to use him.
Things to take into account
Except for the main idea, you should always think about a couple of other factors like focus fire, positioning and what battle conditions are active.
For example, selecting a lot of low health monsters is usually a good idea in these type of games. However, if the battle condition is Noxious fumes (poison) or earthquake, this becomes a terrible idea. You will have to figure out what works best by trial and error, don't be afraid to try out new things!
Strategies
As I already mentioned, I would recommend to stick with 2 splinters if you are just starting out. Water and fire seems the strongest when looking at the free2play available cards. Usually I would go with Alric for water and Malric for fire.
PS: you can click on an image of a battle to see the replay.
Water
explain most classic example
Lineup 1
I took a look at some of my latest low mana battles and found this one. It's not the most classic example, but it does explain the main idea. Creating a barrier of 3 small mana creatures (chicken, ooze & albatros) can be a good alternative to using a small mana tank. Especially when the enemy uses 1 high mana monster, it's a free win.
The idea is that while the enemy is getting rid of these small monster, you will deal enough damage so that you are pretty much victorious once the enemy is ready to attack your damage dealers.
To be even safer, I put a fairly large health magic monster in front of my very squishy monsters. The biggest risk in this lineup would be to face an enemy that focuses on sneak attacks.
Btw. if you like to use magic lineups, buying captain's ghost is a good idea.
Lineup 2
The next linup I will discuss is more of a classic example. However, I would normally put the ooze behind the albatros in this case, I think that was a missclick.
Once again, the same strategy applies, keep the enemy busy long enough so that my backline has the time to do the damage.
The spineback turtle is the go-to water tank in low mana battles, but as I mentioned before you don't always need a real tank. Ice pixie and enchanted pixie are your go-to damage dealers, elven mystic can also be used as a damage dealer if you have enough mana. These low mana magic creatures are not that strong on their own, but with the +1 magic damage buff that Alric provides they become some real killing machines.
Putting the chicken before your tank is usually a good idea if your tank has really low attack speed. This way you are almost sure that you will still be able to attack with that monster in round 1. Putting the chicken in second position is also good. You can even put him in last position if you are anticipating sneak attacks.
I think the most classic low mana magic lineup (for beginners) would be:
- Furious chicken
- Spineback turtle
- Creeping ooze
- (Elven Mystic)
- Enchanted Pixie
- Ice Pixie
Fire
Lineup 1
This is an example of a classic Malric lineup with 12 mana. A living lava makes for a very solid tank, 7 mana is pretty high considering it's only a 12 mana game, but it's still a very solid option. The other option in a 12 mana battle would be to use cerberus as your main tank and add a serpentine spy to the lineup.
Now, I have mentioned that pyre can sometimes be better than Malric in low mana fights. Imagine this was a 13 mana game instead of a 12 mana game. Often I would replace the kobold minder with a serpentine spy. In this situation we would get beaten by a pire with the exact same lineup because their serpentine spy would kill mine first. It's always situational ofcourse and I do feel like auto-selecting Malric over Pyre isn't a terrible thing to do for beginners.
Lineup 2
Here is an example of a game with the sneak condition. It's the first example with the ant miners, it's also a very strong card and can be used as a tank aswell. The trick is that you position him so that he has the chance to become a tank (he will gain 1 health per monster that dies because of the scavenge ability). Putting him behind a chicken and an ooze is usually enough for very low mana battles. In this game the chicken and the ooze are positioned at the back because every monster has been given the sneak ability.
Lineup 3
This lineup looks a lot like the first one, only the serpentine spy and the ooze are added to the mix. It's a very classic example of a low mana Malric game.
- Tank in position 1
- Chicken in position 2 to absorb an attack before out backline gets attacked
- Kobold bruiser in position 3
- Serpentine spy in position 4, he is more valuable than the kobold bruiser
- Creeping ooze at the back, he will provide a debuff and potentially absorb a sneak attack
Conclusion
As I always say, the best way to learn is to practice and try out new stuff. Experiment a bit with these ideas and see what works best for you. If you don't like the fire and water splinter, I'm sorry, this guide was probably not as useful for you. However, the concepts still apply to other splinters aswel.
Also, anticipating what your enemy is going to do is a very important factor as well. Take a look at all the information that you have and apply scouting to get ahead.
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Great article! I also like to use a Mylor with thorns for some free damage but current prices makes him a bit hard to get.
Yeah hard agree, I also use him a lot for low mana fights. It's indeed the fact that he is pretty expensive atm. that I did not mention him.
Thanks for sharing! - @cieliss
Excellent guide, always playing with low mana is complicated.
Nice tips, my FAV is water but i use other tactics...
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Some of my favorite cards for beginners that aren't to hard to get for blue:
Feastering Seaweed. 2melee+opportunity for 4mana, bumps up to 3melee at level 3. This is my favorite Untamed common, hands down.
Demented Shark. 6mana is rough for a 1melee, but inspire (+1melee to monsters including itsself) is so so good. This is definitely a candidate for my favorite Reward common.
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Yeah 2 good cards for beginners for sure, it's a good idea for beginners to expirement with these as well in the low mana fights
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great post! thanks for the tip