Hello there, this is my entry to the latest "Battle Mage Secret Weekly Challenge!". If you want to participate or learn more about the challenge, click here. This week we have to formulate a strategy with the CounterSpell ruleset.
RULESET: CounterSpell
With the CounterSpell ruleset in action, all units receive the magic reflect ability at the start of the battle. Enemy units that attack with magic receive damage back.
This ruleset is simple and easy to understand as all the magic attackers will receive damage back, the amount of damage received will be half of what it deals rounded up. So, using a magic attacker might not be a wise choice unless it necessarily overshadows this disadvantage it gives. I will show you exactly something like that where I used a couple of mages just to surprise my opponent and show you that you can still use mages wisely and win battles.
Let's see how this ruleset affects my lineup and how I strategies for the following battle.
My Lineup
This is my lineup for the battle
It was just a 34-mana cap battle and had the 'Magic Reflect' ruleset which means that when you attack a unit with magic attack, half of the damage will get back at you. So, it is a good idea to avoid magic attackers.
Only 'Earth', 'Death' and 'Dragon' elements were active during this battle. I had 34 mana to work with so I could afford to use an expensive unit like Quora Towershead on the front. And to use it I had to use the summoner Helios Matriarch which allows one gladiator card to be used in your battle.
I used the Quora Towershead as my tank. It is one of the most powerful attackers from the Earth element. Its stats are so nice and with health and a good amount of health, it can be a nuisance to eliminate. It costs 10 mana
Next was Kra'ar Xoc, an interesting dragon unit that costs only 1 mana but comes with the scavenger ability so it can take some time to die even with its 2 initial health points. I didn't expect much from this unit but it performed a lot more than I expected. Got to love its scavenger ability.
The only mage in my lineup was Queen Mycelia, just because of its 'protect' ability which gives 2 extra armour to all the friendly units. I knew that the magic reflect ruleset was not the time to use it but it went for it anyway just cause of its ability. I wanted to protect my units with extra armor at least in the first couple of rounds. I said earlier that it was a good idea to avoid magic attackers yet I am using a second one in this battle but believe me, it was worth it. I knew that most of the attackers would be ranged or melee and having extra armour to all my friendly units would be so vital in this battle.
In the next position, I placed the Mantoid, a ranged attacker dealing 2 ranged attack damage. It costs 6 mana but comes with a snipe ability that helps to get important units hiding behind the tank.
Next was the Venari Seedsmith, another ranged attacker dealing 2 damage as well but it has relatively low health which was compensated by its 'scavenger' ability. It would be nice to have more health but it only cost 5 mana so it was fine I guess.
Last but not least was Halfing Alchemist, another ranged attacker costing just 2 mana but having a super useful ability 'halving' which can reduce the damage output of its target to half. This is very effective against heavy attackers placed in the front position in the enemy lineup.
Now that my lineup was set, it was time for battle.
I will share my battle here, which I have uploaded to YouTube.
My Strategy
Since this was a 34 mana battle with a restrictive ruleset that hinders the power of magic attackers, I went with a heavy ranged attack but the most important part of my strategy is my strong tank in the form of Quora Towershead.
I used the summoner that allowed me to use a gladiator tank and I knew that Quora Towershead with its 'bloodlust' and 'heal' ability was super powerful against any lineup.
I supported my weaker units by giving them extra armour. That was achieved by Queen Mycelia's 'protect' ability. I also used a couple of 'scavenger' monsters which can take advantage of all the units dying on the battlefield and I expected a lot of death early in the match.
This strategy, as you will see, worked in my favour and gave me a comfortable win at the end.
My opponent used the Harklaw as their tank and used a summoner Thaddius Brood which reduced the magic attack and health of all my monsters. They focused too much on their tank and used units that gave extra armour and who could 'repair' those armour as well. So, it looked like a nice strategy on paper.
But right after round 1, my Halfing alchemist reduced the damage output of their tank and it helped my Quora Towershead to stay on the field for long.
My opponent used a couple of units that attacked from the end of my lineup which was a smart decision as I had weaker units at the end. But it meant my Quora Towershead got an easier battle to fight.
While it looked like a close battle in the first few rounds, I had faith in my tank. Its healing ability made it last much longer and the bloodlust ability helped it get better attacking stats as the battle progressed.
One of the interesting thing they did was placing their Cursed Windeku at the end of the lineup thinking I would have 'sneaky' units which would take a beating if they tried to attack but I had none. So, it was a poor choice of placement and I got an easy win at the end with my star unit standing with much better stats than it started the battle with.
Conclusion
As you just saw in the above battle, sometimes surprising your opponent and using powerful mages that can heal and stay longer in the front line can help and that's exactly what my Quora Towershead did as a tank. The combination of its 'bloodlust' and 'heal' ability is so powerful along with its multi-attack type. If it gets going then it is so hard to stop it.
Also, we should not forget the role another mage played which was the Queen Mycelia who proved that even a low-health mage can be used in the Counterspell ruleset given that it helps the entire team survive for longer. So, there can be multiple strategies with this ruleset, one can easily go with the conventional way and use strong ranged attackers supported by a good tank at the front or just surprise your opponent with strong mages. But one thing is sure, having extra armour in this ruleset helps immensely.
Let me know what are your strategies against this ruleset.
Thanks for reading...
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Note:
- Text dividers are from freeztag.
- Card images are from @splinterlands.
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