Prelude
Good day to all, how are all of you doing? How have the battles been for you in the new year? Today's sharing is something really interesting where I manage to overcome my opponent in a match with thorns ruleset with some armour and Imperial Knight showcasing his sustainability in such a match and letting opponent self destruct one by one.
Just to recap for players whom are not familiar with Thorns, it is an ability that returns 2 damage to the attacker when being hit by a melee attack. And the ruleset form is called Briar Patch which carries a similar icon to that of the ability.
The match today can be quite irritating because it is a match that we can only field cards with melee attack but yet it has thorns. So let's get right on to the match proper.
Battle Sharing
Reference Battle
Battle Link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_1ca30dbcdfc8636144f9e009164a3c44?ref=vaynard86
Ruleset: Up Close and Personal, Briar Patch
Mana Limit: 27
Selection Analysis
Not a lot of mana to splurge on and only 3 splinters available. Water, Death and Life. Not the usual melee specialist not to say how to handle the thorns ruleset.
In my selection, I choose to go with Franz Ruffmane due to that additional 1 armour. While Franz Ruffmane is able to allow me to use 1 Gladius card, I do not have a card that is suitable to field in the lineup where it is either a magic or range based card or simply it will take up too much mana budget. On the tank, I have fielded Imperial Knight which has a thick armour and also have self healing making it a very viable tank choice. In the 2nd position, to help sustain my front tank, I had Mana Warden whom is able to give Imperial Guard shield to further reduce the thorns effect by 1. Following Mana Warden is Olivia of the Brook which is an interesting card which I am experimenting. She does not have high health and also due to opportunity, she might get herself killed while striking so I am hoping for some nice ability to steal from opponent from 2nd turn onwards. The last 3 cards are all small mana card which I put up to take damage and hopefully kill my opponent through thorns. A simple lineup with a front tank and loads of fodder for opponent to self destruct on.
Now to what my opponent fielded. Opponent also went with a summoner that can allow Gladius card usage and used a Gladius card. Tank is similar to mine where it haas a big attack and self heal. Then on the backline for my opponent, we have 3 sneak cards that will nicely land onto the fodder that I prepared for my opponent to self destruct on. Opponent had a fodder in Corpse Fiend and lastly a Trapp Falloway, a Gladius card that can really cause problems if we allowed it to grow through Blood Lust.
2 very different kind of lineup, opponent with aggression with sneak attack cards while I choose the opponent to sit and let them self destruct. Will the damage kill me faster or I can outlast that barrage planned by my opponent. Let's go right to the battle synopsis.
Round by Round Synopsis
Round 1 - Many attack fly through this round but casualty only appear at my side with Gargoya Scrapper being taken out and Halfling Refugee getting poisoned. Not looking too good on my end but I can see opponent's backline strikers health are all on the low side.
Round 2 - More things get cleared on my end with Halfling Refugee killed by both Sha-vi and also Uraeus while my Olivia decided to suicide together with Fenmoor Haunt which leave me living on this ice with only 3 cards in the lineup. At this stage, it is getting more and more shaky for me, so let's continue looking at how things continue to unfold.
Round 3 - The tables are slowing evening out where Sha-vi suicided with my Mana Warden and Uraeus also decided to bang against Imperial Knight. So now it is 2 vs 3 with a lurking dangerous Trapp Falloway that I will need to handle.
Round 4, Final faceoff between the tanks as Imperial Knight slams home to take out Cursed Windeku. 2 on 2 now.
Round 5 and 6, because of the shield gained due to Mana Warden, Imperial Knight become way more resistant. Corpse Fiend just suicided itself with no damage to it and some minor exchange and heal allowed me to dispose off Trapp Falloway to secure the win. Way to go Imperial Knight!
Battle Summary
Equipped with the shield from Mana Warden and its own healing capabilities, Imperial Knight become something that is not to be trifled with. It will allow it to just bulldoze through with minimal damage taken back and easily healed back. And I had enough fodder to let my opponent land their strikes on and let them take back the damage. Really fun outcome to see and I am really liking how Imperial Knight performed so well for this match.
Wrap Up
Really not within my expectation with a wild experiment that I planted to see a few of my newer cards coming together and fight my opponent. They all did well and gave me an outcome that showcase how the cards interlinked to outlast my opponent. Such matches really brings up the joy for the day.
See you next time!
I am currently part of PIZZA, an active gaming and creative arts crypto community on the HIVE blockchain and part of PIZZA guild. Popular cryto games such as SPLINTERLANDS, RISING STAR and HASHKINGS are actively discussed in this community.
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Till my next battle sharing, take care, stay safe and happy battling!
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