Good day, everyone, and Splinterlands community, Today I will share a battle experience under the Keep Your Distance rule set, where I will also be imparting a strategy on how I utilize the cards in this rule set with regard to Frontier Format. Keep Your Distance rule is about denying melee attacks and maximizing units-for-distance range and magic; this is when Mystic Scaleweaver and Asel Alagosdil truly shine in Frontier format. Asel Alagosdil is a powerful unit as a tank through which a magic lineup increases durability with the Divine Shield, which ignores the first attack, useful for the first heavy attack. Asel's perfect combination is what Mystic Scaleweaver can the magic synergy, plus resilience, and the offense balance as well. Together, they become a cohesive and overwhelmingly reliable course of action for dominating constant damage and tactical play, well-suited for obliterating Keep Your Distance limited matchups in the Frontier meta.
This Battlefield Breakdowns matches my participation in the Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge: Ruleset Riddles!, which highlights key rules for analyzing matches, learning from useful (lucky) turning points, and ultimately sharpening overall gameplay through knowledge and battle-experiment experience. With this battle, I will be sharing a critical thinking strategy game, not only for a satisfying win but also for a winning encounter that many players may find beneficial in dealing with Keep Your Distance rule set matchups and earn. In this battle, we would put together an analysis of how I use my cards, deployment of the cards, positioning of the cards, some best ideal cards to deploy for this battle, and an analysis of the battle.
Let’s jump right into the action! Check out my Modern Format battle here: Watch the Battle
In this battle, the rule sets given are Keep Your Distance and Explosive Weaponry with 31 mana cap and only fire and death elements are inactive. With set-up plan I will plan to use is, using mainly magic units with Marlai Singariel summoner.
In this match, I chose Marlai Singariel as my summoner and positioned Asel Alagosdil upfront as my main tank because of useful ability which is Devine Shield. Just behind, I placed the Saltwater Mage, a reliable magic attacker designed to quietly weaken the enemy’s backline, a sneaky magic attacker unit of my team. Further back position, the Mystic Scaleweaver dealt decent magic damage in the mid-to-late rounds. These two, Saltwater Mage and Mystic Scaleweaver, formed the core of my main magic damage, but their health differences added an interesting twist. With only 5 health, the Saltwater Mage was the riskier unit in terms of position. Hence, Mystic Scaleweaver, with its 7 health, had more leeway to continue dealing damage. I placed Grand Consul Minion in the third slot for additional ranged support, ensuring it would attack before Mystic Scaleweaver. This line-up strategy also protected my backline in case my opponent picked Asel Alagosdil, which I strongly suspected. The plan for the lineup was simple but effective: taking advantage the combo between Asel Alagosdil and Mystic Scaleweaver under the Keep Your Distance ruleset, where magic units excel. Additionally, Weapons Training provided an extra layer of excitement by boosting nearby units’ attacks by 50%, rounding up. Every move felt like a carefully timed strike in a well-balanced duel.
My opponent used the same element as I did. They brought out Marlai Singariel as their summoner and positioned Asel Alagosdil, Spitting Camel, Saltwater Mage, and Lunaki Howler in that order. The opponent's strategy was somewhat similar to mine, highlighting a steady and balanced setup that could withstand the chaos of the Explosive Weaponry ruleset in this battle. However, instead of using Mystic Scaleweaver, the opponent chose Spitting Camel and Lunaki Howler, which leaned more toward a defensive style. This gave the team better endurance and higher overall health, but it also meant sacrificing some offensive power. The difference in our lineups came down to priorities. I focused on magic damage dominance to pressure the opponent, while the opponent's build seemed more about survival and enduring the splash damage from each explosive hit. At least I can deal some decent damage with blasts from the ruleset given, and hoping to win.
As the battle progressed, it became clear that I had the upper hand or advantage in both damage output and speed. This made it hard for my opponent to take out my lineup before the explosive effects spread across my team composition. My speed allowed my team to strike first, allowing me to quickly eliminate the opponent’s backline while also putting heavy pressure on their frontline.
The Keep Your Distance rule set removes melee attacks and highlights the power of a magic-focused Water element team. In this strategy, cards like Asel Alagosdil and Mystic Scaleweaver can deal reliable magic damage without fearing close-range attackers' strategy. The Water team's natural balance of offense and sustain allows it to outlast opponents or dominate in magic difference damage, break through armor with pure magic, and control the fight from start to finish.
Which ruleset do you find the hardest to play—and how do you adapt your lineup when it shows up?
For me, the toughest rule sets to deal with are Global Warming and Noxious Fumes in all formats. They slowly take away at every unit, no matter how strong the lineup is. To manage them, I usually focus on building a team that can last longer than it takes. I use cards with healing, cleansing, or health-sustaining abilities like Scavenger and Life Leech. I tend to prefer the Earth or Life elements because they help keep units alive under constant damage. In these matches, it’s less about raw attack power and more about outlasting the effects and staying strong until the end.
A Big Thanks! For supporting me, being here, and coming this far. I hope this strategy assists you with some of your battles with these rule sets in modern format conclave and rebellion sets.
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