Hello Splintermates and Fellow Hiveans,
Hope you are having a wonderful first week of the year. This first week Splinterlands Social Media Challenge! for the year 2026 i am going to share "SHENG XIAO LEADING ME INTO VICTORY" where i am going to share a battle link replay in one of the Ferexian Modern Intermediate Invitational GF using sheng xiao as my archon in leading me into the victory sometimes called a lucky win.
THE BATTLE
This battle is in Ferexian Modern Intermediate Invitational GF. This battle is a 31 mana battle with melee mayhem, up close and personal and are you not entertained battle ruleset against a very strong opponent. My opponent uses Fithe Bladestone as his archon leading his blackfoils Cavewise Wayfinder, Vicious Giraffe and gold foil Grimbardun Fighter, Blazebeard Merc with his gladiator Orella Abadon while i used Sheng xiao as my archon leading my silver gold foils Giant Alpine Skink, Halfling Refugee, Endless Gibbon, Dragon Egg Forager, Isgald Vorst and Tidal Tsunamist where i got a lucky win.
Battle link replay:
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sm_lZmbHVBCCA8a3Dha9duh?ref=axemaster88
BATTLE RULESET :
| RULESET | DESCRIPTION |
|---|
 | Melee Mayhem - Units can use melee attacks from any position |
 | Up Close and Personal - You can only summon units with melee attacks |
 | Are You Not Entertained? - You can summon one additional gladiator. |
SHENG XIAO TEAM
| ARCHON | UNIT 1 | UNIT 2 | UNIT 3 | UNIT 4 | UNIT 5 | UNIT 6 |
|---|
| Sheng Xiao | Giant Alpine Skink | Halfling Refugee | Endles Gibbon | Dragon Egg Forager | Isgald Vorst | Tidal Tsunamist |
1. SHENG XIAO - Sheng Xiao is a 5 mana conclave arcana dragon legendary archon. I like Sheng xiao because of its ability that sometime surprise opponent thingking they already win specially win left with one health that didn't expect the poison burst make the winning difference. Also those corrossive ward ability sometimes make difference specially when opponent with armored attacks that they got disadvantage
ABILITY ABILITY :
| ABILITY | DESCRIPTION |
|---|
 | Poison Burst - When defeated, 100% chance to apply Poisoned to attacker and 50% chance to apply Poisoned to units adjacent to attacker. Poisoned units lose 2 health at the beginning of each round. |
 | Corrosive Ward - -2 to attacker’s maximum armor when hit by a melee attack |
2. GIANT ALPINE SKINK- Giant alpine skink is a 8 mana common water rebellion soubound card. At level 5 it has 4 melee,2 armor, 7 health and 4 speed. It also has 2 abilities: shield ability (50% less damage (rounded up) from physical attacks or 0 damage from physical attacks of 1 power) and phase ability (magic attacks have the same chance to miss as physical attacks ). Giant alpine skink is a very good tank at silver due to its shield ability that quite difficult to find in any lower leveled monsters.
3. HALFLING REFUGEE - is a 1 mana epic neutral rebellion soulbound reward card. At level 3 it has 3 melee attack. At level 3 it has also 6 health and 3 speed. It has also weary ability (At the beginning of round 1, Weary units have a 10% chance to become Exhausted. This chance increases by 10% every round, up to a maximum of 80%. Exhausted units skip their turn and cannot Retaliate) and heal ability ( Each round, restores 1/3 of max health (rounded down). Halfling refugee is my favorite tank in little league due to its high 3 melee attack and even high 6 health even at silver tournament.
4. ENDLESS GIBBON- Endless Gibbon is a 1 mana legendary water rebellion reward card. At level 2 it has 1 melee attack, 3 health and 2 speed. At level 2 it has also reach ability (Can use melee attacks from the second position.) I included this in the battle as a filler and to recieve the poison burst ability due to its low health and prone to opportunity attack that will cause opponent that kill him poisoned.
5. DRAGON EGG FORAGER - Dragon Egg Forager is a 5 mana dragon rare rebellion soulbound reward card. At level 4 it has 2 melee attack, 6 health and 4 speed . It also has opportunity ability (targets the enemy unit with the least health) and scavenger ability ( +1 health and max health each time any unit is defeated). Its opportunity and scavenger ability was good in thin melee mayhem and up close and personal battle ruleset.
6. ISGALD VORST- Isgald Vorst is 5 mana water common gladiator card. At level 5 it has 4 melee attack, 3 armor, 5 health and 4 speed. It also has bloodlust ability (+1 to all stats after dealing a killing blow) and opportunity ability ( targets the enemy unit with the least health). This is my favorite water gladiator card due to its 4 melee with armor and opportunity ability that when defeated an opponent it restore its armor and prolong his life specially when dealing non magic monster.
7. TIDAL TSUNAMIST - Tidal Tsunamist is an 5 mana common water conclave arcana card. At level 5 it has 3 melee attack and has 6 health and 3 speed. It also has sneak ability ( Targets the enemy unit in the last position) and repair ability (Restores 2 armor (up to max) to the allied unit with the most damage to its armor) . Its armor repair ability makes him usable in this melee mayhem and up close and personal battle ruleset.
MY STRATEGY AND POSITIONING
| ARCHON | UNIT 1 | UNIT 2 | UNIT 3 | UNIT 4 | UNIT 5 | UNIT 6 |
|---|
| Sheng Xiao | Giant Alpine Skink | Halfling Refugee | Endles Gibbon | Dragon Egg Forager | Isgald Vorst | Tidal Tsunamist |
In this 31 mana battle with melee mayhem, up close and personal and are you not entertained battle ruleset against a very strong opponent. My strategy and positioning is to used sheng xiao as my archon to provide my tank giant alpine sking at first position and endless gibbon at 3rd position with the archon ability poison burst intended as the tank will be the first to be illuminated and endless gibbon is prone to opportunity attack , that when they are defeated the opponent that illuminated them got poison. I then used halfling refugee in second position supported by dragon egg farager at 4th position . I then used isgald vorst as my gladiator with its opportunity and bloodlust ability supported b tidal tsunamist at last position for its sneak attack ability and armor repair that makes its friendl opponent with armor to stay longer in the battle.
.... HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026,
..... VONAK .....
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Awesome, an excellent battle! We started the year battling and winning 🥳